Everyone should be using this drill to become elite

A commentary on how to push yourself to get the most gains as a thrower and a mark in the 3 person marker drill

Introduction

The three person marker drill is a staple in the season of many teams, whether that be trials, training or as a warm up. The drill, also known as ‘Break Mark’ or ‘Three-man’, is a great way to get through many reps of throwing and marking. In this blog post I want to talk about some of the ways you can use this drill to really push yourself as a player.

To set the scene: one thrower, one mark, one receiver.

Step 1: Thrower with mark attempts to throw to receiver.

Step 2: Repeat Step 1

Variations of this drill can involve:

- Changing the distance of the throw

- The thrower becoming the next mark each time or keeping the mark the same for a set of reps

- Set parameters on what kind of throws are desired (flat, low, wide, upside-down etc)

- Having a force with more value/pride assigned to a break throw

- With more than 3 people having a line behind one of the throwers to swap into the receiving role for the next rep

- Shame the thrower in jest for travelling or throwing 'cheap' shots (only if a certain throw is the focus otherwise I am all for experimentation and creative throwing)

- Changing the stall

- Receiver holding their hand out to indicate where they wish to receive the disc

Now that we are on the same page, we can chat about some of the ways you can strive for those extra gains as a thrower and a mark

Thrower

This is one of my favourite drills as a thrower, primarily because if I can make a throw consistently in this drill it serves as a really strong indicator that it could be useful in a game situation no matter how rare. Let me qualify this.

The drill, in its default form, requires throwing to a receiver directly behind a mark who is stationary. Because your receiver is unable to do any of the work creating angles for you, and the mark knows your targets exact location, this drill provides a more difficult throwing situation than in a game.

Lets say you have chosen a throw, hypothetically a forehand blade, and have a good understanding of whether you can throw the flick blade in this drill. A game situation arises, all you need to calculate is your receiver and the defence (caveat - this is the actual interesting part, but that’s for another post), you can now throw the blade without a thought of the mark at all.

Ok, I know, there’s a lot more to throwing than this. We have already discussed trying out different throws but what about pushing the limits of throwing in general. Well for those of you who find a ten metre open side throw a piece of cake, I have some ways that you can really strive to be an elite thrower using this drill.

Width

Go w i d e , practice releasing as lateral from your mark as you can. You can combine this with heights, half pivots and other release points as you desire.

Disc Speed

One of my favourite ways to level the playing field when taking a throwing session with elite throwers involved is to ask them the following: “Pivot and move your body as if you are hucking, but make the disc move as slowly as possible” i.e. move fast, disc slow. The other extreme which is nearly as fun is to move slowly but throw fast.

Quick Release

Try releasing the disc quickly. The most important thing is that you can make the disc fly as you intended with as quick of a release as possible. A lot of the time this means you sacrifice some width or control but no reason not to try optimise your release speed with different throws.

Precision

This is probably the most important with respect to the difference between an elite thrower and a great thrower in game situations. To work on your throwing precision choose a disc angle and a point you want the receiver to catch the disc at. For example, io righty backhand to the receiver’s left hip. Or maybe a oi righty forehand to a point 30 cm to the left of the receivers head. Its really up to you how specific you make your goal.

Deception

Originally I used the word ‘faking’ here but it wasn’t exactly the idea I wanted to portray. Try getting the disc to your receiver with only one move, or no moves. The less effort and time it takes you to make a throw the more options will open up to you in a game. Fakes with the disc are an option, but other things you can try are a bit more subtle. Shimmys, eye fakes, convincing the mark you want to throw a low backhand but actually nah bro. Convince them verbally if you like but more likely do something such as; throwing your best throw 4 times in a row and then throwing something at new release point. Things like this are not only useful in this drill but are almost a requirement at high level even when throwing to the open side.

Although not all directly applicable to game situations, the takeaway of all of these different ideas is to get comfortable throwing in as many situations as possible. Try different combinations of the above to work on moves or skills in isolation. Every percent of advantage you can earn over you mark and every bit of improvement in your throws directly translates to a higher expected value of your throws in the long term.

As the thrower you should have no doubt in your mind that you can manipulate the mark to your will and throw either what is given (that's what you wanted to throw anyway), or can generate it yourself. The mark is yours to dominate.

Marker

As the mark you should have no doubt in your mind that you can manipulate the thrower to your will and force the disc to go where you want or to generate an incompletion. The thrower is yours to dominate.

You may have noticed some similarities in the last two paragraphs, along with some possibly excessive phrasing. This is because alongside the skills that you and the thrower may have, it is the mental battle that prevails on the day. Confidence in your own abilities alongside respectful disrespect for your opponent can help win you an edge.

The three person marker drill for a mark is a lot of work. But there are some things we can learn to use in the drill that will give us an advantage which also translate into a game situation.

You can gain an advantage by understanding the likelihood of success of different options. The more understanding you have of what a thrower wants the easier it is to play defence. One way to do this is to become a good thrower, if you have that on lock there are still lots of ways to push your game awareness as a mark.

As a mark you can become more aware by thinking about the options the thrower has available. In the drill you know the option (the one receiver standing directly behind you) so you can exploit this. Don’t bite on fakes to players to standing behind you. This might sound obvious but many throwers all the way up to the elite have tells or moves that are very good convincing fakes. BUT some of these fakes can be easily debunked if you know there is no option there. Practice this consciously in the drill and it will start happening naturally in a game.

dont bite on every fake lol - credit to Lauchy for faking his mark 6 times even though a pick had been called

Another way to get the mental edge as a mark is faking. To me faking as the mark can mean a couple of things. It can mean positioning somewhere that you don’t really care about and being ready to pounce in the other direction (baiting throws but not necessarily to this extreme). It also can mean faking that you are taking up a lot of space but you actually aren’t, such as by moving a lot or shuffling side to side (imo not useful on its own but can be a useful tool to switch things up).

Alongside the mental side of marking here are somethings that you can do in three person to improve your marking abilities physically.

Positioning

Practice different starting positions as a mark. Flat, angled, your left shoulder lined up with their left shoulder etc. This can help you understand how to take away different options in various situations.

Width

Practice with your hands wide. Then try some with your hands close. Wide hands can give up throws through the mark but hands too close to your body, although possibly improving reaction speed, can leave you susceptible to wide throws. Play around with this risk reward.

Distance

Varying the distance you are from the thrower is very useful in a game and this will become apparent as your situational awareness improves. But in the drill you can practice this by varying your distance in reaction to the throwers pivots to take away angles or open up angles you are ready for, or you can use distance to proactively force the thrower to move in ways that you want. For example drop off the mark and you can expect a curvy throw to be coming up around you soon.

Similarly to the throwing discussion try to mix and match this to mimic and get comfortable in different situations. In a game you can switch up styles between points and make the thrower uncomfortable or even create block opportunities with a multi point baiting setup.

Conclusion

Hopefully this has solidified your appreciation for the three person marker drill alongside giving you some thoughts to ponder the next time you have the chance to set this up with a couple of teammates.

p.s. If you ever get the chance to do this drill with a potential opponent, learn their weakness and exploit it, learn their strength and expect it.