Start considering your options as early as possible
The inward pivot vs. the 'jump pivot'
In the comments of a previous article, I told Felix—a famous proponent of pivoting inwards after the catch—"I don't think I'm as convinced as you are that we should *always* turn in...".
And in a email discussion with a reader a while back, I had explained in a little more detail:
As a handler, I'm aware of this issue [i.e., the issue of not being able to see downfield when you catch a disc while moving towards the backfield] and I'm striving to minimize it. I feel like I can get the disc on the dump and look swing pass -> short pass to the middle of the field -> pass back to the person who threw it to me, and consider all these options by stall 2 or so. So it's hard to believe [catching the disc facing backwards] is that big an issue because good players will actively work to minimize it.
More generally, I would say: you should always be challenging yourself to begin considering your throwing options as soon as possible. No matter which direction you're facing when you catch the disc, you should be thinking—as early as possible—about where you'll throw it next. And that often means you need to start thinking about where you'll throw it before you've fully caught the disc.
In the linked video above, Felix calls out a missed opportunity to turn inwards. But to me, the issue isn't turning inwards. The issue is that they just didn't begin considering options early enough. If considering options is something you only do after you've caught the disc, turned downfield, and settled yourself, you're doing it too slowly.
The example Felix uses is a bit of an odd one, because the player he's highlighting really didn't need to turn at all. They could've caught it and thrown the dishy pass without any pivoting, inward or outward. The issue is with their way of thinking, not with their way of pivoting:
I'm writing this up now because I happened to come across a great example. Take a look at this screenshot of Travis Dunn from his pool play game at 2023 Nationals. I love the way he's looking downfield before he even lands. Once he's got the disc secured, he's immediately using his eyes to do other things:
It's cool enough that he's looking downfield before even landing. But actually I've been trying to deceive you for dramatic effect. Because what's even more impressive is what he looked like when he started his jump:
That's right, he jumped while facing towards the backfield and before he even landed he had:
Squared up his body to the downfield space
Gotten the disc into his flick grip
looked downfield and began considering his options
This attention to detail allowed him to throw an immediate pass for a goal before the defense was set. You can watch the play here:
PS, kudos to Mel Dunn as well for excellent use of hand signals (something Hive Ultimate and I have both pointed out as an under-appreciated cutter skill). In line with the theme of this article, she's got her hand up the moment Travis lands— before he's even set his pivot foot.
In another recent email discussion, my friend Oliver told me:
When the dump throw is in the air, if I'm not facing forwards, I try to perform a jump catch even if it's not required. I find it easier/faster to orient my body towards the field in the air rather than catching and turning. It's one of those little things that I feel make a big difference in how quickly you can move the disc.
Travis Dunn shows exactly how much you can accomplish with that 'jump pivot'. Personally, I don't think I always jump pivot—but I always aim to be aware of my options as quickly as humanly possible. I hope this video clip helps highlight my feelings on the issue:
I don't think you need to be obsessed with turning inwards (although it's certainly useful at times and should be a tool you can use when needed).
I don't think you need to be obsessed with only making forward dump cuts so you can always catch the disc facing forward (this was the subject under discussion in my email quoted at the beginning).
I do think you should be obsessed with considering your options as soon as possible, in whatever way is necessary. That's what great players are doing. Make a game out of minimizing the time between when you catch and when you're ready—mentally and physically—to throw.
Interesting discussion... I basically agree with how you put it at the end. Yes, you shouldn't be *obsessed* with turning inwards or starting dump/reset cuts from behind so you can catch them facing forward. I would say those two rules of thumb have more the status of "all other things being equal, this is better" rather than absolute dogmas that one should be obsessed with. But even with that status I think they are both important principles that capture something that many many players do that is sub-ideal and can and should be fixed, and so I wouldn't want to see those principles dismissed.
If I understand correctly, you're not dismissing them, so much as suggesting that they are applications of something more fundamental, namely, "considering your options as soon as possible". And I basically agree with that, but have the feeling that it misses something important. Namely: which options? For me, it's crucial that just as a matter of biological fact you can only consider options that you can see and you can only see things that you are facing. So the first options you *will* consider are the ones (if any) you're facing. The example you highlight here is a nice example of a situation where the receiver doesn't really have any immediately-promising options in the direction he's moving, so he does a great job of recognizing this early and turning, before even completing the catch, to start looking for options in a different direction. That's awesome and definitely deserves to be highlighted as another concrete way to achieve quick disc movement.
But I guess I would just want to note that it's only a good play because "the receiver doesn't really have any immediately-promising options in the direction he's moving". If, for example, the central handler (directly behind where the centering IO flick gets caught by TD) had anticipated that completion, shaken her defender, and was wide open facing forward in juicy power position, I think TD should throw to her immediately instead of doing the "jump pivot" rotating-to-face-forward-while-in-the-air thing. Turning away from that wide-open positive option to instead look upfield -- even if you start turning to look upfield super early/quickly -- is a bad idea... in general ... even though in this particular situation it might have led to the same near-immediate score that in fact happened. It's bad in general because often if you turn upfield there won't be an immediate scoring option, and then you've stagnated the flow.
So I guess I would formulate the principle here like this. Speed of play is massively valuable, so if there is a beneficial option open immediately, take it (and this will naturally be an option that you are already facing); if not, you'll have to turn and face and find some beneficial options, so do that as early/quickly as possible (and by rotating in the direction that is most likely to bring the most potential options into view most quickly).
I feel like the jump pivot goes against the ultimate cliche of "catch before you think about the throw." Building a habit of jump pivoting every time you catch an under pass could take away focus from the catch and follows a similar reasoning to why I prefer players don't "milk" passes to jump into the endzone.