USA Ultimate

The Huddle, Issue #21: Team USA On Specialities

Team USA leaves today for the other side of the Pacific, where they will defend the World Games Ultimate title that the USA won in Germany in 2005. After months of tryouts, track workouts, flying around the country for scrimmages and tournaments and a final cut, the team is finally ready to play for hardware.

 

We were lucky enough to find ten members of Team USA who could answer questions about their specialties.

 

Thanks to Head Coach Greg Connelly and the UPA's Josh Seamon for their help in putting together this issue.

 

• Well-Rounded Deep Threats
  
  
  
  • In my experience, the toughest match-ups on receivers are against those players that are as big a threat going deep as they are coming under. Playing defense against a player like this, it is not obvious how you should play them. If you force them away, they'll burn you deep and/or sky you for the score, but if you force them in, they'll have a chance to use their throws to put the disc into the endzone.
    
    Leslie Calder in her prime is the perfect example of this type of player. As an incredible athlete, she had a great top speed, could turn on a dime, jumped well, had amazing hands, and could lay-out for passes that were well out of range for most players. Her throws were also superb, and she could break the mark and huck with pin-point accuracy. Being a lefty also helped her team as she could open up the field in different ways from her teammates. Miranda Roth and Georgia Bosscher both earned Callahan awards for this type of double-threat play.
    
    Against players that have only one clear superpower, it's easier to plan ahead to take that threat away, even if they are really, really good at that one thing.
    
    For this reason, I think that receivers with big aspirations should make sure and not focus exclusively on the skills that get them open (speed, turning, explosiveness, juking, timing) or that secure the disc in their hands (catching technique, reading the disc, lay-outs, hops), but also need to make sure that they can be potent once they have possession (fakes, breaks, hucks, field vision, decision making).
    
    It takes time to develop into that type of well-rounded player, so first a receiver would need to make sure and become at least a single-threat by being able to get open reliably. In my opinion, the easiest way to do this is through working on timing and learning how to get a defender on her heels. If you could work on one physical aspect, I would suggest focusing on top speed.
     
  • GWEN AMBLER
• What Else Makes A Good Handler?
  
  
  
  • Many players in Ultimate have good throws, but that does not necessarily mean that they are great handlers. The key to becoming a great handler is combining the mechanics of good throws and a versatile throwing repertoire with three big picture attributes: awareness, communication, and mind set/attitude.
    
    The first characteristic of a great handler is awareness, or vision. The ability to evaluate the field at a moment's notice is crucial for calling plays, or dictating what you want as a thrower. What is the positioning of your offenders and their defenders? Whose defender is out of position? Are there poachers about? Has someone set up particularly well for a deep cut? Great handlers can also apply this keen awareness to their mark in a very short time period. What plane is the mark taking? Are they sitting heavy on the inside out or outside in? As soon as you figure these things out, take what they are giving you or throw from a plane that is not parallel to theirs by stepping towards or away from them. The last mark of a great handler in the awareness category is to open your vision. The hardest handlers to mark do not follow individual cuts with their eyes; they use their peripheral vision and scan the field instead of following one cutter at a time. Just a note on this: it is helpful if your team establishes what order you want to scan the field in. For example, some teams scan deep early in the count, then open side, break side, and finally the dump space at a higher count. I learned to expand my vision the hard way by getting hand blocked by Miranda Roth, a great handler. I also learned to expand my throwing repertoire to include more creative throws by observing and playing against Roth.
    
    Communication is the second responsibility of a good handler. When you have the disc you are in control of the game for that short amount of time. You have the ability to dictate the play by communicating with your cutters about what you want or do not want, and this can be done through verbal or non verbal communication. Verbal communication might involve an established play call or basic directive to a player. Non-verbal communication might involve more subtle means of communicating through a pump fake, head nod, eye movement, hand gesture, or another subtle body cue. Lastly, good handler communication does not only occur on the field. Be vocal with your teammates about what kind of cuts you like to throw to or spaces you particularly look to hit.
    
