Tips on Long Distance Throws (Hucks)

Dear Ultimate Frisbee Players,

Today I am going to talk about something that is crucial, integral and game-changing in Ultimate Frisbee - Long Distance Throws, or in common frisbee lingo, Hucks!

Hucking is a technique that is very hard to master, as there are various factors in place other than your wrist, such as incorporating other components of the body (arms, obliques etc). I took some time to get a consistent huck going for my game. Today I would like to share some tips and advice on how to get your hucks going really really far!

1. Wrist + Core + ...

A huck would incoporate more than just your wrist. It incorporates elements such as your forearms, shoulders, basically your entire arm. It also involves your core as well! the components driving a huck is combination of several components, namely your wrist, arm core and shoulders:

Forehand Huck

Backhand Huck

Hence work around these areas instead of relying just solely on your wrist for your hucks.

2. Tight grip

Similar to normal throws, a huck need a tight grip as well! This is important as all the momentum that you have created would be transferred from your grip to the disc.

3. Drive

This is very important as you have to drive the disc and follow through, like hitting a tennis ball. If you do not follow through (ie your arm going across your body) , the disc might end up not going in the intended direction you want. You want to keep your throwing arm in same area all the way so as to maximise the drive on your disc, like these pictures!

4. Reference and Improvisation

There are numerous videos and resources on how to throw a backhand and forehand huck. Here are the two videos that I felt was really useful in mastering your hucks:

Take note of what the author is saying and his or her actions as s/he executes the various long throws. These videos have their throws slowed down so carefully observe them.

However, if you tried what they mentioned and felt that did not work, feel free to improvise! Different players have different ways of how to get their throws going.. long. It was the same for me as well, it didn't work initially when i tried to mirror the youtube videos, hence I took some of the advice from the videos as inspiration and improvised on my throws. It turned out well and you should try too!

Here' s another video on Hucks Troubleshooting!

5. Practise, Practise and more Practice! (with breaks too!)

If you don't succeed, try and try again! I took some time to go down to the fields to try out my new techniques on hucking, and it took 4-6 weeks to get something close to a huck going. However, It is important to take some breaks in between the practices. This is because if the huck is not consistent yet, too long a practise would result in your muscles remembering the wrong technique and it might affect future throws. It is important to stop practising when you're tired and your hucks are going haywire.

A good number of throws for practising is about 7-10 hucks, before the muscle memory kicks in.

I hope that these tips would help in improving your hucks and further improving your game in Ultimate!