offensive strategy - the receiver, part 4

One would think that playing Frisbee would help greatly in a physics final. False!! Finals went well (for the most part), and we now go on to discuss the different facets and/or types of receivers that appear in TF. This post, we'll deal with three of these - speed, handling, and height.

1. Speed. There are some of us who happen to be quite skilled at outrunning others. This is absolutely necessary for a TF team in order for it to be in some way dynamic. And by dynamic I mean "having many sides". Think about how a football team that rushes all the time or passes all the time becomes one-dimensional and reliant on only one base. If that base is taken, they're done for. Same idea here. If you have a team that doesn't have the speed to break open for a deep huck threat, that's just one less thing the defense has to worry about. They've got you covered! - in a negative sense. Draft high for speed. It doesn't come to just anyone.

2. After-catch Handling. This facet (or, shall I say, the lack of this facet) is the source of much frustration in many teams. When was the last time you saw someone make just an incredible catch and then get up and make one of the worst throws in all of history? Maybe he hasn't got over the exhilaration of the catch; maybe she's dizzy with the adrenaline rush. Either way, your team loses the disc. This is why you can't draft specialized handlers and specialized receivers - the roles change way too fast to do that. Receivers become handlers become receivers become handlers. Make sure you can draft receivers who you know have the skills to become handlers on the fly.

3. Height. Remember how we talked about in-game pressure as opposed to playing catch? Here's another way the difference becomes obvious. Jump-balls are a whole different battle. Not only do you need to read and anticipate the pass (where you can go up at your highest point to get it) but you also have to maintain possession on the way to the ground. Plus, you're fighting defenders for it. You don't typically do this in the throw-around. Everyone gets their fair chance at catching the disc. But in a real-game situation, receivers will find themselves up against defenders who will stop at nothing (well, hopefully, within reason) to prevent the catch.

Make sure you draft tall people! It sounds silly, but it makes sense. Taller people have a natural advantage and can at times reach higher. (Yes, there are exceptions.) If your team has a significant height disadvantage, it's going to be hard for them to handle or receive. Do yourself and your team a favor and make sure you get some height in there.

quick update

The weather will be 50+ this Thursday. The sun will also be setting at 7:30 or so. I therefore propose the beginning of Thursday Frisbee this Thursday on the usual fields!

Receivers post coming later; I have finals this week.

offensive strategy - the receiver, part 3

You know the whole quarterback-receiver question... who makes who look good? Does the receiver have incredible hands, or does the quarterback just know how to get the ball where he wants it? In TF, the receiver and handler have a similar connection. However, the most important part of this connection, I would argue, is the catch.

And since the receiver is the one who makes the catch, the receiver is the one who makes the handler look good.

Think about it. It doesn't matter too much where the handler throws it (unless, of course, it goes way out of bounds); if he can get it within ten yards of the receiver, he's done his job. He can't always be dead-on. It's all receiver, receiver, receiver.

Now, since we've assigned so much responsibility to the receiver (calling the play, making the catch), here are some practical things for to keep in mind as the receiver.

1. Dive. Unless you're on Astroturf (and wearing shorts/T-shirt) or rocky ground, dive! Professionals call this a "bid" - and it really is. You're completely committing a direction and falling, so you really can only dive once per play. So while caution is definitely advised (in regard to both safety as well as positioning), you can cover so much more ground while diving than when you're running. If you can overcome the fear of hitting the ground (and know how to fall correctly), diving is a tremendous asset to your receiver skill repertoire. Plus, if you're getting shot at, you know how to hit the ground. :)
2. Attack the disc. As I said in part 1, Sarby can easily play catch, but what if he's running full speed toward the disc as it's traveling full speed towards him? In order to prevent the defender from making a play, that's really what you're going to have to do. Hands are so necessary in this case. Practice this in the throw-around before the draft. Run directly at the thrown disc and try to catch it (preferably one-handed; it allows for so much more fluidity and range of motion).
3. Use your height. This is the reason tall players can make good receivers. But it's not enough to just be tall. You need to be able to gauge your maximum height range (that is, if you jump as high as you can), and know at what point you can go up for the disc. A receiver that is never airborne makes for a great dump/swing, but never an actual offensive threat.
4. Fight for position. There is a reason armies will battle for the high ground - because it's better. It gives them an advantage. Same idea here. You'll need to know where your defender is and what he wants to do, and you will want to find the spot at which point it will be the best time to go up and make the catch. And you want to get there before the defender does. Since all players are entitled to the space above them (and since frisbee is a non-contact sport) - defenders can't interfere with the catch in any way, shape or form. They can hit the disc, but if hands meet hands, that's a foul.

