There is a moment that every flick thrower remembers. The moment it clicks.
Mine happened at the Hyattsville pickup game. I was throwing with a guy named David Lingua. We were warming up before the game, and I was doing what I always did with my forehand, putting touch on it, aiming carefully, trying to guide it to the target with finesse. And the throws were fine. Okay. Decent. But they did not have any life to them.
David watched me for a few throws and then said something simple: "Just let it rip."
So I did. I snapped my wrist as hard as I could and launched the disc. The first few were wild. One sailed way past him. Another dove into the ground. But David just kept feeding me discs and saying the same thing. Let it rip.
Then I threw a good one. It came off my hand flat, spinning hard, and sailed 30 or 40 yards right to him. And the feeling, I will never forget that feeling. David gave me permission to put real strength into the throw and not be embarrassed by the wild results. Because those wild throws were part of the process. You have to throw it too hard before you learn to dial it back.
That single session changed my flick forever. It went from a throw I tolerated to a throw I trusted. If you read Book 1, you already know the detailed mechanics of the Webbing Whip and the kinetic chain. This chapter is about using the flick in the game, where it becomes the throw that changes everything.
Why the Flick Changes Your Game
Here is the truth about competitive Ultimate: if you can only throw a backhand, defenders will eat you alive.
When the mark knows you are backhand only, they simply force flick. They stand on your backhand side and dare you to throw the forehand. They take away your best throw and make you use the one you cannot do.
But when you learn the flick, everything shifts. Suddenly defenders have to respect both sides. They do not know if they should shade left or right. Your throwing windows increase dramatically because you can attack from either direction. You become twice as dangerous in an instant.
The flick is also extremely fast. The backhand requires more setup, you have to coil your torso, wind up, and uncoil through the full kinetic chain. The defender can read your body language. But the flick? You can do a simple little stutter with your shoulders or your head to fake and then just snap your wrist. The disc is gone before the mark can react.
This is the throw that hooks people into staying in Ultimate long term. Once your flick starts working in games, you realize you can actually compete. You are not just surviving on the field. You are a threat.
Why the Flick Is Difficult
Let me be honest with you. The flick is the hardest throw to learn in Ultimate. Even Ben Jagt, two time AUDL Most Valuable Player, admitted to me that forehands are his weakest point. If a two time MVP still works on his flick, that should tell you two things: this throw is genuinely hard, and you should not feel bad about struggling with it.
Three barriers make the flick difficult:
- Flexibility: Your wrist has to bend backward farther than it is used to going. Your arm extends away from your body at an angle that feels unnatural. The coil requires bending your wrist all the way back, then your hand, then your arm, then twisting your torso, loading up kinetic energy in a position your body has never been in before.
- Targeted muscles: The flick uses muscles most people have never strengthened. Your middle finger does the majority of the work. Your wrist flexors and extensors fire in a snap motion. Your triceps extend your arm at the release point. As Brent Steepe puts it: "Throwing is all about snap, and the triceps literally extend the forearm, helping accelerate the disc forward, and also help lock the elbow, which stabilizes the whole motion."
- Muscle memory: Unlike the backhand, which feels natural, the flick motion is completely foreign. Your body has to build new neural pathways through repetition. The first hundred throws will feel wrong. That is normal.
The Wrist Snap Is Everything
If the backhand is about coiling your whole body, the flick is about cracking a whip with your wrist.
Think about skipping rocks on a lake. You do not muscle the rock forward with your arm. You snap your wrist at the last second and the rock launches off your fingers with spin. That is the flick.
Here is how I think about the sequence: imagine there is an invisible string tied to your elbow, pulling it forward. Your elbow leads. It goes forward first, pulling your forearm and then your wrist behind it. Then at the very end, your wrist whips forward past your elbow and your middle finger snaps across the rim.
The sequence is: elbow forward, forearm follows, wrist whips, fingers snap. Each link accelerates faster than the one before it. That is the kinetic chain for the flick, and the wrist snap at the end is where all the magic happens.
The Grip
The flick grip is completely different from the backhand.
- Split finger grip (beginner): Spread your index and middle finger apart on the inside rim of the disc, like a peace sign pressed against the plastic. Your thumb goes on top. This gives you more stability and is easier to control while you are learning.
- Closed finger grip (power): Your index and middle finger are together, stacked side by side on the inside rim. This concentrates the snap point and generates more spin once you have the technique down.
