Since I played college baseball, throwing a disc over my head (like a baseball) for a thumber, resulting in a high arcing flight path, has been very natural for me. I can hit 400+ feet when I put everything into my toss, but I can regularly reach 350 pretty easily. Although I don't throw a thumber all the time, it is one of the most accurate and reliable shots in my bag - great for getting out of trouble, and it can be for you as well with a few simple techniques.
Grip: Keep it simple; make a fist with your throwing hand and hold it tight. Hold the disc vertical and face the top of it away from your thumb. Place it in the V of your thumb and index finger with your thumb pad on the inside of the rim and the top of the disc touching the thumb side of your index finger. Keep your grip tight. The disc will rip out of your hand when thrown.
Arm Motion: Imagine someone throwing a baseball from the outfield to home plate. Your arm will rotate from behind you, up and over your throwing shoulder and will finish in front of you with the follow through. Your shoulders will rotate around the axis of your spine to allow your arm to move from behind you to in front of you.
Choice of Disc: Different discs will fly differently for a thumber, just as when they are thrown backhand or sidearm. An understable disc will 'flip' faster and not go quite as far while an overstable disc will resist the 'flip' and stay in the air longer, resulting in more distance. I have found the champion firebird or champion eagle to be the best for a thumber due to their thin rim. Other good thumber discs include: z xtreme, champion whippet, champion orc, and z wildcat. A special note on the Aerobie Epic: I have thrown the Epic 450+, but it is absolutely unreliable. If you can get it to fly the same twice, good for you.
Aiming: The thumber is unique in that you have to throw the disc about 35-45 degrees up in the air to get the max distance out of the flight. You can control distance with the height of the throw; throw the disc higher than the optimal distance height and it will go shorter, throw the disc lower than the optimal distance height and it will go shorter as well. Thumbers thrown extremely low will have a tendency to take a wild skip to the right after they hit the ground. As for direction, the disc will end up pretty close to the direction you aim. For me a champ firebird will end up a bit to the right of my release point.
Keep it Vertical!!! The most common breakdown in technique when throwing a thumber is to let the disc go at an angle further to the side of your body as opposed to vertical. For max distance, keep the disc as vertical as possible upon release. This will force the disc to start with more 'flip' distance to travel before turning over and heading straight toward the ground.
Practice your thumbers a bit and you will find they are not that difficult to throw. They can save your butt when you are in trouble, or they may give you that edge you have been looking for. It is a great tool to have available, especially when there is an open lane up top and tons of trees below
Good Luck & Have Fun!
Jordan
Get Better: http://www.discgolfreview.com/resources/analysis/brianschweberger2.shtml
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