This short article outlines the basic tactics of a variant of the 4:2 offense.

Oldfashioned, outdated or overcome. Those are the attributes the 4:2 offense receives from proponents of 'modern handball'. Yet every team knows the situation: you play with a wing cutting in, or the playmaker crosses with one of the backs and stays at 6m, there are many moves that can end up in a 4:2 situation. One that I see very often is the cutter from the wing:



The backcourt player on the side of the circle runner is attacking, the defensive players on the other side are anticipating the pass to the playmaker or back, forcing those players further out and leaving room for the wing to cut in behind the defense.



If the defense notices the cutter, the back is forced to pass the ball to the center that has now moved to the opposite backcourt position, while the former back is now on the wing.



It is a stalemate position and many teams try their best at a pick-and-roll game on the backcourt positions.



A simple shift of the weight of the attack to one side of the court can very quickly get the defense into a tricky situation. First, the backcourt player turned wing comes out of the corner to receive the ball, giving the backcourt player time to reposition himself further to the center position. Parallel to that, the other backcourt player positions himself at the sideline, while the wing moves to the corner. Faking to the outside of the court, the wing player with the ball draws between defenders one and two, forcing defender from zone 2 to help out.



The wing then passes the ball exactly in front of the 7m line, where his backcourt player is now in full speed heading for the goal. This yields a 3 on 2 overload situation in the center of the court:



If any of the two defenders in the third zone move towards the player with the ball, one of the circle runners has the room to for a wide open pass. If the defenders stay passively at the 6m line, the player with the ball has an excellent opportunity to score.
A good defense will not get into trouble over a simple move like that, though. It will move it's zone two defense in front of one of the circle runners, in order to free a zone 3 defender to guard the center offensive player with the ball.



The following pass to the left backcourt, however, is not so easy to counter, especially, if it is executed quickly, and moves with speed:



Again, we have a 3 on 2 overload situation and the backcourt player has all the options: if the zone 2 defender steps up and guards him, the circle runner is open behind him, if the wing defender guards him the wing is open and if both are passive, he has a wide open alley towards the goal.