Ultimate Frisbee Defensive Strategy
Here we'll discuss a few defensive strategies for ultimate frisbee. We will talk about the force, person to person defense, zone defense, and clam defense.
Person-to-Person Defense
In person-to-person defense each defensive player is defending one offensive player. The person guarding the person with the disc is often called "the mark." The mark puts on a force, that is, they position themselves in such a way as to try to force the person with the disc to throw to only one half of the field and they try to deny throws to another part of the field.
Everyone else will be positioned to try to be roughly between their person and the space where their person might try to get the disc (usually on the open side of their player).
Switching
Even in person-to-person defense you might occasionally switch who you are defending with another player. For example if one player goes deep, the deepest defender might leave their player and defend the player heading toward the endzone. The defender who was on the person going deep will now switch to the player that the other defense abandoned. Usually players will communicate verbally about switching, though you can communicate by eye contact and pointing as well.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Person Defense
Person-to-person defense is pretty easy for players to understand. It does not require much game IQ or field awareness so it can be a good defense for beginners.
At higher levels, teams playing person defense are usually mixing in some tweaks like "help" defense, switches, or poaches.
Person-to-person defense can be a very good choice for a highly athletic team and/or a team of less experienced players.
In situations where you can use the windto help you play defense or you are outmatched athletically, zone defense can be a better choice.
Zone Defense for Ultimate Frisbee
Zone defense is often played in windy conditions. The idea of zone defense is that each player is covering a space on the field rather than an individual person.
In zone defense there is usually one person (sometimes two people)covering the deep space.
There will be 2-3 people in the second line of defense.
And usually there are three people (sometimes four) creating a "cup" or "wall" near the person with the disc.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Zone Defense
Because the wind can make throwing deeper throws difficult, a zone in the wind allows you to put more players in the space closer to the person with the disc.
Against a team with excellent throwers, zone may not work as well. Once the offense gets the disc past the cup or wall, the defense is outnumbered and can have a hard time recovering.
As mentioned, Zone defense is a good choice in the wind. If can also be a good choice against a team that is throwing deep a lot because you will have one to tow players already deep and ready to challenge deep throws. A zone defense tends to force the offense to throw more throws and can slow the pace of a fast moving offense.
Clam Defense for Ultimate Frisbee
The idea behind a clam defense is that each defender is covering a certain type of cut. They are not defending a particular player or even a particular space. "Proactive switching" is another way to think about this type of defense. Here's an example of proactive switching defense. You can see that some players stay on the open side and let their player go when they move to the break side.
In clam defense you will have one defender covering the under cut on the open side. Another defender will cover the under cut on the break side. One person may cover the front of the stack for any short breakmark passes.
One person will cover the hammer space. One person will cover deep cuts on the open side.
Players who are defending handlers will usually stay with their person unless they go downfield.
Each defender will cover an offensive player as they are cutting but then switch off of them when the offensive player is done with that type of cut. For example, is someone is cutting deep, they will be covered by the person covering deep cuts. If they then stop going deep and start cutting under, the person who is covering open side under cuts will pick them up.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Clam Defense
Clam defense works particularly well against a vertical stack. It can work very well to cover the first pass after an offensive timeout. Clam defense does not work as well versus a horizontal stack because the cutting lanes are less defined.
Clam defense can get confusing once the offense is in flow. Less experiences players may have trouble being effective in a clam defense because it requires anticipation, assertive communication, and quick decision making.
The Mark and the Force
Regardless of what defensive formation you're using, and important part of any defense is the "mark" on the thrower.
The mark helps to dictate what spaces are easier for the thrower to throw to and what spaces are more difficult.
The "force" is the term for how the mark is positioned or what spaces the team is collectively trying to force throws into.
In general, teams will force forehand or backhand (referring to right handed throwers).
Or you might use the terminology "force home" or "force away" (where "home" is the side you dumped your bags, and "away" is the other sideline).
