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Vouching For the Vert Stack
by Miranda Roth
I guess I'm pretty old school on this one. One of the main advantages of the horizontal offense is the deep space it affords throwers, particularly once cutters get the disc in their hands. In a crosswind or upwind situation, deep looks for any thrower become less of an option so I would prefer to run the vertical stack. This usually gives the thrower multiple in looks and I find the dump-swing to be much easier out of a vertical set. To me, dump-swing will win you windy games just by advancing the disc a little bit each time on the swing.
Now there are some special situations to be addressed here.
What if the disc is trapped on sideline toward which the wind is blowing? This is a tough one. In this situation, the dump-swing is harder and it's even hard to throw to an in cut. One thing to do is while using the dump swing; don't swing it all the way to the sideline creating a trap situation. This also goes for a similar weather situation when playing zone offense. Another thing to consider, particularly in lower level games where more turnovers occur (and particularly in really bad winds) is hucking and playing D.
What if you are going downwind? I actually really like running horizontal or spread offenses in this situation because of the open deep space it creates. Again, if you turn it over on deep looks (where more horizontal turns come), the other team has to work it all the way up, into the wind.
What if you really want to run the horizontal offense/your team doesn't have a vertical stack offense? My advice, much like in a vertical stack offense, is to keep the stack closer to the handlers the windier it is. This forces the defense to still respect deep looks and it also makes handlers' jobs easier since they don't have to throw as far to get it to a cutter. On the other hand, if your handlers are particularly strong, you might think about running a handler dominated offense (the cutters wouldn't have to stack as close for this) or at least initiate to a handler cutting up field and then to a cutter on the second pass.
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