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.

Introduction

We play our own version of Ultimate frisbee on Thursday nights. Normally we start off with an initial pickup game, which is more like an exhibition. Meanwhile, four people stay off on the sideline and participate in a "draft". The four resulting teams then play every other team in three games.

This is definitely not professional Ultimate Frisbee. The thing about Thursday Frisbee is that the skill level can vary heavily from mediocre to downright amazing. As a result, formations that professional Ultimate players use (such as the stack) can't work in TF - it just takes too much work and practice (which you can't expect from TF players) to run efficiently. The tactics described in this post (as well as subsequent others) are most likely non-applicable for pro players - so if you're looking for expert advice, go elsewhere!! With that being said, and with all readers having been warned, we can now proceed.