For the newcomer to freestyle “bashing” and rolling the disc are essential skills to have. Of course the simple nail delay which allows you to control the disc and think, or set your next move is more essential at first…. The bash and roll will allow your game to rise to the next level.
“Bashing” or air brushing to increase the spin will allow you to regenerate spin to yourself, which is good to practice alone, or to just pass to your partner without catching and throwing. In fact if your partner throws to you as you bash to him/her you can start doing double disc routines where a disc is always in motion! For a right handed person, bashing counter spin is done at the ear level, while clock spin is done lower-more waist high. Left handed clock bashing is done high, while counter is done lower conversely. Keep in mind that a foot brush can also be done very close to the ground, with the right foot kicking towards the left foot for clock and straight ahead or to your right for counter spin. The most important things to keep in mind are 1) Keep the nose of the disc higher than the back, and the more wind in your face the flatter it can be. 2) The angle of the disc should be similar to the angle of a throw we would throw to a partner with a slight curve. A right handed backhand is usually released with the side being held higher than the opposite edge. This is due to the fact that the spin actually will “process” the disc and make it move towards flat. If you start with the disc flat in a throw or airbrush scenario, the increase in spin usually make it “turn over” and roll. That is why we keep the bashing angle in what can be known as the skip angle-that is the angle at which a throw would skip towards your partner. 3) So with the nose up and in the skip angle, hit the disc at like 5-6 oclock in a circular motion with the fleshy part of the palm where it meets the fingers. This means counter is angled away from you to right and high, while clock is angled away to left and low-for your right hand….and the opposite for your left side. 4) Practice by letting your delay go to the rim, until the disc is in the desired angle…and hit gently at first and more firmly in a circle to increase spin-do not hit through the disc but get into contact and accelerate with the force.
So now that we can delay the disc, and tip it in the middle, and then as it slows down we can bash it and speed it back up…we have another option open for more ways of controlling and playing with the flying disc. This is called the body roll, arm roll, or just the roll. If you get good enough people will yell, “Sweet rolls”. But it is not until you can roll all types front and back, plus the inverted rolls, that you may hear, “That was more rolls than in a continental breakfast!”
The body roll is a way of gluing the disc to your body and as it travels across, you are actually in control of it when it is spinning rather slowly. Therefore this move comes towards the end of a combo, after center work, and rim pulls which reduce the spin, and instead of the airbrush which would re-rev the disc. High spin or “turbo” rolls can be spectacular for passing to a partner, or through a hoop or under a leg in a 3-way jam, but at first stick with rolling the slowest of spins or your head may spin, or it may strike you on the chin.
Body rolls can be practiced by tossing the disc up in a 45-60 degree angle above your head and to the right or left-Remember to toss the left handed counter light set to your right side as it will roll to your left, and the ever popular right spin to your left as it will start on the left side but the right hand will be the last contact before it is set up for another roll or for a pass or to your own catch. Leaning back and having your chest extended up with your knees bent will help immensely. As the disc rolls you should extend the chest into it for good contact so leave some leeway in your chest to “push up”, but this same gluing to your body feeling can be created by pressing up with the legs slightly, so keep them bent. Also for a clock roll, have the disc rolling up your right hand towards the sky (away from the ground). Very often new players will roll flat in front of them, which can be frustrating because of gravity pulling at the disc. This fact coupled with the disc is not angled up causes the disc to fall to the ground. So try to roll from angled in front of you high onto your chest and back up the other arm towards the sky, and move your shoulder into it as if you were slapping someone. So for a clock roll the disc will start on the left above you falling/rolling down on your slightly back bent body, from your left arm towards the chest, and as the chest is touched by the disc begin to press up with the legs and “slap” with the right hand at the end causing the disc to glue to the chest past the shoulder up the right arm. For multiple rolls use the right hand as a flipper to send the disc back over to the left side to start it all over, or just have your partner next to you to receive the roll and continue it. As you get better, you can “weave” behind your partner and get back your own roll or even send it back to the far side to have it return to you again! For back rolls, as the disc comes past your neck and is about to go out of sight try lifting the opposite elbow and you will feel it go up in the air!
Jamie