It Ain't Right

By Jamie Chantiles

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A long long time ago I could understand it…before the overhand wrist flip, the sidearm, and the thumber, it was tough to get a right-handed person to throw "reverse" spin.

I was one of the best players in the world , at least in my mind, before the first series tournament I attended. That was a real eye-opener! It took me six months to recover from the shock of seeing "cutting edge" techniques. We’re talking Boulder 1976 when I had the pleasure of seeing the first organized Frisbee Tour. What stands out in my mind? An overhand wrist airbounce, Z throwing an upside-downer 40 yards waist level during freestyle, Don Hoskins (Rocket) airbrushing the whole field among a packed screaming audience, and the hottest move ever - Jeff Soto completing a nail delay, pirouette to a delay (spinning the). Also Kirkland/Westerfield’s dropless juggling (straight throws) of  four 119’s, ending in John looking away for the last to hit him in the chest and miraculously end in his hand while he smiled at the judges!  The distance record was 412'  with a CPI saucer tosser.  I threw 219 ft. (my apartment #) and Kirkland threw 377!! That was a big throw in the good old days!

It was around this time (1978) when I went to an Ultimate tournament in California, and what did I see on the sidelines? Jammers crashing the party, sweating, showing-off, and having more fun than the legal limit.  Being an overall player has always been a challenge, since there are so many games to choose from, and it’s okay to do something other than tricks, until it’s in front of your face and you realize if you had to pick just one, it would be freestyle.

It ain’t right … What I’m referring to is the Northern Hemisphere’s insistence on "Clock" spin… What I’m talking about is what I have experienced from coast to coast, and that is group jams where the Clock jammers take over and others feel left out! At least 9/10 throws are clock… IT AIN’T RIGHT!

Now you may say, Jamie likes Counter, and you’d bee right! BUT nothing irritates me more to see someone with a right-spin grip look my way a switch to Counter and then throw it because I don’t take Clock… Please throw me Clock because actually I like Clock! But I love Counter, so how about 50/50? 60/40 or even 70/30 is OK for a while, but let’s take the time to learn BOTH worlds.

On those sidelines , in 1978, at the Ultimate tournament was a very athletic "mystery-jammer" wearing cut-off corduroys, sporting long curly hair, and doing center delay extraneous & indigenous passes!!! I had never seen him or any moves like this before… He taught me the bash, which he called "self-preservation for counter jammers."  His name? Corey Basso, or as I remember Corey Bash-O… Evan David and he went on to win the worlds soon after this!

Which should we bee most like? We all need to look inside and ask the question: Can I be punished? Dave Marini, our original leader said it watching an early great player, "You just can’t punish him."  What he meant was that person could take both spins, right side and upside down!!! No matter what you threw he flowed and loved every second!!!

I’m tired of feeling guilty in these Clock jams for throwing or thinking about the "other spin". We should all make an effort to work on our weaknesses! That’s how we really grow.  I’m lucky! Learning Counter first and being around mostly Clock players has forced me to improve and try to master right spin.   What about all you clockwork guys? You know who you are…You fear the Counter culture…the dark side…You throw 99% clock and then 1 counter into the ground to even the score! Then I figure it will be picked up and Counter will get it’s due…But NO! Right-on…Left-out... Again!!! You want to punish me? Please throw me UD Clock…that’s my weakness…but I’m determined to master it, and then I can always turn it over…

All spins all angles…That’s rolls: inverted/back/UD/front…That’s turnovers: both ways/both hands/whatever…THROWS with both hands… When I discussed this article out loud the best response I got was from Joel Rogers' wife Kim, who said "Do what Joel does…Throw with whatever hand you catch it with!" That’s progressive…That’s flow…That’s what it’s all about!!! So let’s get with the program…All spins, all angles, lots of fun, cause you have no worries or weaknesses….By the way can you throw me some UD Clock turned-over? LEFT…It ain’t right!

JLC