Improving touch?

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[aipod]

Hi everyone,

I started playing frisbee in college for about a year and half now. It's really fun and i love the spirit of the game, but I definitely want to get better. I was wondering if anyone had any tips for improving the touch on the disc?

I know you get a softer touch by increasing the number of spins on the disc via more wrist action, but the logic and physics behind it doesn't quite translate for me somehow. Should I just toss more until I improve? (I'm just worried that if I keep doing the same wrong thing, it'll be ingrained into my memory/muscles and not helpful.)

On offense I'm usually a cutter or the deep look but at some point I would really, REALLY want to be good enough that I can handle. I really want to improve, so if anyone has any comment or suggestions I am totally open to hearing them.

[rrudnic]

I'm not sure what mean by softer touch here by increasing the amount of spin on the disc you don't necessarily make it any "softer" increasing the amount of spin on the disc makes it more stable, fly straighter, resist the wind more, things of that nature. Maybe your just thinking about high release throws that you throw sort of soft and floaty and need a lot of spin on to keep them stable and effective. At any rate if you want to get better at any aspect of throwing you need to throw more. About the only thing I can think of you doing besides throwing would be to watch some video of elite players and watch how they throw. The best throwers have precise fast throwing motion with no wasted motions, no flourishes or extra wasted windup or anything like that.   

[Kyle]

Aipod, you are somewhat right on your idea of "touch."  What you are trying to do is decrease the forward velocity on the disc while maintaining the stability.  The stability, as rrudnic points out, is a result of having enough spin on the disc.  Spins are put on the disc in one way: wrist snap.  But the speed of your forward arm motion can act as a multiplier on the spins.  Many new players get to the point of throwing the disc stably by using their forward arm motion to increase the spins.  The result is that the disc is stable but going very fast (doesn't have a lot of "touch") and this can be difficult to receive.  

I work with a lot of young players on improving "touch" and there are two primary ways to do this:

1.  Decrease the arm motion while maintaining the spin.  To do this you'll need to work on your wrist snap.  There are a few ways to do this.  Here's a couple of ideas

• Throw with a partner at very short distances isolating your wrist motion (not using your arm at all)
• If you don't have a partner, try throwing the disc in place (flat) and putting spin on it.  Throw as if you are going to try to spin it on your finger in front of you
• If you don't have a disc (or find the 2nd tip very difficult) get a pack of playing cards and try to spin them on to a nearby target
• Alternatively, you can take a towel and practice snapping that (although snapping a towel typically includes greater arm motion).  Roomates or siblings can be helpful in letting you know how much snap you are getting on the towel  

2. While the mechanics change above is really your long term goal, you can also improve your "touch" by improving your angle of release.  Throws released completely level travel fastest due to their aerodynamics.  To slow a throw down, put the nose up a little bit - opening the bottom of the disc to the target just a bit.  A couple of words of warning about this: first - you'll need to be wary of the wind here.  If you are throwing upwind, throwing with the nose up too much will force the disc up much higher.  Throwing with a strong wind behind you will push the disc down to the ground.  Secondly - even in no wind the nose up will push the disc higher.  The best way to deal with this is to work on releasing the disc lower to the ground.  This will also help you break the mark as you extend further away from your pivot and get under the markers hands!

In no-wind or low wind situations most good throwers release low to high (meaning throw from knee level or below and aim for chest to chin) and lots of wrist snap.  If they are looking to throw further they just add the additional arm velocity and core strength.  

Hope this helps.

-Kyle

[Pepper]

Actually, you don't need to actively snap your wrist. Don't get me wrong, your wrist will snap to provide the disc with spin, but a lot of people use their wrist too much. This usually results in less predictable accuracy (meaning it depends on the timing of your release whether you will throw straight).

For a normal forehand and backhand I don't use my wrist actively at all, rather I let my forward arm motion snap my wrist automatically at the end of the throw. This holds true for a backhand as well as a forehand. If you are talking about more exotic throws such as a scoober, snapping your wrist can help.

The best way to improve is to get some good tips on the right technique and then throw (but not for more than about 1 hour straight when learning a new technique!). There are many different techniques, but try to learn from people who can throw AND explain exactly how they do it. There are many people who can throw but not explain how they do it, because they take the little things for granted.

Anyway, good luck on improving your throws. Make sure you put in a lot of hours (not straight!), because ultimately that is the only way to improve.

[Kyle]

jmeijers,

The original poster was asking about how to improve "touch."  The most likely problem is too much arm speed.  Assuming that's the case, he needs to decrease his arm motion but maintain stability on the disc.  To do that he needs to snap his wrist more. 

-Kyle