USA Ultimate

Respond As It Comes

by Greg Husak

The best offensive teams can get big yards from the first few passes off a pull, and immediately knock the defense on its heels. There are no shortage of ways to do this, and the best offenses I have been a part of have always had a few options for taking this advantage. 

In all cases the critical first component is having a player who feels comfortable catching the pull and throwing the first pass. This person should feel confident catching passes while backing up, getting in front of rollers, and in general putting themselves in that position where they may make the mistake, and might not get noticed for doing their job correctly. So often I see the catcher shy away from a difficult catch, let the disc hit the ground, then gather it and throw the first pass. This second or two that is lost is a tremendous advantage to the defense. 

Some teams I have been on have a variety of plays to attack the sidelines or the middle of the field, and can work on isolations, or on group movement to create an advantage for the offense. In most cases these are very simple plays, and so really only require a bit of practice time to get familiar with, and a few scrimmages to get comfortable executing. Other teams have been very simple, with just one pull play and then an option in case that play doesn't go off. Sometimes this simplicity is very helpful, but the simplicity also requires all the players to be aware of what is developing so they can execute the backup plan together. At any rate, there are a variety of options available to a team, and even a novice captain should be able to draw up one or two simple ones for his team, with a simple flood one side and execute a string of passes to set players being the most universal/basic. 

I think the only adjustment that needs to be made in response to wind would be to designate the side of the field that the play will be run to before the pull comes. By specifying the side of the field you can put your offense in the position where they have an easier reset, or where the deep throw is most favorable for the wind. In general, however, responding to the pull as it comes will be dynamic enough to keep the defense on their heels and give the offense the best possible chance to score by giving a well-designed play the most space to work with.