USA Ultimate

Retain That!

by Miranda Roth

To catch a 50/50 disc, you need to somehow make the chances better than 50/50 for yourself. The first thing you can do is be tall—and yes, I know you can't teach height, but this also includes putting your hand up outstretched and trying to catch the disc at your "tallest point" including your jump. This is related to the second thing which is timing your jump. I know lots of players (particularly new women) who think just putting their hand up will work—well, it won't work against good competition. To know when to jump you need to practice jumping and catching as high as you possibly can—playing flyers-up/500 and doing lots of one on one catching will help with this. 

The third, and possibly most important thing, is to get position on as many of the other people as you possibly can. If one of the other people is your teammate, getting position on the opponent can actually allow your teammate to catch the disc, too. If you can judge where the disc will come down and put your body between that space and your opponent, you will greatly increase your chances of catching the disc. However, you must, as I like to tell my players, "Retain that s***!" This means that once you get position, you can't relax—you must actively maintain your position physically. 

ADDENDUM: 

We received this email from a reader: 

I read the article from Ms. Roth about the catching discs subject and I disagree with one point. 

Ms. Roth wrote: "If one of the other people is your teammate, getting position on the opponent can actually allow your teammate to catch the disc, too" 

For me, if you don't play the disc you are not allowed to block the opponent to help your teammate. I checked WFDF Rules and it is related to rule 12.7. 

Keep up the good work.
-a reader in France 

The Huddle's Explanation: 

Thanks, ARIF, 

We (and Miranda) agree with the rule that an offensive player cannot move solely to block a defender. For instance, if you are on defense, I can't run towards you and away from my teammate just to make sure you cannot make a play. 

Miranda is trying to make the point that the offense is allowed to choose whatever method they want to make a play on the disc. If I am on offense, and I move in a way where I could catch the disc but also is a position that seals a defender from making a likely play, this can be both legal and extremely effective. In practical terms, the differences between an illegal block and a legal positioning is probably going to come down to whether the player in question could (given flight of the disc, position, and where the player is looking) make a catch on that particular throw. 

Thanks, ARIF, for bringing this confusing issue to more clarity and we hope this makes sense. 

-The Editors