An Old Write-up on Defense...

In Ultimate we have the unique experience of having captains who are not just the emotional leader on the field. These guys are looked to for coaching, coordinating, and competing at a level that is beyond that of their teammates. This view, I believe, is unfair to those that do lead.
I haven’t considered this until I was thinking about the slew of mistakes our captains have made on the field this summer. These are the guys who tell us what we’re doing wrong and set up our game plan, shouldn’t they also be effectively executing that same plan??? Yes, but are they not just another person on the field, just as susceptible to mistakes as everyone else?

My belief is that captains should be very aware of the fact that they are held to higher standards and they should concentrate on playing within themselves and making their teammates better. Too many times have I seen a captain trying to “make something happen,” rather than just taking the easy throws and trusting their teammates. I only hope that I can learn to stay within the limits of my own physical skill, trust my teammates, and lead with enthusiasm, respect for my teammates, and a love for the game.

Now, the strategy. Defense is something we’ve been lacking as of late, and here are three reasons why and some quick thoughts:

1. Positioning (Pertaining to man-to-man defense) - Prior to every point I believe you should have an idea of the most beneficial place for you to be in order to put a bid on a disc. Once you have this place in mind, constantly work to maintain that position. I personally like to be a shade behind perpendicular so I can see the disc and my defender, generally about 3-5 ft towards the force side. When my defender cuts breakside, I need to maintain this position and use the 3rd aspect of defense.
2. Communication - This is mainly for the sidelines. If you’re locked up in a tight battle with a cutter, you don’t want to sneak too many glances at the disc. Your sidelines are doing that for you and should be extremely vocal on up calls, switches, and break calls. I shouldn’t need to find the disc, the sideline should make me very aware of where it is…
3. Trust - The most important part of defense. When playing d, we are not trying to shut down the offense completely, we’re trying to take away half of their game. This “half” is called the “break-side” if you are a marker, and it is called the “force-side” if you are defending a cutter. When a cutter cuts to the break side, as a defender, we need to trust our markers. Too many times we chase the cutter, lose positioning, then get beat easily to the open side (force side) or worse. We need to trust that marker to take away the break throws. In turn, our markers need to trust our force-side defenders. Many times a marker will slide too far across the front of their mark and allow easy break throws in an attempt to point-block the mark. This benefits nobody. Trust is the only thing that truly does take away half of an offense's game plan.

There is always going to be an argument about getting broken. I believe it is impossible for a marker to stop every break throw, but they can take away most low break throws. If both hands are down, the only break throw given is a high, floaty break (it is also easier to swing your hand from low to high than from high to low). The high release break gives the defender a chance to cut off the swing pass, but a low break throw is faster and gives the offense more of a chance for easy break-side continuation. That should make you think twice before telling your rookies to keep the break-side hand high.