It seems like a fourth part may be up and coming... types of receivers!!

offensive strategy - the receiver, part 2

In the last post, we talked about how important it is for a receiver to not only have good hands, but also to be clutch. Pressure can mess things up pretty quickly. But even that isn't enough! Here's an equally crucial responsibility - the receiver is actually the one who should direct the play. Not the handler. The receiver.

Why not the handler? Because if he calls out a play (e.g. "CUT LEFT!") the defense can easily react - they know the play! They're facing the handler, for the most part (this is VERY true in Thursday Frisbee - lots of zone and very little man coverage), and so if he even points or nods his head or moves his eyes in a certain direction, it's too easy for the defense to read it and beat the play.

Therefore, every receiver needs to be aware of this responsibility. Since the defense is typically zone, the defenders have their backs to the receivers! (The only exception to this is the deep safety. He's really the stopgap.) So the receiver is the one who will make the cut (left, right, in, or deep, or some combination of those) and must make the handler aware of his move before he gets into the open territory. There are several ways to go about this.

1. Preplanning. This is where at some point in the game the receiver/handler duo make an agreement of what sort of cut should take place before either player actually has the disc. It's similar to calling a play in the football huddle. Remember how the handler can't call the play? If you pre-plan, it's totally possible to pull off a fake by calling the opposite of that play (e.g. "CUT LEFT!" - the defense cuts left; the receiver cuts right.). It can be confusing though, and unless practiced extensively, should be avoided. Not all defenders will bite on an outright "playfaker" call, and some might even cut to the right with your receiver.

2. Speed. The receiver immediately goes deep, regardless of defense position. This may catch the defense while they're still trying to set up their zone, and makes for a one-on-one jump-ball situation between the receiver and the deep safety. If the pass is placed correctly, the receiver will have total position advantage and the deep safety won't even have a chance at making a D!

3. Dump. The receiver positions himself at a 45 degree angle about 5-6 yards behind the handler. If the handler can't find a decent shot (and in TF, he probably will make a pass anyway), this is an extremely safe, low-risk option pass that changes handlers and creates a new receiver with a new position that the defense now needs to account for. Mixes it up a bit.

4. Swing. This is a variation of the dump in which the dump doesn't look downfield, but immediately passes to a (hopefully) open receiver on the opposite side of the field. So if the initial handler was on the left, the dump would be more in the middle and would /swing/ it immediately to the receiver on the right, who now has a whole different look at the field. This forces the defense to reset their position. Where they were defending the left side, now they have to defend the right. It's at these times of resetting the defense that at some point a receiver will hopefully get open, and the disc will advance downfield.

Yeah, receivers definitely have a lot to them. There should be at least one more part to this. :)

offensive strategy - the receiver

The receiver is without question the most important position on the field. The primary skill here is catching the disc - and it is crucial that the receiver has this ability. It is the only way to score in Ultimate (and therefore in Thursday Frisbee). While it's not too hard to catch a frisbee, the key issue in selecting a receiver in a draft is reliability. If I threw a disc at someone 100 times, how many times would they catch it? Let's take my unfortunately-named friend Sarby for example. If I threw a disc at him 100 times, my guess would be he could snag about 80 of them. (Good hands!) So we can go ahead and give him a high rating and therefore a good position in the draft.

But that can't be the only metric. It's pretty easy to catch a disc thrown directly at you, especially if it's only you and the handler having a catch back and forth. Unfortunately, that's not what we encounter in TF. Sarby will have to deal with defenders. He will have to move in order to catch the disc. He needs to be aware of the boundaries. He has in his mind the score and the current situation his team is in - and he is ever-increasingly aware of the importance that he needs to make a play!

Can you say pressure?

Just because someone is great at playing catch doesn't mean they're automatically a top draft pick for receiver. But there's grace for that :)

offensive strategy - the handler

After the pull, the receiving team begins offensive activities. The first part is the handler. He's usually the one who received the disc on the pull, and at this point he should be looking for an open receiver.

