Thoughts.

I’ve touched upon a lot of the same stuff the huddle authors touch upon already with my catching talk in this blog–the importance of attacking the disc cannot be overstated at high levels, and using your body is an underappreciated but equally important component of making uncontested grabs. Read all of the articles, and note the frequency with which some of the information is repeated–continuity of an idea is a pretty good predictor for its utility.

I’d like to draw attention to a couple gems that really stood out for me, courtesy of Nancy Sun and Gwen Ambler.

Taking a direction completely different from her co-writers, Nancy talks about receiving the pull–but when she talks about catching and throwing at the end, there’s a bit worth pulling outside of the the context of just pull receiving.

First, on catching (emphasis mine):

3. Execution. I want to pancake the pull at chest height and close to my body. I focus on keeping my hands at 90 degree angles to each other (as opposed to parallel) to eliminate misalignment and the chance that the disc might flip out of my hands.

Brilliant. Just pick up a disc and try this at home. I could NOT flub a clap catch with my hands oriented at 90 degrees. Whenever you teach somebody how to clap catch from now on, make sure you specify the importance angle of the hands–this is a very simple hangup that somebody who fancies herself uncoordinated will get caught on when first learning to play.

Second, on the catch-throw turnaround:

Getting your feet into a balanced throwing position should be done simultaneous to catching. Tenths of a second can be the difference between hitting the swing or having the mark come on to prevent you from hitting the swing…As a right-handed thrower, I mostly pancake with my right hand on top so that sliding into a backhand grip is very quick. Coming out of the pancake, right-hand on top is also the most natural and secure motion for me to enter into my forehand grip.

If you haven’t already, think about your hands’ positioning when you catch with regards to being able to throw right afterwards. I’ve already mused on this here (it’s really nice to see some of my thoughts validated by elite ultimate players), so give that a look for a bit more exposition on that topic if you want. For the record, I am now more comfortable catching right hand on top, but transition pretty quickly to throwing in either orientation.

Also, play around with your footwork and how you set your body up to make a continuation when you receive the disc–if you receive in a balanced position (“balanced” can be in motion towards a throw, too), you’ll be able to execute a throw shortly thereafter under control. Perhaps more specifics on that at a later time.

Gwen also chooses to go in a different direction than her peers–rather than getting into the nitty-gritty of practicing catches, she talks about the mental side to catching and grabbing high/deep passes instead of the under. Read the whole article. And then re-read this part, which resonates a lot with my own catching experience:

You have to anticipate when and where you’re going to reach the disc and already be ready to catch the disc when that time/space arrives.

This does not mean stopping to wait for the disc to get to you. Instead, it often means propelling yourself through the air with your last step so that you have time in the air to concentrate on the watching the disc into your hands. I am always a fan of catching the disc with both feet off the ground, mid-stride whenever possible. This gives your body, hands, and eyes the appropriate time to prepare for the catch.