The Beater Screen

Good quidditch teams use quaffle passing not only to score goals, but also to gain and retain bludger control.

Recently I wanted to watch the 2018 MLQ Championships footage. Rather than watch the hour or more livestream recordings, I started with the one standalone game on the channel, Austin Outlaws vs. Rochester Whiteout – Game 1.

Three times Austin used a set play on offense I would describe as a beater screen. Their first attempt ended in a missed shot. Their second resulted in a goal. And their third led to a reset and resulted in bludger control.

While only one attempt led to a goal, all three plays created offensive opportunities, slowed the pace of the game and helped Austin stay in snitch range.

Strategy and Diagram

Diagram system is explained in this post.

The beater screen uses quaffle passing to distract a defensive beater.

An offensive beater then “screens” the defensive beater, knocking-them out. The screen removes the defensive beater from the play and forces the defensive chasers to cover the space their beater was protecting.

While the defense adjusts, the quaffle-carrier attempts to score by either shooting or driving.

Beater Screen I

01:17 – 01:23

On their first possession, Austin ran a beater screen play, resulting in a missed shot.

The Austin distributor passes the quaffle to their wing chaser. This pass distracts the Rochester defending beater.
The Austin attacking beater takes advantage of the Rochester beater’s distraction to knock-out the defender.
As this knock-out is taking place, the former Austin distributor shifts forward, towards the Rochester hoops, anticipating a pass.
Just after the knock-out, the Austin wing chaser lobs the quaffle to the now open Austin chaser, who catches it.
The Austin quaffle-carrier turns to the hoops and attempts a shot on an open right hoop.

The timing of the first pass and bludger throw is key to defining the beater screen. The Austin wing chaser receiving the ball triggers a Rochester defensive shift; distracting the defensive beater long enough for the offensive beater to likely knock them out.

Austin’s wing chaser holds the quaffle for three seconds before passing, long enough to force the Rochester defense to commit to stopping a wing drive. When the pass finally happens, Rochester’s chasers are too off-balance to intercept without beater support, which has been removed.

Austin retained bludger control throughout the play.

Beater Screen II

05:09 – 05:16

On their fourth possession of the match, Austin attempted another beater screen, resulting in a goal.

Austin sets up their offense with one chaser flat with the quaffle distributor at the top of their formation.
The distributor passes the quaffle to the flat chaser, shifting the attention of the Rochester defense.
The Rochester beater adjusts to the new quaffle-carrier, distracting them from the Austin beater approaching their left.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, the Austin beater knocks-out the Rochester beater.
With a now open lane the Austin quaffle-carrier drives to the keeper zone, swims the keeper and scores on the middle hoop.

Again, this play relies on timing the first pass and the beat. Rochester’s adjustment to a new quaffle-carrier distracts the defensive beater, allowing the Austin beater to make a high-percentage throw.

This example is less fluid than the previous. The Austin beater begins their throwing motion after the pass is received instead of while the ball is in the air, causing the quaffle-carrier to wait for the bludger throw before driving to the hoops, rather than transitioning straight into a drive, sacrificing momentum.

Against a quicker defense that momentum loss could turn this play from a goal to a no goal.

Austin retained bludger control throughout the play.

Beater Screen III

07:49 – 07:56

Austin attempted a third beater screen on their sixth possession, resulting in a reset and gaining bludger control. Austin used this possession to open an opportunity for their beaters to gain bludger control.

Like in the last outlined play, Austin sets up with two chasers flat at the top of their formation. This time however, the wing chaser has the quaffle.
The wing chaser lobs the quaffle to the right flat chaser, who catches it and begins a drive to the hoops.
The Austin beater with the bludger fakes a throw at the Rochester back beater, who rolls their bludger towards their hoops, anticipating a knock-out.
The Austin beater immediately turns and throws, knocking-out the Rochester front beater.
The Austin quaffle-carrier drives towards the hoops as the Rochester chasers shift to stop his drive and the Rochester back beater recovers their bludger.
The Austin beaters recover two bludgers as the Austin quaffle-carrier runs back towards mid-field to reset the offense.

Despite gaining bludger control, Austin was unable to remove both Rochester beaters from the play.

After the reset, Austin began to pass the quaffle between chasers, attempting to setup another beater screen play. But Rochester did not give them an opportunity.

Takeaways

For the rest of the game, Rochester would use their beaters to harass the Austin beaters. This tactic would keep Austin from setting up clean bludger screen plays. Austin would rely on more traditional driving strategies to score from thereon out.

So far, this is the only Austin Outlaws game I have closely watched. I’m curious to see if the beater screen is constant in their game plans.

Against defenses that are slow to adjust or as part of a dynamic offense, the beater screen seems very effective. It relies on team chemistry and execution speed over physical skill. Any team that devotes time to practicing this play should be able to include it in their strategy.

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