    The last quality of a great handler is mind-set. While playing on Ozone, I observed Angela Lin and Holly Sommers exude a calm confidence with the disc that I tried to mimic as a young handler. Besides exhibiting the knowledge that you are in control, know when to take risks and do it confidently, do not be too hard on yourself for poor execution (vs. poor decisions), and be aggressive about quick movement. Lastly, and perhaps most difficult for the aging Ultimate player in all of us, try to avoid falling into "the handler trap" mind-set of getting stuck behind the disc. The line between stealth and sloth is thin and blurry, so if you are inactive make sure it is serving a purpose.
    
    Matthew Sewell once told me that Ultimate is 60% skill/athleticism and 40% confidence. Although I am sure he was exaggerating the percentages to instill confidence in a young player, he was absolutely right about the necessity of a confident and aggressive attitude. That mind-set, combined with good communication and a keen awareness, will help turn a good thrower into a great handler.
     
  • CARA CROUCH
• Handling: Vision
  
  
  
  • Having great throws is one thing, but what makes a great handler is how those throws are used. A lot of characteristics that apply can be said about any great player, like the ability to consistently get open, especially late in the stall, and in a dangerous place to make the next throw. The great ones blend taking opportunities and making opportunities. With handlers, I think what separates the great ones, beyond just having great throws, is vision.
    
    Vision involves being able to see the field; the whole field, not just the primary cutters or the play in motion. Spaces are opening and closing, cutters are changing directions and speeds. A great handler takes all of this in, anticipating cutters' motions to hit a new space she's cutting into, or hitting her just as she plants and turns under for max yardage gain. Reads the body language of a poacher as he starts to step off his man, pump fakes to get him to bite and then hits his man on the break side. That weak-side handler or h-stack cutter sneaking down the far sideline can catch his defender sleeping when the handler sees it developing and puts up the throw.
    
    Besides reading the field in the moment, a great handler will anticipate changes on the field over the course of a game. Every defense gives up something, and having vision is knowing where the vulnerabilities lie and how to take advantage of them using those great throws. A great handler will also manipulate the defense, capitalizing on areas of weakness and forcing them to change, opening new opportunities to strike. Take a few deep shots early in the game in order to set up the easy, big yardage gain in-cuts later in the game when the defense starts backing. Throwing a few swings around the cup and entice the off-mark to slide over away from the middle into that lane and bite on a fake, then hit a popper through the cup.
    
    All of these scenarios involve solid decision-making based on calculated risks. A great handler knows when that big incredible throw is likely to pay off, and when it's better to rely on the consistent throws and basic offensive strategy.
     
  • DEB CUSSEN
• Defensive Handlers I Admire
  
  
  
  Every team has its own style of play and I think it is hard to pick out characteristics that make a great defensive handler—or any other position—without considering it in the context of a specific team. That said, I have noticed that good defensive lines are able to use the chaos of a turn to their advantage. Some teams try to pick up the disc right away and move it quickly to make it difficult for the other team to set up a defense while others take their time to set up an organized offense. Either way, I think one of the biggest factors of successfully scoring off a turn is the on-field leadership skills of the defensive handlers.
  
  Nancy Sun, who was a defensive-line handler for Brute Squad for several years and now captains Fury, stands out in my mind as one of the best on-field handler "quarterbacks" that I've played with. Although she prefers a slower set-up off a turn, she is able to recognize when a fast break opportunity is available—based on how many people are downfield, their position, mismatches, etc.—and use it to the team's advantage. It doesn't hurt that she has great long and break throws to open up more opportunities on the field.
  
  Nurit Bloom, who played for Brute Squad for several years, is another example of a great defensive handler. She not only creates turns with her physical and smart defense, but she is able to move the disc quickly, making it difficult for the opposing team to set up their defense after a turn. She doesn't have the long throws that other handlers do, but she creates other opportunities with her break throws and quick disc movement.
  
