Noah talks about the predictability of modern offences, and how opposition coaches should plan to exploit this predictability like they do in other sports.
Director’s Commentary on this episode with Noah and Felix: https://www.patreon.com/posts/70139468.
A few people have been asking about the differences between Hex and Horizontal stack.
On paper they are:
(1) Shape / formation,
(2) No handler/cutter roles/distinctions,
(3) Flow is prioritised over yards, and
(4) Equal spacing across the field.
Felix gave the Colombian World Games squad a team talk at TEP before they played a (relatively easy) match, and we filmed it! The talk is translated from English to Spanish in-person by Símon Ramirez – the talk lasted 17 mins in total, but shortened versions with the English/Spanish parts cut out are available in the Patreon post.
After this team talk, they ran Hive’s Up-Line Flow Drill, and then played their match with Felix actively coaching from the sideline & filming with a GoPro headcam. Full footage of the drill & match is linked on the Patreon post. Read more (training tier patron content)…
Article written by Noah Brinkworth
You probably know by now that we’re not massive fans of stacks here at Hive Ultimate. But there are specific and important reasons why stacks (particularly vertical and side stack – horizontal is not quite as bad) are detrimental to teach to beginners.
This article was written by guest authors Marie and Florian Gailliegue and is an excerpt from their book Ultimate in Motion: Balance and Dynamism, available from their website or currently part of the $25/mo Hive Swarm Tier deal.
Any situation in any spot of the field can be objectively characterised. Many factors combine – spatial (proximity to an endzone), positional (centering on the field), material (distribution of players) and initiative (separation / velocity, or other ability to dictate the tempo). During the game, each team will seek to tilt the advantages in their favour.
Strategy is long-term planning, and tactics are a sequence of calculated actions. Philosophy is from where one or more strategies flow. Structure guides how a strategy can be deployed effectively. Tactics are put at the service of the previous pillars to achieve the overall aim.
A structure is defined by the set of positions occupied by the players of a team. With 7 players, we can imagine a nearly infinite array of possibilities. When a strategy is decided upon, there are several structures that can be chosen to ensure the strategic goals are achieved. No matter the structure, the whole tactical toolbox remains at one’s disposal. The ensemble {Strategy, Structure, Tactics} creates a system. For the team to be as efficient as possible, the chosen system must match the philosophy.
Noah talks about inactivity on the ultimate frisbee field – why offenses specify active (and therefore inactive) players, and how defence can seek to punish this with systemic poaching off inactive players – creating numerical superiorities in active areas.
Check out the patron-only Director’s Commentary below, where Noah and Felix talk for an hour podcast-style on the topics in the video.
Felix introduces Hex from scratch in this 35min video for $1+ patrons – where hex came from, why teams are playing it, how it differs from stack, where it’s going, and how it fits into the landscape of modern ultimate frisbee strategy. This video serves as an “academic base” to help players learning hex to gain a fuller understanding and get on the same page as each other. Originally recorded in 2019, remastered for 2021.
Full compilation of Flex videos, remastered with no breaks or adverts into a 31 minute crash course perfect for sharing with your teammates*.
This video introduces all the concepts of Flex, how they fit into the framework/spectrum of defensive strategy, and illustrates their effectiveness through animations and video examples. Flexagon Defence is a hybrid defence, combining switching marks and surrounding stacks (without poaching), and using teamwork skills, communication, and field awareness. Watch full video.
To train your players to apply switching and surrounding principles, and to be communicative and aware on the field, check out the $8 Training Tier videos for tried-and-tested drills – a new drill video is added every month: https://hiveultimate.com/how-to-play-flexagon-defence/#flex-training-videos
Noah talks about crossovers on the ultimate frisbee field – how to avoid them on offence, and how to exploit them on defence.
Switching video: https://youtu.be/aqzhZlCLzOc
Watch this game to learn more about rotating offenses: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9Nbde5VxSs
Director’s Commentary (1hr chat between Noah and Felix) about this video is available to Patrons here:
Conventional thought on ultimate strategy views the team as a mechanical system – a machine with the players as the moving parts. Teams strive for a highly disciplined style of play, reducing the number of variables as much as possible and applying the theoretically optimal tactics to achieve a simple, predictable system.
This view, however, is limiting. Treating ultimate as a mechanical system allows for a high degree of control but misses the opportunity to explore naturally occurring, organic, styles of play which may be just as effective, if not more so, than conventional strategies.
Here I will argue in favour of an ecological approach to ultimate strategy, analysing the shortcomings of mechanical systems and the advantages of organic play styles.