The Triple Threat Principal, when
applied to Ultimate, allows a thrower to be in a better
position to control the defenders because it puts
added emphasis on the player's ability to attack in a
variety of different ways from the same basic starting
point.
Shown here on the right is the triple
threat stance. In this position, the hips should
be square, the shoulders should be square and the feet
should be square, all directed towards your target.
Balance should be spread evenly across both legs with
knees slightly bent.
With your ability to attack the
defense with so many different throwing options at once,
it will make any one of your throws easier to get off
since the defender is preoccupied with having to defend
so many things simultaneously. From here, you can
pivot (front pivot and back pivot) and look to be able
to follow your throw in any direction. As you
pivot back and forth and extend in different directions
to get the defender off balance, you should
always try to transition back to this
balanced stance and spend the majority of your time
poised and ready to attack.
If
possible, try to catch the disc like this, with both hands on the rim
and if the disc cannot be caught like this, at least transition into
this grip/stance as soon as possible.
While you're
waiting for this clip to start (it takes about 20
minutes with a decent connection), you can read the rest of this page and see if
it makes any sense to you.
If the video above doesn't
start loading automatically (Mozilla Firefox doesn't
play well in Gates' ActiveX sandbox), click
here. Obviously with the condensed version, a
significant level of detail is lost and so if you like
this video and want to see a higher quality version, I
would still recommend downloading the
MPEG2 copy. The MPEG4 version is very choppy
in places and you lose a lot of the body motion which
kind of defeats the purpose of putting out a body
mechanics video.
Most of the detailed instructions and
body mechanics for the various throws in the video can
be found below.
The important thing to remember about the
triple threat principal is that it's a different way of
thinking, not necessarily a different way of playing
(although your play should be dependent on the way you
think). Once you start thinking about controlling
the defense with an arsenal of different threats, the
game gets easier and even more fun. Let the game
'come to you'.
From the triple threat position, a thrower can
quickly and readily deliver at least a dozen
different 'right-side up' passes including both right and left hand
versions of:
Shown
here on the left is a player in the triple threat
position as defined in basketball. In hoops, when
you are in the triple threat position, you can either 1)
shoot, 2) pass or 3) dribble. In the triple threat
in basketball, the defense needs to be able to defend
against each of the three possibilities. When the
basketball player picks up the ball after dribbling, he
is reduced to a double threat and therefore defenders
can play more aggressively.
In Ultimate, the three threats are 1)
throwing into the endzone for a score, 2) passing the
disc to a teammate or 3) passing to a teammate and
getting the disc back in rapid succession (the Ultimate
equivalent of dribbling). The advantage you have
in Ultimate that you don't have in basketball is that
you never 'lose the dribble' and get reduced to a double
threat. In Ultimate, you can always penetrate.
Unfortunately, the way Ultimate is taught throughout the
world, players are reduced to a single threat as they
are not taught the ability to penetrate and they usually
are either looking to pass or looking to score but
usually not challenging the defense with both options
simultaneously in order to create match-up problems for
the defense. While it could easily be argued that
passing to a teammate and passing for a score are the
same thing but in my line of thinking, there is a
significant enough difference between the two to draw a
distinction.
The following photos (taken at least
year's World Championships in Norway) are classic
examples of the types of improper and inferior body
mechanics employed by so many players. As you can
see in both the backhand and sidearm examples, the hips
and legs are almost completely neutralized as part of
the throwing motion. In both of these throws, it
would be virtually impossible for either player to
'penetrate' after throwing the disc and in fact, they
are so far off balance it would take them a moment just
to get their balance back on both feet again.
Since so much weight is placed upon the non-pivot foot
in these cases, players often times commit traveling
violations since there is so little pressure being placed
on the pivot foot.
Here, a player is throwing a backhand
around the marker. The hips appear to be pointed
at least 90 degrees opposite from the direction of the
throw. He probably traveled (lifted or slid his
pivot foot) before the release of the disc and his
center of gravity, which should be somewhere over his
pivot (left) foot is at least 28 inches off center.
As comical as this looks, it is the standard.
Imagine someone shooting a basketball with this kind of
body mechanics, just because there is a defender in his
way blocking his motion.
Here, a player throws a sidearm
(a.k.a. a forehand or forearm). As you can see, his
shoulders and neck, rather than being square are tilted
almost 70 degrees, his head is off 45 degrees and his
hips are tilted around 20 degrees. To compensate
for this, other joints in the body all have to be
adjusted to get the throw off flat (you can actually see
that the throw isn't flat and does sail off to his
right, as his shoulder alignment would dictate).
While it appears that in this instance, the thrower
didn't commit a traveling violation, this type of stance
lends itself to frequent travels.
Again, his center of gravity is at least 28 inches off
of where it should be, the hips don't line up with the
throw, there is no power coming from the legs, ankles,
hips or knees and again, it's impossible for him to
throw and run in the same motion (penetrate). All
of this making him easier to defend after the throw and
basically unavailable to the rest of the offense until
he's able to 'right himself and then beat his defender
somehow. The easiest time to get open on your
defender is immediately after you throw the disc and yet in
both of these photos, the thrower is basically up to his knees in quicksand
and relatively easy to defend. Not very smart.
Compare those two Ultimate photos
above with the
following photo of a
basketball player in the triple threat stance.
Which offensive player of the three do you think looks like they have the most
balanced attack? Which player do you think has a
better chance at controlling the defender and therefore
be in better position to be successful, not only in
delivering the pass or shot to the desired target but
being able to follow up afterwards to remain an integral
part of the team play on offense or defense?
I don't mean to suggest that a
Frisbee can't be thrown with the types poor body
mechanics shown above. They obviously can.
You can also hit a golf ball from behind a tree if you
have to make the adjustment but when you can use a
normal swing, why would you tie yourself up in a knot. What I am
suggesting and what I teach is that players don't have
to be contortionists to be able to be successful and
that by understanding proper throwing mechanics, an offense can
be designed to augments a players throwing abilities,
not hinder them.
I like to compare the triple threat
position in Ultimate to the stance a lion tamer would
use to tame lions or how the stance a boxer uses. With
right handed throws equating to the bull whip and left
handed throws taking the place of the stool, you
can easily tame most any defense (as long as their not
from Santa Barbara where they don't have much respect
for the fouling rules, or their opponents for that
matter).
Similarly, in boxing, the boxer is
upright, balanced and capable of attacking and
counter-attacking with either hand. I've heard
people say that they don't need to use both hands in
Ultimate because they have both a backhand and a sidearm
throw (which covers both sides of the body).
This is sort of like a boxer saying he doesn't need to use
his left arm because he has both the jab, the
uppercut, the round house and the hook with his
right arm. Ultimate players who only use one hand
to throw are like a fighter boxing with one arm tied
behind their back. Certainly, there is no reason
why any Ultimate player shouldn't at least be able to
fake throws with either hand, not to mention at least
being able to throw for short distances with both.
Shown
here on the left is a player in the triple threat
position as defined in basketball. In hoops, when
you are in the triple threat position, you can either 1)
shoot, 2) pass or 3) dribble. In the triple threat
in basketball, the defense needs to be able to defend
against each of the three possibilities. When the
basketball player picks up the ball after dribbling, he
is reduced to a double threat and therefore defenders
can play more aggressively.
