*Note: This is probably the best drill I have for high school students to help them learn the game!

There are two basic types of pivots in Ultimate, Front Pivots and *Back Pivots.  The terms are pretty much self explanatory.  A front pivot is a pivot with your face/torso towards the marker and a back pivot is one where you pivot with your back to the marker.

Requires: 4 players, one disc and three cones (optional)

Instructions:

1)     Three of the four players start off on offense and one is on defense.  The three on offense form an equilateral triangle with about eight yards distance between themselves.

2)     The defensive player lines up on one of the throwers and when the thrower is ready, begins a stall count to five.

3)      The thrower must stand with his/her back to the defender (marker) the whole time he is trying to throw.

4)   For throws going to the player on the thrower's left, the thrower should throw a lefty.  For throws going to the thrower's right, throw a righty.

5) After (or preferably as) the throw gets thrown, the thrower should follow his throw and now he becomes the next defender as soon as he touches the disc. 

6) The defender now moves back to fill the extra spot in the triangle as a receiver.  Go back to step 3. 

Things to remember

1)      Fake more than one fake to each side per pivot.  A good sequence is fake low lefty, fake high lefty, back pivot and then throw righty.

2)      Don’t travel, achieve and then sustain balance directly over pivot foot

3)      Legitimize fakes with sustained eye contact

4)     Explode out of throws, the throw should be a bi-product of your cut instead of the cut coming as a consequence of your throw.

5)  Keep your back to the marker the whole time you have the disc.

 

Fundamentals Emphasized

1)      Balance

2)      Back Pivots

3)      Penetration

4)      Checking off

5)      Marking Skills

6)      Faking Sequences

7)      Ambidexterity

Player One (back pivot)

Player Two

Player Three

Player Four (marker)

Cones

Cut

Pass

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Props goes to Randy Wooldridge, currently up, in or around Chico State for teaching me the Back Pivot at Purdue back in the day...