he quiet hero. Noticed only by that player on offence ready to throw off their cleats and call it a game after ten points of seemingly endless cutting and not once receiving the disc. And perhaps the only player on defense who noticed was one defender who trusted the mark, committed to open side defense, and maintained good positioning throughout each point. The defender who completely shut down their check.

Shut down defense begins with a strong mark, and faith in your teammates to hold the force. Trusting the mark to cut off one side of the field allows you to play your odds in defending the open side. As a defender in the back field, you can't be expected to have a bid on every possible throw that might go up. But if you can predict that the disc will stay on the open side, you've got a fighting chance.

Playing open side defense means keeping your check on the same side of you the entire point. Think about how you mark up when you're in a stack on a stop in play. Most people near the front of the stack stand a few feet in front of their mark on the open side. Near the middle or back of the stack, you might be closer to parallel, on their shoulder, protecting both the in and out cuts. You want to hold these positions even when the motion starts on the field.

Not only do you want to be on a specific side of your check, but you also want to think about the angles you're using. Which direction are you facing? The second you give complete attention to the cutter, you're giving the thrower free reign to just put the disc up to space. The cutter doesn't even have to move until it gets quite close, and by that time, the chances of your reaction time winning the battle over someone who just saw the play unfold are pretty slim. Alternatively, if you focus exclusively on the thrower, even for a second, you've lost contact with your check, and you can bet they'll take advantage of that. Ideally, you want to position yourself such that both the disc and the cutter are in view. The disc will be in your periphery, while the majority of focus is on your check.

There are also subtle variations on where to play on defense. Do you stick to their shoulder so that you're close enough to protect both short and long cuts? The biggest danger in that is that should a break force i/o manage to get past the mark, the receiver can just turn their back to you and despite you being right on their shoulder, and too close for you to believe that throw was made, it's turned into an easy, uncontested catch because you can get around them. Had you been more in front of your check, positioned between the disc and them, as you that break throw released, suddenly you're in a position to make a bid on it with a clear path to the disc.

A great way to visualize maintaining open side positioning is to imagine a pole connecting you and your check. As they move, you counter, as if you're still attached to the end of the pole, keeping the same distance and angles between you and your opponent. It takes some practice to not get psyched out by someone's fakes, but if you can play this kind of defense, the throw will rarely be put up to your player.

How does it all come together? If your check is cutting towards the break side of the field, it doesn't mean you need bolt past them to defend the break force throw. The danger is getting sucked over so far that they turn and go back to the open side with you chasing after them. Shut down defense does not involve following. Had you trusted your mark and maintained your position on the open side, your check plants to cut back and you're right in their path. They can try and race you to the disc, but if you continue to move with them, maintaining your position and distance from them, you will stay in the path that they want to be in, and completely shut them down, preventing them from touching the disc. And should the break force get off, you will be close enough that you'll either have a potential layout bid on it, or at least be tight enough to your player that you can re-establish the mark and prevent the deadly continuation up the broken side.

Shut down defense might be classified as silent D, but it is just as powerful as the 4-foot high, coming up from behind, fully horizontal layout D. No matter what anyone tells you! Entirely eliminating every possibility of your check getting the disc is incredibly fulfilling. It sometimes frustrates them so much they'll lose all confidence to even try cutting. Imagine if your whole team played that way.

– Anne-Marie Carey