Session Goal

Session Overview

Warm-Up (15 min) — Player-Led

1. Jog — easy pace, one or two lengths. Keep it easy. It's hot.
2. Dynamic stretching — hip openers, high knees, leg swings, lateral shuffles, A-skips
3. Resistance band activations — glutes, hips, shoulders

Coaching cue to open the session:

Throwing – 70s Throwing (15 min)

Partners up. Low intensity — standing, focused. 10 driven throws of each shape: flat backhand, IO backhand, roll-curve backhand, flat forehand, IO forehand, roll-curve forehand, overheads. Every throw flat and fast. This is a mechanics check, not a fitness challenge.

Running this as a standing block in the heat keeps intensity low while still getting the throwing eye in. Players should be moving between shapes at a steady pace — no rushing.

Water Break (10 min)

Full rest. Shade if available. Drink. Do not rush this.

Block A – 4 Lines Warmup (35 min)

Goal: Get cutting patterns and throw timing flowing before the Dog Drill. Run both drills back to back — no stop between them. With 10–15 players the 4 Lines queue will give natural recovery time between reps.

A1 – 4 Lines - Upline Cut (15 min)

Standard upline. Cutter covers at least half the distance toward the sideline before planting and cutting upline. Throw is early.

Base (8 min): Early reads, early releases. The upline window is 2–3 seconds. If the throw isn't on its way before the window peaks, it is late.

Development – Continuation to Deep (7 min): After the upline catch, receiver immediately throws to a deep cutter. Original thrower becomes the deep cutter.

A2 – 4 Lines - Away and Under (15 min)

Away cut is the threat that makes the under available. A token away step means no under exists.

Base (8 min): Commit away, come under. Throw stays on the line, not infield.

Development – Give and Go Under (7 min): After the under catch, receiver gives back and goes deep. Disc off the sideline immediately.

Note: with a larger group, 4 Lines queue time gives natural rest between reps — players should stay hydrated with their own bottles during the queue, not wait for a formal break.

Water Break (10 min)

Full rest in shade. This break sits before the Dog Drill intentionally — players should start the new drill relatively fresh, not fatigued.

Block B Part 1 – Dog Drill Base (15 min)

Goal: Establish the drill pattern cleanly before adding any pressure. The first few reps will be rough — that is expected. The goal of Part 1 is understanding the drill, not executing it.

Set up 3 boxes with cones across the pitch, 10–15m downfield from the Thrower.

• Cutter streaks downfield, plants, cuts laterally through the boxes.
• Thrower times a horizontal leading pass to arrive in their chosen box as the Cutter reaches it.
• Watch for: Cutter drifting into the box line during the downfield run (stop and reset), Thrower throwing downfield rather than horizontally, Thrower releasing after the Cutter has passed the box.

Rotation: Cutter → Thrower → back of Cutter queue.

Water Break (10 min)

Full rest. Review one specific thing you have seen in Part 1 — probably either throw direction (too downfield) or cutter drift. Name it once, clearly, before Part 2 starts.

Block B Part 2 – Dog Drill Developments (25 min)

Goal: Add the force and the defender to the clean pattern established in Part 1. Players should now understand what they are trying to do — the developments make it harder to do it.

B2 – Force on the Throw (12 min)

Add a Marker with a force. Thrower now has to break or work around the mark to hit the chosen box. Expand to 4 or 5 boxes.

Key: time the fake to the window, not to the mark. The fake should happen before the box opens — not when the Cutter is already passing through it.

B3 – Mark on the Cut (13 min)

Add a Defender on the Cutter. With 10–15 players this will run as two parallel groups if there are enough people — doubles the reps and keeps everyone active.

• Genuine downfield commitment → Defender guesses, picks highest-value box
• Drift or indecision → Defender reads and takes away the obvious option

Rotation: Cutter → Thrower → Marker → Defender → Cutter.

Water Break (10 min)

Full rest. Set the scrimmage format and condition before play starts. One sentence.

Scrimmage (90 min including breaks)

Format: 5v5 or 6v6 depending on numbers on the day. If 14–15 players attend, rotate a team of 2–3 on from the sideline every point. 7v7 only if numbers allow comfortably — do not force it.

Internal break structure — mandatory in the heat:

Games can be to a set number of points or on time — adjust to what feels right on the day. With the heat, do not play through water breaks regardless of score.

Coaching Focus:

• Are cutters committing their first move or hedging between options?
• Are throwers reacting to cuts or reading windows early?
• After the final point: "Did you know where you were throwing before you caught it?"

Coaching Notes

• The Dog Drill is new for the group. Do not skip the walk-through at the start of B Part 1 — Thrower calls the box, Cutter runs straight downfield, plants, cuts laterally. Two slow walk-through reps before going at pace saves 10 minutes of confused reps.
• The split between Part 1 and Part 2 with a full water break in between is deliberate in the heat — players starting the developments fresh will execute them better than players who have been running continuously.
• The fake timing coaching point in B2 is subtle. Watch for reactive faking (mark moves, thrower responds) rather than proactive faking (thrower plans the fake to the window). Reactive faking means the window has already opened and closed while they were faking.
• With 10–15 players, two parallel groups in B3 is ideal — keeps everyone active and reduces standing in the sun waiting for a rep.
• The scrimmage water breaks are mandatory. Name this explicitly before the scrimmage starts so there is no pressure to push through when the timer hits.
• Connections: 2 Second Window, Scanning, Effective Force, Break Mark 1, Dog Drill, 4 Lines - Upline Cut, 4 Lines - Away and Under