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Defense
- Player
Positioning is the key to successful coverage. Figure out where the receiver
wants to cut, then position yourself so that his task is more difficult.
Consider an extreme static example where the receiver is far away from the
thrower and can only cut back at the thrower on only one side of the field.
In this case, simply keep yourself 5 or 10 yards in front of the receiver
(this is called "fronting" or "face-guarding"), and if he ever cuts in, you
cut in also, keeping yourself well ahead of the receiver.
Next consider another extreme but more realistic example. You are covering
someone who is considerably taller and faster, but can't throw well. What
to do then? Simply give him a few yard cushion the other way, so you have
a head start on any deep cuts.
The key to both of these situations is to position yourself between the receiver
and where he wants to cut to. In the second example, you'll be making it easy
for the comeback cut, but you've decided the receiver is much less dangerous
near the disc, especially if his throws are relatively weak. Similarly, if
you're covering a great thrower who isn't quite so fast, overplay the cutbacks.
In real life, players' abilities lie somewhere in between, and they have a
variety of cuts open, not just one or two, and the available cuts change over
the course of a point. In general, the more cuts a receiver has available,
the less you can play for any particular cut, and the closer you have to position
yourself to the receiver. So if the great long cutter is also a decent thrower,
perhaps you should position yourself less than a yard behind him, so if he
cuts back, you'll be close enough to be a factor if it's a bad throw, and
at the very least you'll be in position to mark immediately. You may have
noted that some great defenders play as close to their opponents as possible
(and sometimes closer), which is good if you can do it. However, it requires
more energy, better anticipation, and leaves you less aware of your surroundings.
On the other hand, it makes harder any cuts that require a few steps to set
up. and if the defender has any bulk to him, makes it difficult to run around
him.
Let's consider how to cover the first cut from a stack. If you're covering
the next to last guy in the stack, you can position yourself several yards
off him and a little bit to the side that you're forcing. If he cuts to the
force side, you have a several yard head start. If he cuts against the force,
you'll be far enough in front so that you can still cut off the angle on that
longer throw. If he doesn't cut after several seconds, you should close the
gap and keep an eye on where the frisbee is. If a pass has been completed
upfield to the force side, things have changed a bit. Now, a deep cut is more
of an option, but the position of the disc has eliminated any cuts to the
opposite side, so now maybe you will play a couple yards off the receiver,
but more to the force side, almost even with the receiver. Glance around frequently,
so that you are constantly aware of the disc's position, both relative to
you and also relative to the field. You must shift your position relative
to the receiver so that his most likely or most dangerous cut has to go through
you.
Consider instead what happens if you are covering the first person in the
stack. Now, you can't play several yards off, because you are no longer able
to cut off the angle on an inside-out pass. Additionally, the thrower can
throw a hammer over you or a curving pass around you to an open area. Therefore,
position yourself just in front of the cutter, facing him, with your weight
on your toes. If he's just juking around, bounce with him. Avoid committing
for as long as possible. As soon as you cross your legs over or reach full
stride, you've committed and the cutter may be able to change directions without
you being able to follow him. One of my favorite cuts is to begin running
deep until my defender has begun sprinting, then stop and come back for an
uncontested throw.
You must constantly be aware of where the disc is and where it may be going
next, especially if your team plays force middle, where the open side of the
field changes with each swing. A good defender constantly repositions hiself,
taking into consideration the flow of the disc, his opponent's strengths,
where the open areas are, and even what the stall count is. He is always reevaluating
where his opponent wants to cut, and where he can do the most damage. In a
sense, he's invoking game theory. He might think, "Well, there's a 60% chance
that he'll cut back with the force, 20% he'll go against the force, 10% he
go long right away, and 10% he'll just stand there and cut long on the next
pass. If I front him by a foot, I'll stop his comeback cut 70% of the time,
his break the mark cut 60%, but he'll be open deep 40%, but the deep throw
is only a 60% throw anyway. I could overplay the comeback so I'll stop him
90% of the time, but then he'd be open deep 75% of the time, but then again,
he's never cut deep on me in the four years I've played against him. Also,
the thrower has really good inside out throws, so I can't just let him have
that cut, but then again our marker has very long arms, so ....". No one actually
consciously goes through that process, but you could model it that way. The
point is that you can't stop everything, so you have to choose where you will
focus. If you're beaten four times in a row to the force side, overplay that
particular cut. If the thrower can't throw deep, don't worry about covering
that cut. Decide where the cut will be going, and get there first.
References
Jim Parinella
http://www.upa.org/upa/totw/tip7.html
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