Zone D and Zone O Description

1. Zone D and Zone O Description

2. Zone D - Positions (Defenders are the “-” marks) C = Chasers MM = Middle Middle W = Wings SD = Short Deep DD = Deep Deep 3 People in the Cup -2 ‘chasers’ (C) -1 middle middle (MM) The cup follows the disc wherever it goes One of the chasers is always marking 2 Wings (W) The wings cover the sides of the field. The wings need to be prepared to help out the deep. The wings are most important when the disc is swung to the sideline. 1 Short-Deep (SD) The short-deep protects the space behind the cup. The short-deep communicates with the middle-middle of the cup. For instance, the short seep will tell the middle-middle will shade left, and the short deep will shade right. 1 Deep-Deep (DD) The deep-deep is tall and can read the disc well. Theystand near the last offender are responsible for making sure no one scores on a deep throw. A good deep-deep will communicate to the wings and short-deep to coordinate positions. DD O O SD O W W O O “Cup” Offense MM C C O

3. Zone D – Notes and Goals (Defenders are the “-” marks) C = Chasers MM = Middle Middle W = Wings SD = Short Deep DD = Deep Deep • The goal of zone is to make the other team throw the disc enough times for them to make an error – however, we seek to force an error by playing aggressively • Each person is responsible for an area, but they MUST be on a man at all times. • If you are not guarding a specific man and there is no one in front of you to defend, you should be looking over your shoulder to find someone to guard. • This defense MUST involve lots of talking. Responsibility for talk is: • Middle Middle talks to Chasers • Short Deep talks to Middle Middle and Wing • Deep Deep talks to Short Deep and Wings • Very often, we will play zone for a few throws, and the make a “transition” into man-to-man defense, in an attempt to confuse the other team and cause a turnover • Stanford rarely plays plain zone. Our zones always include one of the following ‘trap techniques:’ • Trap one way, all the way • Middle force, trap both sidelines • Middle mark on one or both sidelines • (we will talk about these in practice) DD O O SD O W W O O “Cup” Offense MM C C O

4. Zone O - Positions Offensive players are the “O’s” S = Swings W = Wings P = Poppers D = Deep 2 Swings (S) The swings stand behind the disc and swing the disc back and forth. They look for holes through the cup to the poppers or to they try to throw around the cup. It is very important that the swings swing the disc a lot. This tires out the cup and opens up the defense. 2 Wings (W) They stand on opposite sides of the field. The wings can be horizontal with the swings, or the wings can run deep. When a wing gets the disc, he should immediately look for a popper or throw it back to a swing. Do not hold on to the disc. Also, a wing should stand as close to the sideline as possible. 2 Poppers (P) They move about in the middle of the field. The poppers should try to work as a team. They should time their cuts to split the short-deep defender or wing. When one of the poppers gets the disc, he should immediately look to the other popper for a give and go situation. A lot of yards are gained on give-and-gos between poppers. 1 Deep (D) His goal is to stretch the offense out. It is very important that the zone offense uses the entire field (that is also why the wings need to stay near the sideline). The deep should look to receive the disc from a popper or wing. We often have the deep switch with the poppers in the middle of a point, to make it harder for the zone defense to know who they should guard O D P O P O W W O O Offense O S S

5. Zone O – Notes and Goals S = Swings W = Wings P = Poppers D = Deep • The goal of zone offense is to score on a Zone D, no matter how many passes it takes. • The easiest way to play zone offense is to look at the entire field, see where the open spaces are, and get the disc to those areas (don’t do what the defense WANTS you to do!) • There is NO NEED to be risky in playing zone O – you should be able to complete easy passes in order to score! • There are two theories on how to beat zone D: • Swing the disc quickly, and widely, between the swings and wings, and try to work it around the side of the cup and up the sidelien • Try to throw the disc through the cup to the poppers • At Stanford we use a blend of these strategies, because we swing the disc for awhile to get the cup tired, and THEN punch it through the middle. O D P O P O W W O O Offense O S S