Planning for a three man tournament doesn't have to be complicated, and you don't need the field layout either. There is a very simple and effective team movement called filling which works as both an offensive and defensive play.
General Filling
The whole point of filling is to keep a wide spread on your side of the field, and to balance out your limited amount of players according to the position and number of opponents.
The actual movement of filling is the act of having your back player move a quarter to halfway into the strong side of the field.
Offense
This fill is used after your team gets an elimination and has the advantage on the other team.
Break out as usual, try and get a wide spread on the field and control the tapes. Keep a back center player to lane if you wish. Play conservative (shoot lots, move little) until you gain the advantage by eliminating one of the other teams players.
Once they lose a player, the other team has a weak side wherever the eliminated player was. Your team should seize this opportunity and make a strong side on their weak side.
To do this, have the front player on your strong side move up the tape. Your back center player will fill in to that front players side and give them support. Both the front player and back player will concentrate their lanes on the next player.
Since it is two on one, your are likely to succeed in eliminating this player. If you do so successfully, you now have three spread diagonally across the field, and the opposing team has one player left with nowhere to go.
Defense
Let's say instead of gaining the advantage, you lose it. You break out normally, but one of your front players is hit on the way to his bunker.
You now have a weak side, and the opposing team has a strong side. To prevent them from filling into your weak side, have the back player IMMEDIATELY fill in to your weak side. This way, your team still has a wide spread of the field and can control the tapes even though your down a player.
Play conservative until you gain the advantage again.
The whole point of filling is to keep a wide spread of players over the field. Fill in any holes and don't let the other team into your weak side. It can also be used to push a strong side more effectively. The most important thing is to fill immediately after an elimination, otherwise you give the opponents a chance to fill in themselves. Remember to communicate with your team mates - don't get lazy when you have the advantage, and don't give up when you lose it.
Photos taken by Philipe Boissonneault Team: Legacy
