It makes sense that it takes me so long to write about D whereas off of a whim, I was quickly writing about offense. While my ultimate defense is mediocre at best, my goaltimate D is not bad. I don't lose anything when the field gets smaller, and lots of pickup games, box, and mini have helped me get a nose for D on a small field. That said, there's not a lot to look at for points on goaltimate defense, so maybe this is the best advice out there? Either way, there's less to say about D than there is about O, since in goaltimate, D is a lot more reactive to O than in ultimate.
A maybe-interesting note before I talk about defense: I play without a goaltending rule. I know that many goaltimate games have one, but having played most of my games in Boston (for whom the rule was started, in order to stifle), I have not.*
Important D point: Your hands should always be high, and you should always have an active mark. There is no reason not to be marking close, hands high, to prevent high throws (no matter the defense).
1. Person Defense - Stay close to your person, make sure not to get beat on 2 pointers, no switching between players.
Involves: Hard person D, similar to an ultimate game. People frequently on the wrong end of leading passes. Lots of bodying the person without the disc on clears and goal shots alike.
Upsides: Easy for beginners, easy to assign blame if someone messes up, one of the few defenses that makes clearing hard
Downsides: Easy to beat with leading throws, no help if you're beat, most offenses can find a mismatch and abuse it a lot quicker than in ultimate
2. Zone Defense - 1-3, 2-2, 3-1, 1-2-1; it doesn't matter what the formation is, since they have the same key concept of light work and not giving up open goals
Involves: One person actively marking, one guarding whoever is outside of the goal (if any), and the others guarding the goal. Usually made impossible by a goaltending rule
Upsides: If you don't have numbers it's easy to play and easy to teach. Makes easy goal shots near impossible, since you're always defending the goal.
Downsides: Doesn't defend the clear at all, it's easy enough to find holes in a zone, and if you're not pressuring a team at all, eventually they can just wait it out until the zone opens up. Also susceptible to being posted up by the other team.
3. Switching Defense - A mix of man and zone, with the implicit goal that there should be no goal shots without at least one defender nearby
Involves: Lots of awareness of where the disc and goal are at all times, as well as keeping tabs on the other team's players. Help D whenever possible without leaving someone completely open.
Upsides: The other team has to work hard for every goal, finding tight angles and spaces. You can always chose your spots when to pressure and when to let throws get off, since there's either a person guarding the intended receiver, or the throw doesn't mean that much.
Downsides: This is really hard to do. It's very easy to just lose sight of someone and let an easy goal happen. It's also very tiring to be hyper-focused on your person, the disc, and the goal at all times.
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Almost all defenses are a variation of these three, including allowing a clear, forcing over the top throws, and marking one specific way. There are probably more variations than I could mention in one entry, but as I said, I'm more partial to O than D so hopefully this is a good start. Personally, I love playing switching D, but one needs the right team, or it's essentially a bad zone.
* - If there is a goaltending rule, my go-to piece of advice is play between your man and the front of the goal. Since there's only one place to score (and it's not that big), if you're between those two at all times, you will get beat less often than if you did something else. I think. Again, never played that way.
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