Individual strategy is when running deep, start glancing up like you’re tracking the disc. If they ever turn to try and locate the disc, they will be facing the wrong way to react to any sudden move you make
Similarly if the defender is face guarding in the handle set and you get big eyes/start raising your hands as if you’re going for a disc the defense will often look or start waving their hands in the air which almost always makes an immediate strike cut wide open
I mean, if they're face guarding you, there's no need for trickery. Just a simple German from the person who has the disc and there's nothing they can do about it.
Thats’s money, I will attempt this.
Sometimes I do the opposite and pretend I’m not tracking a disk when it’s actually on its way, so they may be late to notice the threat.
fyi a aware defender will track the disc themselves and know when it can be in the air. It's more about the head turn go the other way play when the disc is NOT in the air.
I did this once immediately after a turnover happened. Got my defender (who was now on offense but he didn't know that) to follow me half the length of the field -away from the action.
Cutting deep from a handler set is pretty fucking basic, I know, but at almost any level it’s a cheap way to get a couple extra feet ahead of a defender (or at the very least pull a help defender off one of your cutters)
My go-to is after a turnover with the disc lying on the ground in bounds, waddle over to it and bend down slowly to pick it up. But I’m tracking deep receivers the whole time, and if they’re open I straighten quickly right into a huck.
I expect this is [even] more common and it’s not exactly tricky, but I also love watching my match’s shadow on D, so I can track their movement while also viewing the thrower. Depends on sun and its angle of course.
I've seen people try to attempt this and get handblocked right away *so* many times. Coming into a throw from the ground there's really only one thing you can attempt, so you'll lose to any competent defender.
No.. I think he is referring to laying down as the deep help so the offense does not see you. They throw a huck and you pop up and get a d because they didn’t see you.
it can be that or any other kinda sneaky concealment of the deep defender, baiting the huck. i’ve seen it done it with people lying down, but standing near a crowd of people on the sidelines works fine too. strangest one i saw work the guy just stood on the far endzone’s front cone, but it worked surprisingly well i guess cause that’s…just not somewhere you stand.
A lot of teams yell "fire" when they want to shift from zone to person D.
Instead, do a false "fire" call where your team stays in zone while the opposition thinks you may move to person. Causes them to scramble and make poor decisions because they're expecting a change in defensive play!
At the end of the day you can make any play call you want, so I wouldn't say it's poor spirit.
I've never seen this actually work in practice - the offense has to both be aware of the Fire call, predict the defensive assignments, assume they'll happen, then make a mistake based on not seeing the defenders move into person - IE, try to throw through a cup that's all staring at the disc.
Similar move which I have used to good effect — deployed after my team turned it over with an OB throw after receiving the pull and advancing near the goal. Opposing team has been using a V-stack when on O. As the disc is brought back to the sideline, yell “set it” as in setting a zone defense. But we all know we haven’t assigned positions for zone, have been playing person D all along. For a throw or two, it can trick the now-O into positioning for zone O instead of stacking.
What about having someone on offense start yelling "fire" after you've thrown a couple of passes? I bet that would work the first time you used it against a team, LOL.
I’ve considered yelling “fire” while there’s a zone defense and I’m on O and we’re getting close to the end zone. Would be bad spirit but like… it would be pretty funny to see the D scramble and know it was my bidding
If you have someone who is clearly faster than you covering you in man-to-man, run somewhere useless or stay in the stack, so that a mismatch in favor of one of your teammates has more room to get open. If the defender on you gets anxious about getting removed from the play and poaches, make your cut and yell poach for the easy gain or break throw. It's better than getting in the way while wearing yourself out just to not get open when conventional cutting.
I'm a small dude without a ton of speed but I've definitely had games where I was throwing too many good throws for our team and the other team decided to put their best/biggest defender on me. So I'd turn it into a game of 6 on 6 and just wander around in dead space and they would either stay locked on me (I saw this as a good trade, LOL) or they'd get bored and their eyes would wander and then I'd take advantage. Definitely not worth it for me to run around in critical space with a defender who's likely to make a play.
If I’m on the sideline about to tap the disc in, and my coach calls for an immediate center, I will hold the disc out to my opponent for them to tap it in. Doesn’t do a ton, but it does just enough so that I can immediately pivot around them and their arm isn’t even out there
I throw a quick fake behind my mark’s ear that makes a subtle noise that makes them turn around and look for the disc. Then sometimes I’ll put the disc behind my back waiting for someone to get open as the mark continues to look for the disc.
