USA Ultimate

Anticipating The Throw

by Nancy Sun

One of the attributes of teams that do well at Nationals and other high-level tournaments is their handler defense. Many teams can do a pretty good job at containing handlers (e.g. getting the mark on to stop upfield break throws, adjusting to stop give-go's, preventing up-the-line cuts). However, I think there are only a few teams that have the personnel and strategy to consistently pressure and generate D's on handler resets—this includes pressure on both the thrower who may or may not be a handler, and on the actual handler who makes the reset. 

I think that knowing which of these buckets your opponent falls into is important to include in any pre-game scouting report. Especially if your team is coming off of a game where handler resets were easy, it is easy for offenses to get too comfortable, so knowing beforehand allows the team to do some pre-game prep. Some useful drills to do are ones that emphasize decisive handler motion and on throwing against tough marks. 

From a team strategy perspective, there are a few adjustments I would make once the game gets going and it is clear that reset cuts are getting heavy pressure. The first is to calmly acknowledge that it is a little more difficult to complete reset passes, and that we can make it much easier for ourselves if we focus on three things: 

1. As a thrower, look a little bit earlier. Give yourself more time so that things are less rushed. 

2. Assuming that as a team you are already used to doing this, remind the thrower to fake and pivot. This makes the offense less easy to predict. 

3. If you are responsible for making the reset cut, focus on anticipating the throw coming. It may have been easy in the last game to just wait until the thrower looked at you before moving, but now you have to take more initiative. Take a look upfield to see what the thrower sees and check in with your internal stall count. You know your teammates, so keep an eye out for signs that they are about to turn to you. That tenth of a second you gain by anticipating will go a long way. 

From a individual perspective, one of the things I really like to think about as a handler against teams with tough handler defense is "winning with your legs, not your throws". This reminds me to focus on being aggressive with my legs to drive my defender so that I can put myself in good positions to make easy throws.