spring league playoffs
I had my first tourney experience of the year yesterday and I was actually in better shape then I had any right to be. What with the ankle that’s kept me out of play for the past 6 weeks, and the ten pounds of extra weight I have right now, I should have been sucking much more wind than I was. I guess that just goes to show you that the adrenaline of tournament play can usually help you overcome your natural handicaps.
This spring men’s league brought out the same feelings and challenges that I always have a) in spring time, and b) playing on a team where I feel inadequate (whether or not I am is not an issue). Because my winter training regime is *cough* non-existent *cough*, I understandably head into spring feeling out of shape and out of practice (indoor winter league notwithstanding). This I understand and can deal with. (I mean, what can I really expect? I’ve been slack. Now I must pay.)
The challenge is when I’m playing with players that I feel are faster and more “talented” than me — then, rather than playing the game the way I play it, I start to try and play like the “better” players do.
Learning from other players is a good thing — throwing out your own method of play is not.
I’m not a fast player. Never have been. But I can be fast enough when I play smart. I can’t poach too much, but I can place myself where my field sense can help balance out my speed disadvantage. Some players have the ability to stick directly on their mark’s shoulder and stay with them, cut after cut, point after point. While I can do that for spurts, if I try and play like that for the whole game I’ll just get further and further behind as I tire myself out. My advantage is having a fairly good sense of positioning and knowing how to place myself in tactically good positions on the field.
In the regular games of spring league that I was able to play (stupid ankle), I felt like I was trying to play like certain other players on the team and not play like myself. And so I felt even more awkward, because that just won’t work. Yesterday was the first day this spring where I felt like I was really letting myself play like myself, so the awkwardness disappeared. I still wasn’t as good as the really good players, but I let myself be the *pretty good* player that I can be. And that’s a good thing.
Besides my slack training regime (which has got to stop) my ability to hamstring myself mentally is the part of my game that I need to correct the most.
That and making smarter throws.
And less poaching.