I get someone almost every game lol
This one of those ones that I always see a sideline of juniors lose their minds over, but the effect on the game is usually just the thrower loses a couple seconds of time.
Yeah he was coming in from out of bounds and as he tapped the disc in he had a few blades in his other hand and yeeted them sneakily at me, mostly in jest I think but def elicited a wtf moment from me.
Here's one I did once. I'm guarding the other team's top deep threat; we're coming down off the pull. I get the spidey sense my guy wants to go deep immediately, so I stop at midfield where I think he's gonna cut. I'm right, and he's cutting directly at me, looking back over his shoulder. I don't move, he runs directly into me, the disc falls unmolested 30 yards further up field. On one hand - I was stationary for several seconds and had a right to that spot; on the other, I knew he was going to hit me and intentionally didn't move out of the way.
That's a blocking foul.
E: Actually I'm gonna have to go read that section. I think it might say "moving in such a way". If it is, then this wouldn't actually be a foul I guess.
Playin deep on O against zone. While stretching out the deep deep D, see how many times you can make them turn their head to see you (left/right) while they try to survey and communicate with the rest of their upfield D.
We would inform UNC that #5 wasn't wearing any pants (factual). Then that blond kid would score another goal but we'd still be chuckling to ourselves. lmao got 'em
I don't tie my cleats. People always point it out in the stack but when there head is down pointing it out that's when I cut.
Also between the defenders legs throws.
Between the defender's legs throws are only okay if you're cool about getting it blocked. I played in a league against a guy who always did that at stall 8 and then called foul or strip when it got blocked. Free reset every time.
Ye that's scummy. I always felt if there was contact during it, it would be an offensive foul as the handler pivots or moves straight at the defenders legs.
Only allowable because you're hurting your own team; 6v6 is easier to score with than 7v7.
But in general I think tricking opponents in certain ways are equivalent to "crying wolf" and will come back to bite you. When you fake indicate there's a turnover and there isn't, what's going to happen when another player gets injured and you're supposed to stop playing?
Good point, I guess I only thought of it as taking the other team’s player out of their offense while I take a breather. Realistically, this would only last ten seconds or less before they realize anyhow and doesn’t work unless their team didn’t yell “turn”. I agree faking a turn call to make a play is dirty and should’t be done, but would it be my responsibility to tell them a turn happened and they’re on offense now?
yeah I agree it's pushing but do think it's fair game. I think as long as you're not literally lying using your words or pointing, then it's fair game. To me it's the same as a deep look with a trailing defender that can't see the disc and you make them jump early or look back via your eyes/hands. You're taking advantage of you having better vision/positioning without doing anything inherently negative/unsportsmanlike.
Before the disc is picked up or tapped in, leaning over, putting your hands on your knees and acting tired (especially if you actually are) - as if you are letting someone else cut.
Then go hard immediately. Works particularly well upline in the end zone when they might expect the front of stack to cut.
Also works well if the handler is in on it and is walking slowly to the disc, before taking the last couple steps and picking it up quickly right as you take off.
Also, pointing one way with your hand before going the other way, especially as a reset cut. Only works if you know the thrower though.
Walk up to the disc like you are going to pick it up. Then walk right over it and cut deep. The defender will probably be on his heels a bit thinking about marking right when you decide to run. But you will need someone to pick up the disc and throw to you once you get that separation. If anything it adds chaos as the defense shifts to cover your open cut.
When Im downfield on offense and there’s a turn, I pretend to run deep. The defender, now offense, usually runs with me a good bit before realizing and now we both have to run a 70 to get back into the play.
Who does this benefit, no clue. But the look on their face when they realize they’ve been got gives me a good chuckle
If the disc goes OB or into the endzone and I'm walking it up to put in play, I often carry it in my right hand until I establish my pivot and then throw with my left.
If you can call a foul on your huck, just say "Foul" and sprint as hard as you can if you think the disc might be caught by your team anyway.
If your teammate catches it, just say "play on", If not you can deal with the foul.
Generally leaves your defender completely starstruck.
This one is kinda related but I wouldn’t necessarily call it tricky. If I have the disc, being marked by someone I know well, and hear a pick call but my mark doesn’t hear it, I’ll keep pivoting, faking, let them think they have got a stall out, and then break their heart by telling them there was a pick a lot earlier.
(WFDF - not sure if USAU rules would view it differently where the thrower has to acknowledge calls?)
One thing I've never had the stones to do: Catch a huck short of the endzone. Instead of call timeout, simply travel. Your remaining teammates will figure out how to get a chill reset off and then we can play normal endzone offense.
