Front Counting System
...som gjør det lett å lære og komme i gang med DDC.

Making it Fun - Leverage Peoples' Existing Skills!

Throwing out and shagging discs is no fun. Remember that you can play DDC with any two matching discs. Start ultimate players playing DDC with an ultimate disc. This allows them to use their throwing skills and to enjoy playing much more quickly than when using the 110G pro discs! (Alternatively two superpros make a nice bridge between the games, and they are softer and float more). Disc golfers used to throwing stable heavy plastic also benefit from a more stable (small) disc such as a 119G Disc.

Once they start throwing hard enough to make catching an issue, you can move them to the light plastic. The 119G disc with courts only 15 meters apart was the official rule for years, and that worked great, so don't be a 110G snob. If they are not playing in a tournament who cares what disc they get started with as long as they are playing!

Making it Fun - How Do I Escape?!?

Once new players can throw in the court, they have a hard time dealing with a doubling attack. The "Front Counting System" (FCS) is a simple method of escaping DDC attack situations. FCS is designed to provide new players with more fun early on, encouraging them to continue playing. FCS is a far easier way for people to learn and enjoy DDC than the complex Back Calling escape system widely used today. I have taught it to several ultimate players who had never played DDC before, while they were learning DDC, between services. The result was that with less than a minute of instruction they were able to escape with back tips the very first game they began trying it. FCS is described below.

FCS also has a path for improvement by adding features to handle increasingly challenging escape situations. The FCS improvement path merges into the Back Calling escape system used widely today so there is no backtracking or things to unlearn. It is described below also.

Please share it with your friends!

Cheers,
John Greensage

Front Counting System

The Front Counting System (FCS) is great for new players because it allows each player to focus entirely on just their one disc. Each player ignores the other disc and what the other player is doing as much as possible. Most importantly, the back role, long a barrier to new players learning to escape doubling attacks, is greatly simplified. In the FCS the back focuses on catching and tipping, without the complexities of watching and judging two discs at the same time as is necessary in the widely used Back Calling escape system. Having some success escaping attacks is crucial to new players enjoying the game.

Here is how FCS works:

1) Defenders each stick to one role of "back" or "front".

a) The back player plays the first throw, or lead shot -- typically high and floating.

b) The front player plays the second throw, or doubling shot -- typically low and fast.

2) As the doubling shot comes in (the second throw), the front gives a cadence of "two -- one -- catch", and catches the doubling shot on the word "catch". The front then throws quickly to the other court, taking enough time to get it in, but not dallying.

3) The back is silent and focus entirely on playing the lead shot which the back will catch tip or milk. The back positions themselves so as to be ready to play their disc by either tipping it (preferably at a height of head level or higher) or milking it to the ground. They decide what to do based on hearing the timing of the cadence from the front. The back need not look at the doubling shot at all -- the front is handling it.

a) CATCH. If the back can catch their disc and the front has not begun counting yet, then the back catches and gets ready to throw.

b) TIP. If the front has already begun counting, and the back thinks they can tip before the front will say "catch", then the back tips their disc.

c) Or MILK. If the back judges that the front is going to say "catch" before the back can tip, then the back milks their disc to the ground (i.e. giving the front as much time as possible to catch and throw their disc. That's it! Play and have fun!

Copyright 1981, 2003 John Greensage. Permission to circulate freely and publish unmodified with this copyright notice intact.

FAQs - Front Counting System

Q: Is there an easy way for new DDC players to learn how to defend when two discs are coming at them (i.e. escape)?

A: Yes. The DDC Front Counting escape system to enable new players to quickly learn to deal with two incoming discs (to escape). We have seen success with new players the first game they try it, and who otherwise would not be escaping.

Q: What levels of play is the DDC Front Counting System used for?

A: The basic Front Counting System (FCS) is designed for beginning DDC players. There are additional enhancements which can be added as the players increase in experience and skills. Potentially the Advanced FCS is competitive at the highest levels of play. Currently the FCS is largely unknown and consequently not widely used. It is the shortest path I know of for inexperienced teams to gain the skills required for any escape system, so is a great place to start.