You can also use a force that changes as the disc moves, e.g. to always force to the nearest-sideline or force middle.
Force Forehand
The marker sets up to make throws to the backhand side more difficult.
Heads up, when marking a left handed thrower, you'll be forcing them backhand. The side of the thrower that you're set up on will be consistent with the rest of your teammates.
Advantages of forcing forehand
At the beginner level, many players will already know how to throw a backhand and a forehand will be more difficult. Forcing forehand can put pressure on newer throwers to throw a weaker type of throw.
At higher levels, forehand throws are usually more accurate. The advantage of forcing forehand is that most players can throw farther with their backhands than with their forehand throws.
Force Backhand
The marker sets up to make throws to the (right handed) backhand side more difficult.
Advantages of Forcing Backhand
There are many advantages to forcing backhand at intermediate and higher levels.
Forehand throws tend to be released more quickly and have more spin. Forehandthrows can be more stable in the wind because of having more spin.
Because of the quickness of release and lack of a wind-up, it's often easer to break the mark with a forehand. The inside-out break with a backhand is much more difficult than the inside-out break with a forehand throw.
Another advantage of forcing backhand is that it enables downfield defenders to cover hammers more easily.
Forcing Home or Away
This terminology is more accurate and easier to understand for beginner players. "home and "away" refer to different sides of the field. "Home" is where your stuff it. "Away" is the other side. You can also use visual marker like "force trees" "force parking lot" "force mountains" to designatewhich side of the field you are forcing to.
Designating a side of the field also makes more sense when there is a cross wind. In these situations choosinga sideis the same as choosingto forceupwind or downwind.
Forcing to the upwind side
The advantage of forcing to the upwind side is that throwing upwind is more difficult. The disadvantage is that breaking the mark with downwind throws can be more easy.
Forcing to the downwind side
At intermediate and higher levels, forcing to the downwind side is more common. This is becausethe wind can help you to hold the force. Break throws are mor difficult. And ideally you can "trap" the disc on thedownwind sideline which is a difficult position for the thrower to be in.
Types of Marks
In addition to choosing the force, your team may designate more specifically what the shape of the mark looks like.
Typically there are two choices, a flat mark of a diagonal mark.
In addition there may be situationsin which you're asked to mark "no around" or "straight-up/no huck".
DiagonalMark
This is usually the mark that players will learn first. It is easy to clearly see which way a player is forcing with a diagonal mark.
The idea of a diagonalmark is that you are taking away about halfof the field and the downfield defense is taking care of theother half.
Flat Mark
At intermediate and advanced levels of ultimate frisbee, the throws are a lot better and it's nearly impossible for the mark to hold a force that affects half of the field.
At these higher levels we can start to think more specifically about what throwing lanes are most important for the mark to defend. To keep it simple, we can think of about 4 lanes: two inside lanes and who around lanes.
A flat mark can still force forehand or backhand. But the priority is on covering the inside lanes and not worrying as much about the around lanes.
No Around
A "no around" mark is the opposite of a flat mark. A no around mark is usually used only in certain situations. It can be used higher in th stall count when the thrower is looking for reset options in the around space. Or it can be used when near a sideline to try to keep the disc in a smaller space on the field. For example, you could use a no around mark when forcing to the downwind side of the field to make break throws to the upwind side very difficult.
Straight up/No Huck
This would usually be a temporary type of mark if there is a cutter streaking tdeep.
Or it could be the type of mark used on specific players who are known for theirdeep throws.
The goal of a straightup/no huck mark is to put pressure on deep throws whether they are forehand or backhand.
Quick Tips for Beginners on Defense
- Never give up on the disc! Keep going for it as long as it's in the air.
- Catch your D’s if you can.
- Always know where the disc is.
- Keep yourself positioned between your person and the disc.
- Maintain bodily and spacial awareness. "Going for the disc" is not an excuse for initiating contact with other players.
