Zone 101 for Ultimate

Play at your own risk and play like you like all the other players or play somewhere else please.

Ultimate Frisbee® is one of the few sports in which your ability to stop the opposition from scoring is as equally important as your ability to score. Yet, there's no specialized defensive unit in Ultimate (no kick-return team or penalty killers), nor any dedicated defensive positions (no goalie or sweeper), nor any area of the field designed to hinder the other team from scoring (no penalty or "paint" areas).

Basketball legend Michael Jordan took the most pride, not in his enterprising offensive skills, but in his reputation as the toughest defender in the league. As with hoops, defense is an integral part of the two-way play inherent to the game of Ultimate. It may not be noticed, but defense is always reflected in the final score.

First the bad news : Defense is hard work. It makes you tired and you have to play it the entire game. And many times "good D" simply results in a thrower deciding not to throw, rather than a more crowd-pleasing block or interception. [An egotistical grumble might be that, if you play exceedingly good D, nobody will notice because passes will be completed to receivers less capably guarded by your teammates.]

And now the good news : Defense is an easy skill to master. It's guaranteed to help your team win. Multiple mistakes on offense are oft forgiven with one dazzling defensive play. And, most rewarding, a brilliant defensive play instantly picks up team morale. [ When was the last time you heard "good O" from a teammate ?]

There are two basic kinds of defense : Man-to-Man and Zone.

Man-to-Man Defense

Man (person ?) defense is all about keeping the disc from a particular opponent. Or if s/he already has the disc, to block or make an accurate throw difficult. This type of defense relies less on strategy; it's mostly individual ability - and desire - to shut down an opponent. Matching up players according to speed or height is ordinarily as complex as it gets.

A higher variation of man is forcing the disc one way, e.g. home, away, middle, sideline. This method allows defenders to always know where the disc will be thrown. It's important that everyone knows you are going to do this in advance, so they can intentionally overplay defenders toward that one side.

Letting a thrower pivot around the marker (breaking the force) or a defender not shrewdly overplaying a receiver on the forced side (giving a free pass) is a no-no under this strategy. Either slip-up allows for a relatively unchallenged pass. If the marker doesn't hold the force and every member of the defense isn't overplaying to one side, the force is being poorly executed.

Zone Defense

Zone is not so much about protecting an area, but marking the offensive players in or around that area. In addition, instead of trying to block passes altogether, a zone defense tries to limit the easy, ground-gaining passing lanes.

It asks the offense to complete many more passes to gain the same amount of ground and counts on weak or reckless throws made in response to defensive pressure. Passes backward and sideways do little harm to a zone defense. Encouraged are tosses over the top, such as hammers and steep knifing throws, because these are high-risk and have a greater chance of being dropped or knocked down.

Teams have used zone exclusively - even for goal line defense. While using it to that degree is open to debate, practically everyone recognizes that zone is most effective in windy playing conditions or against an offense with mediocre throwers.

An oft-overlooked advantage of zone is that, when there's a turnover, opponents usually find it difficult to match up quickly as they have not had the same player marking them. This confusion can lead to easy scores by uncovered players.

There is no standard zone, but a common zone in Ultimate is the 3-4 (3 fronts, 3 middles + 1 back). Fronts must be adept at incessantly guarding throwers, middles watchful of receivers cutting into throwing alleys, and the back is charged with protecting against long "bombs" in the event the offense hucks the disc.

Equally important, each position must talk to the position in front of it and amongst themselves. That is, middles talk to fronts, the back talks to the middles. And the fronts, middles, and backs (if there's more than one) also talk among themselves. Essential to this chatting is knowing your teammates' names - and using them. Duplicate player names may lead to confusion, so if two players share a common name, a unique handle for the Ultimate field should be considered.

What should you talk about ? Since s/he can't always see behind, it's your responsibility to keep the player in front of you aware of : unguarded players, cutters (aka poppers), and situations where two or more offensive players are in the same defensive area, thus "flooding" a particular zone (more on this later).

Who do you cover ? Whoever comes into your zone, that's who you should be defending - even if they haven't got the disc. When they run off, look around for the next interloper to mark.

3 Fronts equal 1 Cup :

The cup, consisting of three fronts (chasers) acting in unison, marks the disc. Forming a semi-circle, one player is on the left of the cup, one on the right, and one in the middle. [ A note on double teaming paraphrased from UPA rules 10th ed. section XIV, "The Marker" subheading D, "Double-Team" : Since only one marker can legally guard the thrower, the other fronts forming the cup must not defend within 3 meters ( approx. 10 feet ) of the thrower. The only exception is allowed for guarding a different offensive player in the same area of the thrower - possibly someone looking to receive a short, dump pass.]

