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Practice Ideas
by Greg Husak
The fundamental catch most players at the elite level of the game is one where you are running hard back to the disc with a defender on your back pressing you to keep your maximum speed until after the reception. The basic component to catching this is the mentality of attacking the disc.
I have seen many players drop this by trying to finesse the Frisbee into their hands rather than aggressively securing it, whether with a "clap catch" or a "tiger claw" technique. A very simple drill to improve this as a team is setting up lines where you run at throwers who try to deliver crisp passes right at your chest. Each individual must press themselves to push all the way through the reception, rather than slowing up at the end, allowing a block for a defender in a game situation. If any fear of attacking the disc in this situation can be eliminated at practice, it will certainly bode well for in-game performance.
Beyond attacking the disc there are basic hand-eye coordination elements which will help players improve their catching. Hand-eye coordination can be improved, and there are no shortage of ways to challenge you to get hands reacting to what the eye sees. Some ideas for things to try when just playing catch are always catching with one hand (i.e. 10 passes with the left, then 10 with the right) regardless of where the disc is thrown, trying to catch the opposite side of the disc than you would normally catch (based on the spin) or changing which hand you put on top when clap-catching. Training the body to get outside it's comfort zone will make some difficult in-game situations more natural.
Finally, playing catching reaction games, whether with a disc or ball or anything actually, will help the hands respond to new situations and improve their ability to react to what the eye sees, rather than thinking through a particular catch.
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Tuesday, August 19th, 2008 |
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