  Maureen McCamley, who plays for Lady Godiva, also stands out as a great defensive handler but for a different reason. In addition to having great, physical defense and beautiful long throws, she also has fantastic pulls. In my opinion, any woman who can consistently put the disc in a favorable position off the pull (back left corner of the end-zone, for example), while playing decent defense, should earn playing time on an elite club team.
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  • KATHY DOBSON
• Schwa's D-Handler
  
  
  
  • Great defensive handlers are typically people who are aggressive, able to see the field really well, and have a solid understanding of when it is appropriate to play transition offense. In my opinion, one of the most important parts of being a defensive handler is leading your team when you guys do get the D. This may be calling a play, running to the disc to transition, creating space for a teammate, or cutting to get the disc off the transition. I think one of the most brutal things to have happen to your team is to turn the disc over and have the other team score within 2-3 passes. Therefore, if you are a defensive handler your goal should be to move the disc away from the defense immediately and start marching up the field.
    
    One player who is an amazing example of a defensive handler, who I have been lucky enough to be teammates with, is Andrea "Chowda" Jung. She is and incredible defender and because she is such a threat as a thrower she runs our offense right off of the turnover. By Chowda getting the offense going quickly, the other team can't get the right match ups quickly, and we have the opportunity for an easy score.
     
  • CHELSEA PUTNAM
• Handling: Doing The Little Things
  
  
  
  • There's a lot more to being a great handler than meets the eye. Being one of the better throwers on your team is important. But there have been plenty of teams on which the best thrower is not a handler, especially when it comes to hucking. This isn't say that being a great thrower doesn't help a handler be great. Rather, there are a lot of factors and skills that make some handlers particularly effective.
    
    Getting the disc
    Any good handler can deliver a disc after receiving the first pass after a pull. But the best handlers are able to get open during the normal flow of a point a high percentage of the time. Of particular importance is being able to get open for a relatively easy dump throw. A number of factors contribute to a handler being able to get open, though a few a especially important:
    
    Know your position. Great handlers are able to more effectively get open by actively positioning themselves in relation to the both the disc and their defender in a way that makes it easier for them to cut or receive the disc. One player that I learned the value of positioning from when I first arrived on the club scene was Dan Rydel (Surly, Sub Zero). Dan is not your typical fast-twitch kind of handler, but he is able to get the disc often and easily because he positions himself so that the person with the disc can see him and his defender is forced to choose to take away perhaps one cutting option, leaving others options open.
    
    Cut to get open. We've all heard someone on the sideline yell "Stop dancing!" before. Getting the disc as a handler is much easier if you sell your cut. In other words, cut like you mean it. Driving 4-5 steps (as opposed to 1-2) in one direction puts your defender on her heels and, ideally, forces her to turn her hips because she believes you're actually going to keep going. As soon as this happens, you'll be much more likely to be open when you cut in the other direction. Someone who does this better than anyone I've played with or against before is Kevin Cissna (Jam). His reliability as a dump was due in part to his ability to drive his defender in one direction before switching directions and being open by a couple of yards.
    
    Go deep! One of the best ways to put your defender on her heels is to go deep to be on the receiving end of a huck from time to time. Doing so forces your defender to respect the deep cut option, which will help to free you up around the disc more. Think Kobe Bryant driving to the basket the first couple of times down the floor in order to put his defender on his heels and set up an easy pull-up jumper the next time down. There are a lot of handlers that are willing to go deep, but among the more effective that I've seen are Jeff Cruckshank (Furious George) and Fortunat Mueller (DOG/Boston).
    
    Getting rid of the disc
    Once you've got the disc, being a great thrower only gets you so far. The best handlers do more than hit deep cuts in stride or slice through a zone defense. I've been fortunate to play with Damien Scott (Jam) for a few years, and the things I mention below (as well as those mentioned above) are all things that Damien does superbly.
    
    Break the mark. The best handlers in the game can break the mark effectively, and do so often. Breaking the mark opens up the field and forces both the mark and downfield defenders to play more honest defense. It also leads to my second point here...
    
    Set up your teammates for success. Putting a huck out in front of a teammate so she can catch the disc in stride for a goal is an obvious way to set up a teammate. But often, really great handlers aren't necessarily the ones throwing the goal. They make the throw that sets up their teammate to throw the goal. Breaking the mark is one really effective way to set up your teammate. Once she gets the disc on the break side, she will have a second or two with a great look down the field for an easy throw to the break side while her defender is trying catch up and put the mark on.
    
