The worst space on the field for a bad defender.

Recently, I've been talking to Robo about finding a defensive balance between aggression and vision. Effective defenders are constantly feeding their brains information so that their brains can make predictions about what is going to happen. Once their brains zero in on a "sure thing", the defender turns off his brain for several moments and uses his aggression to seize the opportunity to create a turn.

So, how do effective defenders do this? Simple: they are always stealing glances at the disc. Of course, they cannot just stare down the thrower because then their man would be off to the races. But, there are certain times when the defender can position himself so that he's able to see both his man and the disc (as well as being close enough to his man to be able to make a play if the disc comes in). These times are precious and good defenders look forward to them and exploit them. The worst space on the field for a defender refers only to those defenders who fail to recognize these opportunities and therefore make the entire defense more vulnerable.

When your man cuts deep, fails to receive the disc, but doesn't immediately cut back in and instead stays relatively deep on the field, you have entered the worst space on the field/opportunity space for a defender. The reason this space is so bad is that most defenders try to front their man from this spot. The rationale being that the in-cut is really the only cut the receiver has. The trouble with this is that the defender is not able to watch the disc while fronting his man. This causes him to fall out of position quite easily and leads to easy scores either for his man or because he cannot help anybody else deep.

At certain times, fronting your man is a great idea. To know the difference between the two, you must ask yourself if you have deep help. If the answer is "yes", then fronting is a viable option because you'll presumably have somebody watching the disc for you and giving you information. If you do NOT have deep help, however, (like when you are already downfield a bit) fronting is NOT a viable option.

Instead, you must do the extra work of backing your man. And in this case, backing your man simply means being far enough behind him that you can see both him and the disc. You'll be anywhere from 1/4 step to several strides behind the receiver. It may seem ridiculous and like too much extra work, but it will allow you control both your man and the field.

Yes, by backing your man, you become more vulnerable to the in-cut. But, keep in mind that your man will likely have to run you through traffic in order to make that in-cut. You'll simply make the proper pick call and catch up. Also, you only need to back him by a tiny amount once you've found the disc upfield. There's no reason to give up several steps once you've established your position relative to the disc. Finally, keep in mind that your teammates upfield of you are excellent candidates for a switch if your man finds a lane for an in-cut. You'll be able to see the entire field and should have a couple seconds to communicate the switch to your teammate.

Conclusion: when your man hangs out deep, he's making a major mistake. Exploit his weak play by backing him. When you do so, you control both your man and the entire offense because you can see the disc and the entire field. Don't be lazy. Don't be stupid. Back that deep man.