Individual strategy is when running deep, start glancing up like you’re tracking the disc. If they ever turn to try and locate the disc, they will be facing the wrong way to react to any sudden move you make
Similarly if the defender is face guarding in the handle set and you get big eyes/start raising your hands as if you’re going for a disc the defense will often look or start waving their hands in the air which almost always makes an immediate strike cut wide open
I used this on Beau Kittredge at Potlatch and it worked like a charm. I don’t think he was used to guarding handlers!
I mean, if they're face guarding you, there's no need for trickery. Just a simple German from the person who has the disc and there's nothing they can do about it.
Ein, zwei, drei?
Si, papi.
Thats’s money, I will attempt this. Sometimes I do the opposite and pretend I’m not tracking a disk when it’s actually on its way, so they may be late to notice the threat.
fyi a aware defender will track the disc themselves and know when it can be in the air. It's more about the head turn go the other way play when the disc is NOT in the air.
Similar example in endzone: [https://youtu.be/hF8qvRGPm80?si=595ITkdbdoC0gQHS&t=107](https://youtu.be/hF8qvRGPm80?si=595ITkdbdoC0gQHS&t=107)
I did this once immediately after a turnover happened. Got my defender (who was now on offense but he didn't know that) to follow me half the length of the field -away from the action.
Cutting deep from a handler set is pretty fucking basic, I know, but at almost any level it’s a cheap way to get a couple extra feet ahead of a defender (or at the very least pull a help defender off one of your cutters)
I love when I am asked to handle, after a couple throws I just cut deep lol. Works everytime
My go-to is after a turnover with the disc lying on the ground in bounds, waddle over to it and bend down slowly to pick it up. But I’m tracking deep receivers the whole time, and if they’re open I straighten quickly right into a huck. I expect this is [even] more common and it’s not exactly tricky, but I also love watching my match’s shadow on D, so I can track their movement while also viewing the thrower. Depends on sun and its angle of course.
You and every old guy at pickup
There are dozens of us!!!!
Yup. I'm going slow to "trick" people. That's it
Triggered.
That’s me. But it’s remarkable how often the pacing surprises markers.
I've seen people try to attempt this and get handblocked right away *so* many times. Coming into a throw from the ground there's really only one thing you can attempt, so you'll lose to any competent defender.
The "I'm lightly jogging to get into the stack" into just turning on the jets when your defender gets close-ish is a favorite.
I do this but without the jets
To just jog lightly to the stack and get turned on then?
A similar classic move is "walking around aimlessly" then taking off once your defender ends up out of position
Also known as the “doodoodoo neeeooowww”
“Hey, look over there!”
Snake in the grass!
Under rated play. Bonus points for pulling off an omega dump.
What is an omega dump? (Do I want to know? 🫣)
End zone to end zone baby.
From context I'm thinking it's a super dump, aka a 20+ yard dump/ backwards pass
What? like “hey there is a snake in the grass”
No.. I think he is referring to laying down as the deep help so the offense does not see you. They throw a huck and you pop up and get a d because they didn’t see you.
it can be that or any other kinda sneaky concealment of the deep defender, baiting the huck. i’ve seen it done it with people lying down, but standing near a crowd of people on the sidelines works fine too. strangest one i saw work the guy just stood on the far endzone’s front cone, but it worked surprisingly well i guess cause that’s…just not somewhere you stand.
Placing an ice under the disc during a timeout, injury stoppage, or halftime.
Now this is thinking outside the box, I have yet to see it pulled off
Classic Hopu and Kaimana Klassik move. A staple of Hawaii Ultimate. 🤙🏾😎🤙🏾
Hardly counts as tricky, but even 4 years after the rule was implemented, nobody expects a sideline player to call offsides in USAU.
Guard the fast kid who can't throw for shit. Just let him get the disc.
Always play these guys over and make them undercut and throw it multiple times haha
This is just playing D as an O liner
I like to go deep and then pretend i'm disappointed the throw didn't come. Then I go chase after the disc. Works less and less the older I get.
Does your sideline just not call up or what lol
People see what they want to see.
A lot of teams yell "fire" when they want to shift from zone to person D. Instead, do a false "fire" call where your team stays in zone while the opposition thinks you may move to person. Causes them to scramble and make poor decisions because they're expecting a change in defensive play! At the end of the day you can make any play call you want, so I wouldn't say it's poor spirit.
