Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Oh boy, here I go reinventing my throwing form again

Since I was a sophmore in high school, I wanted to have the biggest throws. Constantly trying to hit 100 yards with my backhand, hucking forehands as far as possible for goals, huck turnovers instead of easy swings and unders. Dedicated most of my throwing practice to pure power and developing form to support it. This more or less worked out - I had one thing I could mostly do really well, and the emphasis on full body form that I was able to develop allowed for pretty solid breakmark throws as I got older and more experienced. 

But anyone who reads this knows the weaknesses my game had - over reliance on hucking, telegraphing, lots of turnovers (especially when I was tilted or having a bad field vision game). Leaning on low release IO hucks made it tough to play on days with unfavorable wind conditions. 

Last season I got much better at handling adverse wind but still fell victim to ugly release point patterns. I used to focus very much on release points as a binary system of low to high - and got stuck conflating release angles with very proscribed release points. For instance, I thought OI hucks had to be released high, IO throws always low.

This year I'm reinventing my throws using Kung Fu Throwing as praxis, especially its emphasis on release points far away from the body. Learning to release far away with all throws, release OI throws low, develop more angles for IO. I want to be unblockable. I want to break any mark in any wind condition. I want crisp flat throws to under cuts, and hucks that are dictated by finesse instead of power. I have power for days. I need better disc skills.

After practicing with the youths today, I can say the kung fu is starting to pay off. Had some of the most excellent away from the body backhand hucks I can remember throwing in years. Want more. With a scoober on top. 

As soon as you decide you're done learning, you're done. I stopped actively learning about throwing from 2012 to 2014. Throwing is now at the core of my weekly activity again. I love it.