My good friend Mark has a son named Miles. Miles played on the U24 team for USA and competed alongside a player named Tobias Brooks out of Colorado. Mark told me a story that still gives me chills.
He watched Tobias throw a hammer, pinpoint accurate, from one end zone to the other. Seventy yards. A hammer. And it landed exactly where it was supposed to.
I have watched hours of Tobias Brooks on film, and what strikes me is not just that throw. It is how many different throws he has. He is the Harlem Globetrotter of Ultimate Frisbee. Breaking zones with hammers. Floating scoobers over marks at close range. Releasing from angles that should not be possible. His throwing bag seems endless.
That is the spirit of this chapter. The backhand is your foundation. The flick is your game changer. But the specialty throws? These are the throws that make your opponents say "how did that disc get there?"
And here is the best part: they are incredibly fun to learn.
The Shared Secret
Every specialty throw in this chapter uses the flick grip.
That is not a coincidence. If you have been working on your forehand from the last chapter, you already have the grip strength, wrist snap, and finger control to start learning these throws today. The hammer, the scoober, the thumber, they all start with the same hand position. The difference is the release point, the angle, and the trajectory.
This means your investment in the flick pays double dividends. Every hour you spent building that wrist snap transfers directly into these specialty throws.
The Hammer
The hammer is probably the most exciting throw in Ultimate.
You release it above your head, almost like throwing a tomahawk, and it sails over the defense at a height they simply cannot block. Then it curves, flattens, and drops down to your receiver on the other side. It is dramatic. It is effective. And when you land one in a game, it feels incredible.
How the hammer works: the disc starts vertical above your head and curves in an S shape through the air. If you are right handed, it will arc to the left, toward your backhand side. It goes up, curves over, flattens out as it loses speed, then floats down. The curve is predictable once you understand it, which means your receiver can learn to read where it will land.
How to throw it:
- Use your flick grip, same grip from the flick chapter
- Bring the disc above your head, slightly behind your ear
- Snap your wrist forward and release, similar to a flick but on a vertical plane above you
- Aim about halfway between you and where you want the disc to land, the S curve will carry it the rest of the way
- Follow through with your arm pointing toward your target
When to use the hammer:
- Breaking zones, when the defense is spread across the field and you need to go over, not through
- When the mark is forcing one side and you need to get the disc to the break side quickly
- When a cutter is open deep but behind the defense, the hammer floats down to them from above
- Anytime you want to change the angle of attack and confuse the defense
When NOT to throw the hammer: in heavy wind where the high trajectory makes it vulnerable to gusts. When you are not confident in it yet and the game is on the line. When a simple flick or backhand would get there faster and safer.
That said, my philosophy is: play around with it. Have fun. The hammer is one of those throws that you learn by experimenting. Throw it in warmups. Throw it in pickup games. Throw it when the stakes are low and the joy is high. The more you play with it, the more reliable it becomes.
The Scoober
The scoober is basically the hammer's close range cousin.
Where the hammer goes high and far, the scoober goes short and sneaky. You release it at about shoulder height, sometimes even lower, and it floats over the mark's head at close range. It is a touch throw, not a power throw. Think of it as a gentle lob that sails just over the defender's reach and drops softly into your teammate's hands.
How to throw it:
- Same flick grip
- Instead of bringing the disc above your head like a hammer, release it from around shoulder height
- The motion is more of a push and spin, less snap than the hammer
- The disc goes up slightly, flattens, and drops down a short distance away
- Touch and finesse matter more than power here
When to use the scoober: when the mark is right in your face and you need to throw over them at close range. In the red zone near the end zone when space is tight. When a short dump or reset is being fronted and you need to lob it over the defender.
The scoober is one of the easier specialty throws to learn because it does not require a lot of power. If you can throw a flick, you can throw a scoober. Just adjust the release point and dial down the snap.
Here is a fun entry point: if you are a beginner, try the lefty scoober. Because it requires so little power and is mostly about touch, it is actually one of the easier throws to learn with your non dominant hand. It builds your off hand confidence in a low pressure way.
The Thumber Family
Here is something that most modern players overlook: the thumber.
When I interviewed Jim Lovell, who has been playing Ultimate for decades, he told me that the thumber used to be thrown much more often than it is today. Players have gravitated toward the hammer and scoober, and the thumber has faded from common use. But it is a great throw to have in your toolbox, and here is the key reason why.
If you are right handed and throw a hammer, the disc curves to your left. But if you throw a traditional thumber, the disc curves to your right. It is the opposite direction. That means the thumber covers the side of the field that your hammer cannot reach. Having both gives you the ability to go overhead to either side, and that is a powerful combination.
The thumber also feels more like throwing a ball than throwing a disc, which makes it surprisingly natural for people coming from other sports.
The traditional thumber: Grip the disc with your thumb on the inside rim, fingers on top. Throw it overhand, almost like you are throwing a football or a ball. The disc goes up, curves in an S shape to the opposite side of a hammer, and drops down.
The forehand thumber: Same thumb on inside grip, but release from waist height, more like a sidearm throw. Less arc, more horizontal flight. Good for short to medium range passes with a different angle.
