Building Blocks and a Prep Box
Competitive PF teams walk into a tournament with pre-written 'blocks' ready for common arguments, organized in a prep box for fast retrieval. You will be able to describe what a block is and how to organize one for quick in-round use.
What a Block Is
A block is a pre-written response to a common, predictable argument on the topic — for example, a block answering the most common Con disadvantage on an economic resolution, ready to be read nearly verbatim in Rebuttal. Blocks save precious prep time and reduce the risk of fumbling a response to a well-known argument under round pressure.
Organizing a Prep Box
A prep box (physical folder or digital equivalent) is organized so a debater can find the right block within seconds — commonly divided by which contention or argument it answers, with the strongest, most-recent cards on top. Cluttered, disorganized prep is a common reason teams burn excess prep time searching for material they already have.
A team is prepping for a tournament on a criminal justice reform topic.
The team writes a block titled 'A2: Recidivism DA' (answers-to Recidivism Disadvantage) containing a pre-written frontline with three responses and two supporting cards, filed in a folder tab labeled to match. When Con reads the Recidivism DA in-round, the debater flips directly to that tab instead of improvising cold or burning a minute of prep searching.
1. What is a 'block' in PF prep?
Answer all 1 to check.
Pre-write blocks for common arguments and organize your prep box so you can find them in seconds.