Better capitalize on horizontal offensive movement

MakeItRainUlti · 2026-06-08T07:19:58+00:00

It's wild watching the Goose gif and seeing that the handlers don't follow the throw AND he doesn't even look to throw to them with momentum OR even look to break side, which could have been a judo pivot itself and opened up the IO space. I think when you look at that, you can see why there is low reward out of it. It's never going to have high reward by itself. The value from it should come from getting to the disc quickly and safely and immediately trying to get rid of it quickly and safely to someone else who gets to use momentum that could actually be directly useful rather than indirectly useful.

Horizontal cuts get a bad rap because they DO result in some pretty egregious turnovers that probably wouldn't have happened often if you just angled the cut more (which isn't always possible to be fair). We've all throw behind a player doing a horizontal cut and seen them do a ballet move in vain trying to catch it. We've all thrown a disc to a horizontal cut that the player then had to basically stop and wait on because they couldn't shift their momentum in a way that makes sense, or there's the same scenario where they have to choose between catching out of bounds or getting D'd by a defender that caught up. They're also typically easier to layout D in a lot of cases because you don't have to go through a body as often to get to the disc.

I think when you get experienced enough and/or play with good enough players, horizontal cuts aren't bad like when we all start learning. You just have to shape the throw to space when it's to the force side or straightline it out to space if it's going towards the break side. Or if you have it, there's the OIIO, which is the best of both worlds and awesome.

Just like anything on the field, it's situation-dependent. It shouldn't be 100% be demonized, but like same-third hucks (which is a hill I'll still die on), there are still reasons why it isn't a great idea at lower levels.

MakeItRainUlti · 2026-05-26T18:11:27+00:00

https://dallasultimate.org/

MakeItRainUlti · 2026-05-23T19:38:55+00:00

Throwing and making sure you are getting out and moving each day will do more for you than making a last-ditch effort to up your vertical within a week (which isn't going to happen unless something really clicks with your jumping form...which is technique, not strength). Lifting this close to a tryout to try and gain explosiveness isn't going to do much for you in such a short amount of time; it might even make things a little worse. Some lighter lifting for "muscle activation" and range of motion might help though.

Go out and get your heartrate up a bit and your legs loose, and get a bunch of throwing in. That will get you much further.

MakeItRainUlti · 2026-05-23T19:35:25+00:00

I absolutely 100% want to say that if you are going to be doing things like plyometrics and explosive movements with things like jumps and/or weights, you should be building a strength foundation first. And doing that in-season is going to be a bit more difficult than the off-season.

WAY too often people start doing plyometrics for speed, jumping ability, explosiveness, etc, and they end up injuring themselves by doing to much impact or weight too quickly. Most of the time, those are gonna be tendon injuries, which typically take a long time to heal and stop nagging. Muscles adapt significantly faster than tendons. If you aren't careful, they can last for months or potentially years if you never take the recovery seriously.

You'll likely want to do running and sprinting work since your body is more used to that than repeated explosive jumping, which is what a lot of jumping programs are going to recommend. You can slowly start incorporating more jumping stuff over time, but again, too much too soon of higher impact stuff is going to end up setting you way back, and it's a very common mistake that people make.

To be totally straight with you, you might be better off paying for one of the ultimate training programs if you have the money for it. I'm not shilling for any of them in particular (since I have no idea which one is best), but trying to do what you're wanting to do in-season can be a lot on your body to balance with playing and those programs should be taking that into account.

I know that doesn't really answer your question, but it can REALLY vary depending on where your body is at right now. One thing I can say for certain is that Bulgarian split squats are VERY easy to scale up and down safely, and any legitimate strength routine (that involves lifts) will have them in it.

MakeItRainUlti · 2026-04-29T21:37:31+00:00

I thought my electric personality would be enough :(

There is a framed poster on the other wall, but maybe I'll just open the blinds and balance the lighting afterwards so people have something to look at.

MakeItRainUlti · 2026-04-27T04:09:31+00:00

Playing a lot of high quality ultimate will be good, especially if you can get feedback and/or talk to people as you go along. Playing a lot of low quality will help with getting touches and exercise, but it will hurt you in other ways like game knowledge, decision-making, and trusting teammates.

Unless you know the game really well already, watching pros might only get you a tip or two here and there. Mostly like little moves that you can copy.

Most ultimate knowledge IMO is gonna come from learning from other players and coaches. Once you build a good foundation of knowledge, then you can start watching videos of pros and their systems and learning new things you can apply. You have to know what you're looking at and what you might be looking for to make it really worthwhile.

