How to practice throwing
Using science!
I recently wrote An introduction to the science of learning, for frisbee throwers to share a number of basic concepts from the science of learning that should shape the way we practice. But that article was more focused on the science part, with just a few discussions of the throwing part. Here I'd like to get into more detail on how I put those lessons into practice.
There are a couple famous "frisbee throwing routines", namely Zen Throwing and Kung Fu Throwing. Both have a mix of things I like and things I don't like.
My biggest gripe with Zen Throwing is the insistence that the disc is supposed to be flat throughout the throwing motion, which is very obviously not true:
#3 Wall resets...
Description: Pull back your throw to the farthest point that you normally reach. STOP. Moving only your head, turn and look at the angle of the disc. Only moving your wrist, adjust the angle of the disc to be as flat as possible. STOP. Move your head only until you can refocus on your partner. Throw.
Kung Fu Throwing has a little too much repetition for my tastes, given that we now know how important variability (switching things up in practice) is for learning.
Both programs, in my opinion, don't focus enough on developing new throws. If I wanted to work on a low release backhand, in the Kung Fu routine, I'd throw 10 of them and then never go back to them the rest of the session. In his defense, he is upfront that "this is an excellent system for established throwers." In Zen Throwing, there's not much time devoted to new throws either ("#10, R&D throw...Duration: 1 minute").
Both programs reference some of the same important concepts I'll discuss here—like variation, practicing how you play, and engaging in focused, "deliberate practice". Let's talk more about those background concepts so you'll be able to implement an effective routine no matter where you are or who you're practicing with.
Considerations while practicing
Variation
One of the biggest lessons from my previous article is that switching it up during practice works better in the long run than doing the same thing over and over again. As I mentioned above, that's one thing I don't love about either of the existing programs—they have some variation, but I don't think they lean into it quite enough. There shouldn't be one block in the throwing session where you work on low release throws, they should come up again and again throughout the session until you've hit the number of reps you're trying to get.
I shy away from giving a specific structure to a throwing program, because there should be a certain amount of randomness inherently built in. In a real game, you don't know what throw you will throw — an IO break, a flick huck, or a backhand dump pass? That same randomness should be built into our throwing sessions.
For feasibility reasons, I don't take it quite to the extreme that I've just described. If I threw one huck and then went back to throwing short passes, I'd waste a lot of time walking back and forth. Assuming your goal is to get ~10 total minutes of hucking, I would suggest having multiple shorter hucking sessions of a couple minutes instead of the one ten-minute session suggested in Kung Fu Throwing.
I also don't take it quite to the extreme of never throwing the same throw twice. My personal rule of thumb is that, even if I'm really trying to work on one particular throw, I'll change it up when I start to feel like I'm getting in a groove. Even though it feels nice, the skills that transfer to in-game situations aren't built up when we're in the groove throwing the same throw accurately over-and-over again. The process of being able to find that groove quickly and immediately after doing other things is when learning actually happens.
There are endless ways to introduce variation into our throwing practice. Here are a few of the big ones:
Move around the field as you throw, both to change the distance of your throw and the direction you're throwing. (This doesn't just expose you to different wind angles! It also keeps your brain from overly keying in on certain environmental cues (the lines on the field, the trees in the background) that might not be present in a real game.)
Aim at something slightly different each time (see the tip on challenging your Accuracy, below)
Constantly change which throw you're throwing.
If you're throwing by yourself, don't stack the discs up each time you collect them—throw them from where they land.
Mental Feedback
Practice is not just something we do with our bodies. The mental process of practicing may even be more important than the physical motions. Practice should be a constant process of throwing and adjusting as we judge if our throw met the expectations we set for it.
Specifically, here are a few things I'm judging about my throws during practice:
Accuracy: Did the throw end up exactly where I wanted it to end up?
Flight path: Did the throw take the path through the air that I wanted it to?
Spin speed: How fast was the disc spinning? More spin makes throws more consistent.
Wobble: How much wobble did the disc have leaving my hand? Less wobble also makes throws longer and more consistent.
Release speed: How fast did I release the throw from the start of my throwing motion? The faster my release speed, the easier it'll be to throw past a mark.
Here are a few quick tips on how I'll work on each of these factors:
Accuracy: Zen Throwing suggests having your receiver put their hand up for you to throw to. You don't even need to go that far—just aim at a specific body part on your receiver (left shoulder, right shoulder, belly button, etc). Switch continuously between body parts to maximize the variation in your throws.
