Feel free to spread whatever you like. I’d ask that you do so by linking to the site rather than copy + paste, so people can find other info/view comments/etc.

You get at one of the most fundamental dilemmas (in the minds of most) of marking…do you foul in the hopes of pressuring the thrower, or play a bit more “cleanly,” allowing the offense to run a bit more comfortably?

I fall soundly in the latter camp–it’s my belief that a well-designed, smart D can leverage the mark and downfield defense to its advantage without having to bump and hassle the thrower at every turn.

At the same time, I can see why some teams, particularly when faced with an exceptional thrower or throwers, would find it hard to resist the urge to literally throw them off their game.

Some of what I get at in my next post on spacing is related to the risks you talk about (namely, the experienced thrower using the tight mark to his or her advantage), and when I talk about marking close or marking far I do mean within legal bounds. A “far mark” is maybe a step or more off, which, whether you’re comparing to the so-called “nightclub” mark (get in his pants!) or one just very close (but legal), still have strategic differences.

I’ll try and call some attention to the issues you bring up here in my next post (and to address them a little more fully). As for the ideal/reality dichotomy, I know what you’re getting at and that DEFINITELY deserves its own post. I’ll work it in soon.

Some of the older guys on my team teach to mark by putting one’s “balls one their legs”.

This seems to be the a great strategy until we realize that
1)good throwers will be able to get a “free” huck off anyways
2)good throwers will not get flustered and will break you
and more importantly
3) it is blatantly, offensively, disgustingly against the rules and contrary to sportsmanship to premeditate, teach, and execute marks of this nature.

I am a little upset with those old guys and their teaching/marking style so perhaps I am missing the fact that you guys REALLY are talking about the nuanced differences between 2 types of legal marks, but this conversation seems to drift towards whether its ok to not play by the rules. I am unsure as to whether most players even KNOW what the current disc space rule is. Obviously that’s not ok.

I would be interested in your thoughts about playing in an idealized world where the rules were followed vs. the practical reality of playing a game where the rules are not given much respect. (One thing we throwers should practice, that we shouldn’t have too, is calling disc space right after we catch the disc because the mark is always too close to hinder the flow.)

Peace,
Stephen Hubbard

Feel free to use my comments.

Intersting thoughts on the arm positioning. I don’t go for point-blocks, but I still prefer elbows bent, not necessarily extended out low.

I think, if you know that your quarry prefers the low throws, you might want to get your hands to a lower default position, but otherwise I’ll take having my hands in a more neutral position to pressure throws at all heights. I don’t think ‘flashing out’ is just a tool for point blocks, but can work just as well as creating those pressured less-than-perfect throws you describe.

I haven’t tried it your way though (or even observed a lot of it), so I can’t really say that with any authority one is better than the other.

I like your comments on spacing. Do you mind if I use them in my next post?

1) Where you’re holding your arms
Are you going for point-blocks? If so, then I agree you should bend your elbows and flash out for the quick block opportunity. If not, then I think angling your arms slightly down while fully extended is best approach. To do this successfully you’ll need to get your shoulders lower to the ground (do this by bending your knees and getting your butt low, not by leaning forward). Doing this will close the holes _and_ give you a wider, more intimidating mark.

3)How close are you
Are you looking to prevent the break throw? If so, back up. You’re right that you can easily get your arm past a close mark, and by being farther away you’ll have more time to react to pivots, fakes and throws.
However, if you’re looking to put pressure on hucks, then get close. Yes, you might get broken sometimes, but if your defensive strategy is to pressure hucks, while still keeping substantial pressure on break throws, then I think close is the way to go.

Most throwers today will be able to break marks regardless of how you mark. I think that (in general) marking to prevent break-throws is a losing battle. The better approach is to realize that break throws will go off, but by pressuring them, you can increase the chance of a non-perfect throw going off, which gives the downfield defender a chance at a block. Similarly, if you are pressuring hucks, then defenders (who will inevitably be a step or two behind) will have a greater chance at blocking a non-perfect throw. A far mark puts very little pressure on hucks, which makes it very difficult for downfield defense against any team with good throwers.