Catching Thought: Layout Grabs
(No Ratings Yet. Click to Rate!)
Loading ...This is something I never really thought about until this spring, when I was teaching somebody how to lay out.
How do you grab the disc when you lay out?
As far as I can gather, there are a few standard styles:
1) The two hander. You rim catch with both hands or do something close to it, landing full extension with your arms in front of you. This woman missed in her bid and is apparently screaming in frustration for it), but she’s going for the two hander here.
2) The “lay out clap.” You get horizontal, but clap catch–this often leads to a roll on the landing or a landing on the shoulder. Probably the most dangerous kind of layout catch you can do. This guy isn’t even fully extended, and is in for a world of hurt in about two seconds.
3) One handers. With a few subsets, the gist of what I’m thinking about here:
-Fingers on top–for those high grabs you reach up for
-Fingers on bottom–for those low ones you need to get your hand under
You can see the general body mechanics at work in this picture, despite it being a defensive bid. One arm for the disc, the other to guide the body down to the ground.
I ONLY grab frisbees on a layout one handed, with my fingers underneath. And generally right handed when I can swing it, though I think I’m ok with both. Any of the other styles (save the clap, which I try to avoid but will pull out every so often if necessary), I’m very liable to bonk (with fingers on top) or hurt myself (with both arms extended–I always use one to cushion my fall).
Do you have any preference? What’s standard for you, and why? I’ve decided I prefer one handers because it allows for maximal extension and a braced landing (and I fancy myself consistent enough with the one-handed grab that the two hander is unnecessary). And I prefer fingers underneath because it’s an easier transition to sliding on the ground without having the disc stripped, as I use my forearm for impact absorption on the landing (I’ll do a more extensive post on layout technique sometime later). Think about what works and why. And PRACTICE if you’re unhappy with your skillset! Visualization is a nice tool to practice layouts without the extra wear and tear of throwing yourself on the ground repeatedly, if physical practice is too painful. But it’s through repetition that you’ll find the most success in-game.
I borked one in Ottawa because I went in fingers on top. The O guys all laughed at me for it.
I’m much more comfortable doing twisty dangerous D bids around people than I am at doing a correct O bid.
We always teach our rookies to do two-handed layouts, and we look for the mud on their jerseys to be right in the center of their bodies, from the lower chest to the stomach. We do this because having both arms out is the best way to minimize injuries. Laying out sideways, you’re putting your shoulders at risk, and with a one-handed layout you’re risking your wrist, shoulder, and ribs on the side that you’re using to brace your impact.
Having said that, I almost always lay out one-handed these days since I can often get better extension and I can choose which arm to catch with depending on the rotation and direction of the disc. Still, I think it’s important to teach the two-handed layout first, especially for players who don’t lay out naturally, as it will give them better form early on. Once they learn how to do it without hurting themselves, they can develop their method naturally with experience.
funny, i thought the woman was yelling jambalaya: http://www.brown.edu/Athletics/Mens_Ultimate/zipstips/index.html
the two hander can also be done fingers on top or on bottom
layouts can also be broken into two categories: the ones where you have to fall forwards in order to catch the disc, and the one that you actually need to jump horizontally to catch. after watching a lot, many layouts fall into either of these two categories, with the former often using a two hander or layout clap, with the latter using the one hander.
whenever i talk to somebody about layouts, i use the inner game mentality, i think that thinking too much about proper form will cause even more mistakes (although they just might prevent an injury)
Bill,
That’s an interesting point. I would almost say that everyone is more comfortable doing defensive rather than offensive bids, but I know for a fact that some people suffer from a mental block with D bids, being such short-trigger action, while with most O bids you have time to recognize the need to bid (a huck that’s floating just outside of your reach, for instance). Definitely easier to sacrifice the body on D bids.
rhythmicmoose,
That’s a really interesting progression! Honestly, I only laid out one-handed, so I can’t really comment on doing the two hander, but I really like having my off arm to absorb some impact. If I ever wind up teaching people layout technique again I’ll see about starting with two hands. Thanks for the comment!
James,
I feel like the same criticism applies to two-handed grab finger positioning: with fingers on bottom you get better impact absorption. I feel like a fingers-on-top two hander becomes a one handed hold so you can turn the disc to avoid it hitting the ground as you do.
Also, oi. Fall-over bids. There are a couple styles of layouts that I consider faux pas, and the fall-over is one of them (the other big one is the leaping, gazelle-style bid, due to the wasted motion).
You definitely can’t think to much about the technique as you’re doing it. You can visualize a lot of it before you do the real thing, though. And key yourself it on a few keys as you’re learning.