Zone Offense

First off, people should be throwing more. There's no reason that people should just be practicing forehands and backhands too. I know way too many elite club players unwilling to throw a hammer or scoober in a game. It makes your game better, it helps you mark better (if you can envision other throws besides the one the guy with the disc is showing, you can react faster), and it's easy to practice. So there is no reason.

Secondly, 3 handler zone offense is (for me) dead. I'm sure people will be running it for many more years to come, but the dump swing offense that slowly moves up the field is only useful if you're not practicing those upside downs and blades. Even when conditions are great and the defense isn't putting much pressure on, it's still hard to complete 100% of throws. For most people, trying to complete one hundred 99% throws isn't a recipe for success. Statistically, it actually happens less than 40%* of the time for most players.

Now, there are 4 handler zone offenses and 2 handler offense, but my preference is for 2 handler. Among the zones I have played and preferred, there are 4 positions in a good zone offense: 2 handlers, 2 poppers, 2 wings, and 1 deep. For all positions, the check down list that people should go through every time they have the disc is to look for poppers, then deep, then wings, and then back to handlers. And most importantly, never look away from the disc, no matter who has the disc, where you are, or for any reason.

Handlers

You are the field general. That means you're responsible for A. throwing any throw that's less than 100%, B. pushing up the field so that you can always provide a reset, and C. seeing the field so you can adjust other players to be where you want them to go. People should be looking at you every time you have the disc and back to you any time you don't. Don't hold it for too long (I'm guilty of this), but don't lose opportunities because you were swinging it. Fakes are your friends, even if they're small fakes. 

Poppers

See my entry on poppers. In this particular Zone O, also make sure you're never behind the handler (or the play).

Wings

Stay on the sidelines. You can move up and down those sidelines, but stay on them. Give yourself a 3-5 yard cushion so that a hammer slightly over your head is still in bounds. Once you get the disc on the sideline, move it back towards the middle as fast as you can. Stay closer towards your attacking end zone when the disc is not on your side of the field, stay closer to the handlers when the disc is on your side of the field.

Deep

One of my favorite quotes about deeps in a zone is that if you're doing it right, it won't look like you're doing much of anything at all, but if you're doing it wrong, you'll clearly mess up your team. Stay far away from the disc to create more space for the poppers; come towards the disc once it past the initial wall or cup; make noise or somehow get other players to cover you so that there's more space in the middle of the field; finally, just keep moving around since you never know when a deep shot will come up.

Zone offense is easy.

* - 0.99^100 = ~0.37. Even 0.999^100 is around 0.9, which is not how frequently you want to be able to score when the other team is explicitly showing you where there are not defenders (considering you can apparently complete a pass 99.9% of the time)

Handler cuts

Handlers frequently try to do too much. Dancing, juking, long cuts, etc. - I, like anyone else, am guilty of a number of these, but it's certainly rare that I try to do too much. Sometimes you're more open than you think and you have to take advantage. Getting up the line (upfield dump cut, strike cut, whatever you want to call it) is what defenders are constantly trying to prevent. So obviously that's the place to try and beat them. Try these 4 moves for getting open upline:

Swim move: While making a cut where your defender is in the way, act like you're swimming and move your arm over the defender, the pull the rest of your body through. Frequently used in the NFL and NBA as a way to get open, it's just not used frequently enough for ultimate. Caution: There may be some contact, so don't foul your opponent to do it.

Stutter step: Start running towards where you want to go. Stay on one foot a little longer than you normally would, as if you're about to plant and turn around. Instead, keep running in the same direction. Can be helpful if you turn your head or body in the other direction for a split second.

Curl route: Don't take a direct line to where you want to go. Instead, start running towards the person with the disc. Once you've passed your defender, curl the route so that you are already open up the line. Seal the defender off with your body so that bids are impossible (well they're still possible but the defender would have to bid through you).

Double cut: Similar to the stutter step, but with a longer follow through. Start running towards where you want to go. Stop and turn around, with a heavy plant and turn, as if you're not as good of a dump cutter as you actually are. Once the defender commits to your backfield cut, turn back up the line.

Bonus "move" = Make a break for it: Sometimes your defender is in the wrong place. Don't try to make a move or you'll fake yourself out. Just run.

Zone Popping

There are a lot of people out there who say "I don't know how to teach popping, but watch so-and-so and do what he/she does." While it's true that popping is very intuitive, there are basics that every popper can and should do. The difference between good poppers and great poppers is just like good and great throwers or cutters or anything else: trial and error and lots of practice. So I may not have the perfect teaching method, but here's a not-too-shabby way to teach people how to pop.

For getting the disc, the poppers should find a spot so that there is a straight line* of space between themselves and the thrower (whether that's a handler, another popper, a wing, etc.). The line will constantly be moving as defenders move, but a popper's job is to recognize the angles and attack them. Sometimes those spots are in the cup, sometimes they are just behind it, and most often they happen as the disc swings, but the key is to find those straight lines.

