Offence
This section will hopefully provide new teams with some ideas for offensive plays you could use in games that you may have seen others doing or haven't even heard of. There may also be some new ideas for more established teams.
Download a pdf of offence plays
Stack
Isolation
Bodyform
German
Homeboy
Inverse
Rotation
Playing against the zone
Endzone Plays:
Split
1 - 2
Flood
Isolation
Front and Back
This is the most basic form of offense not including running around with no plan at all! A stack is a line of offensive player down the centre of the field running from the disc to the endzone you are attacking (and into it).
The stack is an extremely effective form of offense, despite it's basic nature, and is consequently used by most teams. The purpose of the stack is to create space to cut in to. With all the offensive players in a line down the centre of the field, two huge spaces are created on either side. The key to the stack is to get the offensive players to circulate. Once a cut has been made, and the pass has failed to go, the cutting player should then clear out and get back into the stack to leave the space they were in vacant for another person to cut in to. (See fig 1.0)
The stack can change slightly when the stationary disc moves position. If the disc is in the centre of the field the stack remains the same, however if the disc is on the sideline the stack can be rearranged so as to create more space again. The stack can be set at an angle so the cuts either come down the line or square for the swing pass. (See fig 1.1)
One variation on the stack is to have a dump. This is a player who always stands behind the disc and is available for the easy pass if a gaining downfield pass is not available.
This is a type of play that can be used with all sorts of offensive styles including the Stack and Bodyform and is also useful as an endzone play which will be covered further down the page. The basis of the idea is to choose someone before the start of the point who will be the isolated player. You can either set the stack or bodyform offence so that the player is actually physically isolated and they then make cuts or remain stationary until a pre decided throw is made and then gets the disc. Or you can set the offense as normal and the player just keeps cutting from their position until they get the disc.
Another way the isolation can be played is to set your offense revolving entirely around the isolation player. There are several ways of doing this and it can be used outdoors and indoors but is most useful when used indoors where there is less space and no wind!
You set the offensive players so that the handler has the disc in the middle of the field and there are two players parallel with him on either side of the pitch. These players act as the dumps if the stall count on the handler gets too high. Then their is one player exactly in the centre of the field isolated from the rest. The final players is also isolated in the endzone.
Before the play begins you decided either on a throw to make or that the isolated player will keep cutting till they are open. The throw can be decided on how the player marking the isolated player sets up. (Indoors a hammer is always a good option!). Once the isolated player has the disc he looks for the endzone player to get free. If this doesn't happen then he looks for the dump and sets up again. It is quite a rigid form of offense but can be very effective. (For set up See fig 2.0)
Bodyform offence is an alternative to the stack as a way off setting up your players down the field. Again as with other plays there are several variations on what is written here. Bodyform is so called due to the presence of wings. The wings are there in order to add a safe pass if whatever play or downfield pass you decided on doesn't come off. The wings are also available as part of a play to cut across the field for a pass.
The setup is shown in figure 3.0
The advantages of bodyform is that is creates more downfield space as instead of 6 players down field and one handler there are only three. This means those three players can make larger cuts up and down the field and once the first pass has been made they then have 2 players in loads of space for a further gain or the handlers making their way up field for the easy dump pass.
The purpose of the two handlers is so there is a easy pass if the long down field pass can't be made or they can use each other to make small up field cuts and gains. This method of play can be used in conjuction with the endzone plays anywhere on the field using the three deep players. Bodyform does take a lot of practice, however, but is a good variation on the stack to confuse the defense.
This isn't a whole style of play but can be used in conjunction with any of the above. It is a way of passing the disc without the defensive player seeing it and so is a way of getting round the defence fronting your players. You wait until the defensive player is not watching and then you throw the disc past them. The receiver has to try not to make it to obvious that the disc is on its way and then steps out and catchs it.
The homeboy is a style of offense that cannot be played for an entire game but mixes up the offense to confuse the defence who may have got used to marking the stack. The homeboy is where there are three players picked out before the point who make all the passes and throws to work up to the endzone where the remaining players can cut for the score. The three chosen for the homeboy make cuts until they get free and make small throws to get small gains. It is best to use your strongest handlers for this job. You should also have a spare player who acts as a forth person in the homeboy if they get into trouble and is always aware that they may be needed to cut.
The inverse is the play that is practiced by doing the stack drill in the drills sections. It is played while you have set up in a stack formation and is basically when a chosen player from the back of the stack makes a long cut from deep for the first pass. That player then looks down field for a player cutting from the front of the stack for a long cut deep. This is ideal for a quick score but is not a very reliable play as it relys on a long pass for the score.
This is a form of play that has the same formation as the stack except that instead of clearing out straight back into the stack after a failed cut you cut deep down the line and then back in towards the stack and across the far side of the pitch for the pass. If you do not receive the disc by that time then you return to the stack at the back. (See fig 7.0)
As each player attempts the cuts the next in line repeats the same sequence.
In order to counteract the zone defence it is helpful to play a different form of offence similar to the bodyform. Playing in a stack against the zone is very difficult.
You allocate Zone positions if you think the defence might throw a zone so that you can go straight into the zone offence. You have three handlers, one in the middle and one on either sideline. You must try to keep the disc swinging and not stuck in the middle. The player in the middle receives the pass from the sideline and swings it to the other side line trying to gain a few yards each time. This has the added advantage of tiring out the cup. You then have two poppers who cut in out out of the cup and around the centre of the field trying to get the disc through the cup. You then have a middle and a deep or two wings who look for the pass over the zone.
Here are a few endzone plays that can be practiced in training and implemented in games. One way to set plays in a game apart from calling a time-out is to allocate numbers to eachof the plays and call the number of the play you want to do when you get near the endzone.
The split is where the two players at the front of the stack cut to opposite corners of the endzone and the third player in the stack cuts straight forward for the score. (fig 8.0)
In this simple endzone play a selected player from the stack cuts out of the zone for a swing pass. The handler then fakes and cuts into the zone for the 1-2 and the score. (Fig 9.0)
This drill involves all the players in the zone. When the disc is in play all the players in the zone cut to one side at the same time. Then one player cuts back in the other direction for the score.
Similar to the formation isolation This endzone play is where one player is isolated in the zone either physically or is the only player who cuts back and forth until they are free for the score.
This drill is to stop people switching markers in the endzone. If the defensive players at the back of the zone are set up with one on either side of the back two then this play is ideal. The back player cuts along the back endzone line pulling the marker with them. The player second from the back then cuts the same side to the front endzone corner for the score.
