Heading into the Fire

The beginning of the college series marks a time of hope. Every team gets a fresh chance to take on the nation and show their “true” skill. No excuses allowed. This is the time to bring you’re A-game. Go big, or go home.

We cannot look past sectionals, but at the same time, we’ve got prepare ourselves for a month long series. So, how does one strike the right balance?

First, realize that we’ve been working all year long, and any major improvements should be evident by now. The next month should be used to perfect the skills that you have. Do not play outside your skill set in the hopes of making mistakes from which you can learn. That type of play has its place in the summer and fall. We cannot afford mistakes in the series. Work on the skill set you have and practice it until you can’t get it wrong.

Second, use this weekend to focus on Sectionals. True, we’re way out of our competitors’ league, but we aren’t infallible. We’ve lost to enough teams that we should have beaten to know that surprises aren’t fun. If any of these teams get to half-time, that’s a disappointment.

Third, stay healthy. Practice is practice. Going 110% on every drill and scrimmage point will only result in injuries and fatigue. Choke it down a few notches and save it for Boomland in pool play.

Now, you may read this and go, “It sounds like rip has gone soft. He’s advocating stagnation. He doesn’t want us to push ourselves to get better for fear of making mistakes or getting hurt.” You’re wrong. I’m saying do work on what you do best.

The team counts on each person for a certain skill set. For example, I’m counted on to play defense on their “squirrelly” cutter. My focus for the month is perfecting my positioning so that I can shut him down and still be able to help on cuts made by other players. I’m not going to experiment with big poaching, but I’m gonna work on recognizing those times when I can leave my guy. I also know that I won’t be throwing 60 yard hucks into the wind, but my 40 yard shots have the green light.

None of us are 1-dimensional players, but none of us have every throw or cut for every situation. Do what you do best, and we can enjoy the gorgeous view in Boulder come May