Man on Man Defense

The most common defensive tactic in Ultimate Frisbee. Simply put, you are assigned one man (or woman) on the other team. It is up to you to guard that player at all costs, never leave him or let him out of your reach. The goal is to stay between him and the disc no matter how much they try to get open. If your assigned player catches the disc it is up to you to stall him.

When both teams line up on each others end zone before the pull you will “call lines.” Calling lines is for the defensive team (The team pulling) and means to pick the player you are going to cover for the entire point. You will see the 7 opposing players lined up from left to right waiting for the pull. Pretend that they are numbered left to right (like reading a book) 1 through 7. Say you want to guard the person standing sixth in line. A teammate will yell out “ZERO” to start the count. You must wait your turn as your teammates call out, in numerical order, “ONE” (meaning he/she is covering the first in line), a different teammate would yell “TW

O”, another “THREE”, “FOUR”, “FIVE”, then you would yell “SIX” and the  final teammate that hasn’t said a number automatically gets seven. If the opposing team happens to change order make sure you still have the original man you picked. The best way to remember is to pick out something unique about them. Whether that person is the tallest, shortest, yellow cleats, blue hat, anything really. A team will usually call new lines every time a new point is scored in case anyone subbed out. If you are confide about anything I am sure a member of your team can explain Man Defense to you and walk you through it.

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