Midweek practice with AMP. We did a short warmup, then did the gauntlet D positioning drill, then went to scimmaging.

Most of the time, we scrimmaged with the same format as the camping weekend: D pulls to O, O sets up on D on the endzone line. If O scores, they play D. If D scores, that’s it. The playing was fun, but it was O that struggled a lot this time. We played well but made execution mistakes and didn’t get them back. On the few times we got them back, we turned it over again. I don’t think we got more than one or two breaks the whole time.

In the last 20 minutes, we tried a new format. Neither team was allowed to score within the first 30 seconds of their possession. The endzone was considered out of bounds. After a turn, the 30 seconds restarted. The goal is to encourage the D to play aggressive underneath defense (as teams do to us sometimes) and for the O to be chilly and really work to maintain possession. At first this was a fun twist. Several points went by with both teams being patient and swinging the disc among the handlers near the endzone until it was time to score. However, the D soon realized that they needed to shut down the dumps to prevent the easy strategy. Also we got tired of the longer points. The two factors combined to create a lot of stress, and the frustration really showed for both teams. The last point took about 10 minutes to end, with both teams having multiple drops (sometimes first-throw drops) and really struggling to assert themselves. Part of this was because we really emphasize pushing upfield and not throwing backwards, but once we got to the goal line and couldnt advance, we got stuck and didn’t adjust well. Another part is that we need to practice being flexible and communicating on the field to solve problems. Finally, we have work to do in frustration management department.

Looking forward to double practice this weekend.