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Defense
- Zone
So what is a zone defense? Zone
defenses are characterised by one or more players on the defensive team not
marking a player on the opposing team, but an area. In most cases, there is
a "cup" of chasers near the thrower at all times.
Zone defenses are mostly used when weather conditions are less favourable
for passing, or against an offence with few strong throwers. A zone usually
forces many more passes to gain the same amount of ground and relies on the
offence making a weak or reckless throw in that period.
Instead of trying to block passes altogether, a zone tries to block all of
the easy and ground-gaining passing lanes. The zone allows passes backwards
and sometimes sideways because they do little harm to the defense. The zone
also allows throws over the top, because these throws are generally high risk
and have a good chance of being dropped or intercepted.
One advantage a zone brings is that in the event of a turnover the opponents
will usually find it difficult to mark up quickly, and set up for their own
defense. This can lead to easy scores, as there will be a number of people
open for throws. [1]
The
Cup (LC (Left Cup) and RC (Right Cup) ), together with TC (Top Cup), form
a defensive cup around the thrower. We refer to the Point who is marking the
disc as the strong-side Point, and the other Point as the weak-side Point.
In the diagram, the RC is marking the disc and so he is the strong-side Point
at this time. If the disc moves to the other side of the field, the LC will
probably mark the thrower and hence will become the strong-side Point.
So one Point (strong-side) will
mark the thrower, and the other Point (weak-side) and TC will stand on the
force side trying to prevent any throw forward on that side. In theory, this
set up will prevent throws through the cup. MM (Middle-Middle) marks the area
just behind the cup. LM (Left Middle) & RM (Right Middle) mark the areas on
either side of the field. D (Deep) marks anywhere behind that.
The job of Point requires a fair
amount of fitness and good marking skills, as they are the only defensive
players that should ever be marking the thrower. The cup tends to have to
do quite a lot of running. The three players in the cup (LC, TC & RC) have
to decide which way the cup is going to force the thrower. This will often
be towards the middle of the field, although there are instances when always
forcing to a particular direction (eg into a cross-wind), or forcing line
is good.
TC has the task of coordinating
the cup, defending against throws through the cup, and marking any receiver
that runs into the cup (known as a popper). Coordination involves telling
the points who will mark a particular thrower, how wide the cup should be
spaced and which way to move. TC should also listen to calls from MM as to
where poppers are. The TC can turn around a lot of the time and cover any
man who is near the cup. MM should usually alert TC to warn them when a man
is near the cup by saying "coming in".
MM covers the area directly behind
the cup. This usually involves marking man-to-man on anyone that comes into
this area, until they leave it or they run through the cup. Once a receiver
enters the cup, they are the job of the Points or TC, and should be ignored.
The other job of MM is to talk to the cup. If a receiver is coming into the
cup, TC needs to be told to close the cup up on that side. The cup may also
need to be told if it is too open or too close together.
Conceptually, the Wings RM &
LM have the simplest job on the field. They each have one side of the field
to mark, and the aim is to stop passes up either of the sidelines. Usually,
if a throw gets around the edge of the cup, the thrower will be looking upfield
for the next pass. The Wing's job is to find and stop any cutters to that
thrower. This may involve going man-to-man for a short while. If the player
gets the disc, the wing should drop back (contain!) and let the points mark
the thrower. It is not the Wing's job to mark the player with the disc.
D has the task of intercepting
any long throws put up by the offence. The job is usually not hard since if
there is any wind it is difficult to huck accurately, and thus it is not often
that the Deep comes into play. As a result, the main job of the Deep is to
talk to the other players, primarily the Middle and Wings, and tell them where
to go and who to cover.
The cup will always chase the
disc. Only one of the sides of the cup will mark the disc and call out the
stall count. (Nobody else may do this.) The other people in the cup play exactly
ten feet off the disc unless there is an offensive player within ten feet
in which case the defender may follow him/her in. When the disc is swung,
the cup tries to contain passes from getting up the field before tightening
up again. The middles look to cover offensive players in their zone paying
special attention to the passing lanes through the cup. The deep watches people
behind the middles.
The zone described here is called a 3-3-1 zone because there's 3 people in
the cup, then 3 people in the middle, and finally 1 person deep. Another standard
zone is a 3-2-2. I'll let you figure out that one.
Note: Communication is very important. The top of the cup talks and directs
the other people in the cup. The middle-middle directs the top of the cup.
The deep directs the middles. The players sitting off help the hammers and
warn the deep when someone is behind him/her.
Non-Trap
Set
The
fish is responsible for forcing the disc towards one side of the field.
The fish is the only player that marks the disc. Depending on the situation,
the fish might also want to try to take away a backwards pass.
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The
short middle is the most important position. This person has to be aware
of all cuts through the center and at the same time break up any give and
go opportunities.
