How Team USA's handler movement helps keep their open division offense in motion.
August 14, 2024 by Sion "Brummie" Scone in Analysis with 0 comments
I enjoyed watching the US men’s national team play at Windmill in June, and particularly the final where their handler-centric offense was able to dominate in poor conditions. While it is easy to pick out the big plays, hucks, and skies, I was far more impressed by USA’s seemingly infinite capacity to recycle the disc in the wind and rain, even against top tier defenders.
Some of the older readers may remember Boston’s Death or Glory (DoG), a powerhouse of ultimate in the 1990s and early 2000s. One of the rules their talismanic leader Steve Mooney talked about was “take what they give you”, the philosophy that the defense must give you something at all times, and taking those options would be the path of least resistance with the highest chance of success. I saw a lot of that in USA’s playing style at Windmill, combining classic handler reset patterns with creativity and adaptation in response to an ever-shifting defense.
I’ve picked out a few themes to demonstrate how USA were so effective. There’s a lot of individual skill involved, but it was the decisions USA took and their ability to quickly identify opportunities that really made them stand out.
I’m going to show off a few handler fundamentals that USA used, the little details that elevated these fundamentals into world-class moves, then pick out examples where they were able to combine them to good effect.
Handler Fundamentals
Reset Cuts from 3H Position
In a traditional vertical stack, the front player in the stack acts as a third handler alongside the player on the disc and the dump; hence “3H”. Go back 10+ years and the cuts that came from that position tended to be continuation cuts, or occasionally lateral isolation cuts (particularly in the end zone). USA were quite happy to make any shape of cut from that position, so long as they got the disc; this swerving cut was popular with USA handlers, allowing them to get open for a very short reset.
When it was available, they were also happy to gain yards on these cuts, sometimes following up with a give & go:
Reset Level with the Disc
When their reset was level with the disc (e.g. disc on the sideline), USA liked to attack up the line. Rowan McDonnell uses a sharp change of direction to get open, cutting downfield then turning laterally to get the disc. Notice how the shape of the cut changes as the disc is thrown, allowing McDonnell to gain yards and receive the disc in power position. His marker has to run a long way to re-establish the force:
When the defense was sitting off to prevent the upline, they were quite happy to lead the reset into space away from the poach. Jonny Malks follows his throw immediately, switching the field and throwing a pinpoint assist to a speedy Christian Boxley cutting from the 3H position:
If being forced middle, USA were quick to use give and go moves; notice how Malks seals the lane from his defender prior to cutting, ensuring that his defender has no chance to make a play:
Read more on sealing the lane.
Reset Behind the Disc
This is a classic reset pattern, but USA’s handlers demonstrated an ability to gain a little extra on every occasion. Notice how Malks changes direction on this cut as the disc is thrown to him, curving behind the marker towards the attacking end zone, and forcing his own defender to go much further and wider to contain the disc:
The moment that the marker steps off to deny an around break, USA turn the other way:
Keep your eye on Malks clearing downfield on the far sideline; he sees the disc moving laterally towards him and perfectly times his move to give an easy continuation pass.
Individually, these moves might not look anything special, but they allowed USA to keep the disc moving, maintain a fast tempo, and move the disc laterally, all of which make life more difficult for the defense.
Taking What You’re Given
USA’s ability to quickly take advantage of poor defensive positioning was a consistent theme for them at Windmill. Not only were they able to identify these opportunities, they were able to take advantage of them.
An obvious example being this situation, when the USA offense found themselves condensed into a small area of the field, with no player more than a short distance downfield of the disc; a perfect opportunity for a deep strike from a handler position. When the Clapham defender switched to cover the disc, Jibran Mieser immediately cut deep; another Clapham defender tried to switch but didn’t notice the switch in time:
Clapham’s switching on the handlers was often world-class, but an offense this patient will always find a gap. When two defenders both peeled off to cover the potential around continuation option following a swing, USA found a gap straight through the middle:
And a similar situation here, where Clapham weren’t able to react quickly enough to cover all of the options, allowing Juengst to sneak open for a very simple assist:
Laying out on the mark to prevent a break might be useful sometimes, but look how quickly USA take advantage:
Note how none of the subsequent passes are contested.
It’s a similar story here; when a layout bid misses, Boxley quickly takes over, running a give and go then throwing an assist to Juengst. None of these passes are contested either:
The critical thing here is that the entire team are on board with this philosophy; they notice when one of their teammates has an advantage, they give them the freedom to work, and provide support to maintain the advantage.
Dealing with Switches
The Buzz switch1 is now a pretty standard defensive technique to guard against give and go moves. In recent years, teams have gotten better at exploiting the small gaps that are available in the middle of the switch to keep the disc moving; here are two examples:
When defenders started to pick up on this threat and try to close down the middle lane, the cutters were quick to attack in the opposite direction, wrong footing their defender to get free on the open side before throwing continuation to a poached cutter; Keep your eyes on McDonnell who has the disc at the start of the clip, then does a double cut to get open for the return pass from Malks:
And if the defender on the mark shifts over to block the middle of the field? As McDonnell fakes his forehand, the marker shifts across. This frees up the around backhand; Chris Kocher immediately recognizes the gap in defensive coverage and moves to the far side of the field before throwing an assist into an undefended area of the end zone:
All of these are examples where USA are quick to react to gaps in defensive coverage and use it to generate multiple uncontested passes.
Bringing it all Together
USA’s ability to combine these principles led to some truly wonderful ultimate. Our first example is another curving 3H cut for a reset, followed immediately by two give and go moves. Notice how the initial cut begins with a few steps to the break side before sealing the lane from the defender and curving back to the open side:
Sol Yanuck wrong-foots his defender to start this clip, then seals the lane from his defender to get the return pass:
Ben Jagt reacts to a poach, McDonnell squirrels open for a short reset, then Kocher seals the lane from his defender:
There are plenty more examples in the games, and it’s worth watching them back with these principles in mind to see what small gains USA were able to make from what they were given by the defense. Often, the team with the best fundamentals will be the winner. Big plays happen, and they can change games, but the bulk of an offense is often quite mundane. USA had a way of getting the best out of every situation they were faced with, and their adaptability helped them to overcome their rivals.
Editor: Sometimes called “rolling” coverage. ↩
