Tactic of the Week: The end-zone pass

That last pass into the end-zone is always the most difficult.  We have all, at some point, been guilty of rushing a throw or celebrating a catch before we've caught it and turning it over.  Here is my perspective on strategies to maximise scoring and minimise turn-overs.

Why do we turn it over?
There are two main reasons we turn it over in the end-zone: Space and Psychology.
When youre on the endzone line you only need to pass the disc half a metre to score and all too frequently we try to only pass it that half a metre to one of three cutters trying to get to that half a metre distance which is being clogged by their defenders as well while the dump is screaming at you and the sideline is screaming at you and the count on eight.

You will notice that the above sentence is long without any punctuation.  It gets a bit confusing and frenetic to read, and this is what happens on the field near the end-zone.  We crowd each other, everyone tries to get involved cutting all over the place, and the thrower's arousal levels shoot up.  When you combine this with the tendency of both cutters and throwers to want to make it easy to score by passing it half a metre, the naturally limited space of the end-zone, and the extra pressure of a throw 'to score' and a catch 'to score', it becomes easy to see why there are so many turnovers in or near the end-zone.

How do we fix it?
There are a number of things that will help, first and foremost is:

Stay calm
Above all, stay calm.  No matter how much a cutter gets frustrated with you, take your time and throw good options.  You're in no rush, and there is no extra pressure on you. it would be the same if you were passing it out of your own end-zone.  Remember that it's just a throw like any other you've done a hundred times.

Dump
Dump, swing, score.  There's a reason the drill is called that, but how many teams do you see in game situations actually dumping and swinging it a few times before attempting the throw in?  Lots of patience at utilising your dump will help you score.  Handlers should be able to dump at 90-95%, so use it!  Each team and player will have a preferred count or situation to dump in, which leads onto....

Have a plan
Too many teams assume that everyone knows what to do in the end-zone, and it ends up the usual frenetic scramble.  The more disciplined your players are, and the more you create and implement a plan for scoring, the more often it will happen and the less you'll turn it over.

Use the space
The end-zone is (I only just did the maths..... weirds me out a bit) 666 square metres, and the longest possible throw (across diagonal corners) is 41.15m.
Most of us have adequate throws to cover any of this area, and should not be afraid to throw to a good cut.

What can cutters do?
Similarly, Cutters can help make things more efficacious by:

Knowing when to cut
One of my favourite things to do when I find myself in the end-zone is stand still and look around.  Usually others will be cutting, and hopefully clearing, which then gives me the next cut.  Knowing when to cut is helped if you...

Have a plan
As above. Have a plan, stick to it. And...

Clear out (re-stack)
Use good faking and 100% effort cuts.  If you don't get it, bust back to the stack. Hard.  This creates more room and easier throws for your teammates.  Remember that it's a team sport, which one of you catches the disc doesn't matter, as long as someone does.

Use the space
If you use a three out, four in set up for end-zone plays, and you start with  one player standing five metres out of bounds laterally (each side), and 2 players out of bounds deep, you have massive amounts of open space to cut into (remember that with out of bounds, both your last as well as your next contact must be with the field proper).  Your job is to create high percentage options for your thrower, and you can be as creative as you want in doing so.  Remember that half metre passes to clogged spaces are much, much harder than you would like to think.  Sticking to a plan will help utilise the space.


In a nutshell
Stay Calm. Dump. Have a plan.