Team Analysis Ring of Fire, USA Nationals 2014 (1)

Ring of Fire take advantage of a catalogue of defensive errors to pick apart the defence

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Watch the play in full:

Keeping the disc moving is one of the best ways to beat a poach. Ring swing the disc to the far sideline, hit two poached cutters, swing the disc back then throw deep into undefended space to defeat an uncoordinated Chain Lightning defence

Breaking it down

1. Swinging the disc

Chain's dump defender moves towards the throwing lane, so Ring react by having the poached player move away from the poach laterally. This ensures that once the disc is swung to the open side (note: the mark is backhand, towards the camera), he has a bigger window of opportunity to move the disc before the poaching defender can recover. Note also how the throw doesn't go directly to the poached player, but rather into a space that offers better continuation options while not losing yards.

2. Failed Switch

A Chain defender calls a switch which his team mate doesn't pick up, resulting in a Ring player, Christian Johnson, being left completely unguarded. The thrower breaks inside the mark, then runs immediately for a give and go (which doesn't happen)

3. Poor Defending

A Ring cutter is being actively guarded by two defenders and still gets open. You will notice how the Chain defender initially backing him, however, the Chain defender turns his back on the Ring cutter as the cutter is going away from the disc. As soon as this happens, the Ring cutter turns away from the defender, cutting underneath on the open side.

4. Over-committing on the mark

The Chain defender who switches over to mark bites on the potential dish down the open sideline, neglecting the actual mark. Ring immediately swing the disc over towards the break side. Notice also the movement of the player who catches the swing; he is watching the disc move, then simply stops running when he sees the opportunity to change the angle of attack. The final thing to notice is the Ring player in the black hat running down the sideline closest to the camera; the Chain players are slow to switch, leaving the defender trailing as the Ring player heads for the end zone

5. Goal

With a Ring cutter busting deep and no mark, it is a relatively simple throw to put the disc into space on the break side for a goal. The cutter heads diagonally, recognising the available width, and the throw faces towards the back corner of the pitch to shape his throw.