Any Ideas About How To Resolve Partner Situations?

[zetazetadelta 236]

Basically the last two years I've been debating with a guy that has absolutely no work ethic. This year I've decided that enough is enough and gave him the boot (I finally threw up my hands and told him he has two options: go to camp or we couldn't debate next year, and he's way to lazy to go to camp); I'm tired of doing all of the research, managing all of the evidence, prepping all of his rebuttals because he can't speak extemporaneously, and sitting anxiously as he takes 4 minutes of prep before the 1NC (because he refuses to use verbatim / Synergy and takes aeons to even put things in a speech doc). 

 

Anyways this isn't a pity party, sorry. Questions:

 

What are my options other than going to LD?

 

Should I cancel going to camp now or wait?

 

Are their better ways to deal with this than I did? I spent two years trying to get him to do something, and felt like I had to take more drastic action.

 

I debate in Houston if that helps.

[cR0SsX 39]

why not switch partners?

[zetazetadelta 236]

There's no one else at my school who's willing to do Policy.

[agl125 218]

would you rather debate policy or not debate? if you can't find anyone else...it might just be that an annoying, awful partner is better than not debating at all.

[JonyB 90]

You can always do PF

[Phantom707 1012]

There really are only three options in that case. 1. You could try to continue debating with your old partner; 2. Find another partner who you think will be better; 3. Quit policy debate

 

It seems like you really want to debate, so that takes out number 3. As you said, 2 is impossible.

 

There is a fourth, much more difficult option, though. If you're allowed, you could try to go maverick.

 

Unfortunately, those are the only things that you really can do, so it's up to you on what you decide.

[AnthroAff 74]

dude, maybe just quit. You're not good, and you kind of suck. D1ck. Shut up. 

[zetazetadelta 236]

dude, maybe just quit. You're not good, and you kind of suck. D1ck. Shut up. 

 

Who even says shit like this? Do I know you?

[swagondeck 210]

dude, maybe just quit. You're not good, and you kind of suck. D1ck. Shut up. 

Nobody even respond, he's just being a dick to be a dick.

[JosephOverman 1069]

Who even says shit like this? Do I know you?

 

He's the community troll. Just ignore him, you're an awesome debater  

[TimeLord 77]

dude, maybe just quit. You're not good, and you kind of suck. D1ck. Shut up. 

Ignore this chode, listen Hudson I've been through this situation before, infact I spent four years with a guy that really did not give two shits about his debate career and literally just did debate for the college benefit, in addition to this he got elected president of our debate team and has done nothing since he got elected. But literally you have to power through this for two reasons-

1) you are making yourself better and one day when your partner is having troubles in college or in a difficult class it will be his fault, you can not save him them.

2) Take pride in what you do, debate is your passion.

 

What you could do it make premade 1NC and possible 2NC/1NR and especially 1ARs that can be used to save you and your partner time and energy and maybe even grief. I would also, as strongly as I do not want this to happen to debaters, but if your partner REALLY doesn't care, and I mean really doesn't care, then I would suggest tooling him... as in making him be the 1a and the 1n. or if your want to avoid this be the 1a/2n... Trust me, debate is great and do not let a lazy chode take this away from you.

[nathan_debate 745]

There really are only three options in that case. 1. You could try to continue debating with your old partner; 2. Find another partner who you think will be better; 3. Quit policy debate

 

Assuming that he doesn't go to camp.......Number 3 opens up a number of options.  Because it may arguably give you the most alternatives & choices & flexibility.

 

If I were you I would try to see if I liked other forms of debate that were popular in your area (public forum, lincoln douglas, congress, etc....).

If you did....I would go to camp in one of those--at a decent camp.

 

But I would make my decision now.  Force his hand--set a deadline for the decision to made.  For instance the 1st of May.  

Because you need the right to get on with your life and to make decisions about your future.

 

Here's the thing about him going to camp:

He certainly might meet some people that encourage him to do better.  But....he's likely to slack their too.  Which means even camp could be an uphill battle.

[cR0SsX 39]

You can always do PF

lol

[facade2525 112]

dude, maybe just quit. You're not good, and you kind of suck. D1ck. Shut up. 