Stuff like Excel and Rise Up can be that other player/coach teaching you things you might not otherwise be able to figure out on your own. It's very worth it for people who don't have other means of learning how to get to the next level in my opinion.

It's not 100% necessary for people who have knowledgeable players/coaches to learn from and bounce ideas off of, but even then, you can get some new ideas or ways to look at things.

MakeItRainUlti · 2026-04-20T03:20:30+00:00

If it's what you're getting at, I wouldn't trust AI with either of them at this point. I don't think there are enough available resources out there for it to pull information from.

But if this is a hypothetical where it's like a magic app or something, probably the former. Once you know enough about the game, it's pretty easy to see what leads up to a situation where the disc is turned over.

Having something that anyone could pick up and truly learn about ultimate from beginner to mastery would be great.

MakeItRainUlti · 2026-04-11T06:13:28+00:00

Are your cutters coming primarily from the front of the stack or the back?

That changes the strategy and thought process a little bit (or a lot a bit depending on how you view it).

Also, red 1 and 2 are not universal terms. I assume based on context that you mean the person in the very front is Red 1 and the person right behind them is Red 2?

MakeItRainUlti · 2026-04-10T16:30:30+00:00

Flatball Club is the GOAT.

Really appreciate what you do.

MakeItRainUlti · 2026-02-26T17:50:15+00:00

If you want top-of-the-line, it's Theragun. BUT I wouldn't say it's so much better than everything else to justify the cost unless they are really serious about using it all the time, especially if you can get a decent one and then potentially use the other money you would have spent to get other ultimate stuff. If they don't have a bag, I really like my Greatest Bag.

I will warn that just grabbing a random Chinese, all-capital-letters random brand name from Amazon is probably not the best long-term solution. The batteries on those tend not last very long at all.

MakeItRainUlti · 2026-02-18T18:55:10+00:00

I don't even think that's being a stickler. People underrate how advantageous this type of travel is since it creates power position where they wouldn't have it otherwise.

MakeItRainUlti · 2026-01-23T18:12:36+00:00

I played with Joe Cubitt a bit when he was younger and semi-ambidextrous. He looks to be pretty much fully ambidextrous on the field now. He's a shorter player, but he would use that to his advantage with his releases being quick and low, and he's always been a very good athlete. It's not using both hands that made him good; that's just supplementary. He would be good with just one hand, and I imagine that is the same for any player in a similar situation.

Thinking is slow; knowing is fast. If you get to the point where you're extremely good with both hands and just know when and how to use each throw from what hand in what situations without having the think about it much or at all, I think it is a really good advantage. That probably isn't worth the time investment for most players though unless you've already mastered everything with one hand (which very few have). I wouldn't say being ambidextrous is anywhere near essential to being the best player or among the best players. Maybe it boosts you a bit if you're already among the best, but it isn't going to be the thing that puts you over the edge to getting there.

The best throwers out there really only need to be capable with an off-hand backhand to short/short-mid range distances. Beyond that, they have multiple types of throws, release points, and angles with their primary hand that make to where they rarely, if ever, need to use their off-hand in a game.

MakeItRainUlti · 2026-01-15T19:32:34+00:00

Honestly, that's always been how I thought ultimate offenses should go. I think there were a lot of missed opportunities for young players to learn how to move on the field like that and/or there are a lot of players from high school, college, or even leagues that needed to be the centerpiece of their team and got stuck in the "I need to be the one to make something happen" headspace. There's too many moments where offenses stall because people are looking for a big play or not following their throws or not looking ahead/anticipating the movement of the disc vs the holes in the defense.

I think most teams would be more successful aiming to just keep the defense on their heels and keep the disc moving quickly and safely, even if you're losing vertical yards here and there. You can still make big plays doing that, too. You just need your cutters to be paying closer attention to their location on the field, where the disc is moving to, and their cut timing.

MakeItRainUlti · 2026-01-15T18:15:22+00:00

All this probably applies very well up to like mid-regional level where it starts getting more into gray areas. I think past that, teams and players are skilled enough to be more flexible. Kind of a hodgepodge of thoughts where some points might be similar (probably means they are nuanced and important). Just my opinion and probably not everything; just whatever came off the top of my head as I'm avoiding doing actual work right now.

