USA Ultimate

Three Keys To Being A Good Middle

by Chelsea Putnam

I can think of three main points that will help you when you are trying to get open in the middle of a horizontal stack. The first is that your team needs to put the right type of player in that position. In my opinion, this is a player who is confident with the disc, is a threat as a deep thrower, and understands how to get open both going deep and coming under. Having a player who is a "threat" as a cutter and a thrower will make the defense have to decide what they are going to take away and in doing so will leave more openings for you. 

Secondly, a player's job as a cutter in the middle of the horizontal stack is to engage the defender. This is not a footrace, it is a matter of driving the defender in one direction (my personal favorite is running directly at the defender to get them on their heels and then exploding 90 degrees in either direction). By getting your defender on their heels, even if they are faster than you, you will have a momentary advantage. Also, you will create a better cutting lane for yourself and make it easier to receive the disc. One of the best pieces of advice I ever received is "the best in cut is an out cut" and vise versa. By driving your defender in one direction it will open up a lane for you in a different direction. 

The third point is that you need to remember the "shoulders square" rule. This is the mentality that while cutting, you should have your shoulders facing either directly at your thrower or the thrower should be seeing the back of your jersey. By cutting in with your shoulders square, the width of your body will be in front of your defender, which makes it hard to get a D, and you will be able to move laterally to get to the disc. When cutting out, run in a straight line out (you are fastest that way), check over your shoulder around 8-10 steps (to see if your thrower is still engaged with you), and then decide where you need to go depending on the throw. Typically you will be at least one step in front of your defender (because you knew where you were cutting and they didn't), so after the disc is up you can adjust your position to make the catch. Hopefully those points were helpful because one thing is for sure—horizontal stack is here to stay.