Clam

The clam is a complex communication-based man defense.  It is commonly referred to as a “junkie” offense, and if not played correctly it certainly is junk.  It is a combination of a man and a zone.  Think of it like a man defense with an incredible quantity of switches going on constantly at almost every position: thus the need for great field communication.  The defense is, by design, situational in nature, however, there are patterns and recurring themes to watch for.  The basic clam is a 3-3-1.

Front 3:  

Priorities for the front three are slowing down the disc, stopping scorch cuts, and most importantly keeping a hard force.  One of the three must be on the mark, while the other two guard the 2 handlers closest to the disc very tightly.  The front three constantly switch positions with each other, or change who they are guarding as handlers rotate out (as in the H-flow) or change sides (with a scorch cut or huge dump cut) etc.  

The middle three all have very different responsibilities and must be discussed separately.

Strong Side:  

This position is played with your butt to the sideline facing the entire field.  Visibility is at a maximum and he can communicate best in this position.  The main responsibility is to keep the disc in the middle of the field by guarding the furthest outside cutter on the force side.  Must not allow anything up the sideline behind his back!

Weak Side:  

Usually played by a taller player.  He has the challenge of balancing his defense between two cutters (see image).  He must decide which cutter is the most dangerous at any given time and take that away.  He must balance helping in the middle when the mid gets sucked in, helping deep when two people are sent deep at the same time and making sure the disc doesn’t get around him to the outside when it is swung (just like strong side mid).

Mid Mid:  

Arguably the most difficult position, he must keep his head on a swivel at all times.  He can’t have his back to anyone (yet is in the middle of the field) and thus must rely heavily on communication from the sidelines, the deep, and the weak side mid.  Simply put he must cut off all the cutters coming up the middle, follow the correct distance, pass them on to the front three and get back to the middle to cut off the most dangerous throwing lane in a timely manner.  

Deep:  

The deep is the man who keeps it all together.  He is the communications master as he can see the whole field and can observe it for long periods of time.  He sees the offense develop and passes on what he sees to the mids.  Obviously he cannot allow anyone to get too far behind him, yet must be close enough to help with the cross field floating hammer in the “short-deep” area.  His positioning is critical not only in being able to get a D on both of those areas, but to discourage throws and force everything underneath.  A good deep makes handlers think two and three times before hucking the disc down the field.