Resources for High School Players

So many in the ultimate world have commented on what could be described as the "knowledge gap" with other sports. When you play basketball, you know all the rules, and to feel like you can play at a high level you know all the fundamentals, perhaps you watch the pros, you know what types of drills to do etc. However in ultimate it seems as if on every team there are only a few if any of those types of players, and usually those are the ones who have assumed the burden of teaching everyone else around them how to play.

The long and short of it is, following that model, ultimate can only progress so far. Individual players need to make strides to learn about the games themselves. They need to first off know all the rules, otherwise you are just shooting yourself in the foot. And further, the ones who wish to become good, need to go further and learn the strategy of the game etc.

So without further ado, i post for you, a list that i have compiled off the top of my head of sources for high school players in particular to better their game...



Ultimate Websites and Media

http://parinella.blogspot.com/ - Jim Parinella's blog - one of the
foremost experts on ultimate, has played for Boston's Death or Glory
for more than ten years now - DOG is a team which won something like 5
back to back national championships in the early 90s, this year they
went to natties and reached the semifinals

http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/mamabird/camp/video/jem_camp_20...
- video from Colorado University's recruitment camp. These are the
types of players you need to be able to beat one on one, point after
point, to compete at the national level

http://www.ultfris.blogspot.com/ - ultimate frisbee strategy and
coaching information, very useful if you want to learn more

http://frisbeespew.com/ - frisbee spew, commentary and thought
provoking thingers from the ultimate community

http://www.ultimatetalk.com/ - a bunch of the ultimate blogs compiled
into one site. it takes posts from jim parinella, and other top club
players from around the country and puts them all on one page

http://www.ultivillage.com/newsite/ - if you dont already go here
daily, you are missing out. almost every single day there is a new clip
of the day. the company produces dvds featuring the top ultimate action
in the country. right now they offer something like 3 or 4 dvds, with a
new one coming out every few months. definitely some awesome stuff.
they also have a compilation of user submitted links on there which
could probably help you. dvds are reasonably priced and well worth the
money. michael jordan didnt learn to play bball without watching wilt
chamberlain and bill russel on tv. you have to learn from someone.

http://www.gaiaultimate.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=4_13_84_88
- gaia offers a few ultimate DVDs which are all very worthwhile. but
above all, i strongly STRONGLY recommend buying I Bleed Black. if you
want anything for christmas, ask for this. holy lord is it worth it.
and its only selling for $20. that is an absolute steal. the dvd is a
documentary of the UC Santa Barbara team of 2002 i believe and their
run at a national championship. it goes through their practices, team
meetings, everything. its amazingly valuable. the trailer can be seen
here - http://www.ibleedblack.com/largeTrailer.html

Ultimate Books

there are also a bunch of books availiable (hello christmas presents!)
written by the legends of the game...

Ultimate Techniques and Tactics - written by Jim Parinella and Eric
Zaslow, awesome diagrams, graphics, tips for training, drills, diet,
everything you need to know, and right now on amazon its around $13,
not too bad at all
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/073605104X/104-2844810-2276742

The Fundamentals of Ultimate, written by James Studarus, i own it, not
as good as t&t, but not bad, only $8 as well
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0972890300/104-2844810-2276742

Ultimate: The First Four Decades - written in part by Adam Zagoria,
with tons of contributors - if you want to know why you play the way
you do. why you have the championships you have etc. where the upa came
from. who won championships of the past. who started the sport. who if
the jerry west of ultimate. the babe ruths, etc. if you want to know
where the sport is going, where you have the potential to go, you have
to know where it came from. this book has just been released. it comes
with a dvd. its apparently amazing. i havent gotten mine yet but holy
hell will i. it will sell out, i can promise you that. because they are
running from such a small printing firm they only have a limited number
of copies, and it will sell out.
http://www.ultimatehistory.com/

Ultimate Camps

Ok, so you want to do more than just read things online, and watch some
videos about ultimate. During the summer there are tons of camps around
the country for high school ultimate players -

http://www.ultimatecamp.com/ - the Philadelphia ultimate camp, if you are interested in ultimate and want to get better this is the camp you want to go to. you will be taught by mostly
OLD SAG players (Philadelphia's Masters team) many of whom were on the
national championship team a few years back, and most of whom played at
nationals this year.

http://www.nutc.net/ - the undeniably most prestigious ultimate camp in
the country. if you want to be one of the best high school players in
the nation, this is something to think about. top college and club
players from around the country travel to the boston area every year to
help coach and run the camp. if you go there, you learn from the best.

http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/mamabird/camp/ - i dont know too
many things about this camp, except that it is basically a recruitment
tool for Colorado who is one of the most dominant teams in college
ultimate. they were in the finals last year, they won the year before
that. they are a perennial favorite. definitely worth looking at if you
want to get yourself recognized

http://www2.upa.org/parents/youthtrainingcamps.shtml - the upa has a
few other camps listed

Do you have something we left out? Feel free to post a link as a comment