A Good Pull is Like Having an 8th Defender
A good pull is like having an 8th defender on the field. The goal is to get the disc as far down the field with as much hang time as possible, to give the pulling team time to run down…
Category Defense
Articles on playing defense
Always Be Moving #zipstips
As some of you may know, I am very big fan of acronyms. Today’s; ABM, always be moving, both on D and on O. This serves three purposes.
Flexagon Defence
Foreword Flexagon approaches defence from a new angle, bringing together elements of man-to-man and zonal defence. Flex is neither “man” nor “zone” – it’s a hybrid. Pressure is applied to every offensive player, whilst the defenders are constantly working together…
Strategies for 3 on 3 Ultimate
About a month ago, I received an email from an ultimate player. His name is Daniel and he was wondering what offensive and defensive strategies I would suggest for 3 on 3 since he had a tournament coming up and…
Indian National Youth Camp – Day 2
24th May 2014 I happened to be running into the room to hunt for one of my campers when I saw Narmada from Chennai writing a log. I asked her if she writes every day and If I could translate…
Handling and Marking Q&A From a Fan
This post was in response to a fan who had a few questions about handling and marking both on offense and defense. Rob, I’m a combination handler/cutter for I just had a few questions about handling against tight marks and…
Throwing Techniques for Ultimate: A Study
Abstract The goal of this study was to determine if certain throwing techniques for the sport of Ultimate Frisbee were advantageous relative to other techniques. The defense can attempt to force a thrower to utilize a specific throw; knowing the advantages of…
Changing the Team Strategy
Malissa Lundgren, Ultimate Canada’s 2011 Female Athlete of the Year, discusses how the Capitals were more successful after changing their team strategy following their 2009 semi final loss in the UPA Championships to Brute Squad. In 2010, they would go…
Reading Between the Lines
Whether you’re a player, a captain or a coach, you will have invariably dealt with lines – either being called or calling them. I think there are 4 scenarios for calling lines which depend on the type of game you’re…
Strategies for Indoor Ultimate
Indoor ultimate is different than outdoor ultimate for a few reasons: there is no wind, the field is smaller, there are less players on the field, the disc won’t float as much and there are usually walls/ceilings to contend with.…
Boxing Out: What It’s All About
A few weeks ago, I got a fan email from Kassandra and this was what she said: I’ve been cutting despite other’s desire to transition me to handler in the future because of my height. However, because I can usually…
Zone Defense Analysis
Thanks to Ben Greene for breaking down this defense during the January 2011 USA Ultimate Level II clinic in Chapel Hill, NC. This presentation attempts to answer the following questions about zone defense: What are the advantages for the defense…
Vertical Stack Endzone Defense
Defenders can act as a team to restrict a centre of the field vertical offence. The goal of team defence is to trap a vertical stack on one sideline or the other by forcing throws forward, aggressively preventing upline resets…
Dumping the Disc: Offence & Defence
This tutorial video for the Calgary Ultimate Association talks about how to cut into space. The key points are: recognize what the dump mark is doing, fake the marker to create space, work with the dump. For more info on…
Pull Diagonally and Have Better Pulls
At the 2008 Canadian Ultimate Championships, my men’s team from Calgary, Invictus, was playing the men’s team from Montreal, Mephisto, in the semi finals. A good friend of mine, Elliot Negelev was watching our game and after one of my…
Cutting Into Space
This tutorial video for the Calgary Ultimate Association talks about how to cut into space. The key points are: Know where the open and break side are, cutting to the break side is easy space for the cutter; requires a…
Pulling Power
As a player you might, at times, think about ways you can improve your contribution to your team. Alternatively you might be looking for a way to differentiate yourself from other players, developing a skill that sets you apart and…
Catch the D!
This post contains a lesson that will be familiar to many Ultimate players. It is a lesson that I learnt the hard way, on the field in an important game. Hopefully I can help newer players avoid the hard lesson…
Creating an Unbreakable Mark
This tutorial video for the Calgary Ultimate Association talks about how to create an unbreakable mark and how to beat an unbreakable mark. The key points in creating an unbreakable mark are: Focus, Thrower Awareness and Holding the Force. The…
Don’t Rely On the “Up” Call – Work on Your Field Awareness
Too many times in a game, the disc will be thrown, the player on offense will catch it, the defender will turn to their team and shout “Where was the up call?”. However, it’s not up to your team to…
Ultimate Project #9
This video looks at some nice play by the deep O players in zone O. Some of my favorite plays from the last couple of seasons.