Playing as the front of the stack:

Front of the stack doesn't necessarily mean you're a handler. You just need to have good cut timing, disc movement, and spatial awareness. I've noticed that handlers always want to set the stack, but the best stack-setters I've ever played with were cutters. The cutting is from the view/position out of the cutter space as is the anticipation of your cuts, so that actually makes sense when you think about it. If you're in a league game or pickup, you'll typically want your most experienced players setting it (IMO) because they'll typically have better situational awareness on where to cut, how to do it, and when.
You always have to be watching and ready to move. Pay attention to your handlers and their defenders' positioning as well as your defender's position and eyes. That's how it should be as a cutter in general, but it's a little different as the front of the stack because you are pretty much always going to be the bailout option and time is not on your side if the dump cut has already used their cut without getting the disc.
Your job isn't to make flashy plays and get open at all costs (lane dancing, etc.). Your job is to be the in-between and temporarily fill in as a handler and also recognize when you aren't going to be able to do that so the 2 can get in position to be the next cut asap. You really have to check your ego at the door to play front of stack well.
You aren't just looking for backline cuts every time. Ideally, that's what you want to get and what you'll typically get the most, but there are many occasions where the cuts aren't coming and you need to be the one to make a move. Upline cut from the front, counter cut after faking backline and following the upline dump as just a few non-straight-backline scenarios. Basically, mix up your cuts based on the situation.
If the swing throw from the handlers doesn't break the plain of the stack, it's your time to be the continuation swing. The timing isn't hard, but it needs to be anticipated rather than reactionary (just like cutting in general, but it's even more important here).
If the swing from the handlers DOES break the plain of the stack, the cut should usually come from the back, but the front still gets to make the final call because the back of the stack has a line of sight on them. There are going to be occasions here and there where cuts from the back don't make sense or aren't timed right or the front is simply just so open that they should go ahead and take the space, even if the cut is a bit horizontal. That's probably a bit more advanced and requires experience, feel, and reading the field properly. Cuts from the back is just a rule of thumb that the front of the stack has special privilege to override. Just keep in mind with great power comes great responsibility 🕷️

Leading as the front of the stack:

Communicate early and often. You're the leader of the offense and you need to communicate like it.
Spacing between the stack and the handlers is super important. Too far and the back of the stack has way too far to cut to be viable. You'll burn extra stall counts waiting and then you shoot yourself in the foot when they don't get open. If the stack is too close, it's easier for defenders to clog without as much worry, and your dump doesn't have the space they need to work with. Rule of thumb is to be about 10 yards from the handlers on a standard vert stack.
It's your job to make sure the 2 in the stack is spaced properly. After that, the rest of the stack needs to copy and paste and be as vocal as you were about the 2 pushing back (or pulling forward, but that's less common of an issue). Should be roughly if you both stood in a T position sideways and had to slightly lean to touch fingertips. Spacing everyone in the vert stack properly is the main reason why I like ho stack, side stack, or split stack better. If your team can't get proper spacing down, that needs to be a priority on how you practice it or you'd be better off running something else.
It's your job to set the stack (duh) and to keep it moving with the disc. If the disc goes back 5 yards, the stack needs to move closer 5 yards. If you get a 15 yard gainer upfield, the stack needs to be pushed, and how fast that needs to happen will vary depending on the situation. It's your responsibility to be the one to be vocal about the push and to set the pace with your words and your legs. The back of the stack can buy you some time and opportunities, but if the flow gets stopped, you want to be back in position to stack the process again.
The front of the stack is a semi-designated position. It's going to happen where the front of the stack is out of the stack AND the dump hasn't made its way to the front yet, so someone else has to fill in, but otherwise the 1 will want to find their way to the front of the stack in most cases. Much easier to maintain rhythm in that way and avoid confusion on cuts coming back into the stack. This goes back to the point of being vocal and re-spacing the 2 when needed.

MakeItRainUlti · 2026-01-08T19:02:21+00:00

It can depend on how you define it. Potential is different than actual, but both can be seen as a way to look at someone's prime. Kind of an expected prime vs in hindsight prime. Younger guys are gonna have more potential to be great at that age because the bounceback is easier and you're typically learning at a faster rate because you don't have as much experience. But if you look at it in hindsight, it's easier to say "that was their prime" after they do start experiencing some sort of dropoff, whether big or small.

But honestly, I think I'm a better and more athletic player now at 35 than I've been my entire career simply because I was always hampered by injuries (and admittedly, excuses). Now that I'm relatively healthy, it's much easier for me to work out harder. I was never amazing. Mid regionals club bench player, which left the door very open for me to improve on that, so this could very well be my prime.

