Random comments

Just a few random comments come to mind after reading Tyler's post...

On offense: I agree with Tyler's assessment that our dump sets could use some work. The whole point of having a dump is that it gives your offense a safe reset at all times. If we can't rely on the safety of our dumps, then our whole offense will struggle. I also agree that our upfield cutters have been getting too close to the disc. I think both of these things will improve with practice. We also seem to have trouble with defenders poaching on our in cuts. I hope that this will get better as our offense becomes more fluid and we can punish people for poaching.

Personally, I'm still a little uncomfortable with the horizontal offense because I just haven't played it enough. What I've been able to figure out so far, though, is that the HO creates inside lanes and outside lanes and as a cutter, I'm looking to shift from an occupied lane to an unoccupied lane, then make a strong in cut or deep cut when there's an opening.

On defense: I have always felt that having a good defense will improve your offense because you practice against it all the time. I also think that even if you're not an active offensive player, you can always help the team by being a good defensive player. I've noticed at DUI and at practice, we tend to give up the deep throw a little too easily. We need to learn when to take away the underneath cut and when to take away the deep cut. For example, if the offense is going downwind, a handler has the disc after a stoppage in play, and you're guarding a tall or fast person, take away the deep cut first.

As far as marking goes, you pretty much have to assume that an experienced player is going to be able to break a mark. As a marker, you can make it uncomfortable for them by forcing a less accurate or floating throw, or disrupt their timing. You also need to make adjustments if you do get broken so they can't just do the same thing the next time. As a defender, you have to respect the break mark cut and be in position to contest a floating disc or establish a mark immediately after the catch is completed.