by Jamie McCormick

Created on: March 08, 2009   Last Updated: February 17, 2010

The most basic and important skill to master for competitive Ultimate is throwing. To be a solid player, you need to throw the disc with both consistency and accuracy. It does little good to jump five feet into the air and grab a disc if you are unable to get it to your next teammate when you land. Throwing properly also helps in non-competitive settings, such as beach parties and college campus quads, because your friends will no longer have to chase your throws into crashing waves or oncoming traffic. Clearly, consistently accurate throwing makes for a much safer and much more fun time. So here are a few throw-specific pointers – some are simple, for beginners, and some are more complex, for those who already have the basic throw and just need to tune up or get more distance and accuracy.

Backhand: The best grip is a power grip where all four fingers are curled underneath the rim of the disc, gripping hard and allowing for more thrust and torque, and the thumb rests on top, giving balance to the throw. If you learn to throw with your pointer finger resting along the outside of the rim, although it may feel more stable as you are first learning, it can be difficult to transition later, and your long-distance throws will never reach their full potential. Begin with the power grip and practice until you get it - and have faith, you will get it.

Tips:

1) The simplest version of this throw is short distance and does not require much zip, such as a dump to a handler or a little throw to your teammate right next to you. Instead of using a full arm motion to throw, just “release” the disc with your hand and wrist. Hold the disc level to the ground and snap your wrist toward your target. The wrist snap will give the disc enough spin to reach its destination, but it won't fly quite so quickly. When a dump throw flies too quickly, it can be almost impossible to catch, and the short distance means there is very little time to react to the throw. Just let go of the disc with a little wrist snap to keep it in the air, and let your handler run on to it.

2) Always, always, always step out as far as you can while maintaining your balance. Though helpful with forehands, this especially helps with backhands, since the force will usually be to the forehand side, so you will be stepping around your defender to throw a backhand. The extra leverage when you take a step to the side (you should step with the foot on the same side as your throwing arm) will also

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