Phxated on...

I'll avoid the faux-Freudian jokes here, but last night I headed to Phxation practice to help Joanne out with some dumping drills. Dumping is when you rest the stall count with a short (generally) backwards pass; sort of the equivalent of an outlet option or a drop pass in soccer. Nothing terribly exciting to post except to note that we had a good practice - I think Phxation, now that they have achieved a certain level of skill, can really benefit from having some more well delineated team strategy in practice. Good times, even if there were only eight people in attendance - it worked well for a lot of small group teaching, so that was okay. NEhoo, here are some notes on dumping strategy, if you ever find yourself in need:

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I. Positioning

1. If in the middle of the field, 45 degrees on the open side, back 5-8 yards
2. If on the sideline with a force middle mark, 45 degrees, 8-10 yards
3. If on the sideline and trapped, parallel, 5-8 yards (or farther if you and thrower are comfortable)

II. Activating

1. Stall 5 if in the middle of the field
2. ASAP if trapped or on the sideline generally

3. Thrower activates by turning and making eye contact / facing the dump
4. Dump needs to be active and get thrower's attention on stall 5, too
5. Upfield cutters need to recognize when dump is active and not cut in toward the disc on the open side (don't take away options!)

III. Read the Defense

1. Not playing D? Just throw it.
2. throw guarding (i.e. defender is only looking at the thrower?) - fake once, dump opposite way
3. Face-guarding (i.e. defender is only looking at dump?) - dump fakes one cut, goes other way, thrower dumps to space
4. Triangle-guarding? - dump fakes and goes other way - important to read the defense and take the direction they are giving you

IV. The Cut

1. No squirreling!!!!
2. One fake (at most) and GO the other direction
3. Cutting tricks - get your defender to back pedal, step out of their vision, block them off with your body, etc. (we didn't talk about this much last night)
4. Getting open is hard work, so work hard - when push comes to shove, the dump needs to get open on their own. I.e., this system helps, but it does not make
5. Particularly when trapped, make sure you are cutting toward the disc - there's a tendency to just head up field in a sort of perpendicular cut, and this actually is increasing the distance between the thrower and the dump, making the throw more and more difficult as time passes. Lots of good dumps are two foot throws, so be sure you're staying close.

V. The Throw

1. Backhands if possible (thoguh there are times when forehand will be dictated, esp. on the sideline)
2. Get low, step away from the mark, and use a flip back hand (not a full wind-up)
3. Lead the receiver - throw to space, and throw early - don't wait until you see separation, but trust that it will develop
4. Attack with the dump - not just a rest, but you can put the dump in a huck position or on the break side with a good dump.

VI. Continuation

1. Open side or fish cut - you can put the dump in a huck position. Cutter on the opposite side of the field should see this and time deep cut accordingly
2. Dump on the break side can lead to big, easy swings - again, cutters should recognize!
3. Give and go, weave - there are other handler moves you can work on off of these throws, too.

VII. Team Setting

1. Important for cutters to see what's going on - again, don't cut into the dump area, and be ready to cut or clear depending on what happens with the dump.
2. Cutters in ho-stack should also be aware - if mark starts cheating and trying to D the dump, there are easy break throws available upfield.
3. The other handler (the non-thrower, non-dump) will generally do the opposite of what the dump did, either to provide a second option (in case the thrower can't get the dump off) or to clear the way for the swing.
4. One of the break side cutters in the ho-stack (probably not the 4th cutter away from the disc but the 3rd) needs to read the dump, too - if the dump comes back to the middle of the field, cut in hard for the swing as you should already have an advantage on the break side. If the dump goes up the line (fish cut or otherwise), the best deep cut comes from the break side to make the throw as easy as possible.

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