

Pod Practice
Pod Practice
Mike, Kins, and Quinn talk ultimate, life, and whatever comes to mind from a coach and player perspective.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Feb 2, 2025 • 1h 22min
Marshall Lian talks Sports Psychology and the Importance of having a Strong Mental Game | Ep 79
Marshall Lian is a masters student studying sports psychology. He has been part of the AMP and Philly YCC coaching staffs.
We had been exchanging messages with Marshall about the importance of having a strong mental game in the world of sports and competition. We found the conversations very interesting and helpful for our own teams so we thought it was time to bring him on the pod and share his experience with all of you.
Check out Marhsall's IG: @marshall.lian for more information
Also check out his photography IG: marshalllian.photo
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0:00 Intro
1:20 Marshall Lian Intro
3:30 What is Mental Toughness?
6:30 VR Training - Cognitive Performance
8:50 Most common mental weak points - resetting after mistakes
11:00 Tools to Improve Mental Resilience
12:35 Reframing
14:15 Impact on Teammates
21:00 Transformational Leadership - Preparing for the Car Crash
26:40 Cultural Artifacts
29:15 Expressing Emotions - is it okay to Internalize?
32:20 Mental Reset Exercise from "Essential Ultimate: Teaching, Coaching, Playing"
34:45 Types of focus, importance of resetting focus, and physical tools
38:15 "I am excited," cues for positive self talk
40:24 How do you reset when things are out of your control?
45:00 Toxic Positivity - can we be too positive?
48:00 It's okay to feel any types of emotions during competition
51:10 Mental strength needs to be worked on over time
55:00 Joe Mazzulla-isms - reframing a threat to a challenge
57:10 Power of believing, self hypnosis
1:01:10 Emotional Regulation
1:04:30 Physical routines to cue mental focus and visualization
1:08:00 How to visualize
1:14:15 Brian Nevison plug, value of physical and mental self care
1:17:30 A little bundle-ruski?
1:17:50 How to contact Marshall
1:22:00 Be seeing you

Jan 25, 2025 • 2h 2min
Jake Smart, Brown BMo, Boston DiG, Boston Glory | Ep 78
In this episode Jake Smart talks about building a culture of honest communication and his constraints led approach to teaching.
Jake is one of the best coaches in ultimate frisbee and no stranger to winning. Before joining Brown as a coach, Jake played for the Wisconsin Hodags, another historically great college program. His teams are known for having incredibly efficient offenses and defenses that make opponents always second guessing.
A few of Jake's accolades:
3x College Champion (2 coaching BMo, 1 playing for the Hodags)
2x College D-I Men's Coach of the Year
YCC Champion Coaching Boston BUDA
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0:00 Intro
3:00 Balancing Commitments
4:20 College vs Club vs Pro
7:00 Jake's Coaching Philosophy
13:00 Switching contexts
16:15 Facilitating honest communication
19:30 UAEs
21:05 Receiving imperfect feedback well
23:00 Honest, imperfect feedback might hurt in the moment, but if it makes you better then it's worth it
28:45 Holding things in creates resentment
30:35 Honesty is a two way street
31:20 Almost every criticism you get is right even if the solution is wrong
33:40 When is it time to give feedback?
40:50 Framing friction as an opportunity to get closer
41:55 Elo
46:25 TrueSkill
48:00 How Jake uses Elo in practice
54:10 Practicing "caring about an outcome"
54:55 Jake's practice structure, pro games, anti drill, learning to use the right tool
59:20 The value of playing more, playing age
1:01:00 How to teach during games
1:05:30 BMo's style of play, response to criticisms
1:14:20 Jake's thoughts on offensive structure, clearing, and zone concepts
1:18:15 Reading the field as a player
1:20:30 Brown's understanding of roles
1:23:15 Jake's line calling philosophy
1:28:40 Decision to play zone
1:33:30 Strategizing for the UFA
1:37:30 Balancing Commitments Pt Deux
1:41:00 Transferrable skills between work and frisbee
1:42:45 All-Time Brown
1:44:50 Jake's offensive meta, front dominated vs the cutter driven
1:49:50 Back to the All-Time Brown Team
1:51:25 All-Time Hodag Team
1:54:44 All-Time Hodags vs All-Time Brown
2:00:20 Outro

