Precision and Accuracy Drill – Throwing Floaters

Precision & Accuracy Drill @ 6m03s

The video lays it out pretty well. We didn’t have a lot of wind here on the day of filming, so the discs were not hovering as well as they should have, but that’s life, Mother Nature is a cruel mistress…

Object

Hang the disc on the pole from a distance of 8-10 yards.

Materials

Some kind of vertically oriented target (preferably a pole) and 10 discs.

Process

Face the wind and throw floaters at a vertical target that approximates your dog’s maximum leaping height. For most dogs this will be somewhere between four to five feet off the ground. Attempt to hang the disc on top of the target.

Hitting the pole is not enough, a couple of the tosses that Apryl and I made were on target, but were not floating enough, they were running. If the disc is running through the target, the dog will not be enticed to leap. If she is on a path to intercept the disc, the short span of time that the disc spends at the target will make creating and executing a plan very difficult.

Why Into the Wind?

Throw into the wind to keep the disc at the target for the longest time possible (target=distance, height and time). A lack of wind means that a floater will hover for less time as was the case in the video above, but it’s still possible to deliver a floating disc that will entice our dog into leaping.

Most new players and players that lack throwing confidence often avoid throwing into the wind, as throwing into the wind magnifies any technical or mechanical mistakes made. Precision and accuracy drills must be done into the wind. Again, it’s not just about placement, it’s about time. Throwing down wind decreases the amount of float and reduces the amount of time the disc spends around the target.

Related Articles

Throwing With Intent

Throwing with Intent is throwing a disc to your dog with the intent to make them look good. Throwing the disc to promote a big leap, to hit the dog in stride on the run or throwing a disc that your dog is going to flip for 10 yards away, is the sign of a mature handler.

Patron’s Choice: Shaping a Leaping Catch | Creating a Late Read

Reading the disc is a skill that astute dogs and humans pick up rather quickly. The float, the spin, and the speed can reliably be gauged and predicted after several reps. Of course this changes with wind, disc choice, and throwing ability but, generally speaking, the flight path of a disc is easily predicted.

Patron’s Choice: Shaping the Leaping Catch | Freestyle and the Leaping Catch

Shaping a Leaping Catch can, and should be a full time job. Always throw with the intent to deliver the leaping catch unless working something specific that requires a specific approach, speed or distance that is incompatible with a leaping catch. Out throws are glory, not afterthoughts.

Within a game of disc dog freestyle there are many opportunities to reinforce and shape the leaping catch and to turn the speed regulation required for the leaping catch into a habit that is ever present in your freestyle game.

Responses

  1. Give this drill a quick workout over the next couple days to get your feet wet then we’ll offer some additional instruction to refine the skill.
    peace

  2. Good video guys! I can’t understand people who avoid throwing into the wind. It’s a challenge when overcome that will improve throwing so much.

    Ron I do have to comment on the hat though! Very up Hippy *laugh*. I will think of it every time some US person makes fun of us Cadadians and our hats ; )

    1. You guys like the hat, eh?
      A client/friend of ours makes them for charity. They are wool and very, very nice. I like the pigtails… I’ll have to break out my maroon muffler one of these vids…

      Gear… it’s all about the proper gear… the style is the icing on the cake.
      😉

  3. I just worked on the drill…totally cool!! I got a little wind movement and you could totally see the difference in the disc! I didn’t hang one yet but I had one spin around the pole by its rim and then fall off! Very cool drill.

    1. Looks great, Jeff.
      Not to add any undue complexity to the skill, guys, but that thumb turning down really helps set that wing up which makes it easier to float these discs.
      Nice job!

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