Situational Awareness Comes Before Action and Movement

The dog Releases after the catch, Reorients to the handler, and then Approaches. Each of these are key criteria.

Speed is Knowledge, Not Athleticism – Prophecy of Movement

on defense if you know what the play is, where and when it’s gonna happen, you don’t need speed. you walk over and stop the play. as a DiscDog handler you have similar athletic prophetic powers available to you.

Speed in team sports is more about knowledge than athleticism. Knowing that your dog is going to go somewhere in some fashion after the catch is extremely important for DiscDog handlers. This knowledge is like prophecy of movement. You should be able to predict how and where your dog is going to Release after each and every trick.

The Release is a pretty common term in dog sports and athletics in general, and it’s going to mean a lot of things here too, but the gist of it is that the Release is where/when/how the dog resolves a trick. All tricks have a Release.

How does your dog go Around? Where does your dog finish the around? What direction is the dog leaving the Around behavior in? Is the dog Gone!? Or does the dog go Around and check right in and pull off? Is the dog super tight on your knee-pit on the Around? Or is it much more of a wide outrun for your Team?

When a dog flips, those flips have Releases. How the dog lands and is moving at the time of landing is important information to have.

Understanding and Shaping the Release

once you know about the Release and start to look for it you start to understand how your dog moves and how you need to move. once you’ve got this you can start to make the Team move reliably and efficiently.

Releases have reasons. Most X Dogs, dogs who only run in straight lines while playing disc will have a reflexive release back to the handler. My dogs develop this if I’m doing a lot of interior work, and it is completely a product of my play. If you rush the dog back to the handler consistently it will alter the Release and make for a Release with a harsh landing and an immediate flip back to the handler.

Same is true of the Victory Lap champ being angrily cheered by his handler from 40 yards away,” Hustle! Hustle! [w00t w00t!!]” sounds like a raucous crowd behind them. Silence and marking the Reorientation is what will lead to sharper retrieves and reduced Outruns.

You, the handler, through your movement, your trick selection, your throws, and your play create all of these releases. On interior moves a slight turn of the body can and does change the way the dog lands and releases. This happens in all but scientific fashion too, so you can run it if you are prepared and can see it.

Reorientation – First Criteria After Catch

the dog looking back to the handler is the first criteria in returning to the handler. the gait change, the head turn, waiting for the body to orient… you marked any of these? they’re all important, especially if your dog doesn’t do it well.

Reorientation is the first Team Movement criteria available to the handler after a catch outside of the Drop. It is likely the first thing the dog does after the catch. If it is not, simply wait for it, Mark it and pay it with a Bite, Throw, or a Roller in the direction that will make the dog streak past you (Pass).

This will reinforce the dog looking back towards the handler which is the end of the chase and beginning of the Retrieve. Marking and paying this moment is critical for reducing the OutRun and increasing approach speed.

Capture and shape this criteria and reinforce well in place that makes the dog run fast towards you and turn it into the type of retrieve you want to have. Slow retrieves are the handler’s fault. And often that is just a failure of imagination and observation.

Approach – More Jam or Time for a Huddle?

lots of dogs run back to the handler like they’re running back to the huddle after the play. they’re hustling but only so the coach don’t yell at them. create exciting movements and moments after a catch with Bites and more throws.

Simliar both the Release and the Reorientation, slow Approaches on retrieve are often reinforced by the handler.

This can happen due to inattention to positional pressure and the Working Flank. If you’re standing on your dog’s Strong Flank your retrieve will be faster than on the Weak Flank. Turn a bit in that direction and it will be faster still.

Many dogs turn around a see a quarterback dusting himself off and jogging over to give a High 5 before lining up another play. Running back at the handler, and I mean oppositionally, is not what Teammates do. The only time that happens is after the play as we’re going back to the huddle to plan our next one.

If you want to increase intensity of Approach, make sure that the Approach leads to and ends with something amazing in a place that makes them run to you or past you really fast.

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