Jan 17, 2025 • 1h 51min
Tony Leonardo of "THE LOT" and Ultimate Archives | Ep 77
Tony Leonardo wears many hats. He's an author, filmmaker, journalist, commentator, player, and historian of ultimate frisbee.
Co-Author of "Ultimate: The First Four Decades"
Author of "Ultimate: The Greatest Sport Ever Invented By Man"
Tony's latest and most important project is "THE LOT," an independent documentary that tells the story of ultimate frisbee from its beginnings at Columbia High School to today.
Learn more about the film and how to support it here:
https://welcometothelot.com/
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Support the Landesmans: https://www.gofundme.com/f/aid-jeff-and-laura-after-home-loss
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Use discount code: POD15 for 15% off your next order.
0:00 Support the Landesmans
3:27 Tony's beginnings in ultimate
5:04 "THE LOT"
12:18 Joel Silver, CHS
17:14 What the title means
19:30 Supporting the film
22:17 Wham-O's involvement in frisbee
28:50 Becoming the historian of ultimate frisbee
37:55 Legend of Molly Goodwin
41:00 Legends we need to talk to
42:33 Charles Kerr & The Callahan
51:10 Youth initiative ideas
57:05 Tony's UFA thoughts
1:00:24 Preserving the game
1:04:55 Integrity rule and incentivizing fouls
1:11:10 Telling stories of the sport
1:17:25 Jose Cuervo
1:21:08 Book giveaway
1:25:07 "Flatball"
1:27:25 Female Pioneers
1:29:40 How to conduct an interview
1:33:40 Retro designs
1:35:40 Pod Practice Fantasy
1:39:04 Macho Sidewinder
1:43:00 Wham-O Frisbee Master
1:48:42 Tony Time, Story Time with Tony
1:49:15 Outro

Jan 15, 2025 • 1h 13min
Nathan Kolakovic, Ultimate's Photographer and Videographer | Ep 76
If you've watched a frisbee highlight video in the last 10 years you've likely seen Nathan's work. He's the game's most prolific videographer, traveling non-stop around the world to document the game's most biggest moments.
Support the Landesmans: https://www.gofundme.com/f/aid-jeff-and-laura-after-home-loss
---------------------------------
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Download The Playbook: https://betterthanever.beultimate.com/the-playbook-info
More from Pod Practice:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/podpractice_pod
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@podpractice_pod
Email: show@podpracticepod.com
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Use discount code: POD15 for 15% off your next order.
0:00 Landesman GoFundMe
1:43 Intro
3:30 Kaimana Klassik
6:15 Nathan's Start
12:20 Ultimate Full-Time
16:45 Magnet for Big Plays
19:00 Gear
24:10 Filming Process
28:55 Say hi at tournaments
29:55 Editing Workflow
41:25 Choosing Highlights
42:20 Shoutout Garrett Bush
44:25 Shoutout Chuck Clearly
46:48 Back 2 Back 2 Back Highlights
47:35 Finding the Best Games
51:13 Live-streaming POV
53:25 Long Filming Days
54:55 Upcoming Hawaii Trip
1:02:30 Upcoming Projects - Kaimana
1:10:40 2025 Schedule
1:11:50 Outro