- Three finger variation (my personal grip): I use three fingers on the inside rim. It works for my hand size and gives me a blend of control and power. This is not standard advice, it is what I discovered through thousands of throws.
The grip pressure sequence matters: start loose as you coil back, tighten as you begin the forward motion, then release. If you grip too tight the whole time, you kill the whip effect. If you grip too loose, the disc slips.
The Five Drills That Build Your Flick
1. The Lying Down Drill (most important). Lie flat on your back. Hold the disc in your flick grip above your chest. Flick it straight up into the air using only your wrist and fingers. Catch it when it comes back down. Repeat. This is the most important flick drill because it isolates exactly the muscles and motion that matter. You cannot cheat with your arm or torso. It is pure wrist snap and finger push. Once you can flick the disc straight up consistently while lying down, just turn that same motion sideways. That is your forehand.
→ Action Step: Do 20 reps of the lying down drill every day for a week. You will feel the difference in your flick within days.
2. The Finger Spin Drill. Hold the disc flat on your middle finger and spin it like a basketball player spinning a ball. Keep it going as long as you can. Then switch to your index finger. Then try your non dominant hand. This is the Hula Hoop Drill from Book 1. It builds the finger strength that powers your snap. Five minutes a day makes a noticeable difference within a month.
3. The Belt Drill (isolate your wrist). Tuck your throwing forearm against your body, some people literally tie it with a belt or tuck their elbow behind their back. Now throw the flick using only your wrist and fingers. No arm. No elbow extension. Just snap. Once you can throw a decent flick with just your wrist, progressively add back your forearm, then your elbow, then your full arm. You are building the kinetic chain one link at a time.
4. Khalif's Table Drill. Imagine the disc is sliding across a table. Your job is to keep it flat, perfectly flat, as you flick it forward. If the disc would fall off the edge of an imaginary table, your release angle is wrong. This visual helps beginners who throw the flick with too much angle.
5. The Soap Test (fun and revealing). Brent Steepe shared this one: rub a bar of soap between your flick fingers and then try to throw. If the disc slips out too easily, your finger strength needs work. If you can still control and spin the disc with soapy fingers, your grip strength and technique are solid.
The Flick Motion: Beginner to Intermediate
Beginner approach, stationary, wrist and arm only: Stand with your feet planted. Do not rotate your torso at all. Hold the disc in your flick grip with your arm extended to your side. Snap your wrist and release. Just wrist and forearm. Short throws only, 10 to 15 feet. This is where everyone starts. You are building the wrist snap in isolation before adding complexity.
Intermediate approach, full kinetic chain: Now add your body. Bend your knees slightly. Coil your wrist back as far as it will go, then your hand, then your arm, then twist your torso. You should feel a big stretch, like a loaded spring. Then release everything in one fluid motion. Your elbow leads forward first. Your forearm follows. Your wrist whips past your elbow. Your middle finger snaps across the rim last.
The more flexible you are, the more you can coil backward, and the more kinetic energy you store. Flexibility is a secret weapon for the flick. Stretch your wrists, forearms, and shoulders regularly.
The 70 Percent Rule
Maximum power does not produce the best flick. This took me years to learn.
At 100 percent power, my flick is uncatchable. It rockets past everyone. At 90 percent, it is still too much. But at 70 percent power? That is where the magic lives. Accurate, with plenty of velocity, and soft enough that your receiver can handle it.
This is the opposite of what beginners expect. They think they need to throw harder. You actually need to throw smarter. David Lingua's "let it rip" advice got me to discover my power range. Then I learned to live at 70 percent of that range for game situations.
Release Points and the Force
The flick has three release points, and each one serves a different purpose:
- High release (above your shoulder): Nearly unguardable because marks cannot reach that high without fouling you. Perfect for close range passes over the mark. Requires strong wrist snap because you lose the help of gravity.
- Low release (near your hip or knee): Where your most powerful hucks come from. The low release lets you load up the full kinetic chain and launch it far downfield.
- Straight release (waist to chest height): Your bread and butter. Most game flicks come from this height. Quick, reliable, hard to defend.
Understanding the force is critical. In Ultimate, the defense sets a "force," usually forcing you to throw the flick. That means the mark stands on your backhand side and dares you to throw the forehand. If you have a reliable flick, you simply throw what they are giving you. The mark is doing you a favor by letting you use the throw you have worked so hard to develop.
