Ryan Young gives us a great practice technique for the rim delay. Basically, try to keep the disc in the same location in front of you while keeping the disc sliding on the rim, on your finger nail. To do this, rotate your hand in a circle the same direction as the disc is spinning. Also, move your wrist and finger so the disc does not touch your skin, only your nail. Lastly, move your elbow and other body parts out of the way so the disc will continue to rotate freely.
This technique is a stepping stone to mastering control over the rim delay, being able to give yourself any nose you desire, and to learning to go from the rim to the center delay.
A description of the spin direction of a flying disc. Short for counter clockwise. When describing spin direction, it is customary to use a top down perspective of the disc. A disc that appears to be spinning counter from the top will appear to be spinning clock from the bottom, hence the top down perspective is used no matter the vantage point. When a disc is upside down, the top down perspective is still used. Thus when a disc is turned over, its spin direction reverses. For a disc that is tilted, use the side that is the most upward. For a disc that is perfectly perpendicular to the ground, use the top side of the disc.
Paul Kenny teaches one of his tricks called the Precession. This trick requires two discs. It is almost like an endless cuff, where one disc is cuffing the other in an endless precession. The disc on top slides on it’s rim and rotates around and around.
To perform this trick, hold one disc with a backhand grip. Throw the other on with lots of spin at about a 45 degree angle. Then let is softly land its rim on top of the disc being held. Now rotate the held disc in the opposite direction of the spinning disc. The spinning disc will rotate it’s nose opposite of its spin direction. Keep the held disc at the lowest point of the spinning disc to keep control.
Then, you have options. Pushing upwards at the right moment can cause the spinning disc to turn over. Stopping the rotation can cause the spinning disc to grip the held disc and roll off into a chest roll or other trick. And, I’m sure there is much more to be created here since this is a new and unique trick. So go invent something cool and post about it in the comments.
While the disc is in the air, spin around before you catch or take control of the disc again. The more spins you do, the harder the trick so spinning fast without getting dizzy is the key. Also, you need to track the disc as you spin. Ryan explains how to practice these skills.
Paul Kenny teaches us how to perform a MAC (Midair Attitude Correction). Note that in the video, we erroneously identify it as a SUB (Speeded Up Brush). What Paul is demonstrating is actually a MAC. Here’s a video on the SUB, and another video of Tom Leitner’s SUB throw.
A MAC is when a player touches the frisbee in flight to change the angle or direction of flight of a flying disc. It can be done by touching the disc on top, or on the outer rim (a brush), or the bottom of the rim (a cuff). Does a tip qualify as well? Chime in if you know.
The top touch MAC as Paul demonstrates is useful to cause a disc to airbounce as it passes by you, or to flatten it if it’s too steep.
To perform a top touch MAC, touch or hit the disc on top as it is in flight. Paul demonstrates hitting a disc as it flies by. Where to touch it depends on spin of the disc and the desired outcome. To bring the nose up, hit a clock disc at 3 o’clock and counter at 9 o’clock. To bring the nose down, hit counter at 3 o’clock and clock at 9 o’clock.
Also, note that using downward force will aid gravity in pulling the disc to the ground. So, care must be used as to when and how hard to use a top touch MAC. A top touch MAC makes the most sense when its use will cause the disc to airbounce into the wind. Otherwise thetop touch MAC will just push the disc to the ground. Of course, that may be a trick of its own…MAC it down fast and then kick tip it back up. Or MAC it down and cuff is up. Or…let you imagination run wild.
Matt Gauthier demonstrate how to do a two handed throw. This throw is perfect for learning how to center nail delay as you can throw it to yourself, it has a decent amount of spin, and it comes to you flat for an easy reception to the nail delay.
If you can do tricks with one disc, imagine all the tricks you can do with two or three or ten. Paul Kenny explores the world of multi-disc tricks and gives away a few of his secrets in this video. Mainly, how he is able to catch so many discs in one hand.
The secret lies in transfer. The disc is caught between the fingers and the thumb. Then it is moved and helded between two fingers, leaving the thumb ready to catch another one.
I believe Paul’s record is 9 (Paul, please correct me). How many can you catch in one hand?
One interesting observation I’ve made about doing drills. I play freestyle frisbee for the jam. It’s so much fun to succeed with your friends in the jam. Drills seem like work, not fun, and the jam is never about doing repetitions. However, my desire to be a better jammer overcame my distaste for work. I did the drills. In my living room, bed room, at work, on walks, I just kept trying skills. It turns out, the better I got, the more fun I had in the jam. Because of that, the drills never really feel like work. And yes, I still do them. As does Ryan.
What drills do you do to get better at Freestyle Frisbee?
Counter (adjective)
Shred (verb)