Urca Podcast

Due to some tech issues,  my conversation with Tiina Booth has been lost. Instead, I have prepared a guided review of her 2014 URCA Presentation, 10 Steps to Mental Toughness. I have added some commentary along with selected audio clips from the presentation. If you're interested in watching the full presentation, you can find it in the URCA Classroom: https://www.ultyresults.com/urca_classroom

Sign up for the URCA Classroom here: https://www.ultyresults.com/urca_classroom Today I interview Keith Raynor about his 2019 URCA presentation, “Coaching with Captains.” We discuss the importance of communication, establishing clear goals, and empowering captains to become leaders and take ownership of the team. Keith has been a coach for many years at many different levels, and has learned lessons that can be applied to any situation. You can hear Keith on Ultiworld’s Deep Look podcast, and find him on Twitter as @FullFieldHammer (no, he can’t throw one). Stick around to the end of the episode to hear some details about the future of this podcast!

Melissa Witmer, founder of UltyResults, the UAP, and the URCA Conference, joins me to talk about the evolution of the conference, her thoughts on the future of coaching in ultimate, and her presentations at this year's conference.  Melissa is presenting on creating flexibly designed practice plans. Being flexible wil allow you to run an effective practice, even if you have unknown variables going into practice, particularly with numbers. In addition, Melissa is working with Jools Murray to develop a level 2 testing group within the UAP, which Jools will describe in detail in her URCA Presentation. The conference begins tomorrow (February 25) and runs through March 4. Don't miss out! Register for the conference at UltyResults.com : https://www.ultyresults.com/urca-conference-2019 A schedule of presentations can be found here: https://www.ultyresults.com/urca-conference-2019-speakers

Register for the 2019 URCA Conference here! : (https://www.ultyresults.com/urca-conference-2019) In this episode, I interview Felix Shardlow about the Hex offense, its origins, tactics, and implementation. Felix created the Hex offense and is responsible for its international spread. Listen to hear about the foundations of Hex within Spain’s tiki-taka style of football, based on spacing players to form equilateral triangles to present multiple passing options for every player. Felix explains why this style gives Hex some tactical advantages over stack offenses. Hex provides some advantages with regard to player development. Because every player can be an option, and because quick movement (often for short throws) is so heavily emphasized, each player can end up touching the disc a lot. It is harder to “hide” in the Hex in the same way that a cutter might stand in the middle of a stack. Additionally, it is easier for players to move from Hex to a traditional stack than for the other way around. For these rea

 Register for the 2019 URCA Conference Here! In this episode, I interview Benji Heywood on the topic of indoor ultimate. In many countries, especially in the UK and Northern Europe, indoor has a similar organizational framework to outdoors in terms of leagues and participation. However, this is not the case in warmer countries, where teams may be able to play outside for most or all of the year. In this conversation, you’ll find insights from a leading coach on the subject of indoor ultimate on the tactics and organization of indoor ultimate. The primary differences in gameplay between indoor and outdoor are obvious, but they can have subtle effects. 1) There is no wind, and 2) the field is much smaller. In some cases in the UK, the entire field may be the size of a single outdoors endzone. With 5 players on each side, this causes the field to quickly become quite congested. Vertical stack is a high-variance, underdog strategy, and more standard indoors offenses may appear alien to those only familia

Register for the 2019 URCA Conference here!

Register for the 2019 URCA Conference here! Welcome to the first ever URCA Podcast! In this show, we'll learn from some of the best and brightest minds in ultimate to help YOU become the best coach you can be. In this episode, I interview Cate Roscoe about her upcoming URCA Conference Presentation, "Teaching the Forehand." Cate Roscoe is a longtime ultimate player, coach, and organizer on the US west coast. In our interview, we discuss her upcoming URCA conference presentation, “Teaching the Forehand.” We also explore her background in coaching as well as other important lessons she has learned through coaching, coupled with her professional career as an educator. When teaching such a complicated motion, you want to keep it simple. Find cues that control multiple reference points. There’s so many moving parts with a forehand, it can be difficult to instruct. Here's a great example cue, courtesy of a young girl from Cate’s youth league:  “it feels like you’re trying to put your elbow in front of your ha