5 Tips to Prepare for Nationals
May 8, 2025 by Tiina Booth in Opinion
This article is presented by the National Ultimate Training Camp. NUTC is celebrating its 25th Anniversary this summer and spots are still available for Session 3.
With the calendar turning over to May, my attention is now firmly fixed on postseason college competition. In between finishing up school and dealing with travel logistics, teams still have time to make changes that will improve their experience at Nationals. Everyone wants to peak at the right time. Here are the top five things I would focus on to make that happen.
1. Practice Wisely
Your players will be distracted by life obligations as they head toward Burlington. To the consternation of their leaders, very few teams will be able to have fully attended practices. Accept that as fact and plan accordingly. Have fewer but longer practices that most players can attend. If necessary, plan a walk-through on the day you arrive (although I tend to prefer a round of disc golf instead.) Avoid arriving at your first game still frustrated about what you didn’t accomplish at “training camp.” The “What ifs?” and “If Onlys” serve no purpose. Your team will naturally learn and (hopefully) improve throughout the actual days of competition. What matters is that your team is hungry to play hard.
2. Trust Your Training
Continuing with the less-is-more theme: your strategic tweaks should be minimal. I can hear the scoffing across the country, because some coaches believe in a last-minute magic potion that will launch them to the top of the heap. Ideally you want to look at your playbook and see what you can scaffold onto already existing sets. A brand-new defensive look that has not been thoroughly vetted and practiced by your team is not only worthless, but it may shake your players’ confidence in the strategies they already know well. If you think your entire team is deep and talented and smart enough to pick up something new on the fly, then godspeed. But for most of you other mortals, approaching each game with energy, consistency, and trust is the way to go.
3. Embrace Consistency
At this point in the season, your resets and end zone sets should be automatic. Everyone should know their role on their line and be able to execute what is asked of them. Quick recovery from a mistake, whether it is yours or a teammate’s, should be a given. If you have a teammate that is prone to a tantrum, it needs to be brief and away from the field. Players who understand how to be a Great Teammate should take center stage and infect others with their strength. Consistency also means that athletes get enough sleep, downtime and good food. While some college athletes believe they can run on fumes, Nationals is not the time to test this theory.
4. Dig Deep
I have written about team narratives before and studying the stories that players tell themselves is a window to how they will compete. If you want your team to peak at Nationals, stay away from any narrative that centers on fatigue. It can be comforting to say “We ran out of legs” and “We were gassed” but this is harmful analysis and frankly is often used as an excuse. The mind becomes tired before the brain does. Once you tell yourself that you are tired, you will feel more tired. Once you hear from a teammate that they are also tired, your team will spiral into the Land of Misfit Excuses and it is very difficult to find the way back. Instead, remind yourself that you are prepared to play hard for a long time and then do it. Lift up yourself and your teammates. You can always do more.
5. Do Not Cheat
As seasons end, we sometimes see embarrassing behavior from players and teams. These past few Regionals are no exception. This pattern is not new. Something sketchy happens on the field and affects the outcome of a play. Players dig in on their call. Coaches may also get involved. Somehow there is a resolution and then after the game, members of the sketchy team apologize to the other team’s players and coaches. After the fact, when nothing can be changed. Where were you ten minutes ago when you could have spoken up?
This has happened to teams that I have coached and I have coached players who have done this. There are variations, of course, but the overall message is: “We know we cheated but we really wanted to win and we did. But now we feel bad.” If you are a coach who laments “we can’t control that player,” figure out something before Nationals. No one person gets to define who your team is.
Charlie and Keith addressed cheating in general on a recent Deep Look podcast and said, “Knock it off. It sucks . . . Don’t be that team.” How a team competes is a choice and you still have time to decide to be better.
Winning College Nationals is very difficult. By the end of this month, we will have crowned four champions out of 72 qualifying teams, hundreds more if you count all of the teams in the Series. It is not easy to peak as a team at the optimal time. What you want to do is put your team in the best position to succeed and avoid self-sabotage. Improving your team’s experience may help them improve their performance and it is every player, captain, and coach’s obligation to make that happen.
