Matthew+Swanson

Hey, I am Matthew Swanson. I am the Parli and LD coach at San Diego State University – this is my philosophy for LD debate.

Generally: I don't care. Run what you want however you want.

If you intend to break the rules you must be willing to justify your decision if it comes into question by the other team. I was fast-ish when I debated and can keep up, but be warned I have voted speed bad at least once because the faster debater couldn’t win the speed bad position. I will vote on potential abuse in LD (unlike parli). I believe that Ks are allowed in LD under the rules, but will vote they are not if warranted and won. Personally, I never liked spending DA's much, I will vote on them... but unless your main strat this year is spending on the neg I think that you can find a better "path of least resistance" to the ballot. Speaker points are generally 29 for a good debater, 30 for a tournament winner. 25 – you need to improve. Less than that means you upset me, a lot (racism, phones, general inappropriate behavior). Last things: I flow on my laptop, I do not believe in “dead time”, the round keeps rolling one way or another, and you should be prepared to time yourself – I keep a timer running, but am awful at time signals.