Developing New Throws

Hammers, scoobers, off-hand backhands, blades, high-releases, push-passes.... everybody loves the fancy throws, but not everybody can/does throw them, especially in games. So, how do you add a new throw to your arsenal so that you can effectively use it in games?

The first question we need to ask is: how do we define having a throw "in your arsenal"?  For me, this means that you can effectively throw the throw in a game situation without planning or thinking about it.  You want to be able to see a cut develop, and immediately/instinctively know, based on the timing, space, position of your mark, and wind direction/strength, which throw you should throw for that situation.  This is much more difficult than it sounds and can take a long time to learn, depending on the throw.  So, to add a throw to your arsenal, here is the general progression I think you need to take for what situations you throw that throw in:

1. Unfocused throwing - tossing on the quad with your friends? Try a scoober or two
2. Focused throwing - more deliberate throwing where you work on improving specific skills and throws
3. Practices/drills - start throwing one or two of your new throws in breakmark drills, hucking drills, etc.
4. Scrimmages/pickup/league games
5. Tournament games

For the rest of this post, I'll use the scoober as my example... although this applies to all throws, including hucks and more "traditional" break throws.

First thing's first: if you want to add a new throw, you have to start throwing it.  The best place to start is when you're just casually throwing - that way you don't have to focus on the mechanics, you just mess around and see what feels comfortable, what works well for you.   This is also a great time to start messing around with the angle and distance of the throw. Once you start to feel a little more comfortable, you can start adding it in to your focused throwing.  (Side note: if you aren't focused throwing, you need to be.)  The difference between focused and unfocused throwing is that you are giving 100% mental effort on every throw and trying much harder to make it a game-like throw.  So, try to push your scoober release higher and further from your body to get away from the mark, try to keep the scoober from floating too much, but also make sure it is thrown at a catchable height.  Work on throwing a fake, so that you are moving your mark. When focused throwing, you should also work on throws in bulk - if working on scoobers, throw a lot of them in a row so you can build the muscle memory.  Also, note that I say "add" scoobers to your focused throwing - you should still be constantly working on all of your throws, so adding scoobers just means you have to throw more.

The next step is to start throwing your scoober in drills.  The drill that immediately comes to mind is a breakmark drill.  If you are running a breakmark drill, I'd recommend throwing just one or two scoobers during the whole drill - so you can work on throwing it to a cutter moving into space, but also aren't becoming over-reliant on that throw.  Often, when people add a new throw, they fall in love with it and start throwing scoobers when they could have just thrown an easier backhand (something I have personal experience with...).  So, to help avoid this, make sure you are only using your new throw sparingly at first - you won't be throwing a scoober every time you break the mark, so don't throw it every time in a break mark drill.

Next, you want to start throwing your new throw in game situations, but ideally in games where the outcome is not as important - such as scrimmages in practice, pickup games, or league games. At first, you might need to set up the throw artificially to get the hang of throwing it in games - so before the point you might tell your favorite receiver that you want to throw him a scoober and he/she should cut for it.  However, as I mentioned above, before you start throwing in tournament games, you want to be at a point where you can make the right throw for a given situation without having to set it up or even really think about it.

The last thing I'll say about new throws is that a lot of times, captains/coaches/leaders of teams, especially college teams, do not like throws that are not "traditional" or "fundamental" throws - low release, step out flicks and backhands. I think the jury is still out on that approach - on the one hand, there are a lot of teams and a lot of players that are very successful using scoobers, hammers, and high releases to their advantage. There are also plenty of players who can break the mark using a variety of these throws even though they don't often huck - which provides a great counterpoint to the statement that "you shouldn't work on that scoober until you can throw flick hucks".  On the other hand, Revolver is consistently the best team in the world, and they rarely throw anything besides full step, low-releases (go back and watch some of Revolver's games from this year - in a typical game, they will maybe throw one throw that isn't "100% fundamental" throw.  For me, I like having a variety of options at my disposal so that I can feel confident beating the defense in different situations; but, when the going gets tough (windy, or if your team is just struggling to complete throws), you should always be able to get back to those fundamentals.