When we started Elevate Ultimate in 2016, we asked the same question many coaches and organizations ask today: What is the best way to teach ultimate to kids?
We knew that the key to growing Elevate and ultimate in general was a grassroots approach, as in getting kids to play that had never seen or heard of ultimate before. Moreover, we knew the vital importance of these kids having an absolute blast at their very first practice, and not leaving a single ounce of doubt in their mind whether they wanted to play again.
Unfortunately, many of the resources available online when starting Elevate were not usable for this goal. Partner passing, three person, breakforce go-to…heck, these are boring for adult club teams, how could we expect a new 8 year old to fall in love with ultimate from those drills?
That’s why Elevate has started a Game of the Month series. Each month, we’ll show you one of our favourite games (voted on by the 10,000 kids that we coach each year) and the different ways we adapt them for different ages and skill levels.
If you like what you see, make sure to check out our full database of curriculum resources with 100+ games and drills, 60+ video tutorials, and 8+ curriculum templates so you never have to come up with camp or clinic curriculum again!
Color Cutting Tutorial
Color Cutting is a fun way to work on footwork, cutting, and catching with kids ages 7 – 13.
Set Up:
➔ Place 4 different coloured cones in a rectangle spread out enough that the distance is a good “cut” between them
➔ Place a starting cone
➔ Coach throws off to the side
How to Play:
➔One at a time, a player goes through a cutting pattern and then runs deep/long
➔ The coach yells a colour-pattern: e.g. “Blue, yellow, red, GO!”
➔ The person then runs that pattern in order and then runs deep for a huck
Adaptations:
➔ Have the athletes call colours for each other
➔ Make it a completion competition between different groups
➔ Make it a sky battle between two groups running the same pattern
➔ Make another iteration of the same cutting pattern but closer to the disc (that person is trailing defense) to make the huck an O versus D scenario
Like this game? Make sure to comment and let us know if you try it with your team.
Remember, if you like what you see, make sure to check out our full database of curriculum resources with 100+ games and drills, 60+ video tutorials, and 8+ curriculum templates so you never have to come up with camp or clinic curriculum again!
P.S. If you email ari@elevateultimate.com with subject line “Elevate50”, we’ll give you $50 off your first month
P.P.S. For every organization you refer successfully, we’ll give each of your organizations $100