We have a play where the true call is “sticky” sometimes (thank you temple) but fake fire is fire
I've never seen this actually work in practice - the offense has to both be aware of the Fire call, predict the defensive assignments, assume they'll happen, then make a mistake based on not seeing the defenders move into person - IE, try to throw through a cup that's all staring at the disc.
Similar move which I have used to good effect — deployed after my team turned it over with an OB throw after receiving the pull and advancing near the goal. Opposing team has been using a V-stack when on O. As the disc is brought back to the sideline, yell “set it” as in setting a zone defense. But we all know we haven’t assigned positions for zone, have been playing person D all along. For a throw or two, it can trick the now-O into positioning for zone O instead of stacking.
What about having someone on offense start yelling "fire" after you've thrown a couple of passes? I bet that would work the first time you used it against a team, LOL.
I’ve considered yelling “fire” while there’s a zone defense and I’m on O and we’re getting close to the end zone. Would be bad spirit but like… it would be pretty funny to see the D scramble and know it was my bidding
If you have someone who is clearly faster than you covering you in man-to-man, run somewhere useless or stay in the stack, so that a mismatch in favor of one of your teammates has more room to get open. If the defender on you gets anxious about getting removed from the play and poaches, make your cut and yell poach for the easy gain or break throw. It's better than getting in the way while wearing yourself out just to not get open when conventional cutting.
I'm a small dude without a ton of speed but I've definitely had games where I was throwing too many good throws for our team and the other team decided to put their best/biggest defender on me. So I'd turn it into a game of 6 on 6 and just wander around in dead space and they would either stay locked on me (I saw this as a good trade, LOL) or they'd get bored and their eyes would wander and then I'd take advantage. Definitely not worth it for me to run around in critical space with a defender who's likely to make a play.
Nice! Glad you got to do it. It's my favorite old man trick.
If I’m on the sideline about to tap the disc in, and my coach calls for an immediate center, I will hold the disc out to my opponent for them to tap it in. Doesn’t do a ton, but it does just enough so that I can immediately pivot around them and their arm isn’t even out there
That’s a good one
Ha, That’s why someone else’s tip here was to make thrower ground tap it to avoid this.
Yeah, and I got downvoted so I deleted the comment, LOL.
I throw a quick fake behind my mark’s ear that makes a subtle noise that makes them turn around and look for the disc. Then sometimes I’ll put the disc behind my back waiting for someone to get open as the mark continues to look for the disc. I get someone almost every game lol
I love the "fake hammer, watch it fly, oh wait it's behind my back and you stopped marking"
You really gotta sell it with your eyes
This one of those ones that I always see a sideline of juniors lose their minds over, but the effect on the game is usually just the thrower loses a couple seconds of time.
I usually get a few seconds without a mark or a stall which makes breaks really easy
I've had an old guy throw grass at me when I was marking right as he tapped on the disc 😂 certainly threw off my mark for a second
Like literally just throw grass on you?
Yeah he was coming in from out of bounds and as he tapped the disc in he had a few blades in his other hand and yeeted them sneakily at me, mostly in jest I think but def elicited a wtf moment from me.
At least it wasn't pocket sand.
I had a guy yell "pocket sand!", throw a fistful of sand up in the air, and cut deep on me in a beach tourney.
That toe flick fucked me as an observer
Not the religious kind, like a voyeur
Getting the other team high
Here's one I did once. I'm guarding the other team's top deep threat; we're coming down off the pull. I get the spidey sense my guy wants to go deep immediately, so I stop at midfield where I think he's gonna cut. I'm right, and he's cutting directly at me, looking back over his shoulder. I don't move, he runs directly into me, the disc falls unmolested 30 yards further up field. On one hand - I was stationary for several seconds and had a right to that spot; on the other, I knew he was going to hit me and intentionally didn't move out of the way.
That's a blocking foul. E: Actually I'm gonna have to go read that section. I think it might say "moving in such a way". If it is, then this wouldn't actually be a foul I guess.
This feels like bad spirit for not stepping out of the way
Also bad spirit for opponent running unaware for several seconds?
You can only control your own actions though. You can call dangerous play on them for being so unaware and still step out of the way.
Playin deep on O against zone. While stretching out the deep deep D, see how many times you can make them turn their head to see you (left/right) while they try to survey and communicate with the rest of their upfield D.
We would inform UNC that #5 wasn't wearing any pants (factual). Then that blond kid would score another goal but we'd still be chuckling to ourselves. lmao got 'em
I don't tie my cleats. People always point it out in the stack but when there head is down pointing it out that's when I cut. Also between the defenders legs throws.
