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
- Continuation cut must come from the stack
- Front of the stack needs to move upfield, back of the stack may need to adjust the curve
- 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:
We will cover the specific roles and positions next week but it would be wise to take a look and learn them now.
