How to receive the pull in ultimate: line up, call it, set the stack

To receive the pull in ultimate, the offence lines up on its own end zone line, one player calls for the disc and catches it with a teammate a few yards behind in case of a drop, and the cutters walk up the field to set the stack before the first throw. The pull is the one moment in a point when the offence knows what is coming, so a team that does the same thing every time starts each point organised.

Lining up and who takes the pull

Before the pull, the receiving team stands on its own end zone line and stays there until the disc is released. Put your handlers in the middle of the line, where most pulls come down, and the cutters out to either side. The players who will touch the disc first are then already close to it, and the cutters only have to walk forward and in to make the stack.

When the disc goes up, the handler nearest to it calls loudly so nobody else goes for it, and moves under it early. A second handler follows a few yards behind. If the catch goes wrong, the second player is there to pick the disc up quickly, and if the pull drifts their way they call it and take it themselves.

Catching the pull is not required. If a receiving player touches it in the air and it then hits the ground, it is a turnover, so if the pull is wobbling or being pushed around by the wind, let it land. Play then starts from where the disc stops, and all you lose is a few seconds. If the pull lands out of bounds, the receiving team has a choice of where to put it into play, including a mark in the middle of the field called the brick. The details differ between WFDF and USA Ultimate rules, so check which your league uses.

How to receive the pull and set the stack

With the disc in hand, there is no need to rush. The defence has just run the length of the field and is still finding its matchups, and the mark cannot start counting until they are in position. Use those seconds to let the cutters walk into a stack down the middle, with one handler behind the disc as the dump and another out to the side. A first pass thrown before the stack is set tends to go to whoever happens to be open, and the team then spends the next few throws getting back into shape.

The first cut then comes from the stack in the usual way, to the side the defence is forcing. The vertical stack article covers what happens from there.

Step by step

The receiving team is on the left, lined up on its end zone line with O1, O2 and O3 as handlers in the middle. The defence is about to pull from the right.

D1 pulls and the defence runs down the field together. O1 calls for the disc and moves under it, and O2 follows a few yards behind.

O1 catches the pull with two hands. The cutters walk up the field while the defence is still arriving.

The cutters form a stack down the middle. O2 sets up behind the disc as the dump and O3 goes out wide on the forehand side. The defence picks up its players and D1 sets the mark, here forcing forehand as in how to force forehand in ultimate.

With the stack in place, O4 cuts under toward the disc on the forehand side and O1 throws the first pass.

The disc is moving up the field, the stack is still in shape, and the next cut can come from it.

To practise this, line the team up on one end zone line and have someone pull from the other end, with the cutters walking rather than running. Agree who calls first, check that someone is always backing up the catch, and only allow the first throw once the stack is set. A few pulls from different angles, including one you let land, are enough for the team to start doing it without thinking.

The full play

You can take this playbook into your own account and change it for your team, for example moving the handlers to one side of the line if the other team's pulls tend to land there, or setting a horizontal stack instead.

If you captain a rec team, you can also set up your team on Playspedia and use game day to keep your lines and playing time fair through the game.