Glasgow Ultimate

Monday 15 February 2010, Garscube, Outdoor

Vertical stack is an offensive formation that exploits space in the throwing lanes. It is much more structured than horizontal offense and requires every one to stick strictly to their positions and roles.

We play with 3 handlers, 1 with the disc, 1 at the dump/reset position and 1 at the front of the stack.
4 deep players start their cuts from a central stack usually with a defined cutting order.

Stack position:

• Stack is set up by the handler at the front and the cutter at the back
• Stack is central and ~ 10-15 metres upfield from the disc
• The stack should be short enough to leave space open deep but long enough to avoid picks when cuts are made
• The stack is curved at the back towards the break side to maximise the space in the throwing lane

Cutting from the stack:

• Same principles as horizontal offense
• cut on angles
• clear out if you don’t get the disc and rejoin the stack

Keeping formation:

When a pass is made the stack must adjust

1. Continuation cut must come from the stack
2. Front of the stack needs to move upfield, back of the stack may need to adjust the curve
3. Handlers must communicate, 1 stays as dump, the other joins the stack

Resetting the disc:

At stall 5 you must actively engage your handlers by turning your body in field and maintaining eye contact. The 3 handlers must communicate to reset the disc. This may be through a dump cut, a break throw to the front of the stack, swing passes, cycle etc.

Benefits of Vertical stack:

Vertical is a good formation for running plays (cycle, endzone plays etc) so is often used from a dead disc to get momentum or get the disc away from the sideline. If players clear out effectively the throwing lane should always be free for upfield options.

This document should give you a good idea of how to play Vertical:

Vertical Offense.

We will cover the specific roles and positions next week but it would be wise to take a look and learn them now.

Follow this link to view or download any of the training presentations, documents etc :

Training Resources.

Monday 25 January 2010, Garscube, Outdoor

Thanks to everyone who came, we’re looking better every week. This evening we concentrated on playing good defence, in particular defending against cutters and marking out the right areas.

Marking Cutters:

The danger zone is the area directly in front of the thrower on the open side, this is the area not covered by the force and where you will get no help from other team members. Your default position should be to position yourself between your mark and the danger zone. Take a look at the presentation below:

Man Defence – part one.
Man Defence – part two.

Important points:

• Stand a few steps off your marker between them and the danger zone. If they are much faster think about positioning yourself where you can still beat them to where they want to receive the disc.
• Stand with your feet pointed in the direction your marker wants to run. Accelerate as they accelerate to maintain the gap between you. If you remain flat footed they will run straight by you.
• listen for “up” calls and make sure you know when the disc moves and hence when the danger zones change.

Marking out dump cuts:

• When the force is away from you then protect up the line cuts by standing upfield of the dump position.
• When the force is towards you the danger throw is the swing pass, you can afford to mark the dump much closer. You may choose to poach in the throwing lane for the first few seconds of a stall count to stop flow before closing in on the dump.

Take a look at these situations:

HandlerMarking

Same time next week!

Monday 7 December 2009, Garscube, Outdoors

Good turnout last night, about 50-50 far flung and horses and quite a few new faces.

These are the basics of what we covered:

Technique: Throwing long with a force on

We talked about making your marker move and creating space and time for you to wind up for a big throw

1. Start in a neutral stance with 2 hands on the disc, locked in a backhand grip that you can easily change. This way your mark has no idea which way you will go.
2. Fake – I keep saying it but it’s so useful
3. When pivoting across to make the throw, load all your weight on to the opposite foot in order to push across as fast as possible.
4. Pivoting on your toes and swiveling your pivot foot rather than rolling it can also help, give it a try and see if it works for you
5. Step across your marker so they have to get around your arm or foul you to stop a throw
6. Pivot as wide as possible while still able to release a controlled throw

Cutting:

We continued to work on our cutting, concentrating on the timing of the continuation cut. We learned the importance of the following.

1. Time your continuation off the cutter receiving the disc.
2. Shadow their cut but stay wide and out of the throwing lane so that as they receive the disc and turn you are beginning to sprint from a position on the far side of the field and almost level with them (The ideal cutting position).
3. When the continuation was too close to the first cut we saw the following:

• a) smaller margin of error and cutter often overan throws that weren’t straight up the line
• b) if the cutter was already too deep once the throw had gone they had to wait for the disc rather than running on to it (gives the defense a chance every time)

Reset:
This is the most important point to take away from last nights training. Possession is key and the best teams are those that know how to hold on to the disc and move it when stuck on a high stall count rather than panicking. As we said there are 100 different ways to reset the disc (dump, cycle, swing…exactly 100) but these are the two most important things to remember:

• 5 second rule: You have 5 seconds (or less) to throw to an upfield cutter, after this the teams priority is to move the disc and reset the stall count. Turn your body in field and engage the other handlers.
• Swing: When resetting the disc this is an ideal opportunity to change/create flow and use the space on the far side of the field. Always be aware of the swing pass, when you swing the disc you must move the disc all the way across the field, do not get stuck in the middle.

We finished with a game. I’m told that both teams sorted out their offense when they started clearing out properly and swinging the disc. Apparently the team that swung the disc the most won…

Training is on again next week. Starting at 7.30. There will be no talk beforehand as we are just going to run a couple drills then play a lot of games and try to reinforce what we’ve learned in the last 3 weeks.

