Throwing Thought: The Hammer, or, Throwing to Space
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Loading ...A few things that are important for throwing the hammer:
Grip. If you can hold a frisbee to throw a forehand as I’ve described previously, you’re probably in good shape. As I touch upon briefly in the video, it’s not so much the grip that matters as the fact that the grip allows you to hold the frisbee in line (parallel) with your forearm. If you can hold the disc, however you can manage, parallel with the forearm, you’ll be able to learn and maintain a consistent hammer.
Grip is also essential for throwing in the wind or throwing for distance. You have to be able to hold the disc firm in windy conditions, lest it be blown off-track before it even leaves your hand, and you also need to grip the disc tightly enough to transfer power to your throw.
Arm angle (tilt). This will change depending on the situation. How much you adjust this angle will affect the flight path of the throw–do you want a low, fast trajectory? A double-helix that floats? Something closer to a blade? Develop this sense with trial and error. This also affects how the disc flies in wind. Throwing upwind, you want to stay over a hammer like you would any other throw–this means a slight alteration in the tilt and follow-through of your throw so it flies lower (see arm action below). In a downwind, you want to throw with a bit more touch so the wind doesn’t turn your hammer into a sinking rock. Crosswinds are perhaps the most difficult to gauge–depending on the intensity and direction of the wind, you will need to tilt the disc so it comes out more like a blade (if the wind is blowing from your left for a righty) or with more of a flatter profile (if the wind is blowing from your right). As a general rule (this applies with “normal” throws, too), try not to expose the underside of the disc to the wind. If anybody has more insight to offer to this end, feel free. I find I have to calibrate my hammers for the wind more often than not instead of knowing right off the bat, but it doesn’t take more than a handful of warm-up throws to get to that point.
Related note about the wind–wind is not a nonstarter for over-the-tops or hammers; GUSTY wind is. The change is what makes the throw unpredictable–if the wind is consistent, you can make a consistent adjustment and maintain effectiveness.
Body angle (tilt). I’ve found a slight lean (to the left for righties) aids in-wind adjustment of the disc’s flight path. This follows pretty naturally from the footwork of the push-off described below.
Arm action (trajectory). This ties in to the above. How you project the frisbee–in my mental lingo, I cue myself to “project” rather than throw the disc–makes a big difference. Again, how do you want the disc to fly and arrive at its target? You can project the disc with a higher trajectory so that it takes longer to arrive at its target or a lower trajectory to try and speed it along. This is critical to throwing a hammer successfully in a game (particularly outside of zone situations with stationary targets). You have to learn to appreciate not only the spatial aspect of the throw–throwing to your target–but also the temporal aspect–throwing to your target in such time that it can be caught. I feel like, with hammers more than any other throw (ok, I’m really just talking about forehand and backhand) in ultimate, you need both to be successful. This is why defenses will concede the hammer more readily than the rest–the skill and sense to consistently place these throws is hard to find, and the margin for error creates easy turnovers/turnover opportunities.
I emphasize placing the hammer and projecting the disc here, because hammers are all about touch, in my opinion. This is not a throw that can simply be “gripped and ripped.” You might get the disc to fly somewhere close to where you intended by doing so, but you have to be able to control for the temporal aspect–putting the hammer in such a way that it is catchable by your receiver, ideally in uncontested fashion. A quick-moving hammer is one of the hardest catches to make for a moving receiver unless it’s placed perfectly (hi, Misha!).
Release point. I snap my wrist and release somewhere above my head/right shoulder. How soon or late you release determines in part how much (or how little) touch the hammer will have, so keep that in mind when you project this throw.
Footwork and Shoulder Use. I’ve seen/heard a few different schools of thought on footwork. I’m of the opinion that you should be able to throw a hammer from a standing, balanced position, and also capable of throwing it out of a forehand pivot. For me, my footwork requires pushing off with my right foot a little (really, it’s more of a shift of weight to the left), usually ending on my toes or with my foot slightly off the ground. I find, however, that the importance of footwork tends to pale in comparison to the importance of loading the scapula. A hammer more closely approximates a football or baseball throwing motion than a forehand or backhand, so the shoulder loading really enables one to put a lot more power behind the throw. When you generate power from the shoulder, rather than the arm, it allows you greater control over how the disc is projected–it allows you to put touch on a powerful throw.
Wrist snap. Remember that the wrist snap is what puts rotational force on the disc–it does not project the disc forward. That’s what your body and shoulder are for. Impart a velocity to the frisbee with your body and shoulder, and then snap your wrist when you’re ready to release and not sooner. It’s a nice, compact motion (as it is for all throws, but it’s harder to get away without doing for a hammer).
Troubleshooting:
If you find your throws wavering or wobbling (in the wind), examine your wrist snap, but also examine your grip to make sure you’re holding the disc in proper, parallel alignment with your forearm.
If you find your throws double-helixing when you don’t intend them to, or doing just the opposite–too bladey, mind the wind first, and mind how much you’re tilting the disc second.