But you can also break the force. A quick fake flick followed by a backhand around the mark. A high release flick over the top. A low scoober underneath. The more throws you have, the more options you have against any force.
Faking With the Flick
The flick is the best faking throw in Ultimate because of how compact the motion is.
With a backhand, your whole body telegraphs the throw. The torso twist is visible. The windup takes time. A smart mark reads your body and adjusts. With the flick, you can fake with almost no motion. A little head turn. A quick shoulder dip. A tiny wrist stutter. The defender reacts, and then you snap it the other direction.
Practice the fake and throw sequence: pivot to your flick side and sell the fake with your eyes and shoulders. Pull the disc back as the mark bites. Pivot to the other side and throw a backhand, or simply re fake and throw the flick past them. The whole sequence happens in less than two seconds.
Building Flick Specific Strength
The muscles that power your flick are not the ones you train at a normal gym.
- Finger extensors: The muscles that open your fingers, the opposite of grip strength. Most people only train grip (closing) and neglect extension (opening). Brent Steepe recommends finger extension devices specifically for disc throwers.
- Wrist flexors and extensors: These power the snap. Wrist curls and reverse wrist curls build them. Also try holding a disc and rotating your wrist in circles, clockwise and counterclockwise, to build all around wrist strength.
- Triceps: Your triceps extend your forearm and help lock your elbow at the release point. Strong triceps stabilize the entire motion and add velocity.
→ Action Step: Add finger extension exercises and wrist curls to your routine. Two sets of 15 reps, three times a week. Within a month you will feel more snap in your flick.
The Lefty Flick
I asked Seth Martin about teaching the lefty flick, and his answer surprised me. He actually prefers teaching players the lefty backhand instead. His reasoning: the lefty backhand is a much more natural, gentle, and accurate throw at close range. A lefty flick requires building the same difficult wrist snap, grip strength, and muscle memory all over again with your weak hand, and for most players, a lefty backhand gives you 90 percent of the same benefit with a fraction of the learning curve.
That said, if you want to reach true Legend status, ambidextrous play at every level, the lefty flick is the ultimate frontier. Start with the lying down drill using your left hand. Build finger strength with the spin drill on your left hand. Be patient. It will take twice as long as learning the righty flick, but the payoff is being truly unguardable.
Quick Reference: Flick Forehand Variations
- Short flick — Resets and quick passes. Wrist snap only, minimal arm.
- Medium flick — To cutters breaking open. Arm and wrist combined.
- Long flick (Huck) — Downfield bombs. Full kinetic chain, low release.
- High release flick — Over the mark at close range. Nearly unguardable.
- Blade — Steep OI angle, cuts through wind. Advanced and situational.
- Lefty flick — Legend status. The ultimate frontier.
Wrap Up
◆ The flick is the gateway from casual to competitive. Once defenders have to respect both sides, your entire game opens up.
◆ The wrist snap is everything. Elbow leads forward, wrist whips past, middle finger snaps the rim.
◆ Start with the lying down drill to isolate the exact motion, then build the kinetic chain one link at a time.
◆ Find your maximum power, then live at 70 percent. That is where accuracy meets catchability.
◆ Flexibility is your secret weapon. The more you can coil backward, the more energy you store for the snap.
◆ The flick is the best faking throw because of its compact, quick release. Sell fakes with your eyes, not the disc.
◆ Build flick specific strength in your finger extensors, wrist flexors, and triceps.
◆ The lefty flick is Legend status. Seth Martin recommends the lefty backhand for 90 percent of the benefit with a fraction of the learning curve.
Mentor's Closing
I think about that moment with David Lingua a lot.
Before he told me to let it rip, I was treating the flick like something fragile. Something I had to nurse along carefully. Touch it gently. Guide it to the target. And the result was a throw that worked but never thrived. It had no life in it. No confidence.
David gave me permission to fail. To throw wild ones. To rip it and see what happened. And in those wild throws I found the power I had been afraid of. Then I dialed it back and suddenly had a flick that could do real damage.
That is the journey for every player reading this chapter. You have to throw it too hard before you learn to throw it right. You have to throw a hundred ugly ones before the beautiful one appears. And when it does, when that first real flick comes off your hand flat and spinning and sails exactly where you wanted it to go, you will understand why this throw hooks people for life.
The flick forehand is not just a technique. It is a confidence builder. It is the throw that tells you: I belong on this field. I can compete with anyone.
So find a buddy. Grab a disc. And let it rip. :)