Tag: airbrush

Addressing the Disc

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Addressing the DiscI was practicing my counter airbrushing in high wind the other day and I had an “ah ha!” moment. You see, I have been great at brushing clock in high wind for a while, but only recently have I decided to seriously practice counter in high wind. In the past I was happy to have just enough counter skill so I could control the disc to pass or immediately catch it. More recently, I’ve decided it’s time to master counter. It’s actually quite challenging, but in a different way then when I learned clock. Now when the wind is high – I know I can brush clock all day long and have a blast. But, if I start brushing the disc counter, after two or three brushes, it soon drops or blows away. Maximum frustration.

So, the other day the wind was up past my comfort zone with counter. I decided to “pay my dues” and just keep at it, no matter how frustrating it got. This is what lead me to my “aha!” moment. I found that when the disc was getting away from me, when I had to make my maximum effort to get to it, I’d arrive to a place where I could reach it, but not at a place where I had options to make a save. I was literally putting myself out of position to make the play.

“Why is this, what am I doing wrong?” I asked myself. One of the most important skills I had learned early on was to judge where the disc was going to land, then calculate where I could meet it before it hit the ground, and then run straight to that point. This was the skill I was applying, but it was letting me down.

I had apparently learned a more nuanced skill with clock spin, but not realized it. The spin of the disc changes how the disc flies through the air. More wind makes this even more pronounced. A clock disc will tilt to the left (forcing my body to twist toward the right) and a counter disc will tilt to the right (forcing my body to twist to the left). The tilting of the disc, of course, changes the flight path, but it changes another thing as well: the it’s direction relative to the wind, i.e. where the nose is pointing.

As I pursued the counter spinning disc, I was considering the flight path, but not the disc’s direction to the wind. My muscle memory for clock spin was causing me to arrive at the counter spinning disc with the nose pointing off to my left, leaving me with limited options. I needed to not only meet the disc, but meet it at a place where I had the maximum options for addressing it. In other words, I had to get “behind it”, which is a different place for counter than it is for clock.

Making this adjustment was quite challenging. It was a little like fighting against an instinct. The more I forced it, the easier it got and soon I found options for saving the disc that were not there before. As this adjustment became more natural, I started to see the counter spinning disc falling into the pocket for more catches! This shift in thinking opened up my counter brushing game and gave me a deeper level of insight into freestyle skills.

If you are working on your brushing game, here’s a tip: as you pursue the disc, consider it’s flight path and it’s tilt relative to the wind and run straight to the place that gives you the most options. I call this place “behind the disc.” This way, as you brush it back up into the wind, the nose will be pointing away from you, causing the disc to float out, and then right back to you. 

Need some more airbrushing advice? Here are some great videos and another informative article.

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The Scoop Brush

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Ryan Young Demonstrates the scoop brush. This brush is very useful for making disc steeper as a save when its too far out in front of you on a air brushing run.

With clock spin, use your right hand. Touch the disc slightly on top at about 3 o’clock. Push down and forward as the disc rolls into your hand. Then with the disc at 6 o’clock or so in the palm of your hand, finish the brush by rolling the disc off your hand while pushing upwards. This will cause the disc to lift into the air on a steeper angle, allowing you to be able to gain control again.

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Kick Brushing 101, the video version

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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.

Jake discusses the intricacies of the under the leg airbrush

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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?

Frisbee Tricks – How to Airbrush

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Airbrushing is the act of hitting or slapping the frisbee to keep it in flight. Ryan Young and Jake Gauthier show you how.

 

To start, face the wind. Then, toss the frisbee up into the wind on steep angle so the wind blow it back to you. Then, follow the disc. When it returns to you, hit it to send it back up. Remember, the spin of the disc is what allows it to fly. So you have to swipe your hand in the same direction as the spin to keep it spinning. For a clock wise spin, aim for 5 o’clock on the disc. For a counter clockwise spin, aim for 7 o’clock. Airbrush as many times as you can, but don’t let it fall to the ground. When you feel you’ve done enough, go for a trick catch.

Airbrushing – or – Whiz Rings Kick Butt

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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.