Discussion of the Stack Offense

In addition to the benefits of incorporating the Dump, the Break Trap play, the Fly play, and the Endzone play into the Stack Offense's basic strategies, there is a fundamental concept which could well make the Stack Offense much more effective. This will be discussed in general and in transition near the endzone.

In general

The fundamental concept (which admittedly is counter intuitive) is: as the disc progresses up the field, each player who finds himself or herself behind the disc is now out of the remainder of the play. Other than filling the very important role of lining up behind the offensive player with the disc as a Dump, the players who have passed the disc forward do not move to return to the stack.

The impacts of this are:

  1. The increasingly smaller field is populated by fewer and fewer offensive-defensive pairs. Hence, there is much more space into which to cut for the remaining receivers, and the poach factor goes way down. This spells big trouble for the defense. Also, without extra defenders in or near the endzone, the Endzone play is much safer to run.
  2. The Middles and Longs are more involved in each play, and need good skills and need to be good decision-makers with the disc. Otherwise, a Handler may need to play a Middle position.
  3. Since no one moves to return to the stack, the passing lanes are always open for cuts.
  4. Players who are behind the disc may either simply stop, or move towards a sideline to make the defense believe they are still a threat, keeping the defense near them.
  5. A team does not need 6 receivers in or near the endzone to score.
  6. While this is a very effective strategy, it can be viewed as a boring way to play.

In transition near the endzone

Assume your team is on defense, and that a turnover occurs shortly after the pull is received (say, within 20-25 yards of the endzone). The typical reaction is: a) someone rushes to pick up the disc for a break-away opportunity while the rest of the 13 other players are streaming past, heading for the endzone; or b) everyone moves to stack up in the endzone, leaving the main Handler to walk up to the disc and initiate a stack-based play.

These scenarios often result in turnovers because of rushed throws, poor throwing angles, poaching, and/or too many people in a small space which leaves small places into which to cut. An alternative to these two scenarios is to have one receiver move to the endzone (or, at most, two receivers); this is the person usually furthest upfield. The next nearest player becomes the thrower, and the 3rd nearest player moves to become the Dump (see discussion of Dump techniques). All other players stand still, allowing the first two players to run the Endzone Play.

If this happens relatively quickly, the other players' defenders typically remain near their marks. This leaves the passing lanes open, and pits the lone receiver one-on-one versus his/her defender. The effect of this strategy should be to increase the chances of scoring.

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