We'll start with the disc on one sideline. The mark forces middle, towards the rover (4). The dump marks are forcing their men up the line, into the rover. No easy dumps backward in this zone.
If the disc gets dumped to the middle handler-mark, the force is back the way it came. This puts less pressure on the rover to cover more ground than he needs to.
If a dump-handler starts to cut up the line, the mark and the rover need to know when he starts coming into who's territory. The handler-mark shouldn't follow a handler everywhere; he marks the space.
If (and it usually happens with this) the opposition brings a 4th handler back, the handler-marks mark the three closest handlers, at all times.
Result: big layout D by the rover. Here's a big massive spiel I wrote during the year about this zone; The force is middle!! It's never to one side the whole time, be wary that it changes from flick-to-backhand force constantly. The key to this zone is communication. Generally, the deep talks to the rover and the wings, wings also talk to the rover, etc. Side-line is also a huge factor. We want to intimidate our opponents. If you've got 7 guys on the pitch looking big and screaming their heads off, and 10 more on the side-line echoing everything, it puts even the most experienced players off. Deep: It's this guys job to be the furthest back at all times, he is the last line of defense. As a deep, you should be constantly talking to the rover, shouting crashes at him, telling him to move to a certain side, etc. Regards covering deep, a good tip is to make sure all 7 oppostion players are in your sight. That way, everyone's in front of you, and you have any deep cuts covered. If they try and drag you deep by having a cutter sit deep (usually on a sideline), you can afford to be a little under of him. Just be sure that 1) if a huck goes up, you can catch up and contest the disc, and 2) you either have a wing or a player on the sideline keeping an eye on that guy, and letting you know if he's dropping back further. If the oppostion keeps sending two players deep, you have to be able to recognize this, and be in constant communication with your wings, letting them know if they have to drop back. Remember, if a huck comes off for the opposition, it's your fault. Use that fear if you have to. Wings: The wing's job is generally to cover the area between the rover and the deep. This usually sees you pretty close to the sideline. A good tip for a wing; Never have nothing between you and the sideline. There should always be an opposing player who is closer to the sideline than you are. Obviously don't allow too much room between the two of you, otherwise he is an open man. The wing generally has the most space to cover in FSU; his job can range from helping out the rover with crashes, to going deep to defend a huck. It always depends on the situation, so the wing has to be able to adapt, and quickly. Usually (not always), we play FSU in windy conditions; our perfect scenario is to have the wind blowing into the back corner of an endzone. This means that; 1) The wing who is upwind should be coming across the pitch more. Not many (sane) handlers are going to try a break-huck directly into the wind, and even then it barely comes off. 2) The wing who is downwind should have to pinch in more. With a strong wind, expect a lot more short pop-passes. The opposition will often drop 4 handlers back, and have two or three cutters crashing at a time. This is usually too much for one rover to deal with, so the wing will have to come in and give him relief on his sideline. Rover: Very tough job. The rover has to be quick, smart, and willing to lay-out at any given opportunity. A huge reason why FSU works so well for us and not other colleges is that they don't have Nick, or Dónal Murray. Simple as. If you ever get an opportunity to see these guys play rover, I urge you to just spend the whole point watching them. The graph should give you a pretty good idea of where the rover should be positionally. You're basically in charge of stopping any forward throw, that isn't a huck. Again, it's all about adapting to different situations. If the opposition deciding to play a short game, then you will have to pinch in more and stop any handlers cutting forward. On the other hand, if they want to open the game up, you will be expected to move a lot more from deeper back, cutting off everything left and right. The deep will be talking to you, so you do have an advantage of knowing where the cuts are coming from. A big mistake that a rover can make is not trusting his handler-marks. If you find yourself edging over to the breakside because you think he is going to get broken, then the zone is going to fail. Worry about your own job. If you think your handler-mark is going to get broken, tell him to move across to stop it. Handler-Marks: Intensity. That's the key word here. You can't have a second's rest when you're a handler-mark, you have to be constantly in the opposition's face, bullying them. Like I said before, it is a middle force. If you're a wing handler-mark, it couldn't be easier; you just force him into the middle of the field. It gets a little tricky for the middle handler-mark. If the disc is on the wing and is swung across, you force the handler in the middle back to the same sideline. You do this because it makes less ground for the rover to have to cover. If there's ever any doubt to which way you're forcing someone, just shout it out. Even if it means you have to shout your force every time you're on the mark, so be it. You're marking a zone, not a man. A big mistake that new handler-marks make is that they get caught following a handler. If you're marking a handler, and he pops and gos to a different area of the pitch, don't follow him. Cover him until he is out of your area, then drop back and find the next player in your area to mark. When you're not on the mark, you have to be cutting off the dump. In man, if you're marking a dump-handler, sometimes it's ok to stand a little deep of him, in case he cuts up the line. This isn't allowed in FSU. If a dump-handler cuts up the line in FSU, he becomes either the rover or the wing's job. You have to be cutting off every chance the dump-handler has of getting the dump. Stay close to him, get your body in the way if he tries to cut past you. If the opposition drops 4 handlers back, you mark the 3 closest handlers to you. The far-side handler is usually covered by the far-side wing then.