Thoughts from Pickup about throwing in the wind

At pickup on Sunday, I was trying to talk Simon into writing a post about throwing in the wind. He has some of the best throws I've ever seen and has a pretty sound understanding of the fundamentals.  While we wait for his thoughts on the topic, I will share my own.

Nothing causes throwers to regress like wind.  I know this because I feel like I step into a time machine set back 1 year whenever I throw in a strong wind.  My forehand really begins to break down.  Then, I start having second thoughts about throwing it in certain situations.  This, in turn, causes me to throw tentatively, which further degrades my fundamentals.  In the end, I'm only faking the forehand into the wind and throwing almost all backhands.

There are two things that throwers (and I) need to remember about throwing in the wind: the physics of the flight of the disc and the adjustments in offensive strategy.  

Physics of throwing in the wind

The key is to understand that the disc will follow its edge nearest to the wind.  By nearest to the wind, I mean nearest to that side of the field that is the source of the wind.  For example, if the edge nearest to the wind is pointed up, the disc will go up.  If the edge nearest to the wind is pointed down, the disc will go down. 

When throwing directly into the wind, the disc will always pop up or balloon.  Good throwers use this to allow their receivers extra time to run onto the disc.  Poor throwers are ambushed by the balloon effect.  It causes their throws to come up short or to go over the head of their intended receivers.  The key to controlling this effect is remember to put a lot of spin on the disc.

When throwing directly with the wind, the disc will always slip or drop down.  Good throwers are careful to put more air under dumps and other short throws while taking more shots down field. Bad throwers make tons of turnovers on short throws that drop in front of their intended receivers.

When throwing (right-handed) with a right to left crosswind, an outside-in forehand will balloon, an inside-out forehand will drop down, an inside-out backhand will balloon, and an outside-in backhand will drop down.

When throwing (right-handed) with a left to right crosswind, an outside-in forehand will drop down, an inside-out forehand will balloon, an inside-out backhand will drop down, and an outside-in backhand will balloon.

 

Adjustments in offensive strategy for wind

Simply put, the receivers must start their cuts nearer to the thrower. By moving the stack nearer to the thrower, the offense is able to threaten the space short and deep.  Remember, deep is a relative term.  If the stack sets up 10 yards from the thrower, then a 20 yard throw can be a "deep" throw.  The key is to force the defense to respect the area behind and in front of them.

When offenses fail in wind it is usually because the stack sets up too deep and the defense is able to poach on the short throws.  The thrower can't make a viable deep throw and the defense knows it.  This situation would be desperate even on a calm day.  Given that the wind is already affecting throws, however, setting the stack too deep is the kiss of death.

The other important strategic consideration is that field position can be more important than yardage.  Getting the disc to the high side (the upwind side) is as important as getting the disc down the field.  The high side allows a mediocre thrower to have several comfortable throwing lanes.  A mediocre thrower is almost guaranteed to turn the disc when on the very edge of the low side (the downwind side) simply because all of the throwing lanes available to him are both obvious and difficult.