It's an aberration exclusive to the cup, but rather than each defender marking their own offensive player, the three fronts all focus on the thrower (one exception noted below). The task of the cup is to force throws to certain parts of the field and to make passes to other areas, for the most part, very difficult.

The middle front position doesn't always guard the thrower. A thrower near the left sideline is best marked by the left front, who forces toward the middle and right fronts - at least 10 feet away. When the thrower is on the right sideline, the right front should mark the thrower and mirror this strategy. If there's a doubt, the middle front should guard ASAP so the thrower isn't left uncovered due to indecision.

It's critical that the outside fronts overplay the wing and force throws to the middle. Left and right fronts must ensure that throws are constantly forced away from the sideline and into the middle.

When the middle front covers a thrower, however, it's commonly straight up with no force. This makes passes straight up field to the middle area unlikely, but does concede two throwing alleys (left and right "V" shape) on either side. Enter the left and right fronts to guard these alleys, again at least 10 feet away to avoid a double team.

It usually takes a daring - but low percentage - toss to bust a well-executed cup. The rulebook 10' limit for the non-marking fronts is fairly close, more so if you're a novice also coping with a 10 second stall count.

N.B. Here's the exception : It's prudent for a non-marking front to abandon the cup in order to prevent a backward dump pass to a much stronger thrower. Fronting, or facing the receiver you are marking, is a helpful strategy in this situation as you can watch - and react to - every short cut made. [ A variation used when playing against a team with many experienced handlers is to play a looser cup, i.e. further away, and pay more attention to the short receivers.]

The curse of playing front is that whenever your team turns over the disc or a pass is completed, you have to hustle back to form the cup anew. The rewards are that you're intimately involved in every play and you'll be in top shape.

3 Middles and 1 Deep form a Diamond :

The remaining downfield defenders form a rough diamond. In the diamond, marking an area is less important than marking a player. The diamond is by no means stable, but elongates and shortens in response to receivers moving in and out.

Generally, if there's no receiver in your immediate area that means there are two flooding another area and you'll have to poach to help out. Again, emphasis is on covering a receiver, not an unoccupied open area. Constant communication regarding receiver movement is important for a shared defense.

In zone you'll cover a receiver until s/he exits to another position. Then you must scramble back to find the next trespasser in your zone. If there are two defenders in your area, that means a teammate should be available to poach. Sometimes they're too far away and a choice has to be made between two receivers. Try to deny what you perceive as the higher-percentage pass or choose to keep the more experienced handler from getting the disc.

The middle-middle usually plays shorter, closer to the cup than the other middles, but also must backpedal up the center to compete for high floaters thrown into the heart of the diamond. Cutting with poppers (receivers that pop into the middle with sharp cuts) toward the thrower and then backpedaling straight away are the main physical demands. A good middle middle rarely faces away from the thrower.

Talking to the cup while simultaneously looking over both shoulders and conversing with the wings is the mental challenge that some say makes this the most difficult position to handle.

The left and right (wing) middles are charged with stopping passes up the sideline that often gain lots of ground. Especially troublesome are passes along the sideline that curve first outside and then back into the playing area.

When there are no receivers near the sideline, wings should pinch toward center looking for receivers to cover. Poaching in this manner will have the added effect of helping to block center alleys and discourage midfield passes. Quick left-right lateral movements are essential to this position and occasionally you'll be called on to help the back when things go awry.

The back stops all big, long throws and is in supreme control of the diamond. This player should have a good understanding of what each position should do and where the disc is likely to go. You have the best view, so be loud.

Since throws take longer to reach deep, good backs can semi-cover two receivers at once - if they aren't smart enough to thoroughly spread out. If you think trouble is developing, however, call for help from the wing that looks least busy (never the middle middle). Keep in mind that if the cup is working as planned, a thrower shouldn't be able to get off a throw that's both long and accurate so you should have time to get to a hapless huck.

Again, zone is not about protecting an area, but making sure you're always covering someone in that area. In addition, instead of trying to block passes altogether, a zone defense tries to thwart the easy ones and pressure offense to make mistakes.

May 2003 - Steve Michelin is a self-professed "old goat" who made the transition from improvised frisbee football to organized Ultimate in the Fall of '75 as a freshman at Rutgers. Reared on their renowned 2-3-2 zone, he conceded the impact of the hammer throw to exploit this defense and grew to appreciate Glassboro's adoption of a 3-3-1 variation that helped them dethrone Rutgers. He's kept his hand in the sport through summer pickup games in northern New Jersey (Van Saun Park, Paramus) and argues that he's not getting slower, they're just making the young kids faster.