Simply put, hucking is when you throw the disc far – to a receiver. When you huck, you almost always want to throw to a receiver. So it’s not just throwing the disc are far as possible (although when you’re at a high stall count this can sometimes come in handy). There are many situations when a huck is helpful so it’s not only important to know HOW to huck but also WHEN to huck. I will talk about the HOW and the WHEN with more of a focus on the HOW.
In order to huck well, one needs to:
I’ve played ultimate with many varied skilled players and the one thing that remains consistent is that it’s very easy to fall into the trap of hucking for the sake of it. Meaning that a team can score on one good huck but the flip side is that a team can have many turnovers on bad hucks. A few tips I offer are:
As I mention in the backhand section, there are 2 ways to grip the disc – the power grip and the split finger grip. For hucking, I would recommend only throwing with the power grip. The split finger grip takes a lot of power off the throw and doesn’t allow for as many edgy throws as the power grip does.
A key element of hucking is having spin on the disc. The more spin you put on a disc will allow you to control the flight of the disc in wind instead of letting the wind control the flight of your disc.
The power in a huck comes from putting the mechanics of the throw together (stepping out, turning your hips, turning your core, snapping your arm and flicking your wrist). To get more power we first need to make sure that all of these elements are working together. If they aren’t completely in sync then we are automatically losing not only power but consistency on our throws. Once we have gotten these elements in sync we can now focus on making the elements more powerful. To do this we can look at each of the elements separately:
As much as we want to always throw nice flat hucks which fly perfectly straight, reality is that this won’t always happen. Depending on your mark, the upfield defenders, the wind and other factors, many times we have to throw our huck with edge (outside-in or inside-out).
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That is true, maybe I shouldn't have added numbers. But those numbers are what I am seeing with my team at practise though, even the tiniest guys throwing 30-40 meters with ease.
So our common point: if you want to learn to throw further, don't hit the gym, work on your technique first :)
Jesse, great point about not necessarily throwing a huck fast but rather learning to huck in order to lead your receiver so they can run it down.
However, I disagree with your final tip - the thing about throwing/hucking is that everyone is built differently and so not everyone will be able to throw 40 yards, not everyone can huck full field so to say that for the first 40 yards you only have to speed up the motion of your arm is fundamentally wrong. It's a good idea to always incorporate your body into your throws so if you fake, you can sell the fake easier, and you take strain off your arm. Power comes from your core and your body and your arm; not just your arm.
It's the best way to develop longer, more accurate throws...just get out and throw :)
That is true, maybe I shouldn't have added numbers. But those numbers are what I am seeing with my team at practise though, even the tiniest guys throwing 30-40 meters with ease.
So our common point: if you want to learn to throw further, don't hit the gym, work on your technique first :)
Jesse, great point about not necessarily throwing a huck fast but rather learning to huck in order to lead your receiver so they can run it down.
However, I disagree with your final tip - the thing about throwing/hucking is that everyone is built differently and so not everyone will be able to throw 40 yards, not everyone can huck full field so to say that for the first 40 yards you only have to speed up the motion of your arm is fundamentally wrong. It's a good idea to always incorporate your body into your throws so if you fake, you can sell the fake easier, and you take strain off your arm. Power comes from your core and your body and your arm; not just your arm.
Nice description of good hucking. Another aspect that I find is important is to be able to throw a huck that is not necessarily fast. Usually you want to throw a huck when the cutter is just breaking loose from his defender, which means he has a long run ahead of him.
Throwing the disc as fast as a rocket will mean that the receiver won't be able to catch up with the throw. This is something I see happening a lot when people start to learn to huck. The downside is that people will throw the huck too late, which in turn means they allow themselves only a very small margin of error. As you progress in hucking you can adapt the speed of your throw to the speed of the receiver.
A final tip that is useful for most people is that in order to throw further you don't need to use power. For the first 40 meters it is only necessary to speed up the motion of your arm, which doesn't use power of your arm muscles. If you've mastered this, you can start putting power into your motion for the remaining 20 meters. But start out by just increasing the speed of your motion!
It's the best way to develop longer, more accurate throws...just get out and throw :)
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