Drills: Bread and Butter (Stack and Cut)

This is a great drill for the beginning of practice since it gets everyone working on all of the basics – throwing, catching, cutting and marking. You can also set goals in this drill (i.e. 10 completed throws in a row before switching to a different throw).

Number of players – unlimited number of players; all the discs

Skills emphasized – pivoting, leading a receiver, throwing past a marker, cutting, catching conditioning, marking a thrower (varied marks)

Description – Set 2 stacks facing each other roughly 20-25 yards apart. All of the discs should be at the front of each stack (each player should have one in their hand). The front player in stack A does not have a disc; they are the cutter. If the thrower in stack B is throwing forehand, then the player in stack A makes a fake on the backhand side of the thrower and then makes a hard cut to the forehand, receiving a pass from  the thrower in stack B. After the pass is completed, the thrower from stack B will cut for the person at the front of stack A, who is now the next player throwing.

There are many variations to this drills; here are a few of them:

1. Mark, throw, go – the player at the front of the stack first marks the thrower, then becomes the thrower, then becomes the cutter. You want to get into this rhythm and have the drill moving smoothly so the thrower doesn’t watch their throw. Once they throw, they will then cut right away. This will teach the player to learn to throw and move right away to keep the defense on their heels in a game situation.

2. Types of throws – you can run this drill alternating between forehand and backhand but the side where the thrower throws will depend on where the cutter is going. The beginner variation would be to have the cutter make a fake on the breakside and then cut on the open side where they receive a pass. The more advanced version (and the one which you want to work on for all of your players) will involve the cutter making a fake to the open side and then cutting to the breakside where they would receive a throw.

3. Continuation throw – you can also add in a continuation throw in which the cutter will, after receiving the pass, throw to the player at the end of the stack from where they made their cut. This will teach the cutter to be aware of the field since once they catch the pass, they will be turning upfield and making a throw. This also teaches the players at the end of the stacks to be aware as they will be receiving a pass from the cutter.

4. Punishment for mistakes – to make this drill more serious, you can also set a punishment for when the players make a mistake – 10 pushups for dropping, 10 burpees for throwing away and 10 situps for getting foot/hand blocked.