The Pancake

Uses

The pancake catch is the most reliable catching method in general and should be used whenever possible. It is also the easiest method to use when sliding to catch a disc. In windy conditions, go out of your way to use the pancake as their is a much larger room for error than for a rim catch.

Execution

With your arms at a comfortable distance from your body, hold them perpendicular to each other about six inches apart with the bottom hand facing up and the top hand facing down. Spread your fingers apart as the disc comes in, and clamp them down in the center of the disc stopping the spin immediately.

Some people rim catch (coming soon!) with their bottom hand and put their top hand on top of their bottom thumb. I find that it is easier to get complacent when catching like this and it's also more likely to bounce out of your hands if you're catching on a hard in-cut. However, it really comes down to personal preference which technique you use.

Many players hop up a little bit before they catch the disc so that they're not bobbing up and down while running. This makes for a much easier catch. I encourage practicing this.

Be sure that when you're running you do not hold your hands out preparing to pancake; only put them up at the last minute (though not so late that it's hard to make a routine catch). Running with your hands out will cause you to slow down immensely.

Become comfortable catching with either hand on top and on bottom. Usually this will not matter, but if the disc is further to one side than the other, it will be more comfortable for you to catch with a certain hand on top.

Drill(s)

Coming Soon!

Video

Coming Soon!

Michael Laporte

The Backhand

Grip

For the backhand there are a wide variety of grips used, and I’m going to talk about four of them. The grip and snap is less important for the backhand than the forehand, but is still vital. Choosing your grip really comes down to personal preference.

The Power Grip is the most common grip used by high level Ultimate players, though it is by no means the only grip used by high level players. It is currently the grip I use. To use the power grip, you curl all of your fingers around the rim of the disc and make a sort of a fist (all fingers will be at about 45 degrees, not perpendicular to the discs face). The first or second knuckle (depending on comfort) of your index finger is curled on the rim. The disc spinning around this knuckle is what imparts much of the spin on the disc. The thumb runs along the flight rings.

Pros: Learning the actual grip is rather easy and feels quite natural, unlike some of the other grips. It is also very simple to get tons of spin and tons of distance using this grip. It also pairs with the hybrid forehand grip to make for very quick transitions between grips.

Cons: It is much more challenging to execute short throws with this grip. Along the same token, it is very hard to throw with touch (slow throws with high stability - very easy to catch).

The Fan Grip is probably the least common of these grips. It was the first grip I used when learning to throw a backhand properly. To use the fan grip, the pointer finger is curled around the rim in the same way as in the power grip. However, the other three fingers are fanned out to the middle of the disc. The thumb is along the flight rings, but generally further to the center than in the power grip.

Pros: The fan grip offers much greater stability when holding the disc. Less strength is needed to hold the disc, especially if you do not hold the disc in your left hand (see upper body) while you are waiting to perform a backhand. It is also much easier to make short, accurate throw. It is also much easier to throw high release backhands.

Cons: It is much harder to put the same degree of spin on the disc using the fan grip as when using the power grip, as the spin comes more from the jerking motion out of your hand than from spinning around your finger. This makes the disc more susceptible to instability in the air on long passes, as well as decreasing total distance. It’s also harder to fake with.

The Split Finger Grip is a compromise between the power grip and the fan grip. It was the second grip I used for my backhands. The grip is the same as the power grip, except that it must be the first (nearest to the end) knuckle on the index finger which is curled around the rim, and the middle finger is extended towards the center of the disc. This grip also varies depending on the throw - for longer throws, the middle finger isn’t as far towards the center, and the opposite is true for shorter throws. This is not something which you think about when throwing; it becomes second nature very quickly. If it is something you have to think about when throwing, I advise either just sticking with your middle finger at some medium distance, or to choose a different grip.

Pros: It’s the best of both worlds - you get a combination of the pros of both of the other two grips.

Cons: It’s the worst of both worlds - you get a combination of the cons of both of the other two grips.

The Finger on the Rim Grip is the grip which almost everyone who does not play Ultimate uses. It is the power grip, but with the index finger resting on the rim.

