Accumulating marginal gains in ultimate frisbee
How will you get 1% better?
I was recently reading James Clear's Atomic Habits. The book starts with an anecdote about the concept of "aggregation of marginal gains", a key philosophy the British cycling team used to grow from a mediocre program into a team that won multiple Olympic gold medals and Tour de Frances:
[Dave] Brailsford had been hired to put British Cycling on a new trajectory. What made him different from previous coaches was his relentless commitment to a strategy that he referred to as “the aggregation of marginal gains,” which was the philosophy of searching for a tiny margin of improvement in everything you do. Brailsford said, “The whole principle came from the idea that if you broke down everything you could think of that goes into riding a bike, and then improve it by 1 percent, you will get a significant increase when you put them all together.”
Brailsford and his coaches began by making small adjustments you might expect from a professional cycling team. They redesigned the bike seats to make them more comfortable and rubbed alcohol on the tires for a better grip. They asked riders to wear electrically heated overshorts to maintain ideal muscle temperature while riding and used biofeedback sensors to monitor how each athlete responded to a particular workout. The team tested various fabrics in a wind tunnel and had their outdoor riders switch to indoor racing suits, which proved to be lighter and more aerodynamic.
But they didn’t stop there. Brailsford and his team continued to find 1 percent improvements in overlooked and unexpected areas...
[It turns out they may have been using 1% more performance enhancing drugs, too. But I don't think that invalidates the overall philosophy.]
I started thinking about applying this concept to ultimate frisbee. My searches suggest the idea of aggregating marginal gains has never shown up on Ultiworld or on the r/ultimate subreddit. So I brainstormed a number of ways to get 1% better at frisbee:
— 1% better fitness
1% higher jumping
1% better cardio
1% better running form
miss 1% fewer workouts
1% faster
1% better acceleration
1% better at backpedaling
— 1% better health
1% better at sleeping
1% healthier eating
1% closer to my goal weight
1% better at recovery
1% more resistant to new injuries
1% improvement on my chronic injuries
—1% less stress in the rest of your life
(and 1% better at managing the stress that remains)
1% better financial situation
1% better at having awkward-yet-productive conversations to solve small issues
— 1% better at catching
(one hand, two hand grab, two hand clap catch)
1% better at reading the disc
1% better at timing the jump on a jump ball
1% better at catching in the wind
1% better at catching hard/blading throws
1% better at toeing the disc in on out-of-bounds passes
— 1% better at throwing
[I won't bother listing all the various throws you could get 1% better at]
1% faster release
1% better at throwing a wet disc or throwing with a sweaty hand
1% better hangtime on pulls
1% better distance on pulls
1% more spin on the disc
1% lower release on my low release throws (and 1% higher on high releases)
— 1% better tournament habits
1% better game day hydration
1% better at staying cool on hot days (e.g. 1% better at using the perfect amount of sunscreen)
1% better tournament-day diet
1% better warm up routine. 1% better at staying 'warm' on the sideline between points
1% better clothing (e.g. socks/underwear/shorts that don't cause chafing?) (or grip socks, thanks to Ultimate Insights for the suggestion. added 2024-11-14)
1% better tournament bag
Making sure someone on the team is doing laundry so everyone has fresh, dry uniforms (added 2024-11-14)
Having a consistent way to keep your hands dry (chalk, etc) (added 2024-11-14, again thanks to Ultimate Insights)
— 1% better strategically
1% better knowledge of the opponents you're facing
1% better knowledge of your teammates' tendencies
1% better calibration of which skills you do/don't have
1% better rules knowledge
1% better at giving a calm & thorough explanation of your perspective during an in-game contested call
1% better at using fast break opportunities
spend 1% more time watching tape of your opponents
use practice time 1% more efficiently
— 1% better on defense
1% more comfortable playing zone D
1% better positioning
1% better at defending give-and-gos
1% better at playing defense as a team
1% more OODAs
1% better at baiting passes you can block
1% better at selling out to stop short throws when the person with the disc can't throw long
— 1% better at the mental game
1% more comfortable in high-pressure situations on the field
1% better at dealing with the boredom/frustration you experience when putting in the hours of practice it takes to become great
1% better at analyzing yourself/taking notes on your performance/giving yourself feedback
1% better at staying calm when the stall count gets high
1% better at staying focused/not giving up when physically fatigued
—1% better at cutting
1% better at timing continuation cuts
1% better at communicating with the thrower (voice, hands, eyes)
1% better at juking
1% better awareness of the cuts your teammates are making
—1% better at 'soft' skills
1% better at connecting with people
1% better at supporting teammates
1% better at motivating teammates
1% better at controlling your emotions
Final thoughts
A list like this is never going to include every possible example. Don't think of it as a completed list—what it is is an inspiration to think about the various ways it's possible to get slightly better at frisbee.
Honestly, aggregating marginal gains isn't as important in frisbee as it is in cycling. Because all elite cyclists are pushing up against the limits of what's humanly possible, a 1% edge is very valuable. Most of us, however, could easily make gains of 10% or more just by patiently putting in the extra hours to work on our skills/fitness (e.g. I think I can improve my cardio by 10%; I think I can improve my flick hucks by 10%).
But it's still fun—and useful—to think about the various paths to marginal improvement.
Let me know what else I should add to the list.
Inspiring!