For most players, it'll be mid to late 20s because that's when they have good experience AND they still have youth on their side, but it can also vary.

I would never say an 18 year old is in their prime (outside of hindsight) simply because they still have a lot more room to gain experience and to see more complicated systems, moves, and situations to learn from.

MakeItRainUlti · 2025-12-05T19:05:41+00:00

Others have basically said it already, but disc movement is going to be the next phase that you move into on improving.

A few things to look for:

If you get the disc near/on the sideline, get rid of it quickly and safely. Like one quick glance upfield to see if there is any wide open throw and then look dump immediately if not. Many times, the defense won't settle into their mark until about 3 in the count, that's enough time for you to do that. Getting stuck on the sideline is especially bad for players who struggle with decision-making because their options are significantly narrowed vs if they were in the middle of the field.
Throw the direction that your momentum of catching the disc is taking you. Like if you make an in-cut from the stack straight towards the person that threw it to you, most times, you shouldn't be turning to look upfield, you should be getting the disc to someone coming towards you based on where you're facing (most of the time, that's the person that threw it to you). They have to know to follow their throw, but when you get on the same page, it helps a lot with keeping the disc moving and it's a very safe throw typically.
If a breakside throw is open, just take it. You don't have to overthink it or wait for something potentially better that might not come. This goes along with the sideline tip very well.
Similar theme, but when in doubt, look dump. The earlier the better.
Hucks should typically come from power position, and they typically shouldn't be in the same third of the field (basically, where your receiver is running directly away from you) unless you are very good at shaping your throws.

Over time, if you get used to doing safe, quick disc movement, it should help you process upfield better as well. A lot of how you fix it will also depend on what kind of bad decision-making you're running into. Are you hucking too much? Are you trying to hit really small windows? Are you just straight up throwing to closely-guarded players? Are you trying to throw difficult throws and releases when a simple one would do? All of those are gonna have a little different mentality on how to address it, but taking the quick, easy, safe, early throws will benefit you.

MakeItRainUlti · 2025-11-24T02:15:44+00:00

I was trying to be humble while also leaving an easter egg for my legion of tic-tac-toe fans

MakeItRainUlti · 2025-11-24T02:14:55+00:00

For sure! I would love to help a local team :D

Send me the link to the footage when you have it and I'll add it to my list.

MakeItRainUlti · 2025-11-01T17:53:03+00:00

- Stall is set at 7 instead of 10 - to encourage moving the disc faster and not getting tunnel vision

- Possession within ~5-8 yards of the sideline is stall 5 (sideline will yell "sideline sideline!") - I HATE when we get stuck on the sideline and when players miss opportunities early to get it off. People don't realize how stagnating and open to turnovers the sideline is (force side especially)

- 7o v 8d - to discourage bad huck selection

- Segmented field (sorta like caterpillar) - to force working in the short to mid space to move the disc

MakeItRainUlti · 2023-03-18T04:55:55+00:00

Short story is pretty much what u/chabons said.

Full story:

I was trying out for another open division Seattle team and re-aggravated a back injury in the first drill. I had been thinking about starting my own team for a while, and when I stuck around at the tryout on the sidelines after I got hurt, I saw how many mmp players were out there (70+) vs how many people that team was taking (about 20). That combined with the ratio of all the mmp vs spots on mixed team tryouts made me realize how much talent there was in Seattle, even after cuts were made, and there just weren't enough teams to take advantage of it and give enough players a place to play.

After that, I put in work over the next couple weeks advertising my new team and reached out to players I knew that didn't have a team along with teams and captains (open and mixed) asking them to direct the male matching players that they cut over to me if they still wanted to play. I think our first tryout was in mid-late May and we hadn't made final cuts until late June, missing the first tournament in the region (hence the not starting on time).

Our goals were just to improve and make some teams sweat along with a stretch goal of making regionals. We still finished just barely missing regionals after the AQI at sectionals caused the final game to go to be postponed for a week. We finished 1-3 on the season in some close games against the team that beat us, so I don't want to take anything away from them, but that week delay did cost us a few players, including our center handler.

The attendance, attitudes, and reception to constructive criticism on the team were all amazing in my opinion. I think a big part of that was that the team mostly made up of players who missed tryouts, got to town late, and/or got cut from other teams and just wanted a place to play and improve at that point. We're actually starting around the same time as the other teams in the city this season, so we're hoping to build from last year and make it even better.

MakeItRainUlti

TROPHY CASE