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Drill - Swank

Skill level:

- All levels
- 8 or more players
- 1/2 ultimate field or more

Skills taught:

Conditioning, throwing, receiving

Background:

This drill will allow you to assess and develop consistency in throwing. The repetition involved in this exercise will allow beginners to practice their throwing motions and learn the feel of a good toss. Intermediate and advanced players will gain insight into the types of throws that need fine-tuning. Players of all levels will learn to deal with fatigue.

Rules:

1. Set up cones as shown in Figure 1 with a stack of discs at the blue cone (the drill will still work if you don't have a blue cone).



2. Select one thrower, one player to feed your thrower with discs, and one disc shagger to start the drill. The rest of your squad should form two even lines at orange cones. Every player will cycle through all positions, so order does not mater.

3. There are two components to the drill, throwing and receiving. Both components run simultaneously, but I'll describe them individually.

A) Throwing The disc feeder stands at the blue cone with the thrower at the opposite point of the diamond. The feeder makes a soft lead pass as the thrower moves left (Figure 2).



The thrower catches, turns, fires the disc upfield, and immediately runs back to the middle cone (Figure 3).



The next lead pass is sent to the cone on the right (Figure 4), and the cycle repeats (Figure 5, then Figures 2-5 again).



It is the disc feeder's job to keep the thrower moving by continually making lead passes. Meanwhile, the disc shagger collects discs and places them at the feet of the disc feeder.

B) Receiving Players in line at the orange cones alternate cuts across the field, timing their runs for discs from the thrower (Figure 6).



Timing is critical since the thrower will not have time to wait. After each cut, the receiver should return the disc to the disc shagger and then proceed to the next cone. A suggested order for cuts is shown in Figures 6-8.



Receivers must re-form lines quickly so that the thrower does not stop until the entire team has cycled through all of its cuts.

4. Swap positions and repeat until each player has had a chance to throw.

Suggestions:

- Pay attention to the throws that give you trouble on a consistent basis, as well as the throws that give you difficulty when you're tired

- Provide yourself with motivation on the receiving end; run through all of your catches without slowing down, and then run a sprint to a distant part of the field before rejoining the receiving line

- Vary the length, direction, and angle of cuts to suit your team's developmental needs

Takeaways:

- In the early stages of a season, captains and coaches will find this drill useful in evaluating throwing skills, both for individual players and for the team as a whole. Use these observations to create training programs. Later in the season this can serve as a fun conditioning exercise. Use it instead of wind sprints.

- Just because your team considers itself good doesn't mean that it can't benefit from this type of practice. Many good players lack the ability to make specific throws, instead relying on good decision-making to avoid turnovers. Good decision-making is a critical skill, but it can handicap your development as a thrower. Someday, you'll be glad you practiced that upwind, inside-out huck!