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The
short on the strong-side of the field can back up a little bit to sucker
the disc towards the sideline which we want to trap. The short on the other
side of the field needs to watch out for any I/0 throws and be ready to
prevent any swings if a dump occurs.
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The
middles prevent any hammers and pretty much play man defense for people
in their zone.
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The
deep does the usual barking and minding of deep threats.
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Note: strong-side = same side of the field that the disc is
on. weak-side = opposite-side of the field that the disc is on.
Trap Set
Once
the disc gets on the sideline the fish will move to deny the dump. The short
middle will move to cut off a swing. The short on that side will move up
a bit to prevent an easy pass down the line. These three players are basically
like a cup in a standard zone.
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The
weak-side middle (the right middle in the case shown in the figure) must
hurry over to protect against any throws through the cup.
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The
strong-side middle (the left middle in the case shown in the figure) backs
up down the sideline weary of any big bending throws down the sideline.
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The
weak-side short (the short right shown in the figure) has the most ground
to cover. However, since these are long throws, probably into the wind,
this person has a bit of time to get to an ambitious swing or cross field
hammer. Depending on the offensive players' set up, the deep might be able
to help on that long cross field hammer, too.
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The main difference is that the
person playing the weak-side position has a lot of flexibility and can either
play up or back depending on the situation and how the other team has been
beating you. It also puts a permanent player in the middle of the field, the
middle-middle. This person now becomes responsible for positioning and communicating
with the short middle which is also very important.
The final twist is that the short-middle
will mark the disc and take away the dump in the trap set. The fish then cuts
off the swing pass. This has the added advantage of giving the fish a bit
of a break and making it easier for the fish to mark the disc once the other
team gets out of the trap situation.
When the disc gets to close to
the endzone, the regular salmon set-up is not necessarily the best, because
it does not collapse very nicely in the short space. However, without to much
trouble, the zone can be reconfigured.
It's not really important where everyone lines up in the line of four. The
important thing is to have the right (or weak-side player) take one back corner
and the deep take the other. This is done because next to the deep, the weak-side
player should be able to cover the most ground and read plays the best. The
line of four listens to the people behind them for directions. The player
on the disc will mark the disc back towards the middle of the field. When
the disc gets moved, the marker and the four defenders in a line will rotate.
When leaving the wall to mark the disc, it is important to approach the disc
cautiously, trying not to allow the thrower to throw to the space you just
vacated, because the wall will need a few seconds to adjust.
Communication is very important
just as in any zone.
The
middle-middle helps to direct the rabbit.
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The
deep helps to direct the mids.
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The
same-side mids help to direct the same-side shorts.
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Only
the short left or short right will mark the disc. If the disc is on the left-side
then the short left will mark the disc back towards the right. If the disc
is on the right-side of the field then the short right will mark the disc
back towards the left-side of the field.
The short that isn't marking the disc will drop off to the side. This person
should be back a bit but not quite lined up with the mids. They are far enough
back so that a dump and swing is allowed, but not a straight swing. This position
is somewhat flexible and can be adjusted as we see what other teams try doing
to move the disc. It is important for this person to get a quick mark (almost
straight up) on the disc when it is swung to break up any continuation plays.
The weak-side middle can drop a bit because the short on that side should
have dropped some. This allows the deep to cheat a bit towards the strong-side
of the field, as well.
The standard zone uses a 3 person cup. A competent
group of handlers can usually move the 3 person cup around a lot. In order
to give a different look and make the handler passes more difficult a 4 person
cup can be used.
The cup plays fairly loose. The top of the cup
almost plays even with the disc, sometimes even cheats towards the sideline.
This makes for a very small opening through the cup towards the sideline and
for the middle on that side to ignore it and instead cover the zone between
the top of the cup and the other top. When the thrower passes the disc back
for a dump, the other side of the cup immediately goes to prevent the swing
pass and the other people in the cup converge on the dump. The middles play
the zones in the obvious holes. The deep does a lot of praying. This is best
used for only a few passes. After the offense has lost a bit of yardage one
of the top cup players should drop back and play middle middle as the team
changes to the standard or rabbit zone defense.
This cup plays fairly tight and
forces the disc to the sidelines. The back cup plays person-on-person with
the dump denying the disc towards the center of the field.
When
the disc is on the sideline the cup changes formation into a hard trap as
shown on the right. The middles cover the zones through the obvious holes
in the cup. The deep does a lot of praying once again.
Perhaps the most important thing
with a zone defense is good communication. Each line of the zone defense will
talk to the previous line letting them know who is behind them. The players
who are not playing can also help a great deal with communication.
(Note: the left middle and right middle are also called the left hammer or
left hammer stopper and the right hammer or right hammer stopper.)
References
[1] Tom Brennan http://www.afda.com/newsletters/981206thinkaboutyourzone.htm
[2] Athan Spiros http://www.iam.ubc.ca/~spiros/playbook/
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