Positions

Positions

 In the sport of Ultimate Frisbee, there are two commonly known positions on the field. The two positions are cutter and handler. Although there are only two, each player had their own responsibilities while under the category of the same positions. Personally, I was predominantly a cutter. Cutters are going to be a mix of your tall and fast players and the slower, less experienced players. This is because there are 4 cutters on the field at a time, so there are players to compensate if someone is new to playing. Since I am tall and fairly fast, I played this position. On the other hand, handlers are a mix of your shorter players and more experienced players. I have played handler only a few times due to my experience but I love being a cutter more. Cutters are responsible for cutting up and down the field, trying to get open to catch the disc. Many plays can be used, but commonly the field is split up into four lanes and each cutter gets a lane. They try to juke their defender out in these lanes and get open so the handler can throw the disc to them. Handlers are responsible for reading the field and examining all possible situations of their throw. This is why more experienced players are usually put into this position. There are three handlers, one being the main and the two others being backup if the main gets stuck. Handlers handle the disc. They start the play with the disc and find one of the cutters to throw to. Handlers also are likely to be more experienced because they have to have a variety of throws under their belt to get out of any situation. This severe difference in positions can sometimes lead to a lack of communication on the field. This is typical for new teams or players. When my team was first blossoming, we struggled with listening to each other and understanding each other's moves on the field. As the season went on however, we became more comfortable and aware of what everyone was doing which made us a better team. Of course, positions and plays differ from team to team, league to league, and state to state, but for a very basic game of Ultimate, this is all you need to know. If you are just starting out, you will probably start out as a cutter, but depending on your skill you may get moved around. Once you get assigned a position, you usually don't move around too much, which is good because you can really embrace your position. As a middle lane cutter, I can focus in practice on skills that will assist me on the field, improving my game play.