Opportunity Cuts in Ultimate

Jim Parinella, as he is apt to do, provided a detailed and classy write-up of Death or Glory's victory at the Masters' UPA Club Championships. Of particular interest to me is a secondary discussion of his pattern of deep cuts:

I caught about half a dozen hucks, most of them from Alex on opportunity cuts off of flow. These are my favorite, because it’s all about timing and recognition and I feel smarter than everyone else. Sometimes these will come when my defender flashes off ever so briefly to poach on an in-cut, but usually I will just be playing, with my defender fronting me from the middle of the stack, and the play will just develop such that I find myself with no help defender behind me and my man still fronting me, unaware of the change. I take a step in, then go as hard as I can deep for half a dozen steps before glancing up to see if the disc is up. Another reason I like this cut better than bolting deep in the four person play is that I am more confident that the disc will be thrown because I have already assessed the mark.

Hey! That's what I try to do! I am happy to know an official term for the cut and that this is a reasonable personal strategy, where reasonable is defined as utilized by a much older but very successful Ultimate player.

Playing with my Seattle mixed team, Shadrach, I did get in trouble with the captains from time to time for opportunity cuts horizontally across the endzone from the front of the stack, even though I often scored from such a play. Their general concept, with which I agree in general, is that endzone cuts should come from the back of the stack. My concept, which I practice in specific situations, is that the defender at the front of the stack is often less prepared to play defense than those at the back of the stack. When the disc is being swung across the field, I have an opportunity from the front of the stack to surprise my defender: a quick step past the defender into the open side and the corner is mine for an easy score. This technique was particularly effective when a cutter came from the back on the break side and my defender at the front shifted focus and position at the front in fearing for the break score. Savvy?

I am not a "much older" or "very successful" Ultimate player so I suggest you take my thoughts with a grain of salt.