The pop thumber: Release from under your armpit area, a compact, surprising motion. Short range only, but hard for defenders to read because the release point is so unusual.
The outside ear thumber: Release from beside your head, outside your ear. Similar trajectory to the traditional thumber but from a different angle. Good for getting around a mark who is shading one side.
The thumber family is not something you need to master before playing competitively. But experimenting with these throws is part of the creative joy of Ultimate. Try them in warmups. Play around with the grip. See which variation clicks for your body.
Learning to Catch Specialty Throws
Catching a hammer, scoober, or thumber is different from catching a normal throw. These discs come in on weird angles, often with an S curve flight path that changes direction as it loses speed.
Here is what to know:
- Watch the disc, not the defender. When a hammer is floating down from above, there is a temptation to look at who else is around you. Keep your eyes locked on the disc.
- Track the S curve. The disc will change direction as it slows down. You need to read where it will end up, not where it is currently heading. This takes practice.
- Catch late, not early. Specialty throws are slower than straight backhands and flicks, so you have more time than you think. Reaching too early means you grab it while it is still curving. Wait for it to settle into its final descent, then catch.
→ Action Step: Have a partner throw you 10 hammers while you stand still and just track the flight path. Do not even try to catch the first five, just watch. Then start catching. This builds your S curve reading ability fast.
Building Your Personal Toolkit
You do not need to master every throw in this chapter to be effective. But you should develop at minimum:
- The hammer — your overhead weapon for breaking zones and getting the disc over packed defenses. This is the highest impact specialty throw and the one you should learn first.
- The scoober — your close range escape valve for tight situations near the end zone or when the mark is in your face.
Beyond those two, the thumber family gives you the opposite curve direction from your hammer, which fills in the gaps. And any other specialty throw you discover along the way just adds to your creativity and unpredictability.
The key mindset for specialty throws is experimentation. These are not throws you learn from a textbook. They are throws you discover by playing around, trying weird angles, and seeing what happens. Some of the best specialty throwers in the world developed their signature throws by accident, by throwing something wrong and realizing it worked in a way they did not expect.
The Backwing: A Family Discovery
I want to tell you about a throw my sons and I invented by accident.
Luke, Eric, and I were throwing in the backyard one afternoon. We were messing around, trying different grips and releases, when one of us threw the disc with their thumb on the inside rim, pushing outward. It was the opposite motion of the classic "chicken wing" catch that Jerry Mindes still uses from the 1970s. Instead of trapping the disc inward, you are pushing it outward from the inside.
We called it the backwing.
Have I ever thrown the backwing in a real game? No. Will I ever? Probably not. It is not a practical game throw.
But that afternoon in the backyard, experimenting and laughing and accidentally discovering something new, that is the spirit of this sport. Ultimate Frisbee was invented by kids in a parking lot who were making things up as they went. The backwing exists because my family was doing the same thing fifty years later.
So go outside. Grab a disc. Try throwing it in a way nobody has thrown it before. You might invent the next great throw. Or you might just have a great time trying. Either way, you win.
Quick Reference: Specialty Throws
- Hammer — Overhead, S curve flight, breaks zones. Your first specialty throw to learn.
- Scoober — Close range lob over the mark. Touch, not power.
- Traditional thumber — Overhead like a ball. Curves opposite direction of hammer.
- Forehand thumber — Sidearm release with thumb grip. Medium range.
- Pop thumber — Under the armpit. Short range surprise.
- Outside ear thumber — Beside your head. Alternate angle.
- Backwing — A Lunardi family original. Pure experimentation. :)
Wrap Up
◆ All specialty throws use the flick grip. Your investment in the forehand pays double dividends here.
◆ The hammer is your highest impact specialty throw. It goes over the defense from above and breaks zones with an S curve flight.
◆ The scoober is the hammer's close range cousin. A soft lob over the mark for tight situations.
◆ The thumber family curves opposite to the hammer, covering the other side of the field. And it feels like throwing a ball.
◆ Catching specialty throws requires tracking the S curve and catching late rather than early.
◆ Build your toolkit with at minimum the hammer and scoober, then experiment with everything else.
◆ The spirit of specialty throws is play and experimentation. Try things, have fun, see what sticks.
Mentor's Closing
Tobias Brooks did not become the Harlem Globetrotter of Ultimate by following a manual. He became that player by throwing discs in ways that nobody told him to try. By experimenting. By failing. By discovering what his body could do with a piece of spinning plastic.
That is the invitation of this chapter. The backhand and flick are your essentials, the throws you drill with discipline and repetition. But specialty throws are your playground. They are where creativity lives. Where personality shows up in your throwing style. Where you discover that the disc can do things you never imagined.
My sons and I found the backwing in our backyard by accident. Jim Lovell told me the thumber used to be everywhere and now it has nearly disappeared. Tobias Brooks throws hammers 70 yards with pinpoint accuracy. Somewhere out there, a kid is throwing a disc in a way that has never been done before, and it is going to become the next great throw.
Maybe that kid is you.
Go play. Go experiment. Go throw something weird and see where it lands. The disc does not care about rules. It only cares about spin. :)