Teaching people how to throw a forehand is something you'll invariably have to do if you play ultimate with beginners. It's not the most instinctive of throws.
For anyone interested in the topic, I'd recommend a look at this article from the Australian Fyling Disc Association, the book "Essential Ultimate" (amazon link) has some really good stuff about it too. There is even a DVD about perfecting throws - the example footage is about throwing forehands -it's certainly worth a look.
The reason I post about this now, is because of that whole "stick your elbow to your ribcage" approach to teaching forehand throwing. An idea that seems to have some fans. Does anyone know where the concept came from? (possibly it's hinted at in the AFDA article above - but it certainly doesn't say to do this). I really don't like it anyway. As I understand it, people know that it's bad throwing mechanics, but see it as some sort of learning aid to get beginners to focus on using their wrist more.
I think it's of very limited use and what's more it can be troublesome for people to unlearn it as their throwing progresses. Did anyone that reads this learn to throw that way?
To anyone involved in teaching beginners how to throw forehands, I'd urge you to stay away from the elbow-ribcage idea. In my experience, the best way to teach someone how to throw a good forehand, is to teach them how to throw a good forehand. Teach the body position, movements and grip first, encouraging them to focus on throws that spin and stay level.
Teaching your bad arm to throw a forehand can be a useful insight into the process of acquiring such a skill. At first you really have to think about the body mechanics involved, but through enough repetition it almost seems like your arm remembers most of that and your brain can progress onto thinking about the flight of the disc and eventually, just the target. (to reiterate, I really don't think you want your arm to remember the wrong throwing mechanics).
PDF; The Flowers From My Mother's Garden
4 years ago
This is how I learned to throw forehand, I think it helped me pick it up quite quickly, and yes, I did also pick up the bad habit of throwing it from too close to my body, but once it was pointed out to me it didn't take long for me to correct this (although, it wasn't pointed out until I'd been playing a year).
ReplyDeletePersonally, i feel that for people playing the sport for the first time, as is the case in most Universities around the country, learning to throw forehand is really the first step from just trying out the sport "for the craic", and towards actually becomming an Ultimate player. I think if the ol' "tuck your elbow into your ribs" technique helps this process, well, how bad? It's easy correct their technique once they're hooked.
Cheers Mossy.
ReplyDeleteAs long as you don't leave the beginners with the impression that such a technique is the definitively correct one, then I won't hold it against you!
Yea, I totally agree that the elbow in is a bad way of initially teaching the side arm throw, but it is useful to explain wrist snap - but once this is achieved then full extension should be encouraged. IMHO
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