A fantastic article. This step is what opened up the game for me and made me realize I loved defense.

Take a new player. They just learned what a stack is, and how to cut for a thrower - now put them on defense. They’re still processing what they just learned for offense, so they haven’t had much time to learn anything besides what a force is. So they’re standing on the open side, and understand that they should prevent their person from getting the disc. Simple - stay tight to your check, and stay on the right side. If you don’t have a good idea of where your cutter will go, you have to play a reactionary defense.

The problem with reactive defense: try to play ‘honest’ defense (try to cover both in and out) against someone who is at least your speed, and you will not be able to shut your person down.

This is why ISOs are effective, and why the pro leagues are so offensively focused. With a big open space, it’s a nightmare to cover someone one-on-one.

Now back to our rookie. They’re playing reactive defense, and they just got beat deep 4 points in a row. They’re seeing a pattern. So, they make the choice to take a few steps downfield, to give a little buffer in case their check makes another deep cut. the deep cut comes, and our rookie has an extra second to react. The deep is covered, the cutter turns, and they receive the under.

There’s your first step. Make an educated guess as to what your person wants to do, and position yourself to get an edge over them. Now you’re dictating what your cutter’s options are. YOU are in control on defense.

There’s more to be said on the subject, but I’ll break it into segments.