You also gain a small advantage over your marker, who is watching the disc or your eyes to read your next move. When you rotate behind your pivot foot and emerge with a forehand you find yourself a half-second ahead of the marker - partially because the disc is already naturally cocked for the forehand throw, but also because the marker instinctively looks to continue a block on the backhand, not realizing that you are crossing behind your pivot foot because it’s not usually done. This is an especially effective way to break the mark if the marker is forcing your backhand.

The second technique will really make you look like you’ve just walked onto the field for the first time: marking a thrower with your back to him, facing downfield. As silly as it looks, it’s very effective in some situations. The main disadvantage of facing the thrower is you have to anticipate his actions when he can see the field and you cannot. “Strike” and “No Break” calls never seem to come early enough, and maybe it’s just my trusting nature, but I am so easily faked out. But when you turn your back on the thrower and watch the field, while keeping your arms out-stretched slightly back, you can see where the cuts are coming from. The backwards mark also makes anticipating possible throws easier, especially if you know what the thrower is capable of and prefers. (Surprisingly enough, by facing the field slightly askew, you can see dump-to-deep and still keep an eye on the thrower’s body position.) When a potential receiver gets open on his defender, you will see it at the same time as the thrower and can step toward the thrower in that direction, cutting off the throw before he has time to get it in the air.

The best time to try this move is when you have the thrower pinned on the sideline. You can force the sideline throw and jump in to block whenever you see a player making that cut. After the stall hits 7, you can quickly spin and aggressively mark the disc to force a hurried throw or get a hand block. I’ve forced a surprising number of hammers and last-second dumps this way.

There is an obvious disadvantage to this technique: your arms don’t bend backward the way they do forward, so the thrower has more freedom of movement since you’re putting less immediate pressure on him. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever hand blocked a disc this way. I have noticed, however, that my stall counts go much higher since I can correctly anticipate the thrower’s options and cut off his throwing window. Instead of marking reactively, which happens when you follow the thrower’s motions, you’re marking proactively.

I am not advocating these two techniques as better than accepted techniques. I may, after further practice, decide that the traditional ways do work better, or come up with even better tech-niques. But whether they have inherent value or they just confuse the opposition, they have worked well for me so far, and being creative on the field definitely makes it more fun to be out there.

The point is that you should feel free to develop a personal style on the field—try things out and don’t get bogged down by those who think there is only one correct way to go through each motion. I bet the first guy to throw a hammer got some pretty funky looks, especially from the intended receiver. I doubt anything from my little bag of tricks will cause a national stir, but who knows? Maybe someday I’ll hear Fortunat Mueller whisper those two magic words: “Elvis who?”
— Elvis

Elvis is a writer/editor/photographer/anthropologist who is currently playing in Chicago or Virginia.