The hype is real: My top 6 favorite Ultimate videos

Hey guys,

It's been too long since I've put out a post, as they say life got in the way. I am back now and I wanted to put together a post about one of my serious passions: Ultimate.

One of my favorite things to do when I started playing ultimate was to watch highlight videos of the best players from around the world. It helped me learn what a seriously competitive player looked like and what the pace of a high-level game was like. I've been playing for about 5 years now and I can still learn from pretty much any video out there.

On top of learning, these videos create so much hype. I'm not really one for pump-up music prior to games, I would much rather take a look at one of these videos to get myself in the mindset for a tournament. Take a look at the 6 videos that top my list.

6. Jay Clark: 2012 Ultimate Highlights

This video is absolutely full of hype. Jay Clark has absolutely no regard for his own safety, as evidenced by the egregious amount of layouts in this video. Regardless, Clark is a great player and he showcases a lot of talent throughout the video. I would classify this as less of a learning experience and more of a "I need to get outside and practice my layouts RIGHT NOW" type video.

5. The Janimal

Are you kidding me? This guy is like, 5 feet nothing (I just checked, it's more like 5"8 but whatever) and he's a MONSTER. He can get up with the best of them, skip ahead to :50 for an example. While the video is a bit corny and the production quality is slightly lower than other Callahan videos it gets me going. It's always great to see someone around my size dominate a field of players that could be anywhere form 2-8 inches taller. Jacob Janin is a hype machine with great athleticism.

4. Nick Lance: Callahan 2012

Nick Lance is one of the most talented ultimate players I've seen, and his Callahan video is a clinic on how to destroy hopes and dreams. You can see how effective his upside down throws are at breaking marks and finding the open man, his hucks are pretty pinpoint and he puts his body on the line. As far as the full package goes, this video has it all. The music is also a great complement to the shift in the video from dominating offense to defense. Jay Clark did a great editing job, and as far as production quality it's top notch.

3. 2009 UPA Club Nationals Ultimate Frisbee Highlights
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bv7-vq1ta0 (blogger wouldn't let me embed this one)

Unfortunately this video has lost a large majority of its hype due to the banned audio track. But let me tell you that when it was in its pure form this video was AMAZING. It had footage of the 2009 Club Nationals tournament and there was talent all over the field. Seeing the highest level of ultimate being played really made me work harder when I was starting out. I probably watched this video about 50 times during my first semester playing college ultimate, and each time I got more ready to play at a higher level. It's seriously a shame that the video quality is so poor and the music is gone, this one was one of the best.

2. Dylan Freechild - Callahan Nominee 2013

Dylan Freechild is an incredible Ultimate player, and this video is a showcase on how dominant he can be. The song in the video is also one of my all time favorites, I think it meshes with the video content really well. In terms of what you can learn, Freechild has really perfected a lot of the dump-swing moves as well as timing for strike cuts. He's innovative when it comes to creating space and getting open as a handler, something I worked on a lot when playing at college. He's also fast, really fast. His speed helps him dominate games and really puts an emphasis on how important conditioning is. Plus his layout at 3:52 is enormous, his game saving layout at 4:11 is RIDICULOUS, and his spikes are top notch. Also seriously, look at 4:26 and tell me your not impressed.

1. Arizona Men's Ultimate 2013 Highlights

This video is an absolute hype machine. The music, the editing, the skill, the disrespect, all of it comes together to form an amazing video. When I want to get amped up I watch this video. Fuck yeah Sunburn, you guys rock. Reach and go higher.