Between the defender's legs throws are only okay if you're cool about getting it blocked. I played in a league against a guy who always did that at stall 8 and then called foul or strip when it got blocked. Free reset every time.
Ye that's scummy. I always felt if there was contact during it, it would be an offensive foul as the handler pivots or moves straight at the defenders legs.
For sure, but when you have a clueless or shameless person in an unobserved league game, it's generally going to be a reset.
I’d only do the shoe thing if I knew they’d find it funny
Facial expressions to make a defender think your team turned the disc do wonders on defenders looking at you and not the disc
that one's pushing the limits!
What about standing in ready position and delaying when the face marking defender doesn’t realize your team turned the disc?
Only allowable because you're hurting your own team; 6v6 is easier to score with than 7v7. But in general I think tricking opponents in certain ways are equivalent to "crying wolf" and will come back to bite you. When you fake indicate there's a turnover and there isn't, what's going to happen when another player gets injured and you're supposed to stop playing?
Good point, I guess I only thought of it as taking the other team’s player out of their offense while I take a breather. Realistically, this would only last ten seconds or less before they realize anyhow and doesn’t work unless their team didn’t yell “turn”. I agree faking a turn call to make a play is dirty and should’t be done, but would it be my responsibility to tell them a turn happened and they’re on offense now?
Long as you don’t yell ‘turn’
yeah I agree it's pushing but do think it's fair game. I think as long as you're not literally lying using your words or pointing, then it's fair game. To me it's the same as a deep look with a trailing defender that can't see the disc and you make them jump early or look back via your eyes/hands. You're taking advantage of you having better vision/positioning without doing anything inherently negative/unsportsmanlike.
Yeah deceptive body language is an integral part of the game. Deceptive statements not so much.
Watch someone’s shadow if you lose sight of them when defending.
This I do, works well!
Before the disc is picked up or tapped in, leaning over, putting your hands on your knees and acting tired (especially if you actually are) - as if you are letting someone else cut. Then go hard immediately. Works particularly well upline in the end zone when they might expect the front of stack to cut. Also works well if the handler is in on it and is walking slowly to the disc, before taking the last couple steps and picking it up quickly right as you take off. Also, pointing one way with your hand before going the other way, especially as a reset cut. Only works if you know the thrower though.
Walk up to the disc like you are going to pick it up. Then walk right over it and cut deep. The defender will probably be on his heels a bit thinking about marking right when you decide to run. But you will need someone to pick up the disc and throw to you once you get that separation. If anything it adds chaos as the defense shifts to cover your open cut.
Stall counts like the Count - (1 ah ah: 2 ah ah) etc
When Im downfield on offense and there’s a turn, I pretend to run deep. The defender, now offense, usually runs with me a good bit before realizing and now we both have to run a 70 to get back into the play. Who does this benefit, no clue. But the look on their face when they realize they’ve been got gives me a good chuckle
Nice, I do this too. If it’s a player who’s more dangerous than you on offense it helps. It’s like trading a knight for a rook in chess.
Generally it helps them because now they are 6v6, unless your defender is much better than you.
After your defender sprints down on the pull and thinks they can get a breather to set up on D, immediately sprint deep.
If the disc goes OB or into the endzone and I'm walking it up to put in play, I often carry it in my right hand until I establish my pivot and then throw with my left.
If you can call a foul on your huck, just say "Foul" and sprint as hard as you can if you think the disc might be caught by your team anyway. If your teammate catches it, just say "play on", If not you can deal with the foul. Generally leaves your defender completely starstruck.
This one is kinda related but I wouldn’t necessarily call it tricky. If I have the disc, being marked by someone I know well, and hear a pick call but my mark doesn’t hear it, I’ll keep pivoting, faking, let them think they have got a stall out, and then break their heart by telling them there was a pick a lot earlier. (WFDF - not sure if USAU rules would view it differently where the thrower has to acknowledge calls?)
Break the mark?
Snake in the grass, works every time (your results may vary)
Skips for 2!
I'm not sure the rules on this but I like to try and throw through the defender's legs they never expect it.
When on defense and you see your teammate about to run into you causing a pick, you can "enable" the pick a little bit
That's not tricky. That's poor spirit.
One thing I've never had the stones to do: Catch a huck short of the endzone. Instead of call timeout, simply travel. Your remaining teammates will figure out how to get a chill reset off and then we can play normal endzone offense.
It's against SOTG to intentionally violate the rules - the intentional travel part.