Flight path: Throw IOs and OIs of different shapes. I don't have any special suggestions here, just try to throw a certain throw and give yourself feedback on whether the flight path succeeded or not, independent of whether it ended up at the target.
Spin speed: Challenge yourself to use more wrist and less arm. Make the disc spin faster without it traveling forward through the air faster.
Wobble: Make the disc spin as cleanly as possible. In my opinion, this can be a bit difficult to work on while throwing with a partner, and may require changing your grip or working on some extremely short throws that you just throw to yourself. (Something like this, but not just with backhands). Some wobble problems will fix themselves as you get more experienced, and will be reduced with more spin speed or by just gripping the disc tighter.
Release speed: Challenge yourself to move through your throwing motion uncomfortably fast. Slowly the uncomfortable will become more comfortable. Start with the disc in a neutral position that represents the way you actually hold it in games when you're looking for a target.
One thing that I really like about some of these challenges is that they are happening inside your mind. You don't need to recruit a like-minded throwing partner who also wants to do the Zen throwing challenge—you can throw with anybody, and challenge yourself in various ways without them having any idea that you might be aiming for their left shoulder on one throw and their right shoulder on the next.
As always, my practice represents throws I will actually throw in games—in the way I pivot, in the release point, etc. I don't include that in the list of things I'm "judging" because I feel that it's built into my practice on an even more basic level. But for some newer players it may be the first thing to worry about getting right in your practice, before you even start worrying about accuracy. I'll discuss this more below.
Don't be afraid to be a little weird — practice how you play
As I mentioned above, it's critical to practice throwing throws the way you'd throw them in a game. This will maximize the transfer of your practice skills to in-game ability.
One way I think about this point is that I try to remember to not be afraid to be a little weird. Too many frisbee players will practice throwing by standing 10-25 yards apart and throw back and forth for the whole session. I'm convinced that there's a fair amount of subconscious peer pressure—people only feel comfortable practicing the way they see other people practicing. If we can push back against that pressure, it'll help us develop our own throws and will help our throwing partners feel more comfortable themselves in trying things that are slightly "weirder" in practice.
There are endless ways to make our practice throws just a little more game-like:
In general we need to throw around the mark in a game. Our practice throws should reflect this.
When we throw a backhand dump, in a real game we'll start facing downfield, and then pivot and throw in a direction that was originally behind and to the left of us. But most people when practicing will throw backhands where they're looking at and facing their target the whole time.
In a real game we may be scanning the field with our eyes before finally finding a receiver and throwing to them. Most people when practicing will stare at their receiver the whole time.
In a real game, we'll often catch and then turn downfield to throw a continuation pass. Practice catching and then immediately pivoting in a new direction before throwing quickly.
One thing I really like about Kung Fu Throwing is that there's emphasis placed on practicing very short throws. Good frisbee players will throw lots of really short throws in a real game, but often beginner or intermediate players will forget to practice these.
In real games we're usually throwing to moving targets. Even if I'm not in the mood to run or even jog, I'll make a session a little more game-like for my throwing partner by just strolling back and forth as we throw.
In a real game, we might only throw one throw every couple minutes. Some pro basketball players, for a similar reason, will also have practice sessions where they only shoot one shot every few minutes. (See here for example). I'm not sure I love this idea, since it adds realism at the expense of drastically reducing the number of reps. But it might be useful for some advanced players.
Long-term development
As I noted above, one thing I don't like about the well-known throwing routines is that they don't prioritize development. The vast majority of frisbee players are not already nationals-level throwers who just need to maintain their existing skillset. Almost everyone could become a better frisbee player by expanding their toolkit and refining their existing throws. Let's talk more about working on new throws and making long-term progress:
Developing new throws
Everyone I know has been able to get better at throwing when they practice consistently. I've known people who were throwing embarrassingly bad hammers but after a few weeks of practice had a respectable throw. We should all be looking to slowly, patiently expand our throwing toolkit.
In my previous article, I only talked very briefly about the forgetting curve. Basically, when we learn something for the first time, we're liable to forget it very quickly. But as we review it more and more, it will stay with us for longer and longer between practice sessions.
We can use this in how we structure our practice time when we want to develop a new throw. Don't be scared to throw a new throw a lot when first starting out with it. But as it becomes more natural, we can go longer between practice reps without "forgetting". And we should go longer between practice reps, since variability is so important for learning.
But we want to build up those breaks between practicing a skill. Say I'm trying to learn to throw a hammer. If I practice for two weeks, and then go a month without throwing another hammer, I may end up barely any better than I started. The skill is so new that it's quickly forgotten. So with new skills, be sure to get enough reps that you don't "fall off the forgetting curve". But when refining skills that are already somewhat developed, prioritize variation.
