Turfed

"Everything falls apart,
Then I get to try to put it back together
Everything falls apart,
And you can count on that like you can count on bad,
Bad weather again"
Dogs Eye View - Everything Falls Apart

It’s been a while since I wrote anything outside of predictions/recaps, but I experienced a situation that warranted a post. Plus, knowing that more talented players read these ramblings than I ever, I thought I could leverage your vast degree of ultimate knowledge.

The Situation:
The Hammers were rolling against 2x12s, up by 8 points with 20 minutes to go in the second half….when the wheels fell off. I’ll give 2x12s credit for taking advantage of our collapse, but it was OUR collapse. About half of our team has played competitive frisbee, there are lots of veterans (I’m probably the low person with less than 3 years of experience), and Giddy-up and DGo are two of the top players in the league. Yet, we completely fell apart, even with our coach directing us from the sideline.

The Outcome:
2x12s rolled off 9 points in a row, went ahead by 1, we scored, they responded, and we luckily got the final score on a brutally ugly last point to tie.

My question:
What do you when your team implodes for no apparent reason?

Possible Solutions:
1. Time-out: One of our captains smartly called a time out after our opponents rolled off 3 or 4 points. Our coach was very calm, explaining a possible solution to get the disc moving again, we collected our breath…and went right back into sucking like a supped-up Hoover.
2. Yelling: One of the (good or bad?) habits I picked up from a Fish elder last summer was trying to fire people up by yelling at them. Although this works on me, I don’t seem to have the touch for screaming at others. Not that I didn’t try it last night…
3. Pointing Out the Obvious: We were forcing backhand (tricky to perform when you’re accustomed to forcing flick), and we kept getting beat on the force side. Although I didn’t think of it at the time [insert slow joke here], we probably should have changed the damn force.
4. Blame Game: Particularly ineffective when accompanied by #2…trust me.
5. Encourage Team-mates: The thought crossed my mind, but I didn’t do enough to remind certain individuals that they were awesome players, and to just play their game.

Other Solutions???
This is where you come in. I’ve never been part of something like that, and would like to avert it in the future. Help?

For those who would suggest leading by example, although that might be possible for you, I’m not quite at that level yet. Thanks in advance for your suggestions. Until next time, happy hucking!