Handlers: handlers in general tend to be the brains of the operation and the safety net for other players to throw to if nobody else is open. They're kind of like the QB of a football team except they have to work together really well. Handlers usually have the ability to huck (throw far down the field) both forehand and backhand. They do less running than the cutters, but are always looking and reading the other players movements. It's every players job to know how fast other teammates can run/what kind of cuts they make so that they can place the disc perfectly, but handlers are especially responsible for this. For the most part they line up perpendicular with the long end of the field.
Depending on where the disc is on the field/who has it, the handlers switch among themselves. They switch between the left/middle/right positions. It's their job to "swing" the disc, which means that they pass the disc laterally between them to get the disc from left-right and visa vera. This allows cutters to get open on both sides of the field and makes the defense run that much more.
They look down the field for open cutters, and hopefully are able to get it down field. Because it's common sense that you can throw the frisbee across the field as much as you want, but that doesn't help you get it down field to the end zone. Once they get it to the cutter it's the cutters job to either throw it back to a handler, who has hopefully run up even with the cutter, or if they're good enough to look down the field to an open cutter. But, it's the handlers job to be there as a safety net if the cutter can't find another cutter to throw to. The disc will go back to the handler who can throw it to a handler on the L/R side and the process starts all over again.
When it comes down to it, good handlers make a great team. You can't expect to win games if you don't have handlers who can't swing the disc and huck it down field. I once played with a handler who wasn't very fast at all, but she could always anticipate where the disc was going to be. She was always the best player on the team because of this fact; she knew where to be at the right time. Even though every player benefits from being fast, it's not as necessary for handlers as it is for cutters.
Seeing how long this took to explain I'll cover the role of the cutters in a future post. At later dates I'll go over: offensive and defensive plays, types of throws, and probably random facts about frisbee.
