Monday 8th February, Garscube, Outdoors
In this session we worked on how to establish a good force when the player you are marking gets the disc, the most important aspects of a force and how you can use it most effectively.
Key Points
- The player on force is the most important defensive player on the pitch. At no other time do you have as much control over the whole pitch as when you are putting a force on; you are limiting your opposition to only using the small portion of the pitch that your team wants them to play in. When you are on force you should be working just as hard, if not harder than you were when marking a cutter.
- HOLD YOUR FORCE. It is far more important that you do not get broken than it is to try and get a point block. Pressure from a strong force will cause more turnovers over the course of a game, whereas every break-throw seriously undermines your defence
Approaching the Force
Good defensive technique starts before you even apply your force. Just as important is how you approach the the person with the disc:
- Make sure to close down the angle of the throw to the break side as soon as you can. If the person you are marking gets the disc in space, rather than running directly at them you should first move into a position between them and the most dangerous throw they are likely to make and then close in on them.
- Don’t Overcommit. Running beyond the person you are marking gives the opposition an easy break-throw, this often happens when people are over-eager to apply a force.
Breakdown of a force
There are many aspects that make up a good force, and over the course of 10 seconds the priorities change significantly. Here is a break-down of a 10 second force:
- Stall 0: Get in position, block off the next/most dangerous pass
- Stall 1-2: Close in on the thrower, make yourself as big as possible and limit their angles, don’t bite on fakes.
- Stall 3-6: Agressive, hard marking. Don’t let the thrower settle, stay active with short steps and low hands.
- STALL 7!!: Shout this stall count loud enough that your teammates know they only need to shut down their marker for another 3 seconds to get a block,
- Stall 7-9: Back off slightly, hold your force, don’t bite on fakes and don’t give away a foul.
- Stall 10: DO NOT GIVE AWAY A FOUL. At this point you want them to throw a bad disc under pressure, you’re more likely to get a hand block by holding your position.
Body position and summary
Take a look at this document for a good explanation of correct body position and an expansion on some of the points above:
Forcing Review
