The Basic Back Roll

Lisa Hunrichs demonstrates a Back Roll with Clockwise spin.

First, face the wind. Next, give yourself a throw (set) with a steep angle into the wind so the disc blows back towards you. Now, turn your body so your right shoulder is forward. Turn your right hand over and let the disc contact your palm. The disc will roll down you arm towards your back / right shoulder. As it contacts your shoulder, turn your body to match the speed of the disc. Also, lift your left elbow. The rotation of your body will propel the disc up your left back / shoulder and up your left arm. With only your elbow up high, the disc will pop up into the air from your elbow on a steep angle, leaving you in a perfect position for another trick.

Note: usually back rolls cause the disc to get steeper and to turn out of the wind to the right, or to the left for counter clockwise spin.

Kick Brushing 101, the video version

Jake Gauthier teaches us how to kick brush a frisbee. A kick brush is a air brush with your foot. In other words, you kick the frisbee to keep it in flight, changing it’s direction and adding spin as you kick it. Kick brushing is a great trick because it is hard, unexpected, and can be used to keep the disc flying almost indefinitely. It’s also a great trick to save a drop as your feet can reach farther, and lower than your hands

To kick brush, face the wind. Then give yourself a little throw with the disc nearly vertical. The goal is that the wind blows the disc back to you. As the disc nears your feet, kick it. But, don’t kick it like a soccer ball. Instead, think about the spin of the disc and try to add spin with your kick. If it is spinning clockwise, kick it at 5 o’clock and swing your leg from right to left. For counter clockwise spin kick it at 7 o’clock and swing your leg from left to right.

At first, your goal is to just kick it back up to yourself. As you get better try both feet or try kicking it multiple times in a row. Also, try adding a trick catch after the kick.

Extra credit is you can invent other ways to kick the frisbee to keep it in flight. Let me know what you come up with in the comments.

Flat Under the Leg Set

Matt Gauthier explains how to do an Under The Leg set on a Nail Delay. This trick starts with a center nail delay. You then put the disc under your leg and push (set) it up into the air, and then regain control in a center nail delay.

Matt aptly points out that one of the key skills of freestyle frisbee is to move your body around the disc rather than forcing the disc to go to one place or another. If you watch, you’ll see that Matt keeps the disc mostly in the same line perpendicular to the ground. As he holds it, he moves his leg over and then sets the disc up into the air.

How to Throw with Spin – Backhand

Jake Gauthier demonstrates how to throw a frisbee with lots of spin.

In Freestyle Frisbee, one of the main tricks is to spin the frisbee on your fingernail. So, you want to throw with as much spin as you can so you or your partner can do as many tricks as possible.

This particular throw is a backhand, which is one of the most common frisbee throws. So, starting with a regular back hand, you would grip the disc extra tight, then wind your arm behind your leg. Finally, unwind to throw. As you release, pull back your arm towards your leg. It’s a little like snapping a towel.

Then Rim Shoot, by Ryan Young

Ryan Young explains how he does a rim shoot. A rim shoot is a nail delay trick where the disc is set from your nail up into the wind on an angle. One use for the rim shoot is to move into a trick catch. This is because the rim shoot place the disc on an ideal catch angle. A rim shoot can also lead to other nail delay or air brush tricks or can be a pass to a partner.

To perform a rim shoot, first get the disc on a center nail delay. Then, bring your nail towards your body so the disc will tip with the nose towards you. You are now on a rim delay. Now, push gently around the rim so the nose is away from you. As you push, slowly accelerate your speed and nail pressure. When the nose is away from you, push the disc off your nail, propelling it up and into the wind.

At this point the disc will float up and away. As the wind blows and as gravity pulls the disc down, it will float back towards you. Now, make a trick catch or other freestyle frisbee trick.

Jake discusses the intricacies of the under the leg airbrush

In this video I talk about some of the possibilities of doing an under the leg airbrush.

Airbrushing is when you hit the outside rim of the disc to keep it in flight. By performing this trick under your leg, you are adding a restriction which increases the difficulty of the trick.

Since the disc, you leg, and your hand are all moving, an under the leg airbrush can be performed at least three different ways…extra credit for listing another way in the comments.

First is where your arm reaches under your leg. The disc never actually traverses under your leg but your arm movement is restricted by your leg.

Second, the disc traverses under your leg before you airbrush it. The restriction here is the timing of the leg and hand movements so the disc does not contact your leg and so you do not air brush your leg instead of the disc.

Third, you brush the disc so it travels under your leg after the airbrush. The restriction is that the airbrush must be accurate enough and/or your leg must move accurately enough so the disc does not hit your leg.

Can you see the differences in the video? Which one do you think is the most difficult? Can you think of another way to do an under the leg airbrush with the same leg/hand combination?

Lori Daniels Demonstrates the Invert Delay

Lori Daniels demonstrates the Invert Delay and two sets that can be performed from the Invert Delay position.

The Invert Delay is a flat nail delay where the wrist and hand are rotated inwards until the palm is up. In Freestyle Frisbee this is the Invert position since the hand is inverted from a normal palm up position. This is considered a restricted position since the mobility of the arm, elbow and shoulder are greatly limited.

Once the nail delay is established in this position, Lori demonstrates setting the disc under the inside of the same leg or outside of the opposite leg. Setting under the outside of the opposite leg in the invert position is also known as the Digatronic set. This is one of the most restricted tricks in Freestyle Frisbee.

Freestyle Frisbee How To Do a Chest Roll

A chest roll is where the frisbee rolls from one hand, down your arm, across your chest and then out onto the other arm and hand. Ideally, the disc will touch your body the entire way across. However, that level on control is hard to master, even after 20 years of playing.

To practice, face the wind. Toss the disc on a steep angle so the wind will blow it back to you. Consider which direction the disc is spinning and toss it so it is close to the hand that will propel it across your chest. That is, left hand for clockwise spin and right hand for counter clockwise spin.

Next, hit (brush) the disc to give it momentum to traverse your arm, chest, arm and other hand. This initial contact is very important because, if the disc makes it at least across your chest, it is easy to save by pulling in your far hand and doing an airbrush. However, if it doesn’t make it to your chest or hits your chest and falls, it’s nearly impossible to get the disc back in flight.

As you practice, you’ll find that you can put the disc back into the air with the far hand. This can lead you to multiple chest rolls, air brushes, or trick catches.

Learn the Hal Delay

Matt Gauthier explains how to perform a sequence he calls the Hal Delay. This starts as a kneeling delay hold. Then the disc is set up flat and you switch hands and legs and return to a delay hold. This is a challenging trick because it involves both hands in restricted positions. It is also consecutive in that each delay hold is performed with out any unrestricted disc control.

Matt calls this the Hal Delay as a tribute to Hal Erickson, the first person Matt and I saw perform this sequence. Perhaps Hal or someone else has a different name for it.