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Face A Mark
by Jeremy Cram
The most important part of throwing for distance is learning to do so while facing a mark. It's easy for many players to throw 40+ yards unmarked, but when someone's standing in front of you, it becomes much more difficult.
Begin your backhand motion with your hips and follow through with your shoulder and arm. I'm a proponent of bringing the disc straight from the wind-up point to the release point, as opposed to a more arced path. This sort of release will give maximum power and result in I/O or flat throws, which typically make the best hucks. When practicing the backhand huck, try to release the disc before crossing the plane of your body. Developing a quick release will allow your hucks to come off naturally in games. People who release hucks in front of their body will often shortarm hucks, resulting in a crappy throw, or they'll crush someone's face with their follow-through. So, lead with the hips, follow with the shoulder and plan on releasing the disc as it reaches the plane of your body. You should be able to get a good wrist snap to add some distance as well.
Flick hucks are similar to backhands in that power should come primarily from your core. Lead with the hips and shoulders, then let your wrist do the rest.
For both forehand and backhands, power should be generated primarily by the torso. Open-side hucking is easy on the flick side because it releases very quickly, but on the backhand side, a good marker will be able to pressure the slower throw and infringe on your follow through space.
Pulling is a essentially an exagerated backhand huck where you get to run up. First, establish a footwork routine that you will follow for all of your pulls. For me, I take three steps and release. If pulling upwind, try to ride any semblance of angle the wind gives you. The field is 40 yards wide. From one corner you should be able to throw further if you ride some of the crosswind. In severe wind incorporating a 360° spin at your release can add some distance, which is handy during hurricane season. A good pull is primarily about keeping it in play. OB pulls are no good. Secondarily, finding the right balance between distance and height is key. Hangtime allows the defense to set up while distance without good hangtime is less useful. It's better to throw 65 yard pulls that are well covered than 85 yard pulls that are line drives.
I think the best way to expand your range is to throw a lot. Because you can't necessarily do so in game situations, throwing casually can help. Just make sure to be bettering your form at all times. If you relax your form, then any work you put in will be pointless. Work on throwing hucks as if there were a mark, even if you're throwing on the open side. As a general rule, I'd say if you can't throw a flat huck, then don't throw one so work on long flat throws.
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Tuesday, September 16th, 2008 |
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