Shaun

Monday 30 November 2009, Garscube, Outdoors

Good session last night even though the ice turned our pitch in to an ice-rink and broke half our cones!

This week we continued to develop our cutting patterns from the opposite side of the field and learned to use the space out deep as well as the width of the pitch. We focused on cutting deep and throwing long, here is a summary of the main points.

Long cuts:

The emphasis is to cut from a shallow position in to the space out deep, running on to a throw put in front of the cutter

Cutting Deep:

• Cut from the opposite side of the field
• Stay out of the throwing lane (the space directly in front of the thrower between them and the endzone) until the disc is released
• Angle your cut so you can sprint and see the thrower over your shoulder, aiming to meet the disc in the throwing lane
• Start your cut from level or just ahead of the thrower
• If you find yourself deep in the field on not chasing a disc you must come under to free up the deep space

Throwing to a deep:

• Throw in to the space ahead of the cutter for them to run on to
• Do not throw over a cutters head, this is a very hard disc to read
• Do not throw to a cutter that is already deep (the defense will have time to catch up and likely result in a turnover)

Communication:

• Team mates and sideline should let each other know if a cutter is too deep in the field and needs to cut in
• It is ultimately the throwers decision to throw a disc, feel free to look off a throw if you can’t throw the distance or the cutter is out of position. Possession is key.
• If a player is cutting too deep or in the lane, put in a fake to let them know you are not going to throw signaling them to clear out
• Do not hesitate. Throw as soon as the pass is on.

Take a look at this diagram:

GoingDeep

Long throw technique:

• Concentrate on technique not power, don’t try to throw too hard
• Angle of release should be an IO (inside out) throw so that the disc will float
• Keep your head facing forward and your back straight

Backhand:

• Throw from low to high
• Generate spin with the final flick of the wrist, you can coil your wrist around the disc if this helps
• Release with a long straight arm
• For more power generate momentum by pivoting into a throw and using your whole body (especially hips and shoulder) to throw

Forehand:

• Flick of the wrist generates spin
• Follow through with your elbow and an upward palm to keep the disc flat and maximise power
• Pivot wide and in to the throw again using your hips to generate momentum

We also talked about hucking with a force on, it’s hard to get these throws out. Think about the following:

• Fake before a huck
• Take a wide pivot and learn to release a throw away from your body
• Pivot across your marker if they give you space to do so (get them out of position with a fake first)

Most importantly, everyone has their own technique so it’s important to find what works for you.

Video:

Ultimate Rob will teach you the technique (shame he doesn’t actually make a throw…):

Hucking Technique

We finished with a game that the bibs won by one. Non bibs did a great job of clearing out of the throwing lane and took the early lead. Bibs got their long game going late in the game to snatch victory.

Training should be on again next week same time and place but please check your email. We will continue to work on the same principles, concentrate on swinging the disc when there are no free cutters and try to make the same throws under pressure from the defense.

See you there
Shaun

Monday 23 November 2009, Garscube, Outdoors

Thanks to everyone that made it to Garscube last night, it was a lot of fun playing outdoors again. I think at the end we all agreed how much we will benefit from these training sessions and it’s the only way we can really improve our skills. Hope to see more people there next week.

Training recap:

We started with a warm up game focusing on communication on the pitch, especially on defense, concentrating on the following principles:

• Up calls – Shouting “Up” when the thrower releases a disc
  1. Lets your team mates know the disc is in the air and there may be a chance for a block
  2. Lets your team mates know that the disc has moved and field position has changed. They may need to adjust their defensive position or catch up to their mark.
  3. Scream “UP!!” when a high or long disc goes up, this is the best chance for a D, everyone should try to get under these discs.
  4. In all 3 cases if you hear an up call on D you should check the position of the disc and make a quick decision.
• Shout “Turnover” whenever possession changes to make your team mates aware
  1. On defense: Pick up the biggest threat first, mark up on the deepest cutters looking to score, not the thrower (just like 3 on 2). Point at who you are marking and let your team mates know who you are on and what other players are free.
  2. On offense: Some one should immediately strike deep towards the endzone. Get the disc moving straight away if there is a chance to score, move it away from the sideline or get some flow before the defense can mark up. Do not pick up the disc if you are nearest the endzone as you have no one upfield to throw to.

We followed this game with a number of outdoor cutting drills:

1. 1. If you are cutting directly in front of the disc this is a difficult throw. Clear out of the throwing lane.
2. 2. Starting your cuts on the opposite side of the pitch leaves space to throw in to and allows the cutter to always have an eye on the throw.
3. 3. Run your cuts on an angle, this maximises the margin of error for the thrower, allows you to get in front of your marker and allows you to quickly turn upfield to throw the continuation pass.
4. 4. Time your continuation cuts off the original cutter. When cutting deep you should ideally be level with the thrower on the opposite side of the pitch sprinting as they catch the disc. If you are too deep the throw should not go!

Have a look at this diagram for a better description:
AngledCuts

We finished up with a game of 7v7. Worked hard on our cutting patterns. The team that won was the team that swung the disc across the pitch best.

Swinging the disc helps the offense to flow and stops you getting stuck on one sideline. It is important to keep the swing going all the way across the pitch to gain momentum and hit the open space.

Keep up the good work and make sure you bring all these principles to the next training session.

Happy November!
Shaun