How to Prep for 2009/2010?

What is the best way to get ready for next season other than going to camp? I am not really sure what I can do during the offseason other than do speed drills. Any suggestions?

Write cases for possible topics for sept/oct. That's about all I can think of. I guess you could write theory shells or some generic frameworks too.

Db8rBoi wrote:What is the best way to get ready for next season other than going to camp? I am not really sure what I can do during the offseason other than do speed drills. Any suggestions?

1. do the generic research that you do at the start of each topic for the possible sept/oct topics (this doesnt necessarily mean cut cards, just do some reading, check wikipedia, google a couple of things, etc).

2. when the list of topics come out, identify common themes (ie democracy, IR, etc) and research those

3. make generic backfiles. This means write a good theory file and compile generic impacts/philosophy/K answers into frontlines (ie something you would read in a round, not just a random string of arguments that all answer the same thing).

4. If there's an argument you like that (Heg, Dehum, a particular philosophy) make a file for it. List out the common args you make with it, and then the common answers, and then write frontlines for them.

For 3 and 4, about 2/3s of the work you've prolly already done. It's just about consolidating/organizing so you aren't spending time during the season writing the same thing you wrote last year, or spending prep searching your laptop for something simple.

What do you mean by "make generic backfiles?" Don't arguments usually tend to be specific to a particular topic?

I think Phelan described the generic backfiles pretty well: "a good theory file and compile generic impacts/philosophy/K answers into frontlines (ie something you would read in a round, not just a random string of arguments that all answer the same thing)." Basically, theory arguments (i.e. counterplans are abusive, fairness is a voter, parametrics are good, truth-testing is a preferable paradigm, aff presumption is good etc.) can be used on almost any topic, so you should prep stuff like this beforehand. Same with critical argumentation - people always find a way to accuse the aff of promoting biopower or capitalism, regardless of the res, so you should have generic responses to these Ks.

arurra wrote:I think Phelan described the generic backfiles pretty well: "a good theory file and compile generic impacts/philosophy/K answers into frontlines (ie something you would read in a round, not just a random string of arguments that all answer the same thing)." Basically, theory arguments (i.e. counterplans are abusive, fairness is a voter, parametrics are good, truth-testing is a preferable paradigm, aff presumption is good etc.) can be used on almost any topic, so you should prep stuff like this beforehand. Same with critical argumentation - people always find a way to accuse the aff of promoting biopower or capitalism, regardless of the res, so you should have generic responses to these Ks.

This is right on. Db8rboi - while most arguments are contingent on the topic, not only do most topics fit into broader categories (morality, democracy, IR, economics, etc) that have generic impacts, but also, a lot of the time, debaters who find that they're particularly good at arguing a particular position (ie this year's edina Seniors and Dehum, Theis and contracts, etc) will use the same impacts from topic to topic (or at least, will give you links to some of the same answers), and will devote their topic research to specific links. A lot of the time this can be strategic because you will be familiar with the type of args people will make on at least one level of the debate. The point of doing this isn't to substitute your specific topic research, but rather, so you can focus your research time on the specifics (to use jan/feb as an example, spend time researching the ICC instead of finding answers to "soft power key to heg"). Also, beyond that, if you have blocks to things that you can expect to see from topic to topic, when you hit someone who's running said arg, you can spend prep/cross-x working on your overall strategy/more macro level stuff instead of writing up answers.

watch as many videos online as you can. flow them all. a fun, easy, and effective drill is to play and flow a round until the end of the ac and cross ex and then try to give a 1nc yourself. then compare yourself to the 1nc given by the debater in the video and see where you could have improved.