Zone Offence Moves I Like
Simple moves to enhance the offence
I love zone offence. My perspective is that zone offence is really a game of coordinated movement. That does mean it can be slightly overwhelming to coach. It’s also an area that online resources are really weak on, with most giving overarching principles that are easy to explain but not really that effective.
This blog isn’t trying to fix that, but here are some small patterns of play that I like and I don’t see executed very often.
Know when to run and when to chill
As #2 Fiona Mernagh comes into the middle from the right wing, she’s given a pocket of space. She stops running. She waits.
This looks really straightforward. It is pretty easy. However, a lot of time is spent telling cutters they need to CLEAR while they are learning offence, and the result is cutters that don’t feel comfortable occupying space like this.
The rule of thumb I like to give cutters in zone offence:
If you’re marked - move
If you’re not marked - wait, and trust your teammates will find you.
The latter part of that is important - Fiona recognises that she might not be found immediately by the current thrower, but if the disc moves the next thrower can get her the disc. I quite often have to hush my own sideline from telling cutters to move because they ‘can’t be thrown to where they are’ right now, but are about to be easily available!
Timing of cuts and the deep mid space
In the same clip as above, Fiona is supported by an excellently timed cut from #26 Lara Collier. These are the cuts that make zone offence easy - if you can get an immediate continuation on a cup-breaking throw then it should be almost impossible for the defence to recover.
There’s a lot to like about this cut but I want to highlight one aspect: taking advantage of maximum distraction for the defence to switch zones.
The moment that defenders are most likely to be fully mentally occupied is when the disc is moving, but especially when the disc breaks a line of defence. Defenders need to figure out where the disc is going and where the need to go, and if they’re all doing that the capacity for effective communication and passing off is at its lowest.
So what a great time to make a slash across the middle of the pitch.
3. Back and Through
This is a favourite of mine. A really simple move that can create a lot of space for the offence.
This is an excellent combination between #12 Sinéad O’Shiel Flemming and #4 Clare Gilheany. These backwards passes can be momentum killers for an offence, but you can look to turn them into a platform to generate forward movement. Next time you’re watching a game check how often the cutter will dump backwards and immediately turn their back to the disc…infuriating to watch once you know what they could do instead.
The couple of steps backwards after throwing the dump pass is so simple and like Sinéad shows here, can often win you a little pocket of space. If the defence steps forward to press the thrower in the pocket, a simple return pass can see us straight past the cup. If the defence sags or collapses to stop this immediate throw back then we have created space and time for the thrower.