Dec 30, 2024 • 1h 53min
How Ultimate Frisbee Made it to Today with Robert “Nob” Rauch | Ep 75
Sit back, relax, and listen to Robert “Nob” Rauch recount the last 50 years of ultimate's growth from behind the scenes. One of the forefathers of the sport, Nob is the current WFDF President and a USA Ultimate Hall of Famer. Before WFDF, he became the 4th national director of the UPA (now USAU) in 1987. So much of what we take for granted today was spearheaded by Nob years ago.
Nob started playing in 1976 at Williams College, and played on some of the legendary club teams of the 80s and early 90s - Rude Boys, Windy City, KABOOM!, New York New York - winning 6 UPA Club Championships and 5 World Championships.
Listening to Nob speak about the history of the game helped put into perspective how young the sport is, and how much growth it's still capable of.
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Pod Practice BE Ultimate Store: https://shop.beultimate.com/collections/pod-practice-podcast
Download The Playbook: https://betterthanever.beultimate.com/the-playbook-info
More from Pod Practice:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/podpractice_pod
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@podpractice_pod
Email: show@podpracticepod.com
Shop BE Ultimate: https://beultimate.com/
Kikko Socks: https://kikkosocks.com/
Use discount code: POD15 for 15% off your next order.
0:00 Intro
3:33 70s
8:45 80s
21:00 Softies Today
22:08 90s
24:00 Sweden Semis
38:17 The Evolution of the Ultimate Players Association
43:04 The Growth of the UPA and Its Impact
46:55 Revitalizing WFDF and Addressing Challenges
53:11 Achieving IOC Recognition
56:33 The Future of Disc Golf and Ultimate Frisbee
01:03:38 The Future of Ultimate and Disc Golf
01:25:55 Legends of the Game: Players Who Shaped Ultimate
01:32:22 The Future of Professional Ultimate
01:38:47 Youth Development and Community Engagement
01:40:44 Global Growth and Olympic Aspirations
01:46:53 Hope and the Spirit of Ultimate

Dec 23, 2024 • 1h 48min
Isaac Saul, Tangle News, Embracing Differences | Ep 74
We're closing out the year with a couple bangers. In our penultimate episode of 2024 we talk to Isaac Saul. Isaac was one of the most interesting people we've ever talked to.
In our circles, Isaac is best known for being the fiery coach and former captain of PoNY. In any other circle, Isaac is best known for being the founder of Tangle News.
From the Tangle About Page: https://www.readtangle.com/about/
"Tangle is an award-winning media organization that covers the biggest politics stories in the U.S. by summarizing arguments from the right, left, and center (then "our take").
We are independent, non-partisan, and subscriber-supported, with a newsletter read by over 275,000 people in 55+ countries across the world and a podcast that reaches hundreds of thousands of listeners every month. Our audience is made up of conservatives, liberals, independents, and those who don't identify with any political tribe. "
Spirt of the Game means different things to different people. At its core, Spirit is about hearing a different perspective and making an informed decision after considering it. Isaac has impacted hundreds of thousands of people doing just that.
In this conversation we talk about Isaac's roots in ultimate from Pennsbury and MCUDL to Pitt and PoNY. He comes from a Frisbee family. His dad played. His older brother, Noah, is a club and UFA champion with Ring and Flyers respectively.
Isaac also gives his takes on where the sport should go, what we should hold onto, and what we should let go.
See Isaac's TED Talk here: https://youtu.be/543mYKKh1EE
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Support the Pod: https://ko-fi.com/podpractice
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Download The Playbook: https://betterthanever.beultimate.com/the-playbook-info
More from Pod Practice:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/podpractice_pod
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Email: show@podpracticepod.com
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Use discount code: POD15 for 15% off your next order.
0:00 - Intro
1:57 - Isaac's Wikipedia Page
3:00 - Isaac's Ultimate Background
9:00 - Tangle News
13:50 - Philly, MCUDL
20:30 - Tangle & Frisbee
25:41 - Perception Gap in Frisbee
31:55 - Ability to Self Officiate
37:52 - Different Rules Game to Game
47:10 - Culture Setters
48:04 - How Isaac Met His Wife
49:39 - Back to Culture Setting

