Category: Beginner

Articles for the new freestyle frisbee skills player.

Airbrushing – or – Whiz Rings Kick Butt

  By ,

Airbrushing Practice

Disclosure: The Whiz Ring links below are affiliate links. At no additional cost to you, FrisbeeGuru receives a small commission if you use the link and make a purchase. This helps support our mission.

When the wind is low and you want to work on your wind game, what should you do? Grab a disc and play the wind to your dismay? No….the answer is the whiz ring. 

These things are great. They play in next to no wind, are very stable for wind play, and they are hugely forgiving.

What’s more is that Whiz Rings are ideal for learning new moves and teaching new players.

To play with a Whiz Ring there are a few essentials to know. The first of which is what spin you will be playing with. Got that? Now decide what direction you will need to hit the ring in order to propagate spin. (For clock spin, right to left, for counter, left to right)

Once all that is in order locate the wind and face it. Give the ring a little toss into the wind with the nose tilted upward so that the ring may return to you. The throw does not need to be very high or too far in front of you. To brush the ring you will need to hit it in the direction of the spin. For clock hit the ring in-between 4 and 6 o’clock. For counter hit the ring in-between 8 and 6 o’clock. The ring should pop back up in front of you after brushing it. It may be necessary to pursue the ring after brushing. After brushing a whiz ring a few times try a catch under the leg. May I suggest a gitis.

For low wind whiz rings are the ultimate. They float like a disc in an 8 to 10 mile an hour breeze at the beach. The time you have to decide what to do seems like an eternity during play. It opens doors that were otherwise locked in everyday situations.

Another nice thing is how forgiving the rings are. A miss hit does not usually end in tragedy (the ring on the ground). It allows for a shorter learning curve because you spend less time picking the thing up and more time absorbing what went wrong with the hit as you try it again.

How many times have you broken blood vessels in your hands during a brushing extravaganza with a disc? The very notion turns off the average newcomer. Rings offer a safe and fun environment for new players to try brushing.

For whatever reason, people are always willing to try air-brushing. They are not always willing to try the delay. Rings offer brand new players a chance to have fun without feeling like they are busting your jam. Toss the ring up and stand next to them so that you can correct any errors, and there it is a fun way to jam for the first time. Everyone I have asked to give the ring a shot, has tried. Most have been successful.

Obviously one cannot delay a ring. However the ring forces you to learn how to depend on your wind game. I can’t say enough about limiting your scope of focus. It is for me the best way to improve my skills.

Matt Love Frisbee

Matt Gauthier

Whiz rings taught me how to chest roll. They taught me how to jelly-roll, leg-over brush, leg-over kick-brush, btb brush, scarecrow brush, and generally enhanced my game. They are hard to catch. So you know if you can catch the ring you can catch a disc. Sometimes I will jam by myself for a couple of hours with nothing more than a ring. These things are great, and I recommend them to everyone who wants to play the wind.

This article was written by Matt Gauthier

Buy whiz rings here.

Going from a Rim Delay to a Center Delay

  By ,

For most learning to go from a high Z rim delay to a center delay marks a whole new level of understanding in disc control. It means being able to bring most any angle throw back to the center, increased center control, and leads to understanding angle changes and off center tips. For me this skill took some practice.

To accomplish this task it helps to be able to throw a high Z steep angle to your self. To learn clock right hand throw a right handed backhand throw with tons of spin. It should come off on a steep angle, nearly perpendicular to the ground such that the bottom is pointing more downward than the top and the nose is pointing to the right. It should also be perpendicular to your chest plane. Now that the disc is in the air use your right hand and take it on a rim delay. Your palm will be facing to your left and your finger(s) should be curled under the rim. Let the disc hang in this position long enough to get it under control but not so long that it tilts around so the nose is pointing to your body. From here there are two common methods of getting to the center.

1: Give the disc an upward tug. As it lifts up hold your hand still so that the bottom of the disc rides along your finger nail(s). Once your nail is near center push hard to the left. The ideal location is it about 6 o’clock halfway between the rim and the center. As you push to the left the disc will flatten out. Once it is flat get the center delay under control.

2: Gently swing the disc forward. As the disc swings forward the rim will pull against your nail forcing the disc to level off. Once it is halfway flat move your nail to the center and gain delay control.

To learn counter left reverse the right/left directions as if looking in the mirror.

Once you become proficient at this maneuver try it on a different angle or the opposite hand. Example, once the disc is on a rim delay let it drift around on your nail until the nose is pointing upwards to the left perpendicular to your chest plane. The motions are the same. Give it a tug so it rides up your nail. Now push right at 12 o’clock between the rim and the center. It will flatten out as before. Note: you may have to duck your forearm below it to keep from knocking it off your finger.