The handler's responsibility is to recognize the coverage and make a pass. In TF, we don't have a stall count, so marks are really only there to make a pass harder (or block the pass). This gives the handler plenty of time to hold on to the disc, which can be great – allowing receivers to break open – or BAD – letting the defense lock down the field.

TF, however, doesn't emphasize stacks or actual offensive plays (the general idea is "just get open"), so receivers often can clog other receivers’ routes with cuts or even just by standing still. This can be frustrating for the handler. (Some inexperienced handlers have grown desperate and just throw the disc up for grabs, in a Hail Mary-esque play. This is not recommended.) That's why it's a good idea for the handler to throw BEFORE he receives a mark - marks definitely make any pass attempt harder.

There are three skills that are specific to handlers.

The first is the dump. Basically making super-short passes to other receivers, to get the defense off guard. Beware of handlers that dump all the time, though, it means that he's not confident in his deep-throw skills, or in "threading the needle" accuracy.

The second is accuracy. (Concepts like leading the receiver and avoiding interceptions are key here.) Easily firing a pass off where only the receiver can make the play. Handlers who display relatively high accuracy are extremely valuable. It's easy for them to dump, and while they may or may not have deep-throw power, they're the ones that cause the most headaches as they consistently beat defenders.

The final skill is the deep throw, or huck. One of the most important things to keep in mind with this skill is the deep safety. (This is the guy on the team that says "I'll stay back on D...") The deep safety is really the only thing that prevents a long scoring huck. So as the handler, watch that safety. If he bites on a fake and comes flying in your direction (which you can get him to do - I'll do a post on fakes later), it's almost guaranteed that you'll have a scoring huck. It's IMPORTANT to know your advantage, though - there really is only a gap of a few seconds where the safety pulls himself out of position before realizing it. A receiver needs to be able to recognize that and go deep, but the handler needs to be able to see that and deliver the pass. Everyone is watching you as the handler, so be prepared to make a quick dump, work the disc upfield, or fire it deep. A good handler should be able to do any of these things within five seconds of becoming the handler.

DRAFTING. A good puller makes for a good deep handler, so look for that. Any player that demonstrates great accuracy and precision in delivering passes can qualify as a handler. Think quarterback here. Draft accuracy and deep-throw handlers early (they go fast!!), but you can find a lot of decent dump handlers in the later rounds. (They can get the disc to your deep handlers, or at least keep the disc moving and the defense confused.)

Pulls

Naturally, each game begins with a pull, at which point the puller (usually someone known to possess a good arm) cries "kick" or "kyeak" or "disc" or the score and releases the disc to the other team. In professional Ultimate, the rules are that if the receiving team makes physical contact with the disc but somehow doesn't make the catch, it's automatically a turnover. We play, however, that the receiving team is allowed to drop the pull. Interestingly enough, however, teams usually will have a designated pull receiver who literally stands about seven yards behind the rest of the team (yes, pulls can go rather deep).

Since the receiving team is allowed to drop the pull, this rule punishes line drives (we can knock the disc down!) and encourages a high throw that flies the length of the field. As a result, at times the puller may misjudge the angle at which he is releasing the disc (too high) and have it come back to him rather than towards the receiving team. The best height, it seems, is about ten or twelve feet - just low enough to move swiftly down the field, and just high enough to prevent other members of the receiving team knocking the pull down prematurely.

Once the disc has been released, the members of the pulling team automatically become the defense, and usually run down the field to begin defensive activities. In TF, cherrypicking has become rather common - members of both teams (usually girls) will run down the field toward the opposing goal, and take up station there for the remainder of the point. (On occasion one may find a guy there as well.) I'm not going to talk defensive strategy in this post, but let me just say that this (rather mutual) tactic really does stretch the field. It definitely forces all teams to have a safety. Even if cherrypicking doesn't happen (and it really usually does), teams will assign a safety anyway. Possibly even two.

When drafting, remember a puller. These are important to grab early (think high draft pick), because not only can they pull, but they are usually capable of the "long bomb" or the huck, which is about the same. Of course, a huck definitely needs a target, so that's a handler skill, but that's not super important when looking primarily for a puller. If you've never played before, look during the throwing session for those who are firing deep; you'll find them easily. Examples include Dave Fournier, Evan Skally, John Reilly, Eric Hart, Joel Petit, Colin Scull, and Aaron Joseph. All these definitely also have different handler/receiver/defensive skills (a real plus!), but if you're looking mainly for a puller, grab someone like this.