Ultimate Frisbee Lessons

I've never really been a team sport player. I danced (not partner dancing), did Track and Field, and bowled. I didn't like playing basketball in gym class because the other kids were so pushy with their bodies. I tried playing soccer but I was really awful and didn't have time to improve while still making time for dancing, which was much more fun and interesting. Volleyball has always been a fun thing to play with friends.

But, team sports can be fun and offer important life lessons.

Now that I've played ultimate frisbee for a couple of weeks, I've got a good idea of how all the playing strategies are supposed to work. With this burden of knowledge comes the responsibility to do the right thing.

Let's take a step back a moment and give an example of "doing the right thing" in a non-ultimate frisbee context. Christin set up some placards on our apartment door a few days ago so that we could keep track of who is home and who is not home. It's a great idea and I've tried to remember to flip over my card when I leave and enter, but it is indeed a task to remember to flip the sign when running out the door. On two of the three evenings on which I left the apartment for several hours, I forgot to flip my sign. Tonight was the first night I remembered. The point of this little story is that while my sign does not move locations, it still took me three tries to get it right.

Let's go back to ultimate frisbee. When playing the game, I don't have just one stationary object to think about like I do with the signs Christin set up. I've got teammates and opponents running everywhere and a frisbee which must be thrown with special care so that it flies to the desired destination. My brain spins with decisions to be made and most of them will most likely end in a mistake.

Here's the lesson: Decisions must be made and typically quickly. Mistakes will naturally occur and with frequency. But, time cannot be wasted dwelling on mistakes. Once they are made, try to (quickly)learn a lesson from them and then move forward.

I think that I am discovering why decent team sport players often carry themselves so confidently. They naturally make tons of wrong decisions and mistakes during games, but then they move forward. Without moving forward, there is no hope of doing something right.

I may not be a great frisbee thrower yet, but I am pretty good at catching it. My one excellent memory from the evening is of catching a low flying frisbee in the end zone while sliding and subsequently sitting on the ground.