How to play Hex: Shape - Analysis of Outbreak

Analysis of highlights from Outbreak Mountain playing Hex at Australian Regionals 2018, with explanation of how to set up the Hex shape and maintain it during possession.
How to Introduce Hex Offence to your team: • How to Introduce Hex O...
Training video: Shape Race - $8 Tier: / 44214930
Full stream of initial analysis: • Extended analysis: Out...
Next in this series... How to play Hex: Movement Decision Tree - • How to play Hex: Movem...
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[@NegativeRoot]

i was the commentator on this game. this was the first time i had ever seen a hex and you were right, I had no idea what was going on and I was trying to fit it into what I knew and had seen before!

[@MrJonathonww]

Thanks heaps again for this Felix. Is great to be able to watch ourselves and see what we do right and what we still need to fix up :)

[@knightwatchgames]

It was really impressive to see the amount of cohesion you maintained.

[@travismackenzie]

So my problem with this clip is there are a ton of near Ds. If this is a good example of the offense it looks like a lot of risky throws with small margins of error.

[@tyhiggz38]

Thank you! Love all the hex content.

[@solfeinberg437]

So, you're making geometric constructions while you're playing ultimate? Is there anything a bit more intuitive than performing several calculations to decide where to position yourself. What about the time element? And the defenders? Does time stop and the defenders wait until you're ready?

[@HiveUltimate]

You're right that focusing on the geometry of the shape can be difficult and distracting from more urgent factors. We are still learning the best ways to teach and learn this style of play, even since this video was made. We released a more up to date video called "Introducing Hex" which recommends (1) Spreading out, and (2) Moving the disc quickly. If you want to keep it simple then that's a great place to start, everything should be relatively intuitive from there - equilateral triangles will naturally make sense, and the hex shape evolves from there.

[@solfeinberg437]

1:24. Why didn't number 40 bid for this? This disc is floating - not really spinning so probably hard to judge, but looks like plenty of time, he's got his landing gear out (hands back by his sides), and the disc looks well in bounds, if that white line is the back of the endzone and he doesn't even try?

[@FelixUltimate]

I agree it looks potentially gettable from this angle.

[@coltross9299]

would you say this is something i could teach my highschool teamates, we have a lot of newcomers every year, everyones fairly smart academically, doesnt seem to help a lot though, but the athleticism is mehhh overall, lots of highly atheltic people but some marginally athletic ones tooo, is it more of a instinct offense or could i just run through with a ton of situations, also hows flexagon working, kinda want to run that too, all the film i can find though seems to be old

[@travismackenzie]

I wouldn't suggest this with HS, particularly new players. It involves everyone knowing where to be and having great field awareness.

[@HiveUltimate]

Sorry our reply to this was lost when we migrated accounts. We totally recommend teaching this to new and developing players - they will have their field awareness challenged with minimal restrictions, and plenty of opportunities to get involved. It's more instinctive to new players than to players experienced with stack. Flex defence can work with any team if they are trained to recognise and react to stacks! For the latest videos and content check out our Patreon.

[@HiveUltimate]

@@travismackenzie We find hex is great to teach new players, upping their field awareness quickly as it is constantly challenged, and developing fundamental movement, catching and throwing techniques which can be applied to any system later on.

[@solfeinberg437]

I learned vertical stack in the late 90s. Played that way for quite awhile. Never understood horizontal stack. Now there's a hex. How about I just run into open spaces I see, and then run the fuck out of them to clear space. I'm going to look for places I can beat my defender that I think the thrower can hit. I'm going to time cuts so handlers receiving the disc see me cutting to an open space when they look up. I guess the stack is where you rest when you don't want to cut, but this seems too complicated to me. Happy to learn it, though, if you have some really slow or old and slow fucks who want to play this way and would be happy to include me.

[@HiveUltimate]

Moving into space you see and clearing space for teammates are solid principles. The way we see it, stack adds a complication by predefining particular areas on the field where you can and can't rest. No such restriction in hex, just a guideline for optimal spacing and an encouragement to provide options and take open passes on low stall counts.