What to do after a turnover in ultimate

What to do after a turnover in ultimate comes down to a few seconds. The player nearest the disc marks it straight away and sets the force. The players nearest the end zone you now defend turn and run with anyone heading deep. Everyone else picks up the closest player who doesn't have a defender and says who they have. You sort out the usual matchups later.

Why the first few seconds matter

When your team loses the disc, the other team is suddenly on offence with nobody set up against them. The team that picks up the disc has to play on without delay, and a good team will try to throw before your defence is organised. Their players who were marking your handlers are already standing near the end zone they now attack, so a quick long throw to one of them is often the most dangerous thing that can happen.

The order of jobs follows from that. First, someone has to stop the easy throw, which means a mark on the disc as fast as possible. Second, the players who can score quickly have to be covered, which means the ones running deep. Only then does it matter who guards whom.

Picking up after a turnover in ultimate

The mark should be whoever is nearest the disc, not whoever was guarding that player before. Often that is the player who just threw it away or dropped it. There is no time to be annoyed about it; getting to the mark quickly is the best way to make up for it. Set the force your team agreed before the point, so the defenders downfield know which side to take away. The force forehand article explains why the whole team takes the same side.

Your handlers usually have the hardest job, because they are the ones standing between the other team's quickest runners and your end zone. When the disc turns over, they turn and run with whoever is going deep, staying between that player and the end zone.

Everyone else looks for the nearest player without a defender. If two of you swap players because one had to take the mark, that is fine. Say the name or number out loud so nobody is left free, and keep the new matchup until the next stoppage or a sensible moment to switch back. Chasing across the field to find your usual player while the other team is already moving is how someone gets left open.

Step by step

O is your team. It starts on offence, attacking to the right. After the turnover O defends the end zone on the left and forces forehand, and D attacks to the left.

O4 cuts under toward the open side and O1 throws to them. D4 gets in front of O4 and knocks the disc down.

D4 runs back to pick up the disc. O1 is the nearest player, so O1 goes straight to mark D4, even though D4 was O4's player.

O1 marks on the forehand force. D2 and D3 sprint deep toward the end zone O defends, and O2 and O3 turn and run with them, staying between them and the end zone.

D1 drops behind the disc to be the dump. O1 already has D4, so O4 picks up D1 and calls it out.

Every D player has a defender before the first throw. O1 and O4 have swapped players, and they can swap back at the next stoppage.

To practise it, play a short scrimmage and have the coach or a sideline player call "turn" at random. The team with the disc drops it where they stand, and the other team picks it up and plays on. Walk it the first few times so players can look around and call out who they have, then play it at full speed. Watch for the nearest player hesitating instead of marking, and for two defenders taking the same player while someone runs deep alone.

The full play

The same habits apply at the start of a defensive point, which the pull coverage article covers. You can take this playbook into your own account and change it for your team, for example with a backhand force or a turnover in a different part of the field.

If you captain a rec team, game day on Playspedia helps you set lines and keep playing time fair. Set up your team here.