Best Ultimate Frisbee Drills for a Small Team
Not everyone has the opportunity to play with a large team. When I attended K-State, we had a very small group of players able to commit to weekly practices. We would often yield less than fourteen for a practice, meaning we could not have a full scrimmage.
Just because you can’t field a large team doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to have a well-crafted and productive practice!
Read on to find out some of my favorite drills for small numbers.
Playing for K-State Cheshire in 2012
#1 THREE PERSON MARK
How to: Everyone should get into groups of three. Two players stand 15 yards apart. A 3rd player marks straight up on thrower (either player can start as the thrower). The mark taps the disc in and begins stalling and marking - moving their feet and actively moving when the thrower makes a movement. The thrower fakes and pivots to throw around their mark, and then becomes mark. "Throw 'n go" is a good cheat saying if the cycle is forgotten. Throwers should stay away from high release throws, as they should work on practicing their fakes and their pivot.
Try marking with no hands to practice moving feet and not leaning.
Main skills: Throwing, pivoting, catching, marking, sprinting, endurance.
#2 ONE VERSUS ONE ("1 V 1”)
How to: There should be a line of cutters and one handler. Cutters set up 20 yards away from the handler. Cutters pair up - one on offense, one on defense. One pair goes at a time. Offensive cutter fakes, then makes an in cut or deep cut. Defense tries to shut down their cut. Handler throws to open cut. Emphasize that good cuts include a fake and a hard plant.
Try the drill with a mark on the thrower.
Main skills: Cutting, defensive positioning.
#3 DRILL FROM HELL
How to: Everyone should get into pairs and spread out away from other pairs. One player has the disc. This player pivots and makes fakes for 10 seconds. The other player actively marks her - shuffles, moves feet, and has active hands. Repeat as many times as needed, making sure everyone gets the same amount of repetitions.
Try marking with no hands to practice moving feet and not leaning.
Main skills: Faking, pivoting, marking, endurance.
#4 KILL DRILL
How to: These are fun drill names, aren’t they?! Everyone should get into pairs and find their own section of the field. Set up cones in a triangle, about 10 yards to each cone. The thrower stands at the top point, and their partner will be running between the two base cones. The thrower throws to the cutter when they reach a cone, making sure to throw out in front of them to “lead” the cutter. 10 throws is one rep.
Start with outside throws for the first rep, inside throws for the second rep. The cutter should focus on sprinting to the next cone immediately after they release the disc back to the thrower. This helps remove that "stare at the throw" habit that a lot of people have.
Main skills: Throwing, endurance.
#5 MINI
How to: Mini is a miniature game of ultimate! Set up a modified field, approximately 40 yards long, 20 yards wide, with 5-10 yard end zones. Adjust as needed depending on how many players you have!
Typically mini is played “make-it take-it” and subbing “on the fly”. This means that after a team scores, that SAME team keeps the disc to continue playing. They will now be aiming to score in the opposite end zone. Subbing on the fly means NOT waiting until the end of the point to sub, but subbing whenever you need to by tagging the hand of one of your teammates on the sideline.
Main skills: All of them! Especially endurance.
#6 THROWING & CATCHING VARIATIONS
THROWING
Everyone should get into pairs, standing approximately 10-15 yards from each other. Each person should throw 10 inside-out flicks, 10 outside-in flicks, 10 flat flicks, and then same for backhand.
To increase focus, have pairs run a sprint every time there is a drop.
PULLING
Have players that usually pull (or hey, open it up to everyone!) practice pulling. Stand at one end zone with a stack of 10 discs. Practice footwork, timing, positioning and working with the wind.
CATCHING
Everyone should get into pairs. Stand 2-3 feet apart. Toss the disc back and forth as quickly as possible, using any method to throw the disc. Try to be as focused as possible, as this drill can get very goofy.
