Squat's Thoughts #4
so you're sprinting downfield for the deep look with your defender desperately trying to catch up from a few yards behind you. you're not to worried though; you've made this cut a million times, and as long as the thrower leads you into the endzone with the disc it should be a score. sure enough, the OI forehand huck goes up. "Shit, it's coming fast," you think to yourself. the disc has good distance, but it's quickly blading in high from your right. you continue sprinting after it, and jump with your right hand raised for the one-handed snag...and it tragically macs off your hand and quickly turfs. disgusted with yourself, you turn to play defense on the poor sap you just torched. and you think to yourself, "i should've listened to scheid all those times he rambled on and on about how to catch with one hand!"
well now is your chance :)
first off, i should say that two-handed catches are often preferable. pancakes should be used for anything from your thighs up to your head, and two-handed claws for most low throws, throws on either side of your body, and most jumping catches. sometimes though, a one-handed catch is the safest route (skying attempts, many layout attempts, very high or low throws to your side), and this primer is for those times.
different throws have different spins, and it's much easier to catch with one hand if you learn to instinctively read it. so for the next couple of weeks, every time you throw around with somebody, train your mind to read the disc's spin. backhands spin clockwise when viewed from above, and forehands spin counterclockwise (vice versa for southpaws). therefore, every disc approaching you has an edge that is split in two: half approaching edge and half trailing edge. try to visualize this; have your roommate throw a short pass to you if it helps. always catch a disc on the approaching edge, it is much harder to catch a trailing edge pass.
this means you should catch forehands on their left side, and backhands on their right side. this holds true whether you are chasing down a disc on a deep cut, or running to it on an incut. a corollary to this is that it's easier to catch forehands with your left hand, and backhands with your right hand, because of the way our hands are naturally shaped. give it a try next time you're throwing around. if you focus on it for 30 minutes straight, you'll never have to think about it again because it will be instinct. and a good ultimate player thrives on instinct. but that's a thought for another day...
-scheid
well now is your chance :)
first off, i should say that two-handed catches are often preferable. pancakes should be used for anything from your thighs up to your head, and two-handed claws for most low throws, throws on either side of your body, and most jumping catches. sometimes though, a one-handed catch is the safest route (skying attempts, many layout attempts, very high or low throws to your side), and this primer is for those times.
different throws have different spins, and it's much easier to catch with one hand if you learn to instinctively read it. so for the next couple of weeks, every time you throw around with somebody, train your mind to read the disc's spin. backhands spin clockwise when viewed from above, and forehands spin counterclockwise (vice versa for southpaws). therefore, every disc approaching you has an edge that is split in two: half approaching edge and half trailing edge. try to visualize this; have your roommate throw a short pass to you if it helps. always catch a disc on the approaching edge, it is much harder to catch a trailing edge pass.
this means you should catch forehands on their left side, and backhands on their right side. this holds true whether you are chasing down a disc on a deep cut, or running to it on an incut. a corollary to this is that it's easier to catch forehands with your left hand, and backhands with your right hand, because of the way our hands are naturally shaped. give it a try next time you're throwing around. if you focus on it for 30 minutes straight, you'll never have to think about it again because it will be instinct. and a good ultimate player thrives on instinct. but that's a thought for another day...
-scheid
1 Comments:
Scheid's telling the truth. He mentioned this last year so I worked at it. After a few weeks of making sure you catch the disc on the correct side it becomes like second nature. Now, when I see a disc coming, if I have to make the one-handed grab it's no problem, I don't even take into account which way the disc is going, I just catch it so it spins into my hand.
This leads to another topic, defense. You can also use this technique to make a more effective defender. We all know that it is better to catch a disc when on defense, but it isn't always possible. Using the spin of the disc can help you in those situations where you just have to slap it.
If you can hit the disc on the side that is spinning into your hand you will be much more effective at knocking it down since the force of your hit will go into stopping the spin (as opposed to making it spin faster (i.e. macking it). Try practicing it on all of your friends throws while they are warming up.
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