by Craig Simon © 1982
Jargon
First Position Forms
Gitis (pronounced gy-tis) is one of the classic forms of freestyle. The player's right foot is on the ground while the left leg is extended forward, usually about waist high. Extending the hand over and then under the left leg for the disc, the back of the hand faces left and the thumb is up (inverted).
Flyingitis is similar to the gitis, but the player's body is off the ground.
Flamingitis is a difficult gitis variation which has the left foot on the ground while the right leg is raised for aesthetic effect. The hand reaches behind the ankle with the thumb up (inverted). This can also be done in the air; what's important is that the left leg extends nearly straight down.
Indigenous extends the leg forward chest high or more. The back of the hand faces down or right and the thumb is up (supinated). The phlembouyant: is a leaping indigenous. Kevin Givens, a player who won too many tournaments to mention, deserves the credit (or the infamy) for naming these positions and the half dozen which follow.
Extraneous is an indigenous with both legs raised. The disc usually passes under both legs from right to left toward the hand. Note that this may be done in the air or with the buttocks on the ground.
Analagous extends the leg high to maximize clearance. The back of the hand faces up or left and the thumb is down (pronated). The delineator is a leaping analagous.
Incongruous might be called an analogous Flamingitis. The left leg is planted and the right leg is raised. The right hand reaches behind the left ankle, but the palm faces down and the thumb is down (pronated).
California gitis is a catch which requires hypersupination of the hand so that the palm faces up, the back of the hand down and slightly left and the thumb is down. The fleshy part of the wrist faces up.
Monster and fibrosis are positions that require very long,
thin limbs and superb flexibility. The arm reaches over, under and around
the leg so that the hand can extend anywhere from the sole of the foot
to the shin. Both supinated and pronated positions are possible here.
Second Position Forms
While many variations of this position are possible, only one seems to have acquired a name.
Constorktion is a catch made high on one side or over the head
by reaching out under the opposite leg. The leg is raised high and the
head may be lowered as the arm bends back over to facilitate gripping the
disc on its far side with the thumb down and the fingers on top of the
disc extending back toward the player (hypersupinated). Con"stork"tion
(Stork is the pseudonym of Dan Roddick, a player and organizer of great
renown, and currently the director of the International Frisbee Association)
can also mean a highly contorted style of play.
Third Position Forms
Pretzel is the basic third position form in which the arm extends under the leg of the same side from the inside going out. In this case, the left foot is planted while the hand extends under the leg anywhere from the knee to the ankle. The thumb may be up or down. This form is also referred to as the "tangle" or the "grapevine." All these names express the intertwining sensation one feels in this position. (Kevin Givens calls this position a 'flamedatz," indicating an unusual intertwining somewhere in his brain.
Eflex is an overhead pretzel. With the thumb down (pronated), the arm first extends under and then back over the knee. The foot is normally raised quite high.
Inverted Flamingo has the hand reach back under the leg while the back of the hand faces down. This may be performed behind the thigh, knee, calf or ankle (inverted).
Phlaerd is a position which requires significant flexibility in the hips. Raise the right leg to the side and slightly back so that the knee is at least as high as the shoulder. The body leans forward at the waist so that the arm is able to reach under and in back of the leg anywhere from the thigh to the ankle. The elbow and wrist bend so that the back of the hand faces back and up while the fingers extend forward over the leg, catching with the thumb down (hyperpronated). The picture shows the stretch involved, but the player is normally standing or leaping rather than kneeling.
Twisted Turkey involves holding the pretzel so that the right
arm and leg are behind the left calf. The hand is located to the left of
the left ankle and below the right ankle.
Fourth Position Forms
Flamingo captivated freestylers at its inception in the mid-seventies because it was the aesthetic alternative to the basic under the leg and behind the body moves of the day. The name refers, of course, to the bird which often stands on one leg. The left leg is raised and the upper body lowered in order to maintain their 180 degree relation in a line as parallel to the ground as possible. The left arm is often extended to accentuate this form. The right arm reaches behind and to the inside of the right ankle. The hand is typically supinated.
Bad Attitude is one of the more recent innovations in
form. The thigh extends slightly forward and to the side. The knee bends
so that the sole of the foot faces up and the toes point back, not unlike
an arabesque in ballet. The hand reaches under the foot and extends forward
in such a way that, if held in place, the top of the foot rests on the
wrist or forearm and the leg can be lifted even higher by raising the arm.
Other Positions
Behind the Body includes the range of movement from below the ankles to as high up the back as possible. The upper arm extends down and across to varying degrees while the elbow bends so that the forearm and hand extend to the opposite side of the body. The waist and the knees may bend also depending on the altitude of the hand. There is some resemblance to the fourth position in terms of the sweep of the arm. Behind the Back and Behind Both Legs catches come under this heading.
Socket Catches. (I created this term to refer to a group of catches that share a certain trait.) The name derives from the sensation that the disc feels like it's trapped between the fingers and the back when the catch is completed. The thumb is down and the palm may be parallel to the back. The fingers extend toward the vicinity of the neck, so the disc lies between the head and the catching hand.