    Do the little things right. I'm stealing a favorite of Team USA coach Greg Connelly here. But it's absolutely true. There's no doubt that great handlers have physical skills that allow them to make great throws. But often the thing that separates the best from the rest is the fact that the best often do the little things right. Among the many little things, here are a few:
    
    1. Don't forget to fake with the disc, especially when you first receive the disc. This immediately puts the mark on her heels.
    
    2. Take the easy throw to keep the disc moving. Some handlers with great throws hold on to the disc, looking off easy under throws in hopes that a great look deep will open up. This often hurts an offense more than it helps.
    
    3. Face your dump and look to your dump early. Facing your dump allows you to establish eye contact with her, lets you see how she means to get open, and puts you in balance and ready to throw from either side of your body. The less time you give yourself to get off a dump throw, the greater chances the exchange will result in a turnover.
     
  • JON REMUCAL
• D-Line Handlers
  
  
  
  • I should start by saying that I am an incredibly blessed ultimate player. For the past few years, I have had the coolest job in ultimate. "Go cover whoever you want, and when we get the disc, get it moving, then put it up. Your receivers will be Beau, Jolian, Mangan and Martin." Uhhh, yes please? (I imagine Jeremy Cram felt the same way when he was choosing between Nord, Chase, Andrew Fleming and Mark Stone).
    
    Ideally, everyone on your team does everything well. Everyone is a threat both with and without the disc. But, of course, no team (with the possible exception of JAM in 2008) has an over abundance of complete players. I think the percentages of such players on the top teams rises each year as current players continue to develop their skill set and young players bring new skill sets each year, but even now every team seems to have a mix of specialists and general practitioners. Obviously, not all of the best athletes have the best throws and not all the best throwers are the most athletic, but each still contributes in a major way to their respective teams' success.
    
    So where do you put your complete players? The people that are good at everything go where? Thinking simply, success is based on some combination of your offense holding serve more often than your opponent's offense and your defense breaking more often than your opponent's defense. Since both of these are factors, you want to put some of your complete players on offense and some on D.
    
    When playing offense, they should probably be a cutter (or at least have the option of going deep from a handler position) to maximize the offense's options and force the defender to commit to stopping one direction (either in or out) with his/her positioning. You want the defender to feel screwed. If they stop the in and take away this player's throws, this person is such an attractive and effective deep target that the offense will happily use hitting this player deep as a perfectly reliable plan A until the D decides to do something different. If you force them under, they wreak havoc on you with their throws. My prototype for this role is Mac Taylor. Other players that come to mind are Fortunat, Kurt Gibson, AJ Tiarsmith, Grant Lindsley, George Stubbs, Damien Scott, Mike Grant, John Hassell, Jeff Graham, Teddy Tripoli...I could go on. Team USA is filled with players like this.
    
    When playing defense, your complete players should be handlers. The word "quarterback" comes to mind. I would say Ben Wiggins is that last true O-line quarterback. Other teams seem to have multiple players through which their offense can run. Defensive offenses tend to rely much more on one or two guys running the offense. There is usually a higher average level of disc skill on an O-line while defenses tend to have a higher average of athleticism. So disc skill is in greater demand on defense. If you have 7 solid athletes on, you want the ones with the most disc skill handling.
    
    Athletes and smart defenders get blocks. D handlers get breaks. So let's build the ideal D handler.
    
    First things first, your not going to score if you can't generate blocks, so you gotta have someone that is a fundamentally sound defender—Someone that understands downfield positioning and marking that can put significant pressure on his/her matchup over the course of the point. Ideally, the person is a totally badass athlete and absolutely dominates his/her match-ups consistently, but chances are that player could better serve your team as a target than a thrower. So acknowledging that this isn't a role for your best athlete, I'd say you want a diverse athlete—someone that can play effective D on both receivers and handlers. It's not always in the best interest of a team to put their D handlers on O handlers b/c on the turn, you never take your O player out of his/her comfort zone. Your opponent handles for part of the point, then he covers a handler after the turn. He's always around the disc. He's still doing what he does best and it's tough to exploit him because chances are, if he's handling on offense, he knows how to cover handlers as well. If you can mix it up and put at least one of your D-line handlers on a cutter, you can send him into squirrel mode off the turn. Cutters are often much less effective covering handlers than handlers. There's nothing O cutters hate more than having to cover someone shorter than he is that doesn't stop running. It's annoying and difficult, and should you fail to score, renders him less effective with each subsequent O possession which pays off huge late in games.
    
