Edmonton's Most Kick-ass Team!

Our game on February 7 revealed an interesting set of forces. In general, it seemed like everyone just did whatever force they felt like.

There is however, an advantage to forcing a specific direction for the duration of a point. For instance, a lot of teams will simply force the opposing team to throw a forehand, which is generally a person's weaker throw.

And by choosing a consistent force, the opponents can be forced so far over to one side that the team eventually runs out of room to throw!

Occassionally, the field conditions can dictate a force, like wind direction or physical barriers (such as the north wall in the Kinsmen).

And to further complicate matters, a force along the sideline (forcing the "trap") is a seemingly good idea. Again, this gives the opposing team less room to throw.

However, there is more to forcing than just directionality. It is unrealistic to expect a defender to always stop an opposing throw, but it is totally feasible to create a system of defence whereby the opposing team will have no chance but to paint themselves into a corner. A consistent force can choke a great team by letting them do themselves in. For instance, if the opposing team is very fast but cannot throw well, forcing the forehand flick will eventually result in some bad throws which even the best receivers cannot catch. By heavily weighing the force to one side, you give a message: Throw it over there, 'cuz I know your team is gonna blow it.

We'll decide on predominant forces before the game. This will likely be forcing forehands or into the north wall.

Bonus thoughts:

If we're pulling, we're defending from the get-go. A well-placed pull can be advantageous. For instance, throwing into the far right corner will pretty much force the opposing team to use their forehand if they're hoping to get the disc more into centre-field. Hopefully, the disc doesn't fly out of bounds (which then gets picked up in the middle). If you're pulling and tend to throw into the ground, this is the way to go.

If you have lofty throws, then pulling into the left corner can be good as well - but only if the pull has enough hang time to get the handler's defender to position themselves in time to force the forehand flick along the sideline (especially the north wall).