Q: I've mastered the basic Front Counting System, where do I go from here?

A: The Front Counting System (FCS) has a number of modular add-ons to enable you to deal with increasingly more nasty doubling attacks, and to reduce the likelihood of getting doubled (see below). These are designed to make the FCS suitable for round of ten play at the world championship level.

Q: Who invented the Front Counting System and when?

A: Invented in 1981 as a means of getting new players up to speed by John Greensage. The basic system was first published in the Double Disc Court Players Association (DDCPA) newsletter, a short lived publication started by Tim Selinske.

Copyright 2003 John Greensage. Permission to circulate freely and publish unmodified with this copyright notice intact.

Advanced Front Counting System
The Path to Improvement

Once the basic Front Counting System is mastered, you can make small enhancements to continue to get better at handling doubling attacks. These improvements readily add together.

1) Off Calls. The players (especially the front) says "off" once they have thrown the disc. The back player when milking a doubling shot, or milking after their tip does not catch until after the front player says "off". This eliminates many doubles, intentionally sacrificing only one point instead.

2) Short Counts. Short counts are for dealing with fast doubling shots (i.e. burns). The front reduces the count when the attack is from the opposing front line, barking "1---catch". The counting time needs to be consistent. The key is a count giving enough time for the back to execute a tip if the back's disc is within tipping range.

3) Barking. Front counts are made with short sharp barks. This is key to being able to hear back calls in more advanced play.

4) Back Calls. The back makes a call of "me" or "you" for which player will play their disc first. The back calls this as soon as the back decides to tip the lead shot or to milk it to the ground. If the front hears a "me" call, then the front makes a normal throw (i.e. the front assumes some reasonable time from the back's tip). If the back calls "you", then the front player makes a quick throw as before.

5) Time Calls. The back adds a third call of "time" to the options of "me" and "you" calls. The back calls "time" when the back decides to milk *and* their disc is very slow (i.e. it will be a lengthy time from when the front is going to say "catch" to when the back's disc will land.

6) Waiting for the Back Tip. When the front hears a "me" call, the front waits for the tip sound, only catching their disc once it is heard, and makes a normal throw (i.e. the front assumes some reasonable time from the back's tip). If the tip is not heard then the front must let their disc drop untouched. The back may also say "tip" at the moment of the tip in order to provide a more readily heard sound for the front.

7) Front Tipping. When the front player gets a "you" call, they may tip their disc or quick throw at their option. If they tip, they call "tip" as they do, and milk their tip to the ground. The back upon hearing the front "tip" call catches and throws their disc. As they release they bark "off". The front player hearing "off" is allowed to catch their tip. If the front's tip is low or uncatchable, the front should call "hold" and allow their tip to drop to the ground untouched.

8) Back Counting. The back counts the lead shot *before* the doubling shot is thrown. (Starting at 5, saying "5-4-3-2---"). The front hearing this count decides what to do with their front milk window (i.e. tip or milk the doubling shot) and begins counting based on that choice. The back stops counting as soon as the front starts (and always stops on two) so as to have clear and clean communication between each other.

Copyright 2003 John Greensage. Permission to circulate freely and publish unmodified with this copyright notice intact.

Handy Beginning DDC Guide

Throw into the back of the court. When the opponent is deeper in their court, it is harder for them to attack you.

Always shout "HOLD" anytime your disc is going out, or is going to hit the ground, or you can not play it. The other player then holds. It does not really matter if it is in or out, the other player needs to do the same thing, so make the call simple.

Try to catch the disc on the rim in a grip, and on the side of your body, such that you can throw it more quickly. For example, upside down throws can be caught such that you can turn them over and throw them back right side up without changing your grip. It takes some work, but you will find that this is far faster than changing your grip!

Copyright 2003 John Greensage. Permission to circulate freely and publish unmodified with this copyright notice intact.