Communication is one of those words that gets tossed around everywhere. Family. Business. Everywhere. When something goes wrong, there's generally a failure to communicate.
We use the word so often we assume we know what it means.
We assume we know what it means because we assume we're all using the same terminology. Ultimate frisbee has demonstrated how that is a horrible assumption. We don't all know the same terminology, though what is worse is that we aren't all aware that we all don't know the same terminology.
In Ultimate, you defend one of two ways: home, or away.
My brain, familiar with these terms, skipped over them the first time. You're defending your goal, be it a net, a hoop or an end zone.
Wrong.
In Ultimate, defending "home" and "away" means cutting off passing lanes, if not half the field.
Defending "home" means you place your body in a position to force the player with the frisbee to have to flick instead of throw. This is a much harder method of tossing a frisbee, almost like throwing under hand. It requires accurate wrist motion so the frisbee stays flat, and a good, solid flick so it actually sails more than two inches and doesn't roll. When you are forcing "home" you are facing the sideline where other team members are sitting, and your back is to the rest of the field. This cuts off half the throwing field.
Defending "away" means doing the same, only this time with your back to the team sideline. This position generally forces the opponent to throw, but often down the line which means if the throw isn't straight, it either curves out of bounds, is easier to intercept or block.
Then there's this word, "chili." Not the edible, tasty food. It's more like "chilli" as in chill out, relax and slow down. Key when racing down the field and about to score. I've seen it time and again, the team gets caught up in the excitement of the moment (especially during a really good series), make an errant toss and the moment collapses in a turnover instead of exploding into the excitement of a point.
Chili, or chilli. Good advice for every day, too.