    Secondly, you need someone that is comfortable being around and effective at handling the disc—a fundamentally sound thrower/decision maker with a good first step that can break the mark, run the reset and keep possession when the offense is struggling to gain yards off the turn. It helps, but is not necessary, to have a complete player in this role. It certainly gives you more options if your D handlers are also effective deep threats, but scoring percentages always go down when your best athlete makes an in cut and tries to huck it to your 5th best athlete. In general, it's best to keep your D handlers around the disc unless they are being defended in such a way that there is an easy goal to be had. Third, you need this player to be dangerous with the disc. On a D-line, there is usually an abundance of sick athletes. You need a thrower that can put it out in front of these players where they can go do what they do best and make plays. Every good D-line puts the disc up. It's icing on the cake to have good throwers in your downfield cutting lanes, but given that your handlers will touch the disc far more frequently, it's best not to have to wait for a cutter to get the disc. You want to be able to throw a goal at any time from almost any place on the field. And you can't do that if you don't have good deep throwers handling.
    
    It's tough to say which attribute is most important. D handler is an interesting position b/c it's rarely obvious who is going to be best at filling that role. All other positions at the club (O handlers, Deep D, Cutters) make themselves fairly obvious in tryouts, but D handlers don't. Many teams put their best defenders on the field together and by default, the one or two guys with the best throws start handling. I think the best D handlers I know are made from either O handlers that commit to becoming more athletic or good defenders that commit to developing their disc skill. If I could only pick two attributes, they would be big throws and a good first step. Intelligence is actually much lower on my list. I think it's the only position where careless, reckless idiots can still be highly effective.
    
    A D-line run by a poor decision maker with big throws and an itchy trigger finger is still going to score a ton of goals if he has good targets. A D-line run by a fundamentally sound decision maker with good fundamentals, but lacking the big throws or the quick first step is not going to do nearly as much damage. Most O-lines at the top level are excellent at getting the disc back, so your rewards decrease drastically if you have to make more throws. You will score more with the dumbass with big throws than with the genius that can't put it up b/c you will have significantly more (many times over) looks at the endzone in each D possession.
    
    Keeping that in mind, the best D handlers couple intelligence and good decision making with the deadly first step and big throws.
    
    The first player I ever played with that played this position exceptionally well was Colin "JV" Gottleib. When I was a freshman at CU, I noticed that the D got the disc almost every possession. When JV was in, the D scored and when he wasn't, the D didn't score. Part of it was having an under the radar Richter as a target to bail out the throws that didn't go where they were supposed to; however what made him great were his quick first step, his unwillingness to stop running hard and his big throws from both sides. I modeled a great deal of my game from his. I've never seen offensive players look so beat at the end of points as when they were covered by JV and then had to chase him around the field.
    
    Brandon Malacek is probably single handedly responsible for bringing this position into the limelight during Wisconsin's championships. It seemed like every time he got the disc he was putting it up. His throws were (are) huge, often pinpoint, and when they weren't or when he made a poor choice, Shane, Drew and Lokke could almost always bail him out.
    
    Jason Simpson currently fills this role for Chain, which always seems odd to me, because he's a phenomenal athlete and receiver. But once Chain picked up Rob White and Zip, they started using his lefty backhand to get it out in front of them.
    
    Stephen Poulos fills the role for Ring. That guy can chuck it a country mile.
    
    I think the world of Jeremy Cram for his disc skill, but I wish he would put it up more.
    
    My prototype for the position is actually Kevin Cissna, despite the fact that he played mostly offense in his career. His first step verged on uncoverable, and he was athletic enough to cover receivers. He was thick and really strong, so if he ever played physical D, it was almost impossible to get anywhere near top speed. He was a great decision maker and had deep throws in the wind.
    
