So for those who know me…and even those who don’t…I love ultimate frisbee. The best part about ultimate being the frisbee. And the fact that when you throw the frisbee it can do some amazing things.
When I throw a disc, I love watching it fly into the sky and watching how it moves and is affected by the wind. It’s never the same and it’s a great feeling when you can put something up into the sky and it floats there for 10 seconds. Just watching it spin and fly. I think sometimes I wish I could be like a frisbee and just take off and float around. It’s truly the coolest toy because it can do so many things simply by throwing it with different edges, angles and velocities.
I love when the snow melts and the air gets warmer because it means I can get out and throw again. And after moving downtown, I was worried I wouldn’t have a field close by where I could throw, but I found one on Saturday just a few blocks away from me and it’s perfect. It’s about 110 yards from goal post to goal post (I have to pace it so I know what I’m throwing) but it’s flat with a pretty steady wind so I’m looking forward to throwing there lots.
For me throwing is more than just practice for playing a game. It’s fun as hell. When the profs were on strike at Dal, I threw everyday for 1.5-2 hours for the entire 4 weeks. It was amazing. Not only is it relaxing for me to get out and throw but it’s great exercise, it’s great for my throws in game since my throws become more accurate, longer, smoother and all around I improve my game.
It’s a simple formula. Practice throwing + practice playing = better player. You won’t improve your throws much by just throwing in practice. You must throw on its own (like a golfer goes to the driving range). It’s not boring, it’s actually a lot of fun. There are a lot of things you can do just by purely throwing to get better and to keep it interesting. There are a lot of things I do. Throw hammers through the uprights. Throw I/O flicks into the soccer nets. See how many throws it takes to get from one end of the field to the other and then try to beat that on the way back. You just have to figure out what works for you and commit to it. The best part is that your throws will get better. Guaranteed. But you just need to get out and throw.