Zone Defense: Bracketing a Vertical Stack

  

Zone Defense

In Ultimate, there are other defense structures than just a person-to-person matching defense. For example, zone defenses are an effective alternative. Like other sports, a zone defense places defenders on certain areas of the field in which they guard any offensive players that may enter their zone. Instead of being tied to guarding another person, no matter where they go on the field, the defender stays within their “zone.”

Figure 1: Bracket Defense

Bracketing is a specific type of zone that a defense can implement when the opposing offense is using a vertical stack. Instead of each defender guarding one offensive player, each defender guards a part of the field where the offense wants to catch the disc in. There are five zones downfield that the defense must guard. These different zones can be understood from the numbered red zones in figure 1.

Bracket Zone Responsibilities

Starting from the back, zone five has the responsibility of guarding the deep space. A good rule of thumb is to not let any offensive player get behind the five’s position. This would allow an offensive player to sneak deep and get a large gain. The five also has a larger zone to cover than the other zones because the five has more time to react to a deep throw.

Zones four and two are the most crucial in a bracket defense. Their responsibility is to take away any underneath cuts on the open side of the field. These two defenders must work together and communicate extremely well to guard such a large and busy space. Usually, defenders who are more comfortable with the zone are placed in these positions.

The three in the zone in responsible for any break side cuts. This is a similar position that the four and two are in but there is only a need for one defender because the handler defenders are taking away throws to the break side of the field.

Zone one’s main job is to take away any quick cuts from the front of the stack or cover an offensive cutter who may try to transition to handler. The one works with the handler defenders in the latter instance to prevent the handlers from resetting the stall count back to zero with a short pass.

The handler defenders are the last two defenders in the bracket, and they play tighter person-to-person defense on the handlers in the handler space below the stack as pictured above. If a handler clears out of the handler space, then that offensive player is no longer the responsibility of the handler defender.

Bracket Implementation

There are a few instances where the bracket zone needs to dissolve into person-to-person defense. The first is when the offense comes within roughly 20 yards of the endzone. The second is when the offense falls into a horizontal stack. In both cases, a captain or the five in the zone needs to yell “Fire” signaling to every defender in the zone to point to a person they will defend.

There are a lot of working parts in the bracket zone, so it is important to practice the bracket before implementing it in-game with your team. Each defender needs to feel comfortable in their space and with the other defenders in the zone. Keep this in mind when using the bracket in games against other teams.