Shutting Down the Cutter in the Open Lane

Shutting Down the Cutter in the Open Lane: Outline a triangle pattern about 10 yards away from the thrower, 1, who is marked by a defender, D1. The point of…

Initial setup. Outline a triangle pattern about 10 yards away from the thrower, 1, who is marked by a defender, D1. The point of the triangle will be the furthest away from the thrower. Distance between cones in the triangle = 10 yards. A cutter, 2, starts at cone 1 with a defender, D2, set-up protecting the open-under side.
1 starts with the disc, facing the base of the triangle, with an honest mark, D1. The triangle patterns should be set-up on the open-side of the thrower. 2 starts at Cone A with a defender set-up protecting the open-under side. The thrower checks the disc in and the cutter and defender run the pattern: Away>Under>Break>Away. This simulates a cut deep from the break side, an open under cut, and a slant/clear.
On the first cut out (to Away), from the first steps fight to keep them on the break side as long as possible.
As they approach the farthest cone and cut open under, anticipate the change of direction and fight to get into a position where you continue to “push” the cutter away from the open/under space back toward the break side and narrowing their cutting lane. See related drill: https://www.flikulti.com/drills/away-to-open-under/
If they manage to get that sharp angle and you get caught on the inside of them, fight to push them as wide as possible toward the open side.
As they approach Under cone and get closer to the thrower, anticipate the slant/clearing cut toward the Break cone. As they cut toward Under cone, you have two options: 1) push them into a shallow space close to the thrower by staying behind them but on the open side (you are now in a good position to contain and hold the force if the short gainer were to come off); OR
2) protect the open-under for those first 1-2 steps as they come out of Under cone and then as they continue toward the break side and you increase your buffer regain your original position “pushing” them wide and sitting on the open/under again ready for the deep cut out. For either option, you want to work on increasing your buffer as they move toward the break side, so that you don’t get caught over-committing to the break side
Once the cutter comes back toward Away cone, they then set-up for a deep strike, at which point the thrower sends a leading pass to space. The thrower only throws at this point, allowing the cutter and defender to run through the triangle pattern.

View and animate this Ultimate drill on Ultiplays · part of the free Ultimate Playbook.