    Not to give too many props to UC-Davis, but Jeff Eastham is also on my short list. He continues to be one of the best deep defenders in the game, and while Jam prefers to use him as a receiver (they benefit from having a staggeringly high proportion of complete players), he would throw the bulk of goals for any other team's D-line b/c he's very quick and has huge throws.
     
  • ADAM SIMON
• Deep Cutting
  
  
  
  • Three of the handiest attributes a deep receiver can have are speed, jumping ability, and height. Sadly, even by lifting, doing plyometrics, and running sprints, an athlete and only increase her or his speed and explosiveness to a certain extent. As far as I have seen, height cannot be taught or learned. Fortunately, there are several other factors that go into being an effective deep threat, all of which are much more learnable. I am going to discuss three skills in particular.
    
    The first two skills are about making yourself an attractive looking target to the thrower. No matter how tall, fast, and good-looking you are, unless your teammate with the disc looks up and sees you going to the place to which she or he wants to throw at the right moment, you're not going to get many bombs sent your way. From where you set up your deep cut and your timing are crucial to getting open and getting thrown to. At UGA, I played with a guy named Amble Johnson. Amble was about 5'10'' and was one of the two slowest guys on the team (If you are reading this Amble, I'm sorry. But it's true.) but he caught as many deep goals as anyone on the team. He'd set up his cuts by constantly repositioning himself in response to where the disc moved. This kept his defender engaged and unable to keep track of both the thrower and Amble. As soon as he saw the disc in the air on it's way to a thrower in a power position (i.e. coming up the line or off of a swing cut) Amble would take a couple of quick steps towards the thrower to create more space behind him into which a deep pass could be thrown. He'd time his cut so that right as his teammate caught the disc and looked up field he'd see Amble taking of towards the endzone with plenty of space out in front of him.
    
    Most throwers prefer to throw bombs within the first two or three seconds of catching the disc, before the defender gets a chance to set a good mark. If you time you cut so that the thrower sees you going right as he or she looks up you'll be a lot more likely to be thrown to. In terms of from where your cut should originate, don't be too far away from the thrower. It's nearly impossible to throw a leading pass to a receiver who starts her or his cut from far away. Even though floaty passes sometimes make for exciting plays, leading passes that hit receivers in stride are a good team's bread and butter.
    
    Aim your cut towards the back of the endzone rather than the sideline so the thrower won't have to worry as much about putting it out of bounds. Try to avoid cutting directly away from the thrower because it forces the thrower to either throw straight over your head which is difficult to read, or to send a pass with a lot of bend which is difficult to throw. If you are cutting for the thrower's forehand you should start your cut from the backhand side of the thrower's body and head towards the back of the endzone on the forehand side. The reverse is true if you are cutting for a backhand.
    
    The final and perhaps most important part of becoming a threatening deep receiver is to become a strong thrower. If you cannot throw well, you are a one dimensional player. A smart defender will just stay behind you at all times forcing you to come back towards the disc because she or he is not worried about you hurting his or her team with your throws. If you can throw, any cut you make towards the disc is much more of a threat to your defender because you are a weapon with the disc in your hands. Your defender will bite a lot harder when you fake in and it will be that much easier to get him or her off balance and get open going away. A good example of a deep player who became dominant once he learned to throw is Kurt Gibson. Kurt's first two years at Florida he was a great athlete and made a number of exciting plays but once defenders started picking up on the fact that he wasn't a great thrower, they just stayed behind him and took away his strength. Kurt's junior year he became a great thrower and he became nearly uncoverable because if his defenders backed him, he'd get the disc easily and throw goals. He forced the guy covering him to basically pick him poison. Either let Kurt catch goals or throw goals. Tough choice. Florida went from not making nationals Kurt's sophomore year to winning it all his junior year largely because he learned to throw well.
    
    Even if you aren't overwhelmingly endowed with the genetic advantages of being fast, explosive, and tall, if you start you deep cuts from the right place, time them well, and make yourself a great thrower, you will be well on your way to becoming a strong deep threat.
     
  • DYLAN TUNNELL
• Cutting Thoughts & Techniques
  
  
  
  • Becoming a great cutter, like any ultimate skill, requires more than simply athleticism (though work at the track won't hurt). It requires plenty of skill, thought, and practice. I think about cutting broken down into two components: the technique of the cut itself and cutting within an offensive system.
    
