I have been thinking lately about turnovers and who is ultimately responsible for them.
I think that the majority of the time, in high level Ultimate, turnovers are less the result of good D, or bad work by the receiver, but are the fault of the thrower.
For example, if a pass is made towards a receiver, and their guarder blocks the pass, I believe that the majority of the time this is the fault of the thrower. Sometimes the receiver might have not attacked the disc, or might have changed their cut, or misred the disc, but if the defender is able to get to the disc first, it's generally a bad throw. And sometimes the defender makes an amazing play that gets a d irregardless of good work from the thrower and receiver, but this is very rare.
Here is my extremely scientific breakdown of how often I believe each of these roles is responsible for different types of turnovers:
| Type | Thrower | Receiver | Guarder* |
| Throw goes OB | 95% | 5% |
|
| Throw gets D'd
| 70% | 25% | 5% |
| Throw goes to ground | 90% | 10% |
|
| Throw is dropped | 30% | 70% |
|
*Obviously the Marker is also factor in turnovers, but my rigorous scientific method ignored their involvement.So what does this mean? As a thrower I now realise that if their is a turnover, it's pretty much my fault. So I have to take greater responsibility as a thrower to not force things and cause a turnover.