Dec 17, 2024 • 1h
Spotify Wrapped: Measuring 2024, New Podcasts in 2025, The Patch, Fan Q's, Censored Bombs | Ep 73
We take a look back on 2024 through the lens of Spotify Wrapped. Thanks to everyone for tuning in. We're humbled and grateful for the little community you've all helped us build. Pod Practice is a passion project for us. As we say, Pod Practice started as a construct for us to hangout and meet new people. It's crazy to think that anyone gets any value out of it.
Special shoutouts to BE Ultimate, Greatest Bag, Disc Studios, Excel Ultimate, Advanced Ultimate Coaching, and Kikko Socks!
Another shoutout to Ryan Shigley for creating a short doc on The Patch, a core piece of Mamabird tradition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq3NRbAAH9s
We also had a time to weigh in on a couple fan questions about catching technique and guarding the front of the stack.
Finally, stay tuned for new podcasts debuting under the Pod Practice umbrella in 2025. We're most excited about plans for podcasts dedicated to relationships in ultimate and the history of ultimate. We're not quite done with 2024 yet though! We might take a short break after New Year's, but expect 2 more episodes in 2024.
P.S. Congrats to Zeke Thoreson and Tobias Brooks for their U24 National Team selections!
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Pod Practice Store: https://ko-fi.com/podpractice/shop
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More from Pod Practice:
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YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@podpractice_pod
Email: show@podpracticepod.com
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Kikko Socks: https://kikkosocks.com/
Use discount code: POD15 for 15% off your next order.

Dec 11, 2024 • 1h 31min
Rowan McDonnell Returns, Excel Ultimate Classroom & Playing with Confidence | Ep 72
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Rowan's back to tell us about Excel Ultimate and the new Excel Classroom. If you want to learn from the best players in the world like Raphy Hayes, Mac Hecht, or Connor McHale check out https://excelultimate.com/. Stay tuned for an upcoming Pod Practice collab with the Excel Classroom!
In 2025 Rowan will be playing on the Men's Beach National Team, trying out for World Games, hoping to play another season with DiG, and eyeing a potential return to DC Breeze.
We dive into the niche of making a living within ultimate and the challenges of finding players and teams to market to. Specifically, the resistance from US teams to pay for resources.
In 2024 Rowan played for DiG after being synonymous with Truck Stop for the better part of the last decade. Even for a player as accomplished as Rowan, self doubt and confidence issues can creep in when you're trying to fit in with a new team. We talk about finding confidence as a player and what teammates can do to help support everyone's confidence.
Make sure to listen to the end to hear Alex's keys to a perfect mark.
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More from Pod Practice:
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Use discount code: POD15 for 15% off your next order.
0:00 - Intro
1:30 - Rowan's Back
2:40 - Clinic in Canada
6:00 - Excel Ultimate Updates
25:15 - Beach Roster Announcement
26:10 - Resistance from US Teams to Pay for Resources
35:00 - Prep for World Games Tryouts and 2025
41:40 - Self Doubt, Finding Condfidence as a Player
56:25 - Transition to DiG from Truck Stop
1:07:30 - Functional Breaks
1:10:10 - Push Defense
1:13:05 - General Film Breakdown
1:17:10 - Marking
1:23:10 - Outro

Dec 6, 2024 • 2h 3min
Dating in Frisbee, Building Great Teams with Bailey Shigley, Noah Coolman, & Della Moran | Ep 71
Bailey Shigley & Noah Coolman join us along with Della Moran (Alex's sweetheart) to talk about dating in ultimate from the perspective of couples who both play and dating a frisbee player as a non-player. Frisbee takes up a lot of time across UFA and Club, and doesn't always leave a ton of space for a relationship. Listen in to hear how they navigate those challenges.
Bailey and Noah also talk about growing up in the Seattle ultimate scene and what makes it so unique. Both live in Colorado now and play for Molly Brown & Johnny Bravo respectively.
Bailey is a (reluctant) champion with Molly Brown & was a captain in 2024. She also is a Quandary alum and WUL Champion with Alpenglow. Bailey is very familiar with winning, and gives us some insight on what has made Molly Brown & Quandary so successful year after year.
Noah is one of the most explosive athletes in the game. He is an Oregon alum, played for Sockeye & Cascades before joining us in Colorado where he plays for Johnny Bravo & Summit. He fills up the stat sheet with huge blocks and insane skies. A big reason why Quinn is such a good player is because he has to go against Noah at every practice. Check out Noah's IG: https://www.instagram.com/noahbeskyin
Della Moran is Alex's sweetie pie. She tells us what it's like to date an ultimate player as someone who doesn't play the sport. She is pursuing her master's in psychology & has a keen interest in relationships from that perspective as well. You may have seen her in the background of Alex's camera making a few cameos from time to time.
Pod Practice Store: https://ko-fi.com/podpractice/shop
Support the Pod: https://ko-fi.com/podpractice
Pod Practice BE Ultimate Store: https://shop.beultimate.com/collections/pod-practice-podcast
Download The Playbook: https://betterthanever.beultimate.com/the-playbook-info
More from Pod Practice:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/podpractice_pod
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@podpractice_pod
Email: show@podpracticepod.com
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Use discount code: POD15 for 15% off your next order.
0:00 - Intro
8:00 - Bailey's Beginnings
10:24 - Ultimate in Seattle
14:27 - Noah's Origin & Moving to Colorado
16:39 - Coaching in Colorado vs Seattle
20:12 - Finding Other Outlets During Injury
25:00 - Using Natural Athleticism
29:46 - Physicality in Ultimate, UFA, Club
36:30 - What Makes Molly Brown So Successful?
42:41 - Importance of Player Ownership of Team
59:10 - Building Culture Around Strengths
1:02:45 - Accepting Feedback as a Leader
1:06:24 - Love & Frisbee