    Cutting technique: As you start to work on your cutting technique, it's useful to think about your strengths and role as a cutter. While there are some fundamental aspects of cutting that are universal across body types and positions, like driving your defender away from where you want to go to set up your cut, how you accomplish these fundamentals will vary both by cutting style and by what you are hoping to accomplish. Let's consider first the fundamentals, and then we can focus on how to alter these strategies for position, body type, etc. I will highlight four fundamental techniques to cutting. All of these can and should be worked on consciously, both at practices and in your workouts.
    
    1. Control your defender
    Controlling your defender is the most important part of good cutting. Good offense beats good defense. Why? Simple, the offense knows where it is going. However, offensive players shouldn't take this for granted, but rather use it to their advantage. In cutting, the best way to accomplish this is by pushing or pulling your defender in ways that set up your cut. Sometimes this will take the form of driving right at your defender to get them on their heels before a change of direction. This type of cut works well as a lane cut. I like to think about stepping between a defenders feet right before making a hard cut, putting them on their heels. The second way to set up a defender is to pull them to a space that makes defense more difficult. If you want to cut break side, jog them to the open side to open up more space for the thrower to put the disc into. If you want to cut across the field on the open side, move them further to the break side and start calling for the disc before shooting across. The key is to be in control of your defender, not vice-versa. If you can get them to turn their hips away from where you want to go, you've won.
    
    2. Stay low through turns and chop your feet.
    Form is critical. Offense often has an initial advantage on cuts, but without good form, this is easily lost. Good cutting technique involves getting low with your hips, chopping your feet, and pumping your arms as you attack your turn. Shuttles, plyos, and speed ladders are good ways to work on this form. Don't forget the arms, as they are equally important as quick feet in getting in and out of turns. Finally, with turns, find angles that allow you to keep some of your speed. If you come out of a turn with speed and the defender doesn't, you'll open up more space.
    
    3. Use fakes; they aren't just for throwers
    Fakes are a good way to accomplish goal #1, controlling your defender. Just like with throws, fakes set up your defender and allow you to open space on your cut. Head and other upper body fakes are a great way to do this. Practice turning your upper body away from where you want to go a second before you change direction and watch how your defender reacts. Change of speed, or stutter-step, fakes are another way to control your defender. On deep cuts, slow your pace to one second to freeze your defender, before continuing deep at full speed.
    
    4. Keep moving.
    Young players biggest cutting problems typically stem from viewing it as an entirely stop and go enterprise. Good defenders will use any stoppage to reset their positioning, reducing your advantage. How you continue to move will depend on the offensive system you are playing in, but in any case, once a point begins never allow your defender to reset. If you are playing in a stack, keep making short cuts, adjusting your position, forcing the defender to lose disc-man vision. In a horizontal, you may have more freedom to job in your lane. In any case, continue to move, hopefully in a way that puts you in position for your next big gainer (more on this in a minute). If you do come to a stop, find moments when your defender looks away in order to start moving again. Any time a defender turns their head, when they turn back you should be in a new place.
    
    All of the above rules need to be tailored to your cutting style and offensive role. Thinking about this individually will also help you to pick role models for cutting. Some players are able to use their quickness or explosiveness to rapidly change directions and so can accomplish goal #1 simply by cutting for a step or two before changing directions. Josh Zipperstein of Chain, Josh Wiseman of Revolver, and Damien Scott of Jam are good examples of these shorter cutting styles. Josh Z. and Damien show that this can be done in different ways, where Josh uses very quick feet and Damien uses a more powerful driving approach. This style of cutting will apply more to handlers, who often have to get open more rapidly late in the stall count.
    
    Downfield cutters and cutters that focus on speed more than quickness should work on elongating their cuts, driving their defenders further, and creating more space in which to use their speed. Many of the Sockeye lane cutters, like MC, are very effective at this style of cutting.
    