The biggest thing to learn is that the location to press in with changes based on the direction of the nose. It’s always 90 degrees ahead of the spin from the nose. So, with clock spin, if the nose is pointing away from you (12 o’clock) push it out so the disc rides up your nail, then push towards you at 3 o’clock. With counter spin you’d push at 9 o’clock.

Once this becomes second nature try flattening the disc directly from the throw with a tip. The physics are the same. Just tip it up 90 degrees ahead of the spin from the nose. You can also try to flatten it out from a rim delay to a flat set. This set it the beginning to many moves and catches such as a scarecrow and a one and a half btb.

Jake Gauthier

Jake’s take on how to start – or – Learning to Rim delay and Brush

  By ,

Most jammers will tell you that you need to learn to delay before you can jam. Unfortunatly the learning curve for the delay is very steep and often turns people off before they start to feel the rewards of jamming. Fortunaly there are two tricks that anyone can do with a small amount of practice but a huge amount of fun.

Rim delay:

This is how I learned to jam. Mike Esterbrook would thrown me zzzs and I would let it drift onto my nail. If I felt brave I’d try to keep it in the center but mostly I’d let it fall to the rim. While it spun there it I would pass it under my leg, behind my back or anywhere else I could think of. Eventually it ran out of spin or I hit myself with it and it would plop to the ground. When I got a little better I’d use my left hand to hold it at my left side and grab it behind my back with my right resulting in my first completed series!

To learn the rim delay is simple. Find someone who can throw the disc with a good amount of spin. When they throw it to you let it float onto your index finger’s nail. The trick here is to make sure only the nail contacts the disc. This is where fake nails help the most. Now that the disc is on your nail hold your hand up with your finger pointing to the sky. Let the disc circle slowly around being sure that only your nail contacts the disc. Holding your finger bent to a 45 degree angle will help but however you do it be sure to keep your nail in contact. The disc will spin round and round and eventually run out of juice and flop over. You have just completed a rim delay.

It won’t take but 5 or 10 of these and you’ll get the feel for how the disc moves and how to keep your nail instead of your finger in contact. Be sure to try both hands. Once you are ready try passing it from hand to hand. Once that is easy do it under your leg. You are now freestyling…it’s as simple as that. Add a catch in there and you’ve completed a series. Pass it on the rim to your friend and you can co-op. Really there’s nothing to it.

Air Brush:

This is my favorite of all moves. It is one of the easiest moves to execute yet honing this skill can take a lifetime. To practice brushing toss the disc in front of you almost perpendicular to the ground. If there’s alot of wind make the set a little flatter. It should go up a little ways, 2 or 3 feet and then come back down to you. When it’s in range hit (brush) it with the palm of your hand so as to add spin and send it back up 2 or 3 feet. Repeat until you lose control, pass it to a partner or catch it. That’s all there is to it. The real tricks here are 1: try to add spin when you hit it. Hitting it with the wrong spin or no spin will kill its flight (at least if you don’t know what your doing). 2: run after it. Even the best players can’t keep the disc in front of them the whole time. And who would want to, the fun is in the challenge. Chase it around and bash at it for as long as you can. You’ll find that shortly you can keep it in the air for quite a while.

Once you get the hang of brushing to yourself try and brush it to a friend. There are two ways to accomplish this. One is to toss the disc up with much less of an angle so that the nose is pointing towards the target. Then when you brush it the disc will float over as if you threw it there. This move really impresses non-freestylers. The second way is to brush it so that it arches over you your friend. This is akin to throwing a major angle up into the air and over to you friend. If your friend is cool she’ll try and brush it back and suddenly you are co-oping again. Funny how it always come back to co-oping.

Putting them together:

Now that you can brush and rim delay try putting the two together. Take a throw on a rim delay. If it’s clockwise spin take it on your left hand. Let it spin around until the nose is pointing to your partner. Then drop your left hand out and brush it with your right. (Reverse g the hands for counter spin). It should float over nicely to your partner who will catch a triple spinning gitosis…sorry I’m day dreaming again. As long as it gets to her you did your job.

Now try the same trick but to yourself. Take it on the rim delay and do a few moves. Once it slows down wait until it is pointing away from you on a steep angle. Then drop out your delay hand and brush with your other hand. Keep on brushing until you’re expression is complete, then go for a catch.

Last trick, go from a brush to a rim delay. This one is a bit tougher so I saved it for last. Remember how I said to always add spin? Well if you can do this well enough you should be able to take it on the rim again and do some more rim tricks. There aren’t many tips I can give on this one but I will say that once you get it you will feel unstoppable. It means that no matter what throw you get you can do something with it because you’ll be able to add spin when every you need it. They call this maneuver a rerev.
#beginner

Learn to Center Delay

  By ,

Practice, practice, practice. 🙂

Well, beyond that, here’s what helped me in the beginning. You can do
this by yourself.

