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The
Lazy Person's Guide To Defense
To start with, I have a confession to make: I am extremely lazy! In principle,
I have nothing against running around my marker all day, occasionally getting
a chance to make a bid on the disk. However, I much prefer to think a bit
more, and run a little less. So over the years, I've developed a couple of
little tricks that I use to try to create a turnover with the minimum amount
of effort on my part. Off-man defense (also know as poaching, or creative
standing) is frequently the easiest way of getting a D; if you read the game
well and get yourself into the right positions the offense will sometimes
oblige by passing right to you!
Awareness
The key to any kind of off-man D (including zone defense) is to
be aware of the passing lanes - where is the offense looking to move the disc?
This obviously depends on many factors, such as the ability and preferences
of the thrower, the style of offense being played, and the position of the
disc on the field. Set plays from the middle of the pitch with a strict stack
set-up can be very vulnerable to poaching and switching defense. To be alert,
for all possibilities you need to keep an eye on the disc, another on the
player you're marking, and another on all the cutters. By my calculations
that requires more eyes than the average Ultimate player is endowed with!
Be aware of opportunities to help out your fellow defenders. If someone is
cutting from deep when you're at the front of the stack it can be worthwhile
to block out the big gain, even though you may allow an easy short pass to
your former marker. Similarly, is a cutter is free, go with them! There's
no point slavishly sticking with your man whilst the offence gets an easy
point. Sounds obvious, but it happens all too often.
Loitering With Intent
A typical situation with poaching possibilities is shown in Figure
1a.
If you're marking a handler who has cut short and not been passed to, don't
just jog after them as they amble away, thinking you're done your job; take
advantage of the ideal position you're in for off-man D. A defender innocently
wandering away from the disc can easily be overlooked by the thrower as the
next comes in, leading to the situation in Figure 1b, and easy turnover. It
is possible to structure an entire defensive strategy around the technique
of swtiching off the front of the stack onto the incoming cutter. This is
most effective against an unimaginative offense who continually cut in rotation
from the stack, but this is the type of offense that many teams revert to
in mid-point when they get tired. Against such a style, switching off the
front can be devastatingly successful, as well as being very energy efficient
for the defense.
Sneak Attacks
Another simple trick that can be suprisingly effective takes advantage
of the limited cutting space available in the endzone. Once the offense are
within assisting range the handler is often faces with a chaotic mass of cuts
in all directions. To make life even harder for the poor thrower, I like to
hand around towards the middle or back of the stack, usually on the open side
(the side being forced towards), looking to poach on any assists.
Nothing unusual there; the sneaky part is to try and position yourself so
that people further forward in the stack are blocking the line of sight between
the thrower and you, as in Figure 2a.
Out of sight, out of mind - with half a dozen defenders to keep track of it
is very easy for the thrower to overlook a cunningly placed defender. So when
an offensive play breaks free at the back of the stack you're perfectly positions
to move across and cut the disc off (Figure 2b).
Off-Man D In Action
One particular episode that I remember was marking a handler who was jogging
up the middle of the pitch after passing the disc. As I wandered upfield after
him I spotted a second cutter tearing up the sideline free of his marker.
I'd already forgotten the rollocking our captain had given us right before
that point about poaching, so I headed off to try and intercept the line pass
I guessed was about to be thrown. Neither thrower nor receiver noticed me,
and the pass duly went airborne - a low, fast sidearm. Angling my run to reach
the disc just in front of its target, I arrived in time to lay out past the
receiver's shoulder (admittedly he did crouch down to make this possible!)
and get fingertips on the disc - turnover! Then the bad news: I landed on
friction burns earlier in the week: Followed rapidly by the good news: I'd
managed to land within six feet of Dr. Paul Marfleet, the physio and treatment
coach - heaven just a short crawl away!
A cautionary Note
Finally. a word of warning: off-man D can seriously annoy your
team-mates! When it goes wrong it tends to go horribly wrong, and can often
result in an easy score or a large gain of ground for the opposition. There's
only one solution when you've poached and the person you were marking is running
into the endzone completely free - shout "switch" and try to blame
someone else :-)
References
Jeff Jackson
http://www.cranfield.ac.uk/public/ca/ad943925/bufscot1.htm
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