Completely agree! When I read this earlier I was going to comment that there's only one situation I can think of where a person shouldn't pick up the disc after a turn, namely: they're the furthest-forward person on their team, so if they pick it up, no immediate forward throw will be available. But just tonight I witnessed a brilliant play by a friend of mine that refutes even that. One team turned it over trying to throw a dump; my friend (who was in the other team's backfield and hence the furthest forward person on his team now that it was their disc) picked it up, threw an immediate dump, and took off down the field to catch the long return pass for an uncontested goal.
So yeah, pick it up and get the disc moving before the defense can set up, and good things will happen!
Yeah - I mean we can find a few scenarios where it is in fact unwise to pick up but they are the exceptions that prove the rule. It is all about can you get the offense moving before the D sets up. That should be very often YES so pick it up and take easy pass. I will throw out a caveat - do all 7 players have the field sense and judgment to recognize when they are in the bad situation? (d sets up on weak thrower). If not, I think it’s the right thing to hear from the sideline - don’t set up my weak thrower to fail. But it has to come with knowledge transfer so they learn why it was a rare case of don’t pick up. But the default should be yeah grab it and go, and I’ll call you off if you were falling in a trap. But I trust you to make a 5 yard backhand so go get the O started!
but what if everyone in my summer league starts to hate me when i pick up the disc and immediately cause a turnover? (this is a joke because the only way to lead to not-that-outcome would be to practice more)
I know you were semi-joking but I think this is a good question, too. Only an exceedingly small percentage of frisbee players are reading my blog. There's a lot of people out there convinced that only handlers should pick up the disc, and you're bound to end up on a team with them.
Aside from practice, I think one of the best things you can do is just talk to your teammates. Which admittedly is easier said than done, even for me. But if your teammates know that (a) that you're picking up the disc for a well-thought-out strategic reason and not out of ignorance of tactics and (b) you care about learning and growing as a player... well, they will be much more likely to support your decisions. I think what (most) experienced players find frustrating is when newer players don't bother trying to learn from their mistakes -- it's not the mistakes in and of themselves that are the issue.
Completely agree! When I read this earlier I was going to comment that there's only one situation I can think of where a person shouldn't pick up the disc after a turn, namely: they're the furthest-forward person on their team, so if they pick it up, no immediate forward throw will be available. But just tonight I witnessed a brilliant play by a friend of mine that refutes even that. One team turned it over trying to throw a dump; my friend (who was in the other team's backfield and hence the furthest forward person on his team now that it was their disc) picked it up, threw an immediate dump, and took off down the field to catch the long return pass for an uncontested goal.
So yeah, pick it up and get the disc moving before the defense can set up, and good things will happen!
Yeah - I mean we can find a few scenarios where it is in fact unwise to pick up but they are the exceptions that prove the rule. It is all about can you get the offense moving before the D sets up. That should be very often YES so pick it up and take easy pass. I will throw out a caveat - do all 7 players have the field sense and judgment to recognize when they are in the bad situation? (d sets up on weak thrower). If not, I think it’s the right thing to hear from the sideline - don’t set up my weak thrower to fail. But it has to come with knowledge transfer so they learn why it was a rare case of don’t pick up. But the default should be yeah grab it and go, and I’ll call you off if you were falling in a trap. But I trust you to make a 5 yard backhand so go get the O started!
Was thinking this too
but what if everyone in my summer league starts to hate me when i pick up the disc and immediately cause a turnover? (this is a joke because the only way to lead to not-that-outcome would be to practice more)
I know you were semi-joking but I think this is a good question, too. Only an exceedingly small percentage of frisbee players are reading my blog. There's a lot of people out there convinced that only handlers should pick up the disc, and you're bound to end up on a team with them.
Aside from practice, I think one of the best things you can do is just talk to your teammates. Which admittedly is easier said than done, even for me. But if your teammates know that (a) that you're picking up the disc for a well-thought-out strategic reason and not out of ignorance of tactics and (b) you care about learning and growing as a player... well, they will be much more likely to support your decisions. I think what (most) experienced players find frustrating is when newer players don't bother trying to learn from their mistakes -- it's not the mistakes in and of themselves that are the issue.