    Cutting within an offense: Perhaps equally, if not more important, than individual cutting form is effective cutting within your team's offense. A good cutter with bad timing is going to get far fewer discs than a lesser individual who knows his/her team's system. While this is obviously going to be very team specific, here are two general issues that you can think about:
    
    1. Knowing the flow of the disc and using it to your advantage.
    You know where the disc should go in your offense and the defender doesn't. This presents several tactical advantages. The first is in relation to point number #1, controlling your defender. If your team is working on getting the disc on the break side for hucks, set up your defender by making in cuts to the offensive side, improving your positioning for the eventual break side bomb. Second, this allows you to move before the disc moves, making your defender lose disc-man vision and improving your knowledge of the field relative to them. If you know your team always dumps at 6, try starting to set up a cut for the dump at 5 and trust it will get there. Your defender has to defend you based on the first thrower, making it that much easier to get open for the second.
    
    2. Taking what the defense gives you vs. breaking the defense
    One of the classic offensive debates is whether to take what the defense gives you versus trying to actively break the defense. While this often gets a lot of discussion in relation to the mark, it's equally applicable to cutting. Defenders will normally take away chunks of the field. In addition to the open side, defenders will often position themselves to prevent the deep or in cuts. Cutters should vary their strategies based both on their successes/strengths and in order to keep the defense off balance. If a defender is giving you the disc in, take a couple of these easy in-cuts, before setting up a double-move: mimic your in-cut for a few seconds, wait for your defender to recognize and commit, and then break deep. The less predictable you are as a cutter to your defender, the harder it will be for them to know whether you are setting them up or making a real cut.
    
    In all, cutting requires as much practice, skill, timing, and thought as throwing. You should think about where you want to attack, how you will set up your defender in order to attack that space, and the form you need to complete the cut. The rest is just hard work, but remember, if you do it right, your hard work beats the defender's hard work.
     
  • BART WATSON
• Defense From The Handler Spot
  
  
  
  • A great defensive handler first and foremost plays defense. The defensive unit will only get a handful of opportunities to try to score; most of their time spent on the field will be defending. To be valuable to their team, a defensive handler will need to produce more than they give up, and the offense has a big advantage to start with. Effective defending from a variety of positions is well covered in other issues of The Huddle.
    
    Aside from defending, there are a few attributes that separate among defensive handlers the great from the rest, and those attributes are largely based on the realities of playing with defensive units. Among the top teams today, most put their smartest, most experienced players on offense, usually taking those with the best disc skills with them. As most defensive units attempt to specialize at defending, they spend relative to offensive far less time practicing their offense sets. Further, most offensive teams are kept intentionally small, while defensive teams take the remaining 14 or so players. With any weather affecting play, defensive teams tend to defend downwind most of the points. So how does a great defensive handler manage to get a less-experienced, less-practiced team with far fewer disc skills to score upwind? Among the greats that I have watched and played with, a few factors have stood out:
    
    Use Only What is Needed
    Offensive players will generally be put in enough situations to utilize their strengths. Over the course of a game, and even a tournament, defensive handlers will be limited in available options. The pressure to force their strength on the situation is usually the greatest on defensive handlers, and the best ones I've seen have been extremely patient to use only what would work, instead of what they thought they could do.
    
    Be an Effective Reset
    As the effectiveness of cutters goes down, the number of dumps thrown goes up. Great defensive handlers are able to consistently provide an open, safe throw for players with less disc skills in order to maintain possession.
    
    Break the Mark
    Similarly, as the downfield cutters are less able to get free on the open side, breaking the mark becomes even more important. A great handler for the D-team will be confident and able to break the same mark repeatedly in the same point.
    
    Be Comfortable at High Stall Counts
    While usually wise to move the disc to the first open option, a great defensive handler might need to deal with several high stall counts per possession, as open options might be few and far between. The ability to maintain composure to get out of high stall situations is often the difference between a turnover and a break.
    
    Deal With Weather
    The great defensive handlers I've played with have been able to do all of the above in the wind. When the weather gets more difficult, even more pressure gets put onto the handler, as lesser throwers will be even more reluctant to take risks with the disc.
    
    While hardly comprehensive, these attributes stand out the most in the great defensive handlers I have played with, from high school to Club Nationals. These aren't fixed: you can improve your own ability with every one of them, and doing so will help your team's chances to score breaks.
     
  • SETH WIGGINS