Man-Down Defense

​Yellow card! Now you’re man-down. What do you do? Don’t panic! Here are some tips to guide you through a man-down situation defensively.

• Where do we force the ball? Back to where it came from-we are trying to keep the ball on one side of the 8m in order to reduce confusion and limit slide responsibility.
• What is our pressure like? If you can get to their hands, great! But we do not want to be OVERLY aggressive-we are still man-down and do not want to create unnecessary opportunities for the offense.
• Easiest to play in a 6 man zone while handing off cutters.
• We need to move as the ball moves, NOT after the ball moves.
• Be BIG and take up as much space as possible-this helps to shrink the field and 8m, and deter any feeds or dodges inside. 
• We have to constantly check the middle, sliding in and out to mark up on cutters.
• Use your stick as a tool when passing off cutters/players in order to cover more space-your stick acts as an extra long arm, it allows you to show the referee you are abiding by the 3 seconds rule.

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