side slightly) positions are all in front of the huck against the force forehand. pass to pass), with the other two picking up
third player in the stack, facing the stack in • Some players do have better long the two nearest offensive threats (gener-
anticipation of comeback cuts from any of forehands than backhands. ally these are the three players closest to
the four deepest cutters. The 6 position is The team needs to decide on how to la- the disc, but as described later, this might
the deepest player on the field and covers bel 3 and 4 in the backhand clam, whether not be true if the offense uses a nontradi-
all long passes (figure 11.2). In a clam for 3 refers to the player on the forehand side tional stack). After the first pass, there’s no
one (pass), the middle players (3, 4, and 5) or to the player on the force side. Either distinction between these three players. If
pick up the first cutters in their respective way is acceptable as long as the team is a handler cuts away from the disc up an
areas and stay with them for the remainder clear. Here, 3 will refer to the player on the alley, his defender has to pass him off to 3
of the point. Generally, “clam for N” means force side. or 4 and look for a cutter closer to the front
to transition to force forehand (or some The clam is most frequently played for of the stack. When a gaining pass is com-
other chosen force) after N number passes. a set number of passes at the start of a pleted, one of these players has to sprint
Figure 11.1 The clam. Defensive posi- point. It should be long enough that the down to provide a mark (although it might
tions are numbered 0 through 6 according defense gets a couple of opportunities to be preferable for the team to transition to
to their assignments. create havoc and take the offense out of one-on-one defense at this point, even if
Figure 11.2 The deepest player on the their setup but not so long that the defense the pass count hasn’t been reached).
field (6) covers all long passes. loses track of the count or the offense has Positions 3 and 5 (and 4, to a lesser ex-
The clam as just described is the origi- a chance to develop a new rhythm. This tent) are the most mentally demanding
nal one developed and modified by the means that players must be comfortable in the clam, as they are the most likely to
Boston teams of the 1980s and 1990s. with switching and making decisions on be overloaded or to have to fill holes cre-
There are many existing variations and the fly about which player to cover. One of ated by other players’ coverage. Position
more possible. For example, the marker the front three (0, 1, and 2) will always cov- 3 probably has the best opportunity for
could play straight up, and each pair of de- er the thrower (though this will vary from blocks, especially if she can slyly hide her
fenders could split left-right responsibilities intent. As is the case with poaching, she
on a pair of cutters. The defining charac-
FiG 11.2
can wait until the last second to flare out
teristic of all these defenses is that a group and sprint for the interception. She can
of two or more defenders covers an equal also move out as soon as she sees a cut
number of cutters, with match-ups being to prevent the pass from being thrown.
assigned dynamically depending on the
6
In this case, position 5, in addition to her
cuts made. regular duties, must be ready for the un-
derneath cut to the area just vacated by 3.
FORCE FOREHand OR BaCKHand? The regular duties for 5 are primarily cuts
The clam was exclusively a force-fore- up the middle, especially high in the count
hand defense for many years, but there after cuts to the sides have been stuffed.
might be reasons to force backhand as well. Position 4’s primary job is to prevent
comeback cuts to the breakside. In a
WHY FOREHAND? 4
forehand clam, an important task is to be
• The break-mark forehand has less
3
aware of the hammer over the 4’s head.
margin of error. Consequently, 4 needs to look at the
• Few players can throw a long forehand thrower a bit more often than does 3 or 5.
well. Finally, 4 needs to be ready to drop deep
• Short forehands (especially dumps) are
5
in case 6 comes in on the other side in an
tougher to throw with touch. unsuccessful block attempt. Because of
• That’s how everyone plays it. the forehand force, 6 will most likely be
needed to back up 3 when an offender
WHY BACKHAND?
cuts down the alley. If 6 gets pulled far
• The hammer is effectively removed as a to the strong side, 4 must come back to
weapon.
0 1 2
prevent the deep throw to the middle
• Midrange (~20 yards) break-mark of the field (abandoning breakside re-
backhands are more difficult to get past sponsibilities, as they are a lesser threat).
the mark. Coordination among the downfield de-
• Left-handed players have the backhand fenders in the clam is a key to its success.
Ultimate Canada Magazine — www.canadianultimate.com 7
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