Pros: None

Cons: Take the same amount of strength to hold in your hand as the power grip, but loses even more distance and spin than the fan grip because the index finger on the rim actually has a large negative effect. Also, it requires your fingers to be fairly flexible because it’s a stretch to hold the disc in this grip. This also means that the throw will be inconsistent as the pointer finger will press against the disc at different strengths depending on flexibility, which is constantly changing.

It seems at first the the finger on the rim will help guide the disc in the right direction. This is not true. Do not use this grip!

Upper Body

Before you begin the throwing motion, stand with your front shoulder facing the target (you are perpendicular to the target). Hold the disc comfortably in both of your hands (Not everyone does this - some people never touch the disc when they throw with their left hand. I find that using both hands helps stability, conserving strength, and consistency and therefore accuracy in release.) at a comfortable level (probably a little higher than your waist).

Turn your back towards your target and draw the disc back while cocking the disc against your forearm. Bringing the disc forward in a straight line and uncurl from your wind-up. The arm is less important in the backhand throw than getting as much rotation with your torso as possible and snapping your wrist at the end of the throw. 

It is easy to lose sight of your target when you’re throwing a backhand. The further back you can wind-up, the further your throw will go, but also the harder it is to keep your eye on the target. Work on your mobility to get a better wind-up, but do not lose sight of your target. Bad things happen.

Lower Body

Step across your body so that your back faces the target. This lunge is much more natural than for a forehand. Again, do not let your knee lean out! You will get injured. Even more so than for the forehand, most of the power from a backhand comes from the legs, so be sure to unwind your hips as far as fast as possible. Try not to lean to far forward but rather to almost sit back. If you overextend it leads to off balance throws with not nearly as much torque.

Tips and Info

Just as in the forehand, be comfortable with stepping out at different distance and angles, and experiment with different release points and speeds. There are many variations on the backhand which are all very useful, which hopefully I will have a chance to talk about later, such as high and low-release backhands, IO and OI throws, and pulls.

The backhand is probably the second most commonly used throw right after the forehand, and is needed as a fundamental for the same reason the forehand is needed. A great mark can take away a forehand entirely, but even the best mark can’t take away both the backhand and the forehand.

For most new players, they have some idea of how to throw a backhand coming into playing ultimate. However, usually, once they learn how to throw a forehand, their backhand seems to not only not improve as quickly as their flick, but seems to even get worse. Ultiworld, an online magazine, recently wrote an article explaining the phenomena of the “backhand lag.” This seemingly strange occurrence happens for a variety of reasons. For one thing, the biomechanics of a backhand are more complicated. There is a larger range in which things can go wrong, and the throw itself doesn’t have the pinpoint accuracy which flicks often because of it. Also, while you felt like you knew how to throw a backhand before, usually you have to relearn it, which can be discouraging. What I think is the main reason, however, is the fact that most youth teams or teams playing against beginners will force forehand. Because of this, most teams prepare to be forced forehand, and are therefore given many, many more reps throwing flicks than backhands (Katherine Rowe).

Video

Coming Soon!

Michael Laporte

The Forehand

Grip

There are two grips used predominantly to throw a flick (alternate name for a forehand), and and one other grip which is slightly more uncommon, all three of which I will discuss here.

The Split Finger Grip is probably the grip most commonly used by low level or non-Ultimate players. You make a peace sign with your pointer and middle finger. You then place your middle finger on the rim and your pointer finger towards the middle of the disc. You curl up you ring finger and pinky, and place your thumb on top of the disc on the flight rings.

Pros: It is the easiest of the grips in the short term to pick up and be able to throw right away. It requires far less strength to grip and hold the disc, as well as being easier to use with small hands. For these reasons it is the more popular grip with women in general.

Cons: It is very hard to get any sort of pressure on the disc, or to get nearly as much wrist snap as the other grips. These factors lead to less stable shorter throws. It is also hard to hold the disc steadily for fakes as the outer two fingers must remain curled. 

The Power Grip is the most common grip used by medium to high level Ultimate players. You press your middle finger in the corner of the rim, and place your pointer finger next to your middle finger. Your ring finger and pinky are pressed against the outside of the rim (this is key!), and your thumb is placed on the flight rings, pressing down hard so that you make a small dent in the top of the disc.

