I've always loved skies in frisbee. There's nothing as exciting as watching two guys with an equal shot at a disc go up high for it, and seeing one come down with it. When you make a sweet sky, a wave of adrenaline instantly floods your body. And when you're on the receiving end of a sky, it's miserable--you want to get it back with every fiber of your being.
The first year I was on the Georgia team we made Nationals ('05-'06), and the time between exams and Natties challenged this exaltation of the sky. Over those three weeks, I probably spent a total of around ten hours playing 500 with Dylan Tunnell, Noah Eden, and Peter Dempsey. Two guys would line up at one side of the field, two guys on the other, and one side would toss it up high and long for one-on-one skying. At first I tried my normal "strategy" for catching it deep--read the disc and try to get it at my highest point, ignoring my opponents. The problem was that the three guys I was playing with were all noticably more athletic, taller, faster, and could jump higher than me. Soon, I realized that I HAD to take into account where they were; otherwise I might as well just drink a Coke and watch them.
So, despite the undeniable electricity of skies, I now have the opinion that skying is an overrated skill to have (especially on offense). More impactful (to me) is the ability to BOX OUT--to put yourself in between the defender and the frisbee. When a deep shot is put to me now, when I'm one-on-one with a defender, I have a very specific post-up routine:
1. Find the disc and take several sprinting steps to where I think it's going to land.
2. Find the defender and put myself between where he is and where the disc is headed.
3. Body--slow down my pace to long strides so that I'm still able to catch the disc but that now, if the defender wants to d it, he has to run through me. When the defender gets closer, I change to shorter, choppy steps to help keep balance, letting the defender bump against my back. If he tries to go around, I shuffle over to keep myself between him and the frisbee. It's best to keep your back to him when you seek this contest, because you can't use your hands to foul from that position.
4. Make a play on the disc as late as possible, so your defender has the lowest chance to also have a play.
Often, this strategy results in catching the huck around chest level--the defender loses his footing trying to get around/through you, and is therefore in no position to make any play. That has replaced skying as a play that jacks me up when I make it. It doesn't look as cool, so you might want to do a little dance to make up for that.
Sometimes, your defender will foul you by trying to go through you, then lose his footing, and then you catch the disc anyway. That's pretty tight, too--to call foul as a receiver and catch it anyway. Chants of "and one" ensue.
In general, if you get a good initial read on the disc, you will either get an uncontested foul or you will have a vastly better play on the disc than your defender. Ultimately, concentrating on boxing out seems to utilize the receiver's initial positioning advantage better than just trying to out-jump somebody.
Amble
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Boxing Out
Posted by Scramble at 10:10 AM
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6 comments:
That's some really good advice on boxing out - I'm going to use it in my tournament upcoming (this weekend) Thanks!
Nice article, Amble. As a 5'6" terror on the open atmosphere, I definitely learned the secret to boxing out long ago. Theres no way I'm going to get a disc over some of these 6'4" goliaths unless I can put myself in a spot where they'll have to jump waaay too early to get it and it will loft down lazily into my hands.
The biggest key is to get (stay) in front of the other player and slow down. Chances are he's staring up at the disc and will run you over If he knocks you down, it's a foul and it not, he's now lost his footing and is concentrating on not eating it as you accelerate away for an easy clap catch.
And no, it's not a foul. If you're in front, you've got a right to that space and its the responsibility of the person in the rear not to run into you.
did I miss something?
Establishing a good position on the disc so that your opponent must go through you is one thing, but moving to 'box them out' (when they try to go around) is blatantly against the rules and is a foul.
mrb - where does it say that in the rules?
XVI.H.3.c.1: When the disc is in the air a player may not move in a manner solely to prevent an opponent from taking an unoccupied path to the disc and any resulting non-incidental contact is a foul on the blocking player which is treated like a receiving foul (XVI.H.3.b).
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Short story - moving to box out is against the rules.
I know this is way after the fact, but it is worth defending my article: anyone who thinks this type of position-taking is a foul has not played high-level Ultimate.
Even arguing the semantics of the written rule, note the key term: "a player may not move in a manner SOLELY to prevent an opponent from taking an unoccupied path to the disc." Your first play is still on the disc; that is why I prescribe keeping your back to your opponent and your front squared toward the disc.
Frisbee rule-writers did not intend for Ultimate to be as physical as soccer or basketball, and observers understandably tolerate less hand and shoulder contact in our sport. However, position-taking is consistent--vital, even--to success in high-level games against high-level opponents.
I have literally never seen an obstruction call for this type of positioning in high-level Ultimate (heck, ANY level Ultimate), much less heard of it being upheld by an observer. Conversely, I can point to dozens of times when I have witnessed such positioning lead to scores, including goals of my own at multiple Regionals and Nationals games.
Short story - replace the phrase "box out" with "take position" if you have a problem. But know that the significance of positioning is a reality that we vitally must understand for Ultimate success.
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