Front defence: Cooperating for one goal

In korfball, cooperating is a pleonasm. Every player knows that he cannot play solo in korfball. Even so, in (top) korfball, cooperation is a very complex organization.
In the defence section, the players cooperate with one common goal: to prevent the opponent from scoring. Even the novice immediately learns the basic rule of cooperation: "give, go, give and shoot".
Cooperating in defence means more than just 1 to 1 defence.
First of all, every cooperation within the defence can only succeed when there is a game plan. This game plan consists of the choice for a particular form of organization against the attack of the opponent.
The game plan is defined by the strategy of the coach: how he thinks his team can prevent the opponent from scoring and subsequently, how the defence of the opponent can be beaten to score.

Strategy

The first problem that a coach should solve is the balance of the line up. In (top) korfball there should be a balance between the two sections in the line up.
(After every two goals in a match, players have to change their roles: attackers become defenders and defender become attacker, which means that during a top korfball match sections of teams have to change their functions more than twenty times.)
In the game plan it is important to make a strategy what sections starts as defence and who is playing against whom.
The organization in defence is an interactive answer on an organization of an attack. To make the choices for an organization the coach should study the way of playing and the options in the attack of the opponent.
The organization of defence of a team is also based on the idea that you can win enough time so that the own attack can go for goals and beat the defence of the opponent.

Structures
The organization of defence is a strategy based on the possible strategies played out by the attack of the opponent.
The composition of the korfball attack is mostly based on a hierarchic structure (top down structure) of different roles. In the composition of the attack the coach can use different roles: Tiger (main attacker); Panther (the second attacker); Bear (the rebounder) and the Wolf (the transporter and assister). While the names of the different roles all refer to killers of the animal world, they vary because they operate in specific (different) areas.
- Tiger and Panther operating in the area where they can make long shots.
- Panther and Wolf operating in the areas where they can make the so called short shots;
- The area of the Bear is around the post.
Because all players can kill in their specific area (can score) they can execute their specific roles much better.
In (top) korfball the organization of the four attackers and their roles can rotate. Yet, it is important to realize that the quality of the Tiger (the main attacker) is mostly leading in the composition of the attack.

The quality of the Tiger and Panther will be determined by:
a. the quantity and quality of the Tigers shots (In a match the Tiger will make about 20 - 30 shots from long distance and short distance. His scoring percentage is about 20 to 25 %. The Panther operates as a kind of back up in tempo, next to the Tiger)
b. The quality of the duel with the Guard. The quality of the duel has to do with the way he can conquer a free position and the time that the attacker needs in free position to collect himself for to make a balanced shot.
Normally the Bear and the Wolf make less than 10 shots during a match, while their scoring percentage is very high (sometimes 50%).
The coach scouts the structure of the opponents attack.
The structure in defence is mostly:
Tiger will be defended by a Guard*;
Panther will be defended by a Guard or Guerrilla*;
Wolf will be defended by a Guard or Guerrilla*;
Bear will be defended by a Center*.
* See for the special qualities of Guard, Center and Guerrilla the articles in this blog.

System: Front defence as an option of team defence

The system of defence consists of
- the cooperation of roles in defence;
- the relation between 1-1 defence and zone defence;
- the rotation of roles of the players;
- the coaching by the players themselves during play.

In 1972 during a clinic for coaches, when I was still a young coach I demonstrated front defence. Before that time korfball was played only by 1-1 defence against an attack.
The attack was organized as a kind of pattern that can be described as 2-2.
Two main attackers were the male players and the female players were the assisters.
Female players scored hardly. They played around the posts and assisted the male players who made the shots: distance and running in shots.
The male players made a lot of long shots in that time. But generally the long distance shot was not that successful. The total score of matches was mostly only 16 goals (like 10 - 6). Players loved to make running in shots.
The technique of the running in was an example of how skillful the male players were.
In the run they demonstrated a ball handling that was considered difficult. But in fact the running in shot was already more successful in matches.

The theme of the clinic in 1972 was "front defence", which was a new way of defence at the time.
The main idea was that defenders should not give the option for "give, go, give and shoot".
Which meant that the female defenders around the post were to keep the position in front of her opponent, at the ball side. Which would result in a blocked ball-line to the post.
If it is impossible to break-through with the ball, attackers can only make long shots. If attackers can only conquer free positions for distance shots, the other defenders are more free to follow everywhere in the space.
Today, the principle of front defence is still largely the same. But of course there are developments also in front defence.

Front defence: Cooperating by "Pressure on ball lines” or by deliberately "Open ball lines".

We established that in top korfball, the Tiger should opt for more goals than the Panther, the Wolf and the Bear. The Tiger needs support by the Wolf or Panther.
The Wolf's best position for assisting is straight in front of the post and in the funnel of the Tiger. (Main attacker’s axe)
When the Tiger can pass the ball in the funnel, just in front of the post (the best assist position), the Tiger can duel for free positions in a space of 360 degrees. When there is front defence it is very hard to get the ball in this "best" position. (Pressure on the ball line into the funnel)
When there is front defence, the Tiger is forced to look for side passing (open ball lines) and the Panther and the Wolf can assist the Tiger only by side passing. (The double pass: short and long passing and go for distance shot). The areas of the free positions for the Tiger are restricted by forcing, that assist passes can only come from aside. Forcing that only assist passes can come from aside, which will give better possibilities to the Guard of the Tiger. The Guard has to defend 270 degrees of the attacker’s space of the Tiger.
The defenders can try to force that the pass has to go to the side of the section by opening the space to one of the attackers who is not expected to finish the attack by distance shots, mostly a Wolf. The Guerrilla who has to play against the Wolf gives open ball line near by the sidelines, after that the Guerrilla has given pressure on the ball in the line between Tiger and Wolf.
The Wolf is forced by the Gurerrilla to play nearby the sidelines . There the Wolf gets a free position and the Guerrilla allows the pass from the Tiger to her. In the same time the Guerrilla (see the role of the Guerrilla) squeezes into or nearby the funnel of the Tiger. So it becomes more difficult for the Tiger to find the best assist and fighting for a very good chance in the funnel nearby the post.
By giving a lot of freedom only in zones nearby the lines to the Wolf, the Panther who is playing normally next to the Tiger has to go to an area “lower” in the section. By doing that, the Guard of the Panther can give some free space to the Panther and this Guard can move to the “helpside”, that is moving more to the funnel of the Tiger or to the rebound area of the Bear. The Panther is then in an unguarded position but he can use that free position when he can receive a long pass. During that time the Guard of the Panther can come back in his first position: guarding 1-1 the Panther.
Now the Bear cannot only focus to block the Centre he should also be aware that the Guard of the Panther who is nearby, can steal a shot.

Today, the front defence gives more options than only defending the post zone by Centre and Gurrilla.
There are options for giving pressure by 1-1 defence but also pressure on ball lines and deliberately open ball lines. These options has to do with the power of the attack, especially the dominance power of the Tiger and the way the other roles cooperate and the qualities of “killing” (statistics of scoring percentage can help to make a game plan) by Wolf, Panther and Bear.
In a match the coach or also the defenders themselves, have to make adjustments depending on the attacker's strenghts and weaknesses.