DebateDrills Blog | Expert Articles & Topic Releases

Always Be Hungry - The Winner’s Mindset

The phrase “always be hungry” is at the core of the winner’s mindset. More than anything else, you need to have a constant drive to win and get better. This post will discuss the many different aspects of the winner’s mindset that is required to consistently push through to late elimination rounds at high-intensity tournaments.

July 21, 2021

min

Competing at Top Levels as a Small-School Debater - What’s your Perspective?

In this series, I’m going to go through some advice I have for debaters trying to reach the top of the debate world. This article is going to be introductory and is going to be about the perspective you should have if you’re planning to reach the top of debate.

Lucas Clarke

July 27, 2021

min

Make Debate Less Personal

Recently a troubling trend has emerged: many high-level debates have started to depend not on kritiks, policy, philosophy, or theory, but rather about debaters themselves. I will present the problems with such arguments and urge a moral and pragmatic imperative to put an end to them.

Connor Engel

July 27, 2021

min

Skills Debate Teaches

A quick look into the universal, lasting benefits of debate, from research skills to cultural and social awareness.

Lucas Clarke

July 27, 2021

min

T-USFG/Defend The Topic – The Basics and Why T Matters

A primer on some of the basic structure/arguments involved in going for T-USFG, focusing mostly on the types of impacts that people should go for when reading T.

Raffi Piliero

July 27, 2021

min

Affirmative Research

There are many steps that go into constructing a good affirmative, ranging from initially researching and finding articles to starting the process of piecing together what potential advantages might look like to honing answers to specific positions.

Raffi Piliero

July 27, 2021

min

The Power of Deliberate Practice

I have found that practicing with purpose is a crucial component of preparing successfully for high-stakes competitions. What I have found to be effective for developing a commitment to deliberate practice is detailed in this article.

Paras Kumar

July 27, 2021

min

Strategic 1NC Construction

Strategic 1NC construction is something that takes time to learn. Fortunately, it’s easy to practice and gameplan fairly far in advance, and improving at it will do wonders for setting up an easier 2NR, and for pressuring the 1AR.

Raffi Piliero

July 27, 2021

min

Competing Mindfully: Why It Matters

How we orient ourselves to the experience and process of high school debate competition is often neglected in our preparation and focus in the days, weeks, months, and years leading up to the “grand finale”. This post looks at how mindset affects performance at the highest levels.

Paras Kumar

July 27, 2021

min

Switching Styles: The Value of Circuit Debaters Going to Traditional Tournaments

This post makes the case for exploring alternate styles. In particular, circuit debaters—those who compete at national tournaments in a fast-paced, technical style—should realize that traditional debate still has merit. There are a few reasons for this.

Raffi Piliero

July 26, 2021

min

Why Parent Judges are Underrated

While it may be tough to persuade parents to vote for you, it takes the same skill set every time. Once you understand and master these skills, winning parents will be just as easy, if not easier, than winning tech judges.

July 26, 2021

min

Debate Economics 104: The Federal Reserve

This is part of an ongoing series of blog posts where about Debate and Economics. This issue discusses the Federal Reserve, monetary policy, and applications to argumentation.

July 26, 2021

min

An Argument for Reasonability Pt. 1

Competing interpretations is the idea that judges should evaluate two models of debate and vote for the better one. Under this model, any marginal risk of offense is sufficient to win. Reasonability rejects this “risk of offense” paradigm and instead says some abuse is permissible as long as it’s not “unreasonable”.

July 26, 2021

min

Lincoln Douglas Potential Topics 2021-2022

The Public Forum Wording committee has developed a variety of potential resolutions for the 2021-2022 season. They are detailed in this post.

Lucas Clarke

July 26, 2021

min

Debate Economics 105: A Transition to Dedev

This is part of an ongoing series of blog posts about Debate and Economics. In this issue, I discuss dedevelopment economics, sustainability, and a few applications to debate.

July 21, 2021

min

Meta-Weighing: The Future of Public Forum

With increasingly sophisticated and pervasive weighing strategies, meta-weighing will likely become an important argument type to understand and read in a variety of rounds.

Gus Gerlach

July 21, 2021

min

Open-Source Disclosure in PF - Pros vs Cons

This year, there has been a huge uptick in the number of teams disclosing open-source on the wiki. Tons of high-quality cases and evidence have been made available to students because of this effort. This post analyzes the pros and cons of open-source disclosure.

Jack Johnson

July 21, 2021

min

Public Forum - Potential Topics 2021-2022

The Public Forum Wording committee has developed a variety of potential resolutions for the 2021-2022 season. They are detailed in this post

Lucas Clarke

July 21, 2021

min