Strategy on the Battlefield Part 1 - Offense

A firm understanding of Ultimate Frisbee doesn't mean much if a team can't score. Any team can run out onto a field and throw a disc until it ends up in an end zone, but the coordinated teams are the ones that strike the fastest and hardest and score the most reliably. This post will cover offensive strategy in Ultimate Frisbee both as a team and as an individual. 

All offensive strategies follow the same basic principle: get the Frisbee down the field with as little hassle as possible and score. To do this Ultimate Frisbee players came up with plays to move the disc from player to player. These plays have been time tested and run thousand and thousands of times on the field and have proven to be some of the most effective ways to score. 

Before getting into detail about the plays, however, it is important to go over two crucial aspects; cutters and handlers. Handlers are the players towards the back of the field who are tasked with passing up the field to other players, and cutters are the players out in the field making cuts. A cut is performed when a player is running in one direction and quickly cuts to another direction. This is most often used to shake off defenders and get open for passes. Typically, a handler will pass to a cutter and cutter the will look for an open pass in front of them. If the cutter can't find an open pass within a few seconds the cutter will pass the Frisbee back behind them a short distance to a handler and the process will begin again. 

Now on to the plays.

This play is called the vertical stack. In the image, the blue team has the Frisbee and is attempting to pass down the field to score. To set up for this play the blue team has three handlers in the backfield and four cutters set up in a vertical stack standing still. When the disc is called in the cutters, in no particular order, will begin to cut outwards from the stack and make cuts in the sides of the field. The cutters will cut at different times and move away from each other in an attempt to give the handler as many options as possible. From time to time cutters may even have the chance to break off from the pack and go far down the field for a long pass, also known as a huck. If the handler unable to pass the disc to any of the cutters for an extended period of time then he or she will pass to one of the other handlers. When this happens the cutters will reset the vertical stack and begin the play again. This play is extremely straight forward and easy to execute making it the bread and butter play for a majority of teams.

This play is called the horizontal stack. While a bit less prominent than the vertical stack, this play can still be very effective. When the disc is called in the cutters will begin to run up and down the field (vertically) in their respective lanes at different intervals. When an opportunity is presented a cut will be made from the lane in an attempt to receive a pass. If the cutter does not receive the pass they will go back to their area, or another open area. Just as in the vertical stack, once a pass is caught up-field the cutter will look for another pass to make and if there are no open options they will throw back to one of the handlers. This play can prove to be a bit more confusing, but can open large holes in the defense allowing for consistent gains.

Those are the two plays most commonly seen on the field. If you find yourself playing in an unorganized game try and explain one of the plays in between points and try it out. There can be no team without a defense, however. Part two will cover the most common defensive plays in the world of Ultimate Frisbee.

Duraney, W. (2009, March 09). Offensive strategies for ultimate frisbee. Retrieved from http://www.helium.com/items/1370565-ultimate-offensive-strategy-stacks