On the Road again

So this past Saturday the Pittsburgh Summer League officially started. As Mark mentioned before, he and I got on the same team along with two of our friends from high school. Our team turned out to be pretty good, and it seemed like the majority of people were younger than 21. This means we had lots of fresh legs (we also had like 30 people show up) but a slight lack of experience. It seemed like everyone had the fundamental skills down they just needed some game experience, for instance who to pick up on D, making sure to clear out, keeping the force.

For me, this weekend was a bit of a kick in the butt. There were many things I could have done better but also some good things that encouraged me. Right away I noticed that I was less in shape than I hoped. I got tired faster than usual and on one occasion it made me give up a point. I guess my workouts of pushups, situps, and Wii fit isn't enough. There was one time I could have layed out for a D but chumped out, and one time when I should have layed out but more like stumbled-out. That was a little embarassing, I missed the catch and bruised my shin. I had 3 hucks throughout the day, one which was caught, one was a diving (missed) catch, and one anyone over 5 feet would have caught. So overall I was pretty happy with that aspect, one of my goals for this summer league was to work on my hucks (and handling in general).

Some of the best plays I made were when there was synergy between me and Mark. It seemed like when one of us had the disc the other would know exactly where and when to cut. We probably had 4-5 upfield/break throws this way. Other than that I had a few good throws/cuts/heads up plays that made me feel good about my overall playing.

As far as our actual games, we ending up beating both teams we played. The first game we went up 14-5 but somehow let them come back 14-13 before finishing it. Woops. The next game was a hard fought battle, we stopped them on their game point and took the next three points to win by two.

Overall this weekend was a lot of fun and a good reminder to me that I need to be working out (running/jump-roping) and working on my thows more outside of games/practices.

I hope the rest of your summers have been filled with flying discs.

-Andy