April 29 practice

We had: Andy Wade, Shakey, Ian, Lawrence, Eric, Shimoni, Bala (& baby) Nockels (late/work), Mav (left early/foot still buggin), Jake (didn't stay long/school)

We did: warmups, throws, longer throws, mark drill, Shakey's fast-break drill (which turned into endzone fast-break drill), huck drill, more throws after we were beat. 

We didn't have any women besides Bala and Mohini. Rosi showed up at the end, after class. Not sure if the Jines were wrecked from Regionals, or if everyone's really worried about finals or both. Women are a huge part of our team, and the transition from playing women's to playing mixed will take several weeks. So we missed an opportunity to get better. 

In any case, we're gonna start picking up the intensity at practice. Which basically means we're starting to take it more seriously — that means showing up on time, focusing and not goofing off during drills, talking about drills and how we can improve. But most importantly, it means showing up to practice. Showing up — even if you're hurt and can't play, or if you can only be there for 30 minutes 'cause of class — shows a hell of a lot of commitment to the team. Everyone has made sacrifices to be there every week, so you can, too. I know there's a lot going on, but if you absolutely can't make it, call me or Shakey. 

The drills: Ian and I talked about the mark drill after practice. Maybe there's a way we can have it simulate a game more realistically. The fast-break drills were interesting. It simulates a turn near an endzone, and the defense has to respond immediately (calling the force, pointing at who they're defending, not getting broken). The offense is trying to punch it in with one throw. 

The huck drill went great. We had our offense start with about 10 feet of separation, and we completed at least 75 percent of our hucks. We noticed that the throws don't have to be perfect, just in-bounds and in front of the cutter. Also, the earlier you throw the huck, the better. 

It's also really hard to throw when you're tired. You start to lose the fundamentals (stepping out, getting low, lots of spin, follow through, etc.) So throwing when you're tired can really help simulate throwing on the fourth game of a tournament.