The art of the flip throw

[AreliusIII]

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635157799,00.html

[Rover]

Originally Posted by AreliusIII

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635157799,00.html

Great to see articles like this, especially giving some publicity to the college game in the area.

I saw more flip throws on the east coast than anywhere else in the country, whether the players were male or female--don't ask me why. As a coach I don't recommend it. I'd rather players work on getting the ball back in play quickly. If you want more distance, hit the weight room. It just takes too long to set up the throw since it requires the longer run-up.

As a fan I think it looks cool. Kinda showboat, but that's OK every now and then. Done right it can catch a defense off guard. I can't verify that more women than men do flip throws, but I can say that I've seen or coached a number of male players who don't need to flip throw to get some serious distance on a throw-in.

Don't look for this from the pros, either. Has anyone ever seen a top division pro player do a flip throw? I haven't. That tells me all I need to know.

[the Bardguy]

There was a guy on my comp team in high school that could do that - and he threw that ball a mile! But I was always under the impression that it wasn't legal...there were even some refs that would card him for that!!

[I_Believe_In_Kreis]

Originally Posted by Rover

Has anyone ever seen a top division pro player do a flip throw? I haven't. That tells me all I need to know.

Well, you'll never see one in MLS/EPL/Bundesliga etc. but not because they suck. It's more because there's no room to make a long run in with ad boards so close to the pitch. I suppose you could do one down the line but why? I imagine if the ads weren't so close you would see a flip throw every now & then at the highest levels.

[AreliusIII]

Originally Posted by Rover

Has anyone ever seen a top division pro player do a flip throw?

Didn't someone on the WNT used to do it?

Also, several female players of the now defunct WUSA used to do it, like Kim Pickup of the Spirit and Chrissy Sanford of the Storm.

[utah_heretic]

I still pull out my flip throw every now and then...there was a time when I had a lot of control over distance and velocity, and let me tell you, it's possible to generate a lot of velocity.

WRT MLS, EPL, and other professional use, there's no doubt that the lack of sideline space is the issue. you need about 6 feet to do a decent one. But frankly, for professional level play, players are strong enough to get the ball to the middle anyway. How much time will you devote to developing a really phenomenal indirect kick? It's definitely more useful to get the ball inbounded before your opponents get too far back. I suspect that if there was more sideline space, you would see a few though, it does tend to negate the advantage of clearing over the sideline rather than the end line.

The time thing isn't so much an issue so long as you have large hands and people are expecting it...the advantage is that you can send a ball across the goal with a really low arc, much more similar to a corner than a conventional throw-in, even one thrown by somebody burly. There is the problem with people standing next to the line though...I actually knocked an opponent unconscious with one in high school, which while solving the issue of having people stand next to the line, didn't make me feel very good about myself that game. The other problem is that you can't really bend the throw, or at least I never learned to, so it's not a very difficult ball to guage unless it's thrown very hard with very no spin...sort of a knuckle ball...this unfortunately makes it difficult for your own player to guage as well though.

On the whole, it's mostly only a nifty trick in the right circumstances. If you do it more than once or twice a game, it's too easy for the defense to adapt.

The throw has always been recognized as legal since it's inception, though there is a school of refereeing which considers it an unfair advantage and therefore deemed it to be "unsportsmanlike conduct", which probably explains some of the yellow cards given for it's execution. The most sensible thing to do is to ask the referee before the game whether they will allow one.

[dysko]

Flip throws... I could always get good elevation on those things, but never got the distance thing down.

So, I worked on other throws and got to the point that I could get good placement and distance with a good old regular throw. I always figure the risk wasn't worht the extra effort to actually get good.

As an official, I very rarely saw a player try on and actually get it off legally... the ratio was probably 1 to 5.

[Jose Luis Luviano]

Originally Posted by utah_heretic

The throw has always been recognized as legal since it's inception, though there is a school of refereeing which considers it an unfair advantage and therefore deemed it to be "unsportsmanlike conduct", which probably explains some of the yellow cards given for it's execution. The most sensible thing to do is to ask the referee before the game whether they will allow one.

I'm just a Grade 8 and therefore; not really an expert.

I don't see how it could be unsporting conduct. Do we hand out a yellow to Freddy Adu because he's really fast and talented and that gives him an "unfair advantage?"

But if you make a Big Production out of your flip throw and run half way on to the next field to start your run, it could be Delaying A Restart; if I'm in a bad mood.