Once a popper has the disc, the job becomes that of a quarterback - check down your list. The primary look is the other popper (again, only if there is a straight line to the disc), then to the wing/deep depending on what zone offense is in play, then back to the handler. Just like a quarterback, the popper check down shouldn't take more than a couple seconds, just as a popper shouldn't be holding onto the disc for long periods of time. Once a popper no longer has the disc, it starts over again, with getting into a position where the popper get into a straight line of space.

* - The straight line can be over the top if the thrower has that, as long as the popper is stationary with space around them.

This works for poppers in any zone system (2, 3, 4 handler, etc.), but like my thoughts on zone O, I think it's most effective when there are only 2 handlers. I'll write something up on the rest of zone offense in the future, but in the meantime, maybe people can start teaching popping.

Different throws

Here is a list of throws I have thrown in a game that I was trying to win:

• Forehand (IO, OI, Lift, OIIO aka bladey forehand to IO lane)
• Backhand (IO, OI, Lift)
• Lefty backhand (IO, OI, Lift)
• Hammer (Blade hammer, invert, flat)
• Scoober
• Blade
• Thumber (easier to catch than a blade in mixed)
• Chicken wing (greatest greatest throw)
• Push pass

Here is a list of other throws I enjoy:

• Lefty forehand lift
• Upside down backhand
• Matador (fake backhand, behind the head corkscrew)
• Over the head McFloogen
• Over the head backhand
• El Toro (upside down matador)
• Bixler (no-look vertical scoober)
• Hachimachi (disc lying on the ground push pass)
• Sinker (opposite of a lift)
• High-release airbounce
• No grip pass (use air resistance and palm the disc to push it)
• The Future (thumb and pinky grip disc, only motion is a slight wrist flick in backhand direction)
• The twirl (spin it around on your finger and let go - not a paintbrush though)

If I had advice for every player, it'd be to throw more and to have fun with throwing more.

Watching game tape

I'm sure a ton of different people can tell you a ton of different reasons why watching game tape is important. There are the "learn your opponents" reasons, the "learn what our team is doing poorly and improve" reasons, the "look for something someone does and try to emulate" reasons, and even the "just for fun" reasons. However, the reason I watch game tape, and a good reason for many others to watch, is to look at a game of elite ultimate players and say, "I can do that."

There are numerous other benefits to film, and I love watching players and trying to throw like them, or seeing how I can get my defender out of position before beating him up the line. But if you can watch a game and not be intimidated, instead thinking of what you can do in each situation, with confidence, you are ready. You may not have the physical skills yet, but you're mentally ready.

There are plenty of resources for those who want to watch game tape, but here are a few (most of which are readily available) that I like best (in no order):

Florida vs. CUT 2010 College Championship - Yes this game is a call fest, and most people agree that the game itself sucks. But watch for Florida's efficiency, because if it weren't for that, they wouldn't make it to quarterfinals, much less win it all.

Chain Lightning vs. Ironside 2011 Club Semifinals - One of the most up and down games I've seen, with a huge number of highlights. Watch for the plays and ask yourself, "Could I have known to do that there then? Would my throw/cut/D have been better, worse, or the same?"

Ironside vs. Sockeye 2013 Club Semifinals - Another instant classic. Only 3 turns by Ironside's O-line, all in the first half. 6 turns by Sockeye's O-line, but they got 4 of them back (2 bad throwaways, a point block, and a nice D on a hammer). Watch for Ironside O's efficiency in the 2nd half and Sockeye's O's defense (lots of D-looks for an O-line). Also watch for Ironside's inability to contain Sockeye's handlers, making everything else easy for Sockeye.

Sockeye vs. Jam 2004 Club Finals (you need Disc 1 for this one) - This game is a reprieve from so many years of boring ultimate. DoG was efficient and therefore boring. Revolver is dominant and therefore boring. Between 2000 and 2007, there were only 3 different champions (Condors, Furious, Sockeye), each playing their own exciting style, and this is the most easily attainable game to watch of that era (Edit: OK, 2nd most easily attainable, but I'd argue that the wind from 2007 finals makes it not as great). Watch for the admiration of the stones they had to do everything they did on universe point. Plus bonus: you get to watch a young Danny Clark dominate the skies while on Pike if you have disc 1.

Chain Lighting vs. Revolver 2009 Club Finals - This was the first great game I watched online, and I was blown away. Revolver's talent was great, but it was just Chain's year. They had the huckers, they had the in-cuts, they had the patience, and their D was phenomenal. Watch for Chain (other than the first couple points) to take what was given, whether that was hucks or incuts and dump swings. Watch for Rob White's vertical. Watch for the look on a bunch of Chain guys' faces when they win the title after hardly being in contention in years previous.

Honorable mentions:
Ironside vs. Doublewide 2011 Power Pools for mental toughness, Revolver vs. Chain 2011 Labor Day Finals for how a good team can just have a few bad breaks and seemingly get blown out, and Pittsburgh vs. Colorado 2011 College Quarterfinals for having ice in one's veins.