Nov 28, 2024 • 2h 6min
Nick Stuart: Journey with SOTG, Dealing with Reputation, Embracing Teammates | Ep 70
Nick Stuart is a College, Club, and World Championship. He was introduced to the sport by his dad and grew up playing in Gainseville, FL. In high school he played on mixed teams with his dad before playing Vicious Cycle and Ronin. He has since played for Carleton CUT, Sub Zero, Revolver, and Sockeye. We may also have a Nick Bomb of news to share about who we may or may not play for in 2025.
We've been meaning to bring Nick on since WUC tryouts. We reconnected after recording Episode 68, because he can relate to a lot of Kins' experience of being told to change his behavior, being told his behavior is wrong, and being unable to escape preconceived opinions.
This was a great conversation about different ways to connect with teammates and finding opportunities to make those connections. In this Spirit of Thanksgiving, those connections are something we can be thankful for.
Nick also lays out the roadmap to making a World Games team. Step 1 has nothing to do with being able to throw a forehand. For Steps 2-4 it will help to be 6'4", 220, and fast.
P.S. We recorded this before our IG questionnaire closed, so weren't able to get to all listener questions for Nick. Thanks for submitting questions. Hopefully we'll be able to have Nick on again in the future to answer all of them.
BE Ultimate is offering free shipping in North America for the rest of November. Use promo code: FREESHIPNOV.
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Support the Pod: https://ko-fi.com/podpractice
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More from Pod Practice:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/podpractice...
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@podpractice_pod
Email: show@podpracticepod.com
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Kikko Socks: https://kikkosocks.com/
Use discount code: POD15 for 15% off your next order.
0:00 - Intro
0:27 - BE Ultimate: FREESHIPNOV
1:08 - Nick Stuart
3:01 - Father's Influence
5:13 - Early Career
8:31- Physicality in the Old Days
10:18 - Physicality in the UFA
13:22 - Intentional Fouling in Ultimate
20:34 - What is a Foul Anyways?
23:55 - Nick's Journey with SOTG
29:21 - How Reputation Influences Spirit
31:29 - How Should Spirt Influence All-Club/Player Eval?
37:21 - All Club Thoughts in General
39:01 - Team Culture & Communication
1:00:01 - Is it important to be friends with teammates?
1:04:39 - Ways to Build Trust
1:09:28.- Nick's Coaching Style
1:12:52 - Nic's Training Style "Disclaimer"
1:25:41 - Playing a UFA Game
1:26:01 - Bring back Power Pools
1:28:11 - Team USA Men's 2024 vs 2016
1:34:45 - Frisbee Hot Takes
1:40:11 - Nick Bomb!!!
1:41:11 - Differences in National Team Tryouts Year to Year
1:43:43 - Who was Faster? Beau vs Nick
1:45:23 - Remembering James Adams, Michael Goodgame, and Paxton Harvieux
1:52:03 - A few Fan Q’s
2:04:18 - Philosophy with Kins
2:05:53 - Thanks to Darkstar's Nick Stuart!