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the ‘97 WUCC in Vancouver, my team ‘Mephisto’
met the German team the ‘Frizzly Bears’. It
was the first game of the day, so both squads were at
the field a little early. While warming up, we watched
the Frizzly Bears. They had good throws and some height,
but they didn’t have much speed. We had a team
of fast guys and faster guys. We would totally shut
them down. Or so we thought.
We pulled to start and busted down the field like demons,
while the Frizzly Bears lumbered along casually. They
were spread out all over the place, not even stacking.
One guy caught the pull and looked around. He had the
disc for about five stalls . . . and no one had made
a cut. Eventually he just looped it toward another teammate.
[Damn...we should’ve D’d that.] That guy flipped
the disc behind him for a dump, trotted up field and
stopped. Suddenly, he had the disc again. It had sailed
mere inches past our defender. [Call the ups!] The next
few passes went the same way. We were getting frustrated.
It was hard to cover guys who weren’t cutting,
but throwing to each other anyway. We blinked and it
was 1-0 Frizzly Bears. It was all so casual. We walked
back to the line looking at each other, wondering what
had happened.
That game was a turning point for me, and probably
everyone on Mephisto. What the Frizzly Bears were doing
on offense was unlike anything we had ever seen. We
watched them and we learned. We went back to Montreal
and taught ourselves how to use their style of offense...a
style we blandly called the ‘German’. In retrspect,
we should have called it the ‘Frizzly.’
The ‘German’ is a style of offense that relies
on the principles of ‘thrower led’ passes,
rather than ‘receiver led’ passes. An offense
using ‘receiver led’ passes is what most people
know-receivers make cuts to get open, the thrower throws
to whomever is open. In an offense using ‘thrower
led’ passes, the receivers primarily use subtle
positioning to create opportunities for the thrower
to throw to spaces that the receiver can reach before
the defender, the thrower throws before the receiver
cuts, and often the ‘cut’ is no more than
a few quick steps to one side or another.
So that’s the ‘German’. Move to a position
that forces the defender to choose between watching
you or watching the thrower. If the defender is watching
you, the thrower throws. If the defender turns to look
at the thrower, you cut. It’s so easy...when you
are studying little diagrams. In reality, it takes a
lot of practice.
The ‘German’ requires excellent communication
and uninterrupted eye contact between the thrower and
receiver, subtle shifts in position to gain an advantage,
quick reactions to the defender’s actions, and
the skill to make soft, accurate throws to space.
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Above all, it requires a shift in philosophy
from throwing to a receiver who is cutting to throwing to
a receiver who is standing still but positioned to reach the
disc before the defender.
Back to WUCC ‘97: We won the game, but
it was close. We did realize that we could never take our
eyes off the thrower or the receiver, but that was easier
said than done. Countless throws were just out of our reach,
but just within theirs. The Frizzly Bears were very adept
at getting us slightly out of position.
Nowadays, I see many European teams using
the principles of the ‘German’. It can be extremely
effective in certain situations and, when done right, it is
difficult to defend against. So, next time you have the disc
and I’m standing there looking at you blankly, I am not
being lazy...just throw. Throw it and I’ll fetch it.
Easy.
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Figure A: A traditional defensive set-up with
the mark establishing a force on the thrower, dividing
the field in two, creating an open side and a closed
side. If a strong mark is put on the thrower, high
percentage passes will rarely go to the closed side,
which allows the defender to set up on the open side
of the receiver.
To advance the disc, the receivers have to work.
They must be taller, quicker or faster than the defenders...or
smarter. To be smarter, the thrower and receiver can
usethe ‘German’.
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Figure B: The mark divides the field into
two halves, an open side and a closed side. However,
if the receiver moves into a position in the middle
of the open side, that half of the field is also divided
into two halves, an open side and...another open side!
The thrower can throw to either side of the receiver
without having to break the mark.
What happens next depends on the defender:
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Figure C: If the defender fails to adjust
to the receiver’s positioning by staying on the
(traditional) open side, the thrower can throw a quick
pass straight up field, and the receiver takes one
or two quick steps back toward the closed side to
make the catch. From the perspective of the mark and
the thrower, the throw is to the open side, but from
the defender’s perspective, the throw seems to
be on the closed side.
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Figure D: If the defender adjusts
to the receiver’s positioning by ‘fronting’—staying
between the receiver and the disc—the defender
can no longer see the thrower. Immediately the thrower
can throw a soft pass to either side of and just past
the defender to a space the receiver can reach before
the defender. The thrower decides where the throw
will go; the receiver cuts after the disc is thrown.
This is the essence of a ‘thrower led’ pass.
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Figure E: If the defender is ‘fronting’,
but turns around to look at the thrower, the receiver
can immediately get open. The diagram shows the receiver
cutting toward the (traditional) open side, but once
the defender is not watching the receiver, the receiver
can make a cut to anywhere on the field.
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— Lorne Beckman
Lorne is a competitive player out of
Montreal, presently playing with the Mixed squad Grin. He
previously played with the Open team Mephisto, and played
at the World Championships from 1997 to 2000 with several
different Canadian teams.
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