 

Gahhh I thought you were over this

[feldsy 1099]

find a random guy that can speak really fast, make him be double 1s, prewrite the constructives, just have him read theory blocks/ev in the 1NR, and help him with his 1ARS. Problem solved!

 

Seriously, don't quit policy unless you really have to.  Debate is too great a thing to quit.

[1offK 3]

Ok, so i have another choice for you. It may or may not be allowed, depending on your circut and/or judges. But sometimes, it doesnt matter when each person gives their speech, as long as each person gives two speeches. So for the aff, your partner could give the 1AC and the 2AR, with you giving the other two. And on neg, your partner could either be 1N, or give the 1NC and 2NR. Some teams have done this, but it may take some time to adjust to

[ImpactTurn 133]

I was in the same boat as you, I've survived two years of debate while carrying a novice partner, and have done well. (I debated with a new novice partner for the first time at State and made it to semis) 

 

Here's what I did:

 

1. I was the 1A and 2N. 1A because the 1AR is very, very hard to do with someone who can't improvise and argue on the fly, 2AR is much easier and 2AC is much easier canned than the 1AR. 2N for obvious reasons. 

 

2. Did all the research and work, BUT kept my partners updated on how to run the arguments. As in, before the tournament I would go over each argument and block strategies. 

 

3. Got efficient with my prep so that it can be used on my partner. I usually always made sure there was at least 5 minutes of prep left for rebuttals. 3 minutes if it's NFL. 

 

4. On neg, take the important issues in your speech 

 

5. Had my partners read through blocks and 1NC shells. Just for speed and familiarity's sake. If they had questions they asked me via email or text. 

 

6. Made the 1NCs myself. 

 

For getting efficient with prep, keep your best files up throughout the tournament. I kept my theory, framework, aff blocks, advantage/impact answers and topicality file up all tournament because I needed it for every round. (aff file had offcase blocks) That way, you won't be spending all your time digging for files. Also, use the "speech" feature in synergy then use the "`" key to automatically paste material into the document. 

 

Also, learn to flow and answer arguments while flowing theirs. I personally kept a double sided pen (2 colored pens combined) to help me flow. I would flow my arguments in black and theirs in red. That makes it super easy to do line-by-lines. 

 

If you're partner can't even handle the above, I would recommend training new ones. I was able to jumpstart my school's policy debate program after it being dead for about 5 years, with a team full of people interested in PF. If I can do it, you can too. 

 

Also, to make your research burden a bit easier, just trade and make friends. Friends will help you out against certain teams and trading gives you almost free files. Also, friends in general are just nice to have. 

 

But in the end, remember that carrying another partner makes you ALOT better. I wouldn't have progress as fast as I have in 2 years without it. 

[BurntShadow 2]

Ok, so i have another choice for you. It may or may not be allowed, depending on your circut and/or judges. But sometimes, it doesnt matter when each person gives their speech, as long as each person gives two speeches. So for the aff, your partner could give the 1AC and the 2AR, with you giving the other two. And on neg, your partner could either be 1N, or give the 1NC and 2NR. Some teams have done this, but it may take some time to adjust to

 

I personally wouldn't suggest this.

[JosephOverman 1069]

I personally wouldn't suggest this.

 

Yeah, if you have to tool your partner, be the 2NC and 2NR. The 1NC, you can completely write for them, and if you have them go for your less likely position in the 1NR, it doesn't matter if they mess it up. 

[tommy949 449]

If you have the choice, simply transfer schools, if that isn't hard in texas.

[MCat 157]

(deleted)

[sangel 5]

hey, i would suggest you a) make him double 1's and write his 1ar, try to train someone new at your school, or c) if there's no one at your school other than you two, ask a neighborhood or close school if you could merge with them... this is pretty uncommon but you could try.... you could also switch schools like this one guy named john did and he has the 2nd most bids to the TOC tis year... whatever you do, good luck!!! (same situation as you, but my partner's super sweet so i feel completely awful if i get frustrated with her...so i quietly asked to switch partners but i don't think our team manager will let me...he doesn't want people to drop out of our debate program... )

[SubcomandanteMarcos 192]

1. If there's a lot of other debate teams in Houston and you really want to stay in policy, see if another school would be willing to share a person.

2. if the LD circuit is more progressive, you can do a pseudo-policy type debate in LD. It sounds like what you're doing already, so the change might not be too hard