Now, both hypersupinated and hyperpronated positions can qualify as socket catches. For example, the constorktion, a hypersupinated catch, falls into this category. The Bend Over Catch is a classic behind the back catch in the hyperpronated position. As the disc approaches the player from straight ahead, he or she simply bends forward at the waist, swinging one or both arms back and up so that the disc flies right into the palm. The difference between the hyperpronated socket and the hypersupinated socket is that to accomplish the latter it is necessary to extend further around the back and you are more likely to bend your elbow. The picture in which the disc is held vertically portrays the gray area between the two positions.
Behind the Head extensions require that the upper arm is raised
at the shoulder to facilitate the reach of the forearm and the hand. The
hypersupinated position is most common here, and I have heard that particular
catch referred to as the Double-Fake.
A more spectacular behind the head catch is the Hammer (named after Tom Hemmer) in which the right hand reaches high behind the head and around the neck to grip the disc on its leftmost edge with the thumb up (forward inverted, but behind the head).
Trailing Edge Catches. Catching the disc out of the air from a throw or a pass by grabbing its tail, or its trailing edge, is possible in any of the above forms. The Constorktion is often caught in such a way. The trailing edge variation of a phlaerd is called a phlaerdetzed. Simpler trailing edge catches may be performed overhead, at either side of the body and going straight back through the legs. The Sweep is a trailing edge catch caught on the same side of the body, for example, by the right hand on the right side (backward pronated).
Feet are pretty useful too, not just for standing, but for nearly every skill in freestyle. Toes have nails and the instep, the heel and the side of the foot all wield great power. The feet can't get themselves twisted up as easily as the hands (though there's always the chance that a Hackysack player will prove me wrong) so it will serve to just mention that you can kick, or otherwise position your feet, by extending the knee or by bending it, and you can make either movement with the legs crossed. Several players have mastered throws and catches between the toes.
Traps refer to a wide variety of catches that are performed without the hands.
The Chicken Wing (also called the Pit Stop is caught in the armpit.
The Scissors is caught between the legs.
The Earth Trap is caught by stepping on the disc (usually by accident).
Turning. Just as the disc revolves around its own center, so may the human. The simplest sorts of body turns start and end with Thes. The more advanced ones involve reaching under the legs or behind the body. Having heard players refer to the "Triple-fake," "Quadruple-fake," and "Quintuple-fake" (despite the suggestive meanings of such terms, the term "fake" is just a convention; there are no fakes involved), I decided to try to create a compatible system which would categorize every type of turn. This got outrageously complicated, so I'll only present an outline of my thoughts on this matter after defining the existing terms.
As before, a right-handed example is used; transpose references to direction in order to find the left-handed values. Also, for the sake of convenience, I will speak of the "catch." This could just as well be some sort of Continuation skill.
Osis. What makes this an interesting move is that the hand is not really obstructed by the body as it reaches for the disc. Beginning with the disc directly in front of the body, move the right foot to the left (past the left foot and in front of it), look over the left shoulder and reach behind the body with the right hand. Note that the head turns 360 degrees, the hips, 180 degrees, and the hand stays in basically the same place.
Scarecrow. The name refers to the sensation of the arm being extended straight back out to the side with the elbow locked. This is usually done so that the feet remain planted on the ground. The hand may actually be higher or lower than the shoulder and the elbow may even be slightly bent, but the scarecrow sensation remains. Reach straight out to the side and sweep the arm behind the back in a horizontal plane until the hand is close to the opposite side of the body. For example, if you intend to make the catch with your right arm, the disc will be on your left side. The palm faces forward with the thumb down lower than the fingers (pronated--a harder version is hypersupinated). You should feel a lot of stretch in the shoulder and there will be a compensating twist all through the back, waist and lower limbs. Even though the hand is unobstructed, this is a very difficult position because it requires considerable reach. The scarecrow is typically performed as a "blind" catch; the head does not follow as the shoulders swing back and around. Radar means a scarecrow preceded by a complete turn going the same way as the arm's extension toward the disc. Scarecrosis is a scarecrow preceded by a turn opposite the arm's extension toward the disc.
Triple Fake. The catching hand moves across the front of the body and around the back so that it reaches all the way around, catching the disc waist high, usually in the supinated position. The hips and the head may turn as much as 180 degrees. Again, this is typically a "blind" catch.
Phallus is a particularly attractive form when cleanly executed.
The legs are together and the knees are locked. The body is bent at the
waist, with the back straight (as in a pike). The hand reaches down, across
and around the ankles. The reach is similar to a Triple-fake, but lower.
Quadruple-fake is a rightward turn followed by a behind the back catch. The body turns 360 degrees and the hand reaches behind the body for a total of 540 degrees.
Barrel Catch refers to a combination made famous by Corey Basso, who said he was inspired by Baryshnikov's jumping turns. The final part of the combination is a full rightward turn, followed by a jumping, hypersupinated, fourth position catch.
Paul Laban's theoretical investigations into movement and dance resulted in a system of choreographic writing he called Labanotatlon. IBM produced a very nice TV commercial to tout a specialized typing element for the notation, but few dancers actually desire or need such a system of writing, preferring to communicate and learn through example. Freestylers may feel the same way. A rigorous system of writing and articulating the sport appeals to stuffy intellectuals such as myself, but is superfluous to hot jamming.
Except for an occasional reference to the delay, we have so far only
seen the details concerning the agent of freestyle--the player. Now we
are ready to turn to the object --the flying disc.