How to design drills that

are right for your team

A guide to designing drills to
match your offence

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Designing Drills
Skills / Tactics / Game Scenarios
Consider external factors
Identify objectives
Break it down
Build it up
Make it as realistic as possible
What kind of drill do you need?
Skill Drills
Tactical Drills
Game Scenarios
The most important thing...
Always set the scene
How does this drill fit into how we want to play?
In which scenarios do we use this drill?
We need people to recognise this scenario when
they are playing in a game, so that they are able to
apply what they have learned
Skill Drills
One (maybe two) very specific skills, such as:
Completing a lead pass
Breaking a mark
Getting a continuation throw out
Ideally run in small groups with loads of repetition
Tactical Drills
For teaching team concepts such as
Timing cuts
Shifting a stack position as the disc is swung
Team reaction to poaching
Zone defence
The classic endzone drill is a good example
Yet many teams use it to develop skills...
To benefit from these drills, your players will need to
have the skill set for all possibilities
Once people are comfortable with the basics, make
life more difficult
Goals for the drill need to be team focused; how did
we do with our combined efforts?
Game Scenarios
The closest drills to the real thing
Effectively, they are constrained games
The objective is to allow lots of repetition of a
specific scenario that occurs only occasionally
during a normal game
Less constrained than a normal drill though;
generally the aim is to develop decision making
and team movement (on offence or defence)
Game Scenarios - Examples
Examples include:
Starting in sideline trap each point, rather than pulls
Starting at the other teams brick to practice
endzone offence
Allowing one pass to the offence, then playing on
from that point
Huck / break throw / pass through the cup, etc
Halting the game once the objective is complete
Breaking out of sideline trap / hitting continuation, etc
Other Factors Internal to Drill
Number of available discs
Limit learning points to 3 per drill
Expand the drill = new learning points, where
previous ones are assumed learned (but worth
repeating anyway!)
Off-disc movement
Use cones to create the correct movement, such as
clearing to the stack
How are your players going to cycle?
Avoid disrupting the next rep!
Other Factors External to Drill
Fatigue
Previous drills / games / fitness work, etc
Your first drill of practice is going to have different
energy levels to the last
People learn best when fresh; people turn into
robots when tired
Were seeking to re-program our robots!
If testing mental strength, do it late in the day
Weather
Particularly for newer players or when teaching
scenarios that might require unfamiliar throws
Skills Drill - Example
Scoring in Flow
Lego Analogy
You want the finished skill set on the pitch, but
you must build the skill set piece-by-piece
Each brick is a skill...
To build your skill set, you need to
Identify the Objective
What will your finished product look like?
Break it into components
What skills do you need?
Develop your assets
Develop those skills
Build it up
Interconnect your drills
Identify the Objective
Start with a real-life scenario:
Handler resets
Sideline trap
Throwing leading passes
Zone defence...etc
Coaching Points:
Which are the key points for focus? Max. 3
Ensure players understand context for the drill;
where would this fit into a real game?
Break it down
Break down the scenario into components based
on skills that can be individually addressed
Be as specific as possible; this will form the basis
of simple drills
Demonstrate the wrong as well as the right
Highlighting the difference can aid understanding
Be sure to dictate what the team should be doing in
this scenario; get everyone on the same page
Break it down - Example
After catching a deep throw short of the endzone,
we struggle to score
What are the component skills we need?
Knowing how we want to score
Make a team rule such as aim to score with an isolation
Explain how a supporting player is meant to act
Run quickly to provide a scoring option
What shape cut(s) should the isolated player make?
Provide (minimum) primary / secondary options
What throws do we want to use?
Which options should we avoid?
Start simple
Reduce the real game scenario to its simplest
form
Remove defenders, extra O players, etc
Place cones to help players to understand spacing
Destination as well as origin
Explain timing; best done through triggers
when X happens, do Y...
Reduce speed too
Increases thinking time
Takes off pressure on new skills
Allows players to reinforce patterns without stress
Start simple - Example
How do we simplify the game scenario?
Start with the disc outside the scoring endzone
Static; assume huck just caught
Supporting player runs through into endzone for
goal
Place cones for
Starting position of supporting player
Target position of supporting player
Any changes of direction, etc
No defenders
Get people comfortable with primary option
Drill initiated by huck being caught
Player just throws disc up to themselves
Build it up
Skills easily developed through small gains
Instils confidence
Once confident, it is important to increase the
difficulty & complexity of each drill
Continue to build skills
Keeps people interested
More realistic / game-like
It is also vital to repeat drills at future practices
Worth recapping the simpler version too
Breeds familiarity
(Perfect) practice makes perfect!
Build it up
A list of things to add could include:
Motion (rather than starting from static)
Mark
Timing
Cuts / throws
Secondary / tertiary (etc) options
Decision making
Which cut to make
Which throw to take
*really* important to prevent getting too used to one thing
Downfield defenders
Tight
Poaching
Continuation options
Time limits
Communication
Build it up - Example
Catch huck from leading pass
Start from 10m, build up to full huck
Secondary option
Throw backwards to supporting player
Supporting player throws assist
Add defenders
On the throw
On the supporting player
Give the defence a way to win that doesnt involve
getting a D
Restrict D movements, or encourage creativity...
Extra defenders (outnumber offence)
Add time constraints
Do we really have 10 seconds to score?
Make it as realistic as possible
The true objective... changing player behaviour
Repetition just as important as instruction
Drill should replicate a game scenario
The closer to the game, the more likely that the patterns
run in drills will be replicated in games
Aiming for zero coach interaction in this scenario
Modular drills
Can we bolt other drills onto this one?
Define victory conditions for both teams
Stop players cheating
Play the game, not the drill
Best achieved via providing multiple options to offence
Carrot & Stick applied here!
Make it realistic - Example
Once the drill begins, it is now effectively a
game
Add cones to define initial positions of O & D
players
When O move, game on!
O need to score in the time it takes additional
defenders to reach the endzone (~ 5 seconds)
D win if they prevent the quick score
Ideally stick to the prescribed cuts
But reward creativity on both sides!
Summary
Skills / Tactics / Game Scenarios
Consider external factors
Identify objectives
Break it down
Build it up
Make it as realistic as possible
Want to know more?
UK Ultimate runs a coaching course that goes into
detail on this topic and many others contact
admin@ukultimate.com for more detail

(You dont need to be from the UK to join in)

Thanks to...
Five Ultimate
Ultimate Results
Melissa for setting this all up
Questions?
Designing Drills for Ultimate
Five Ultimate jersey give away!

A guide to designing drills to

match your offence

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