Personally, I like to chunk my practice into six-week periods. I'll choose one or two throws that I'm actually trying to improve, and in practice sessions I try to challenge myself with those throws. For the rest of my throws, I just try to get enough reps that my skill level stays constant. (And that's not to say that I'll always see progress within six weeks. Sometimes it takes two or three of these sessions before I really feel like I've seen improvements.) At the end of six weeks, I'll spend a couple minutes writing in my throwing journal—do I feel like I improved the throws I wanted to improve? Do I pick new throws to focus on in the coming weeks?
For many players, even for many Nationals-level players, adding and getting more comfortable with new throws should remain and important part of the throwing routine.
Throwing longer
Almost everyone you play frisbee with could have longer throws if they spent enough time developing their long throws.
To get bigger throws, throw enough long throws in a session that your arm is a tiny bit sore the next day. Try to throw further than you're comfortable with. Use more of your body. Move your arm slightly faster than you ever have before. Do that 2-3 times a week, for 2-3 months. Take a few weeks off from hucking, then repeat the cycle.
Throwing big throws like this will get us "stronger", but it's not the same kind of stronger that we get when we lift weights. I think of it more like a comfort with moving your arm really fast. Bigger throwers don't necessarily have bigger muscles, they just have the muscle control to still aim the disc when their arm is moving faster than you can comfortably move your arm. (They also have the comfort with their form to use more of their body in the throwing motion.)
The high-speed whipping motion of a big throw will also slowly strengthen the ligaments & stuff in our shoulders, elbows, and wrists that can't be easily strengthened by traditional controlled weightlifting workouts. But there's no need to overdo it—go slow, go just past the edge of your comfort zone, and over time that comfort zone will expand.
Remember that it's OK to throw some REALLY bad throws in practice, especially when you're working on increasing your range. The way I think of it: first you have to get comfortable moving your arm faster, and only then can you start to get comfortable moving your arm faster and still controlling the disc.
Grip and throwing motion
If you are a new-ish player who is patient and committed to getting better at frisbee, consider refining your grip and throwing motion before spending months and months refining your throws.
I believe that everyone's form will be a little different because our bodies are all a little different. However, I also believe that there are some general concepts that are true across all throwers relating to the physics and biomechanics of how we can most efficiently transfer power to the disc. (For example, see this previous article.)
Although I haven't explored this topic fully myself, there are lots of resources out there to investigate what a great grip and throwing form look like. Watch some video tutorials, watch videos of good throwers doing their thing, or talk to people in your community who have great throws.
Making a change like this will probably make your throws worse for a month, perhaps even for a few months. But once you get through that adjustment period, you'll have unlocked the ability to get drastically better in the future. In the long term, it's absolutely worth it.
Final Thoughts
I don't believe in a structured "program" for a couple reasons. The first I already mentioned above: randomness should be inherent to our frisbee practice just like it will be in real ultimate games. The second is that everyone is at a unique point in their frisbee throwing journey. They should be challenging themselves in the unique way that expands their own comfort zone.
There's a lot I like about Zen Throwing and Kung Fu Throwing. You'll see some ideas from those programs in what I've shared here. They're both worth reading for good ideas of drills to mix in to your practice. Where I differ from them is mainly in (a) my increased focus on variation and (b) the extended discussion of what long-term development looks like instead of assuming an experienced thrower. (For example, neither of those programs ever really discuss grip or wobble.)
(Also, a lot of the Zen Throwing drills are actually catching drills. I agree that throwing practice is also a good time to practice catching, and hope to have a post about this in the future.)
To the extent that my "program" can be written down, it looks something like this:
First, if you're dedicated to getting better, work on improving your grip and throwing motion, if needed.
Remember how important mindset is, as I've hinted at in a few different sections. Be patient—it can take a few months to see improvement. Be vulnerable—you'll need to throw some bad throws, perhaps even embarrassingly bad throws, before you can throw good throws.
In a throwing session, always aim for variety and avoid "getting in a groove" for too long. Pick a couple throws that you're trying to improve, and throw more of those throughout the session. Mix in enough of your other throws that those skills won't degrade over time.
Constantly vary your throws, the distance to your thrower, and your the spot you're aiming at—variation helps us learn more quickly.
Always make your throws as "game-like" as possible, in your release point, release speed, pivots, etc.
Challenge yourself as you throw: accuracy, spin speed, flight path, wobble, release speed, and any other challenges you might think of.