Answer to the fury of my lady hammer!
Courtesy of Gavin Thompson, Photographer
The women’s ultimate team I’m practicing with worked on hammers and scoobers at our last practice. We practiced them with a mark and with up-field defense and offense, as well as in a zone. Women don’t throw enough of these in games, so it was great to have a special focus on them in practice.
Hammers and scoobers are considered less practical than other throws (backhands and forehands), but there are times when they are the right choice. That is, they are the right choice if the thrower has the throw and the confidence to go for it under game pressure.
Often women won’t even bite on a hammer fake in a game because the chance of the woman they’re marking actually throwing it tends to be pretty low.
Why is this aversion to hammers and scoobers non-existent in men’s games? As illustration, my partner even has this sticker on his waterbottle:
Men throw hammers. They throw away the disc sometimes, but they throw them anyway. The women’s game tends to be more finesse, more shorts passes, and less brute force, whereas the men’s (open) game tends to be more about strength and big throws. It’s alright to have different styles of play, but that doesn’t mean women should leave fun and useful skills out altogether.
My challenge to women ultimate players is to go out and practice their hammers and scoobers. Start thinking of them as an option in a game and finally, go for the throw. The worst that will happen is you’ll end up with a new sticker on your water bottle.
More hammers and scoobers from the ladies!
in the skin of a writer 