Latest Posts
How to Throw a Backhand
The most fundamental throw in ultimate is the backhand. It’s important to learn the mechanics of the throw (grip, wrist snap, body movement) before spending a lot of time on the technique. If you don’t develop the proper mechanics when…
What is an Overall?
I’ve been asked by a few friends what events I compete in at an Overall Disc Sports Competition. There are 7 events: accuracy, discathon, freestyle, disc golf, self caught flight, double disc court and distance: ACCURACY – Players get a…
Ultimate Frisbee World Champion Thomas Kuhn
Thomas Kuhn, a member of the 2008 World Champion Canadian Open team, was recently selected to be a member of the Open Team which will be traveling to Sakai, Japan in July to compete in the 2012 WFDF World Ultimate…
Valuing the Disc
One of my favorite moments of this past weekend was a play by our captain Nat. She was cutting in for a throw from a handler with a tight D on her hip. The throw went up and out to…
Ultimate Project #14
Michael Lawler takes us in detail through 3 clips showing what a vertical stack offense looks like and how to execute properly. He takes us through each clip, explaining what either went right or went wrong, focusing mainly on the…
Recommended Training Outline
I’ve been asked this question quite a bit by my fans and so I wanted to give you an outline for what you should be working on in the gym and in your training sessions. For most of it, I…
Exercise for More Throwing Power
One of the key parts of getting more power in your throw is to increase the mobility in your thoracic spine. Prayers, a thoracic spine mobilizer, is an exercise I’ve been doing for a few months in my warm-up before…
Ultimate Project #13
Michael Lawler takes us in detail through 2 poor endzone points in the Brute Squad vs Scandal game, Boston Invite 2011. Before watching this video, you should check out Ultimate Project #5 first – which shows 4 good endzone points.…
Custom Videos for Calgary Ultimate Association
This summer, I’m partnering up with the Calgary Ultimate Association. They’re a not-for-profit group focused on growing ultimate in Calgary, Alberta, Canada with their goal being to make ultimate the sport of choice for athletes. They’ve done a great job…
Getting More Power in Your Throw
In this video, I introduce my trainer, Curtis Howden, and we talk about how I’m training for disc sports competitions with a specific focus on getting more power in my throw. We’re starting by mobilizing my thoracic spine and by…
Official Rules of Ultimate
If you live and play in North America, official rules are here: If you play anywhere else in the world, the WFDF official rules of ultimate: Here is a quick summary of the rules: The Field: A rectangular…
Coaching Resources
This page will contain documents and links which you can use to help teach your fellow teammates and to help coach yourself to become a better player. Throwing 101 – Tips and Cues for Teaching Throwing and Catching (pdf) Glossary…
The Season of Ultimate Stats – Part 2
The interview with Thomas Kuhn that Ultimate Rob recently posted to his site reminded me that, last summer, I had the good fortune of watching Thomas play in a showcase game between Furious George and Sockeye at the Flowerbowl tournament in Vancouver. One…
Ultimate Project #12
Michael looks at 3 plays from the Brute Squad vs Scandal game at the 2011 Boston Invite. He looks at what went right and what went wrong in the two plays and offers some suggestions for improvement.
Getting to Know Thomas Kuhn
Thomas Kuhn, an ultimate frisbee player living in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, won World’s in 2008 with the Team Canada Open team. He was recently selected to the roster again this year and will be traveling to Sakai, Japan in July…
Effective Goal Setting and Progress Tracking
No matter what you’re doing, if you don’t have a way of tracking your progress, how will you know what works and doesn’t work? How will you be able to appreciate how far you’ve come or how will you even…
Season of Ultimate Stats – Part 1
Last summer, I wrote a post for ultimaterob.com about a system of ultimate frisbee statistics that I had devised. I used this system to score both an elite ultimate game between NexGen and Furious George, as well as a Calgary…
Is Going Gluten-Free Really Healthier?
Only a decade ago, celiac disease was thought to be a rare disorder that mainly affected European populations. Celiac disease is an autoimmune condition that causes the finger-like extensions (villi) of the small intestine to flatten when a person with…
Learning from Experience
How do you expect to learn if you don’t play? What I mean by this is, if you spend all of your time practicing throwing or practicing running plays or practicing catching, how are you actually going to get better?…
Review: The Ultimate Athlete Handbook
Before I read The Ultimate Athlete Handbook, I first skimmed it to see how the content was laid out. As an avid reader and writer, this matters to me on both sides. First as a reader, I like to see…
Cold Weather Ultimate – Should I Wear Gloves?
All over the world ultimate is played by millions of players in warm sunny climates, on green grassy fields with a gentle breeze in the air. However, for many of these players, for half the year, the sun hides behind…
The Ten Commandments of Frisbee
I The most powerful force in the world is that of a disc straining to land under a car, just beyond reach. This force is technically called “car suck”. II The higher the quality of a catch or the comment…
Frisbee Skills Wins Games*
*Having good fitness will help but ultimately frisbee skills are more important Far too often, I read about players spending all of their time in the gym and barely any on the field spent practicing. I don’t mean being at…
Passion vs Obsession
Some would say there’s a fine line between passion and obsession. First of all, what is the difference? I found a great explanation that I will use here to frame the rest of this post. Passion – when people admire…