1) Develop a two handed throw to your self that is flat (parallel to the
ground) and floats down gently. Start by placing each hand on the outside
of the rim, one hand close to you, the other on the far side of the rim.
Throw your hands and arms out to the sides, popping the disc gently up in
air, about a foot or two in height above you head. Practice this skill
alone, without attempting the delay, until you get the disc to float very
horizontal and with as much spin as possible. Like a spinning top, the
more RPMs the disc starts with, the more stable and easy to control it
will be. The flatter it is, the easier it will be to balance and delay.
Once your self throws are stable, you are ready to proceed. Side note: If
your right hand is the one close to you, your spin will be
counter-clockwise. If you left hand is the one close to you, the spin
will be clockwise. One spin may be easier for you to throw and one spin
will be easier to delay at first. Make observations about your tendencies
and what works best for you.

2) Make sure the contact with the disc is with your fingernail, however
small it is (artificial nails are not necessary in the beginning). Hold
you finger, slightly bent, so that the nail itself is close to parallel
to the surface of the disc. This way the spinning disc will slide on your
nail. Apply a silicon spray lubricant to the disc to further reduce
friction between the disc and your nail. As soon as the disc contacts
flesh, there’s major friction involved, usually leading to loss of spin
and control.

3) Next, connect the above two skills. After you release the disc into
the air, reach up to the disc with your delaying hand and try to make
contact with the disc as close to the time when it is transitioning from
popping up to floating down. The disc is traveling slow at this time.
Spot the center of the disc as it’s above eye level. Keep your finger
kind of springy to absorb the contact of the disc with your finger at
this time and follow the disc’s descent with your arm to slow its further
descent. If you can keep the disc above eye level at this time, you can
continue to spot your finger on the bottom of the disc and track your
centering attempt. Eventually your eye-hand coordination will develop,
allowing you to stabilize the disc below eye level, without seeing your
finger on the bottom of the disc. A clear or translucent disc can also be
helpful at this stage.

4) Finally, make small circular motions with your arm and finger, in the
same direction that the disc is spinning. This motion will help correct
any non-horizontalness of the disc and helps you track to the center of
the disc to maintain the delay. Over time, these motions become so
refined that you will not even realize that you are making them.

Eventually you will replace step 1, with that of a throw from a partner.
Make sure your throwing partner is throwing you the same spin that you
practice with or everything will seem awry. If your partner can make a
hovering throw, again try to make contact with the disc at a point in its
flight where it is transitioning from flight to fall. Let your finger and
arm give with the disc as you receive it, acting as a shock absorber to
slow its momentum to a standstill.

The whole process is learning this eye-hand coordination. Players have
reported different lengths of time to learn the skill from less than a
week to maybe six weeks. A youthful age and athletic tendencies will tend
towards the shorter time. Practice every day for at least fifteen minutes
and you will see results of increasing delay times.

Once you’re comfortable in maintaining a delay, ask questions about the
next level you want to attain.

And most of all, have fun.

Doug Korns
#beginner

Why fake nails – or – Is it So Wrong to Wanna Jam Better?

  By ,

If you are a new jammer you may have wondered why so many advanced players all tend to wear some sort of extension or fake fingernail while playing. This article will explore the reasons for wearing fake nails in the first place, the materials that can be used, and how to make/apply them properly. Hopefully, by the end of all this babbling, you will be able to make a reasonably informed decision as to whether using fake nails is right for you as a jammer.

“A fake nail will be much more durable than your natural nail.”

Why Fake Nails?
If you’ve seen jammers wearing fake nails, you may have asked yourself why anyone would glue such hideous chunks of plastic to the ends of their nails. Well, this is for a few reasons. The first is durability. As the “nail delay” is on the fingernail, your own natural nails will take a beating from the abuse that jamming can cause. A fake nail will typically be much more durable and have less friction than your natural nails. Wearing fake nails will reduce the risk of chipped, bent, or torn nails. The latter can be most painful if it occurs below the fingertip and will take weeks to properly heal.

Another reason to wear fake nails is to reduce gouging. A natural nail is thinner than most fake nails and tends to self-sharpen during play. It becomes a small gouge that will rip chunks out of a disc while tipping, pulling, or even just delaying. This self-sharpening of natural nails requires more maintenance: not only day-to-day, but throughout the course of a normal jam day. Fake nails, especially acrylic, need little to no edge attention and won’t sharpen during play.

“They will give you more extension and better penetration.”