Pros: This grip is much more stable in your hand and promotes more spin (and therefore distance and stability) in the air. 

Cons: It is much, much harder to learn this grip than the split finger. Your forearm must be stronger than for the split finger, and when first beginning to throw with this grip, most throws will wobble and go straight into the ground. Persevere! It is a much better grip in the long term. It is also much harder to learn to throw at short distances (~5 yds).

The Hybrid Grip is much more uncommon than either of the previous two grips. This one is much harder to explain on paper, but will have a better explanation in the video. Everything for the hybrid grip is the same essentially as the power grip, except the pointer finger is bent underneath the middle finger and the tip is against the rim.

Pros: As will be displayed in the video segment, this grip is much faster to transition between with the backhand power grip than any other combination of grips. Also, some people find they can put more pressure on the disc (and therefore more spin) using the hybrid grip.

Cons: From my experience, to use the hybrid grip well, it requires even more forearm strength than the power grip. This becomes clear if you play games without sufficient strength as your grip fatigues very quickly into the game, especially if you are handling. It is also harder to throw outside-in and to minimize wobble.

Upper Body

It is general wisdom that before you throw a forehand, you want to stand relaxed with the disc around chest level, perpendicular to the ground. However, if you use the hybrid grip or the split-finger grip, it's sometimes easier to hold it parallel.

To throw a flick, you want to lower the disc so that it is parallel to the ground by your side, turn your right shoulder back (left if you are left handed), cock your wrist and your elbow back, then turn your shoulder forward as you bring your elbow forward, and finish with a snap of the wrist. 

The wrist snap is the most important part of a forehand. With just good wrist snap, one can throw a flick probably about 30 yards. When you are learning to throw a forehand, begin just practicing holding the disc perpendicular, putting it parallel, cocking your wrist back, and snapping. Just use your wrist! Once you get the wrist snap down, progress to using more of your upper body.

A common problem when learning to throw a forehand is having the disc turn outside-in and going straight into the ground. You may want to try raising your right leg and throwing under it. This helps to correct the problem.

Once you can throw a decent flick with little wobble, work on speeding it all up, and adding on more and more yards. The whole upper body will move in a fluid motion and the disc will seem to be moving in a circle before the release (see video).

Lower Body

Your left foot will be the foot you have to pivot on (your right foot can move) if you are a right-handed thrower. To be clear, this is not a rule that the left foot must be the pivot foot (it’s one of my pet peeves when people say it is), but it allows you to step out further and you use legs more powerfully to power your hucks. I will do my best to explain this more clearly in the video.

Step out at roughly a 30-45 degree angle to the right and slightly forward in a lunge. Be sure to have your foot point in the same direction you are stepping. Many players step out with their foot directly to the right and their knee bends backwards. This is very bad for your knee and promotes injury.

Tips and Info

Once you’ve gotten down a solid forehand and you want to be able to launch it further, remember that the hips are the key. Being able to step out, twist your hips to bring all the strength of your legs to the throw, and bring your arm forward all in the exact correct sequence is what really bring things together. I may write a separate tutorial on flick hucks later, and in that I will focus less on learning to throw a forehand and more on how to perfect it.

While I’m fairly specific in what you should do with your wind-up and lower body, it’s important to be able to step at a range of angles and lengths, as well as being able to release the disc at different speeds and heights. I say this so that you don’t freeze up when a mark is on you and takes away the exact point at which you have to release every time. There are a few variations that I will write tutorials for specifically because they’re more different or more difficult (e.g. high-release flick), and some that I probably won’t (e.g. low-release flick). Be comfortable throwing with all of these variables changing once you’re slightly comfortable with the throw so that you can throw to where you want when you want to, even with a mark on.

In Ultimate, there is usually a mark that will be guarding the player with the disc (I will go into much more detail in a Strategy post on the mark). Because of this, it's important to be able to make throws besides the basic backhand as the mark can take away the backhand entirely. The forehand and backhand throws are two fundamentals that every Ultimate player must be able to execute.

Video

  

Coming Soon!

Michael Laporte