RETHINKING THE STACK
By Jim Parinella

The stack is the starting point for most offensive strategies. The prototypical stack begins with a handler 15 to 20 yards away from the disc and spaces the remaining players at five yard intervals, and the order of cuts is determined by placement in the stack. However, with the proliferation of defenses that do anything but play straight person to person, more and more teams are finding it in their best interests to shorten their stack length. The short stack, although requiring a bit more discipline and practice, sets up almost every square foot on the field as a viable cutting place.

A short stack opens up more options, and a good offense must be able to take what is available. A player 45 yards away at the back of the stop is not a viable threat. If the closest player is still 20 yards away, only cutbacks are available. If the stack is short, then everybody is starting from about the same point on the field, and all players are realistic threats. If the stack is long, then the only available cuts are all straight line hard running cuts with a fake at the beginning, and the offense doesn't really have many options, unless the throwers are very good and creative and can put the frisbee anywhere on the field with whatever arc is required. My team Death or Glory uses a short stack, and we are most dangerous when we get a 10-20 yard pass to the sideline, so that the disc is now even with the stack, so players can go deep easily or come back for another 20 yards if the deep cut is overplayed (keep in mind that most good deep cuts originate only 10-20 yards from the disc, since a deeper-starting cut might outrun the throw). Since the disc has moved downfield from its starting point, the deepest player on the field is now only a few yards further, and there is no defender that is far enough downfield that can poach deep.

There is even an option to go deep on the first pass, since the last person in the stack is only 20-30 yards away. If his defender poaches, then the last player moves immediately to the open area and is close enough that the thrower can get it there right away before the other defenders have time to switch.

If the stack is long and the last defender poaches, then if the poached-off offensive player starts to move to the open area, the other defenders will have time to see that happening and can react. Now of course this means that another offensive player is open and can move to the open area, but then maybe someone else is poaching or else it's no longer clear what the open area is any more or else the thrower has stopped looking for the yardage pass and is focusing on the dump.

The long stack does have its benefits, though. Because everyone is spread out more, there is less risk of picks or two people making the same cut at the same time. With a short stack, you need to have a better defined hierarchy of who cuts first, either by calling a specific play or by having everyone realize that one or two players are the best cutters and therefore they get to cut first most of the time unless someone else obviously has a better cut. The other players must be ready to cut if a poach happens or the main cut gets stopped. But if players are spread out like in a long stack, then typically only one or two players will be in a good position to cut, and it is easier for each player to determine whether someone else is cutting. If you are in a short stack, then there are 8 or 10 other players in your immediate peripheral vision, and it's hard to tell what each of them is doing and whether any are cutting. If there is only one other offensive player and his defender that you can see, any motion you detect is likely to be a cut.

The long stack is better suited to a rigid or almost rigid sequential offense. Many teams are fairly strict about having plays go from handler to handler to middle to deep. Also, sometimes teams have "triplets", where a handler, a middle, and a deep are a unit, and each unit cuts for others in the same unit.

The short stack requires a little more concentration and familiarity and discipline, but is better for an established team that doesn't change much from year to year. The long stack is easier to learn, it is better for a sequential offense, and an individual's role is defined pretty much by the position that he is assigned to. In the short stack, the role for each player depends more on other things like his abilities and the called four person play rather than where he lines up in the stack.

Experimental section

[short tips relating to beginners, intermediates, and advanced. ]

Beginners:

The typical stack with begin with a handler 15-20 yards from the disc, followed by the other handler, the middles, and finally the deeps, with everyone four or five yards from the nearest neighbor. Typically, the first player in the stack cuts first. If this cut is unsuccessful, the second player cuts. If either of these players gets it, one of the middles cuts to the same side of the field, then the deeps cut from the middle. However, this gets predictable rapidly, so the beginning team should look at mixing up the order a bit. Try putting the handlers toward the back of the stack for the first cut. Keep the order in the stack the same, but let a deep or middle make the first cut, and have a handler cutting away as the second option. Specify a four person play before the point, and allow the players to set up anywhere that will enable them to get open.

Intermediates:

Shorten the stack by placing the first player closer to the disc and by decreasing the space between players. This opens up the "away" cut from the first player in the disc, either a curving forehand or backhand or a hammer over the defenders [note to ed: a picture might help here, I could easily make a .gif, put it on my web page or attach it, or describe it, or fax it. It depends, I guess, on the space available], so the receiver is running away from the thrower at a 45 degree angle. Specify alternatives to the four person play, so that if a cutter gets shut down, there is a designated short fill or long fill to continue the flow. Sketch out specific plays designed for particular players.

Advanced:

Experiment with drastically alternative stacks, such as with one player always behind the disc, or two players even with the disc but to the side. Move the stack toward one side of the field and play one receiver out by himself and give him plenty of room to maneuver. Introduce the concept of audibles, so that with a simple call by a player, the play is changed. An example of this would be "two one", which would indicate that the first and second cutters should exchange roles. Another possible audible would be to have a code word that meant the cutter should go long.

References

Jim Parinella
http://www.tiac.net/users/parinell/disc.htm