Fake nails will give you extension beyond what a natural nail can. Depending on genetics and the amount of calcium in your diet, a natural nail gets pretty flimsy once it’s about 3/16” past your fingertip. A fake nail gives you extension beyond what a natural nail can before it starts to bend or tear (ouch!). The extension of the nail gives the wearer a couple advantages: it keeps the disc a little higher off your forearm/body while delaying and allows better penetration into the rim for rimming, sets, and pulls.

Fake nails, as mentioned above, have less friction than naturals—especially acrylic. This gives you the obvious advantage of a disc that spins faster and longer.

“You don’t wear a claw-hammer on your belt when you go dancing, do you?”

Another reason for wearing fake nails (which is a matter of personal preference) is that you can take them off at the end of the day. Although there are plenty of jammers who keep nails on 24/7, it’s not for everyone. Fake nails are necessary tools for jamming, just as a claw hammer is for effective carpentry. But you don’t want to wear your hammer on your belt when you’re out for a night of dinner and dancing with your sweetie, do you?

What are fake nails made of, and how do I get them?

Materials
There have been many types of materials and apparatus used over the years from thimbles to guitar finger picks, and from Lee Press-On nails to dental acrylic—even small seashells. Finding a product or material that you prefer can be a matter of availability and personal preference. Acrylic is perhaps the most effective material being used today, but they aren’t always easy to come by. The same goes for Swedish plastic. Still today, one of the most convenient and effective materials is the protective outer tube from Krazy Glue. Not only is this a relatively fast plastic, but it is also included in the purchase of a tube of Krazy Glue. Don’t be shy about trying new stuff to stick on the end of your nails—you could discover the next best thing to happen to freestyle since judging!

“Don’t be shy about sticking stuff to the end of your nails.”

As mentioned above, you can cut nails from the outer tube of Krazy Glue. It is soft and easy to shape, but this is also a disadvantage as it wears down over time. It also has a natural curve to it already that helps fit the curve of your finger.

Acrylic nails are not only hard and fast, but for the fashion-conscious they can come in virtually any color you desire. But getting them is a little tricky. Some are made of dental acrylic such as Yar-nails and others come from nail salons. If you know someone who is a dental technician, they can make you an exact fit. Otherwise, you will have to rely on fine- tuning the fit after they have been made. The advantage of getting acrylic nails from a salon is that they will fit perfectly to your existing nails. Some players have them made in a natural color and leave them on until they break off or grow out. Salons nails will cost more, but are quite effective.

“Hobby plastic is pretty cheap, but you’ll have to go to Europe for the Swedish Stuff”

Hobby plastic is plastic that can be purchased at most hobby/craft stores. It is basically the same material (a dense polystyrene) that plastic models are made of and can be bought in sheets of various thicknesses from .005” up to .080”. The most common thickness for fake nails is .050” (50 gauge). Hobby plastic is also quite affordable and, if a couple jammers go in on buying a package, the cost goes down even more. It does require some special handling to get a curve to fit your own nails: This technique will be covered later in this article.

As for Swedish plastic, go to more tournaments in Europe and make lots of friends—especially with the Swedish players. See if they can hook you up.

Now I’ve picked a material, how do I get them to stick?

Adhesives
The two most common methods of adhesion of fake nails are Krazy Glue (or other cyanoacrylates) and contact cement. They each have their advantages and disadvantages. Krazy Glue adheres fast, is strong, and applies in a very thin layer. For some, nails applied with Krazy Glue have a more “intimate” connection with their natural nail and feel more like a part of their body. It also comes in a very compact container so it’s easy to tote around and can be used in emergencies like when you knock over that family heirloom vase while jamming at Grandma’s house. But these adhesives have drawbacks such as: instantly gluing your fingers or other body parts to each other, the fumes will burn your eyes and nose, nails can be exceptionally difficult to remove—sometimes taking a layer of natural nail with it, and nails can just POP OFF without warning.

“Crazy Glue has a more ‘intimate’ connection”

Contact cement is much less aggressive than Krazy Glue. It is easier to remove the fake nails and won’t take a layer of nail or skin with it. The fumes are nowhere near as nasty either. And if a nail is starting to lose adhesion, you can typically tell in advance and fix the problem. But re-application will take you out of the jam for as long as 20 minutes while the glue dries. You also need to count on that 15-20 minute dry time when the nails are first applied before jamming. Contact cement is a much messier process. Even in tubes, contact cement takes up a lot of space in your nail kit and has less of a MacGiver factor than Krazy Glue. And for some, there is a sort of “mushy” feel to the nail that feels like the nail could pop off any minute, thus losing that “intimacy” gained with Krazy Glue.

The next installment of this article will be on the making, applying and maintenance of your own fake nails.

Magman
#beginner