End zone defence in ultimate

End zone defence in ultimate works differently from defence further up the field. When the offence is close to the goal line, the space behind the defenders is small and closed off by the back line, so the deep throw is far less dangerous. The defenders in the end zone stand in front of their cutters, between them and the disc, and take away the short throws. The handler defenders take away the short pass toward the goal line and let the pass back out go. The offence is left to reset further away or to throw high into a small space, and both give the defence a chance.

How end zone defence in ultimate works

Further up the field, a defender guarding a cutter usually stands a little downfield, takes away the deep throw and gives up the under, as described in how to guard a cutter. Near the end zone that trade stops making sense. A cutter who goes deep only has the end zone left to run into, and a throw to the back of it has to be long and high to clear the defender. Those throws hang in the air, and a defender who turns and runs has time to get there. The under is now the dangerous cut, because a short, flat pass into the front of the end zone is an easy score.

So the defenders in the end zone front their cutters. They stand between their player and the disc, a little toward the open side, and watch the disc and their player at the same time. When the cutter moves toward the disc, the defender moves with them and stays in front. When the cutter turns for the back of the end zone, the defender turns too, but they don't have to win that race straight away, because the throw takes time.

The mark keeps forcing the same way as everywhere else on the field. The defenders on the handlers have a job that is easy to miss: they take away the short pass toward the goal line by standing between their handler and the end zone, and they let the pass back go. A short pass that moves the disc closer, or gives the offence a new angle at the end zone, is what the offence wants. A pass back out moves the disc further from the goal line, and the next thrower starts a fresh count with fewer easy options.

The defence doesn't need a block on the first throw. Each time the offence resets, the cutters have to start again, and the end zone stack can only clear and cut so many times before someone runs into a teammate or the throwers run short of time. An offence that knows the isolation end zone play will try to clear space for one cutter, and the same rule still applies: stay in front and make the last throw a hard one.

Step by step

The offence has the disc just short of the goal line, with a stack of four in the end zone, O1 on the disc and O2 and O3 as handlers. The force is forehand, so the open side is at the bottom of the picture.

O4 cuts for the open front corner. D4 starts in front of O4 and runs with them, so the throw into the corner isn't there.

O4 clears to the back of the end zone. O3 runs up the open sideline for a short pass near the goal line, and D3 stays between O3 and the line, so that pass is gone too.

With nothing open near the goal line, O1 throws back to O2. D2 lets that pass go and moves across to mark O2, and D1 picks up O1, again on the goal line side.

The disc is further from the end zone and O2 has a new count. O5 cuts for the open front corner, and D5 moves with them and stays in front.

O5 turns for the back corner and O2 throws high over D5 to find them. The throw has a long way to go, so D5 turns and runs with O5 while it is in the air.

D5 gets a hand to the disc and knocks it down. The offence had to try a long, high throw into a small space, because the short ones were covered.

To practise it at walking pace, set up a stack of three or four in the end zone against the same number of defenders, with a thrower and a mark just outside the goal line. Let the cutters cut slowly and have the defenders stop each time to check they are still between their cutter and the disc. Add a dump and a dump defender once that is steady, so the defence also practises letting the pass back go. Then speed it up and play each round to a score or a turnover.

The full play

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