Defensive Strategy 1: The Force

Force:  make the offensive player throw to one side of the field

The reason that we force in Ultimate is to limit the offensive cutter's element of surprise and keep the defense fresh.  The idea is that the defender guarding the disc makes sure that the throw goes to one half of the field.  This enables the other defenders to only guard the half where the disc can go.


Home:  the side of the field with your team's bench, equipment, and subs
Away:  the opposite side


In the diagram, the defensive player is "forcing home", standing so that the thrower can only pass to the home side of the field.  The other defender stands between the cutter and open side of the field because that is where the offensive player will need to run in order to catch a pass.  This means that the defender can be a step ahead of the offense.


Break:  the disc is thrown to the closed side of the field


It is of the utmost importance that the defender guarding the disc doesn't get "broken".   This results in an easy catch for the offense.  For that reason, everyone on the team must force the same direction for the entire point.