Introduction
“In the early days of playing ultimate, there were fewer skilled handlers compared to the number of great athletes on the field. Teams were fortunate if they had players with diverse throwing abilities, and even luckier if there were players who could reliably maintain a hyzer upwind with any throw. However, playing skills have developed significantly since then. The articles on this site provide guidance on training for improved throwing power and one-handed catching skills. The same training techniques utilized for enhancing overall power and skills in other disc sports can be applied to enhance handling abilities in ultimate.” – Ken Westerfield
Ultimate Cross-training Handling Exercise
To enhance and sustain one’s playing abilities in any sport, it is beneficial to incorporate training activities that isolate the necessary skills for that particular sport. Elite athletes in any sport often opt for similar sports and exercises for cross-training. For disc athletes, all disc sports have specific disc skills that are relevant to ultimate and can serve as an exceptional tool for better handling skills.
It wasn’t common knowledge for players in the early days; they just played all of the disc sports. There were clear benefits, disc golf for hucking, pulling, and accuracy, freestyle and double-disc court (DDC) for all handling skills, and guts for one-hand catching and power throwing.
It may be half a century later, but the same benefits of cross-training still apply. Ultimate is fast becoming the breakout disc sport of the future. Although I would never want to see freestyle moves included in the game of ultimate, ultimate players should consider the playing benefits that can come from other disc sports, especially freestyle as an excellent throw and catch handling exercise.
A History Lesson
The first organized disc sport was Guts Frisbee, but a pre-nail-delay, throw-and-catch freestyle was the first activity associated with Frisbee. In the 1970s, touring freestyle performers demonstrated that the Frisbee was more than just a beach toy. Competitive disc sports like ultimate and disc golf have grown in popularity, but freestyle remains a unique and self-challenging activity perfect for developing disc-handling skills.
Fast-Freestyle (Throw and Catch) for Practicing Ultimate Handling Skills
“Freestyle can be a unique training exercise, not necessarily for turning ultimate players into freestylers, but simply as an excellent cross-trainer for improving an ultimate player’s skills for handling the disc.”
When it comes to exercise and training, it’s important to make it enjoyable to achieve the best results. Freestyle isn’t just a game or sport, it’s a set of skills that can enhance your throwing and catching abilities, particularly in situations that require quick throws and one-handed catches. For ultimate players with strong handling skills, freestyle can be a challenging way to improve and maintain those skills. For beginners, it’s a fun way to learn and build confidence. As freestyle throwing is already present in all disc sports, including ultimate, disc athletes should consider incorporating regular freestyle play that includes one-hand freestyle catching as a recreational and handler practice activity.
Several YouTube videos show freestyle, but most focus on air-bounce throws and nail-delay moves. This isn’t the type of freestyle you are looking for. The non-use of delay aids (plastic nails and silicone sprays) will put you on the right path for a throw-and-catch flow-freestyle and handling exercise.
Practicing freestyle doesn’t have to be rigid or structured. It can also take on an experimental and playful attitude, perfect for warming up or having fun with the disc. Incorporating exercises focusing on your disc skills alongside your ultimate play is a great way to improve your handling abilities.
Freestyle Throwing
I’ve seen videos produced by a few of today’s elite ultimate players of their versions of uncommon throwing possibilities. Rowan McDonnell is a shining example; although he demonstrates a few new variations, most are throws that were used in early freestyle. We lumped them together as “freestyle throws” and they were a big part of playing freestyle before 1975.
Even though you’re highly unlikely to use all of these throwing variations specifically in game situations, just adding these freestyle throwing variations in practice will improve your abilities, especially for beginning and intermediate players. They also prepare you for playing in adverse conditions like wind, rain, cold, or just against a great defense.
Becoming an offensive threat by utilizing various disc-throwing techniques to attack before the defense can reset is highly effective, as McDonnell has demonstrated with his success. Adding basic freestyle catching to the freestyle throwing techniques being demonstrated by Rowan, in his video, is the training exercise this article is promoting. It will not only enhance the variety of your throws but also quicken your ability to transition between catching and throwing.
Freestyle Catching
“You can never have too many disc skills for ultimate.”
Ultimate players might wonder what freestyle catching has to do with two-hand rim and clap catching. Freestyle can help you develop the skill and confidence for catching with one hand, reducing the dependence on always using both hands.
“Two-hand catching wrongly assumes a kind of offensive privilege. Once the disc is in the air, it belongs to no one. Squaring your shoulders for a two-hand clap or rim catch can leave you vulnerable to a block. Players should train to improve their one-hand catching skills.”
When you’re running down the ultimate field under a disc about to make a catch, a two-handed rim or clap catch is not always possible or the best idea, especially when a defender is near. To help prevent blocks, always make the first possible contact with the disc, by reaching out with the hand that positions your body and the opposite hand between the disc and the defender. This will shut down the diving lane and increase a defender’s risk of a foul.
In fast-freestyle, one-hand catches are always obstructed by your own body, with many catches being blind (when you can’t see the disc go into your hand). When I played ultimate, my question to my team would always be, “Why do you use two hands to catch?” Many would answer that they were afraid that they might drop it, that would be the wrong answer. I would then instruct them on the physics of catching the spinning disc with either hand.
Freestyle is a one-hand catching practice for catching a spinning disc in any situation. Some primary freestyle catches are behind-the-back, behind-the-head, under one or both legs, forwards, or backward. These catches can also be done while jumping, running, or spinning. When training, adding freestyle catching to the throws you already know is a great way to practice one-hand catching the disc on the correct side of the spin in different positions. You can watch early freestyle champion Krae Van Sickle demonstrate a few of these catching techniques.
Krae is demonstrating one-hand freestyle catching skills. Adding some freestyle/ultimate throwing variety will make this an excellent ultimate handling training exercise.
Going “Back to the Future”
In the past, players of various disc sports, including freestyle, did not play these disc sports for training purposes. Upon reflection, playing these different disc sports did offer valuable training benefits. In the future, when ultimate teams are looking for every competitive edge, a freestyle throw and catch option, as a cross-trainer, will become an integral part of ultimate players training for improved handling skills.
During championship play, the smallest details can make a significant difference. If two ultimate teams were identical in every way, except one has freestyle skills, I would bet the team with freestyle skills would have a decisive edge.
Instruction: Forehand and Backhand Power Throwing for a Better Huck and Pull.
Players Organizations and resources: USA Ultimate |Ultimate Canada | PDGA | WFDF | Freestyle Players Association | FrisbeeGuru | Flying Disc Museum | Ultimate Rob
History articles: History of Disc Sports | History of Ultimate Frisbee
The History of Frisbee and Disc Sports 