Offence against a poach from an open side dump

In this post I’m going to discuss the open side dump poach. First of all I should clarify what the situation I’m talking about is. I'll try to describe it. Regarding the offence, a player has the disc and a handler team-mate of theirs is set up as a dump (the player with the disc must be far enough away from the ‘forced’ side of the pitch that there is space for this). The defence are basically playing a man-to-man, forcing one sideline approach, apart from one defender. The one with responsibility for covering the dump on the open side is poaching the lane, making upfield passes more difficult, but passes to the dump are free. The intention would be to mark the dump more tightly if they get the disc. The logic would be that this defence wants to force the play towards a particular sideline and get a turnover there. By allowing the offence to go that way, it should help.

I'm sure if you understood what I just said, then you’ve probably seen the situation. It’s a favoured approach of lazy defenders everywhere, perhaps even intelligent defenders, depending on your perspective.

At one stage I was quite a fan of this. When I was playing at a level where players generally didn’t have good break force throws; encouraging them towards the forced sideline meant chances were high they’d just run out of room and turn over. I also liked it as a defender when myself and a DCU team mate of mine (Colin) had a poach-and-switch system going whenever we marked handlers (a defensive sort of rapport – very enjoyable when it worked). As I played higher level ultimate I had sort of decided it wasn’t such a great idea after all. Good handlers didn’t have much trouble throwing breaks away from the forced sideline so it just seemed like a tactic that gives opponents free resets. What’s more, giving good handlers such space allows them time to see the whole field and really take you apart.

I was thinking about what these good handlers do against the situation to really take a team apart. I want to do like them. Thus far, I’ve got 4 offensive approaches that I think a good handler might consider.

1. Ignore it. well be careful, but don't bother making a particular effort to use the poached player in a way you wouldn't do anyway. Look for your usual offence, just don't throw it into the poach. Perhaps a big fake will let you know if they're waiting to lay out. 
2. Move it to the breakside. This could be an opportunity to get an easy break throw off by using the poached player. The poached player moves to the breakside, behind the thrower. The thrower leads them with a pass out to that side and then some easy continuation passes might be available. This will depend on where you are on the pitch and what the offence and defence look like. 
3. A huck from the poached handler. Most throws tend to be easier with no mark, although it might be from a position that's a little too far away from deep cutters. 
4. A give'n'go with the poached player. The forcer is an out of position defender as soon as the the disc is thrown, so the original thrower can go up the line on the open side to get it straight back from the poached player. It's then a really good spot to throw a huck. 

Which of these approaches is best? I don't know! It would depend on the exact situation on the field and the strengths and weaknesses of both teams. The worst approach goes something like the dump going for approach 2 and the player with the disc going for approach 4; a misunderstanding turnover is the likely result. Any approach that doesn't result in a turnover is pretty good for a start. If you can use the opportunity to break down the defence then you're doing really well.

P.S.
I'm still quite unsure of how good an idea it is generally to poach open side dumps as a defensive tactic. I think there are definitely scenarios where it might be useful. Especially if the poach is only early in the stall count and the dump is marked more closely later on. Some of the matches at the world games seemed to have some of that going on (here are some links: 1,2,) and they're all pretty good players!
(although the final point of WUGC-open division has got some closer marking on dumps)

*Update - 5th of March 2010