Windmill Windup Wrapup

Haven't posted on my blog in a week and a half.
Last week up to Wednesday was quiet. Didn't want to do anything too strenuous before Windmill Windup so was just cycling.
Then on Wednesday evening I headed to Windmill Windup! Ka-Pow were previewed by SkydMagazine and everyone was excited as no-one had been to Windmill previously!
Most of our team arrived on the Thursday and had an afternoon about town where we chatted about social rules and had a couple of drinks before heading to set up camp, sort out registration and hit the opening night's party!
Friday rolled around and most of Ka-Pow's players awoke bleary eyed from the night before to get some breakfast before our first game.

Game 1: Loss vs Uprising (11-12)
Game 2: Loss vs Rebel Ultimate (14-15)
Game 3: Loss vs Frizzly Bears (14-15)

These three games were pretty similar in that we were leading in all of them but were unable to score the final point in all of them. Some sloppy/hungover offense and tired/hungover defense meant that we handed teams the disc and couldn't get a block back. A really disappointing day. However, we were using the weekend to practice Zone transitions, playing almost exclusively zone defense as our first option and teams were occasionally able to break our zones before we transitioned or were able to be patient and adapt their offenses when we did.
The shakiness of the offense was the real worry here. With a small squad and coming off a big opening night party the offense was never going to be perfect, but mistakes happened all over the field leading to missed chances.
The interesting thing about the day was, with the swiss draw format, the teams we played on this day were all of a similar skill level and in fact Frizzly Bears who we played third had won both their previous games in Sudden death compared with our two sudden death losses and it again came down to sudden death. This is a clear indicator of how good a system mathematically it is in matching up opponents, but of course would not work in all tournaments.

I headed to bed early on Friday night (still hungover from the Thursday night opening party), but I know some of our squad stayed out again.

Saturday:

Game 4: Loss vs Sieben Schwaben (6-14)

So on Saturday, the conditions changed quite dramatically. Whilst Friday had given us a calm sunny day, just after halftime in game 1 on Saturday the wind was blowing a sideways torrential downpour. Having been at 8-6 down at halftime and in a position to keep the game closed, we came out flat against a team with twice as many legs as Ka-Pow (with Will C, Pichler and Timmy all out through injury) and started to lose any sort of control of the game. Tired legs were struggling to get free from their defenders, throwers lost their grip on the wet discs and started turfing throws and our zone transitions had been figured out. In the huddle after the game their captain mentioned how man defense might have played better in our favour and there's a possibility it could have, but it's more of a shame how close it had been up until half playing with a very limited squad and restricted tactics.

Game 5: Loss vs Friselis Versailles (5-12)

This game was really the low point of the weekend. This team wasn't good enough to deserve the score against us, but heads were so down at this point that we made simple mental mistakes in a cross wind that they effectively trapped us in with their not-unbeatable zone. We went down 0-3 with silly mistakes that were punished quickly and effectively by them. We made adjustments late in the game which meant they couldn't run away with it, but we never really challenged in this game.

Game 6: Win vs Flying Steps (15-5)

Make no mistake, Ka-Pow needed this win. Everyone had heads down going into this game we were still looking shaky. Luckily we faced a bad team. We threw our zones and they decided the best way to beat them was to crowd all their players around the disc (hint: it's not). They were very student-y in their play and whilst it was a well needed win, we knew we still weren't at our best.

Game 7: Win vs KFK Copenhagen (12-2)

With confidence now restored, this game started tight going to 2-2 before we truly stepped up and took this game away. At times it wasn't pretty, and strategically it wasn't perfect, but we were able to get away with some stuff thanks to (now confident) receivers making plays and somehow the defense managed to pick up a couple of blocks to rectify the few mistakes that did happen. Finally we were playing at an acceptable level and despite this being the 4th game of the day and the 7th of the weekend, we finally had a performance to take heart from.

The Saturday party was a pretty manic affair with plenty of dancing and Nalgene's full of Vodka/Rum/Both and coke. Getting back to the tent at 4 meant that I would be tired the next day, but luckily I avoided the kind of crippling hangover that I had on Friday.

Sunday:

Game 8: Loss vs Mooncatchers (9-11)

This game started out a little chippy with too many fouls being committed by tired Ka-Pow legs. Zone transitions were still being worked on, but the Belgians were very patient against them. We once again gave the disc away too many times and weren't able to pull out the win.


If I'm being honest here, Windmill Windup was the best disappointing tournament I've ever been to. Results wise, Ka-Pow had a bad time with three sudden death losses from being ahead, and some very disappointing games, but the players who were there got a whole lot of field time and plenty of experience with both our offense and defense that will be a massive boost going forward. The tournament itself was fantastic and going there with the team we had was a great deal of fun off the field.
I was fairly happy with my play and was voted MVP of Friday by Ka-Pow, despite my massive hangover and was also voted MVP by KFK Copenhagen in our game against them. I got a layout block in each of the first two games and had some good moments. I also felt I suffered from tired legs and also was playing with a bruised left foot for all of Saturday and Sunday (and also got winded in our first game on Saturday which has manifested itself into what now feels like bruised ribs) and at times made silly mistakes, but generally felt I played pretty well.

I will definitely not be going into Tour 2 dowhearted. Our squad for Windmill had 40% of our full squad of players and were missing a lot of our top end stars. We were playing against some good teams and despite the final record (2 Ws - 6 Ls) we ended up close to the middle of the table 29th out of 48. We practiced Zone transition heavily which was our aim and also got some good practice on our offensive structures, making some slight adjustments as we went.
Tour 2 should allow all the players who were at Windmill to contribute and really improve the team dynamic with a lot more subs.

Tour 2 Preview coming tomorrow!