Tosses are the most fun thing to do with a flag... there is a very powerful feeling involved with releasing a 6 foot pole to go flying into the air! However, in order for a toss to be pretty and safe remember to always release at the correct position. If you release incorrectly, your flag is bound to hit you, or worse, someone else. Make sure that your release hand is where it is supposed to be, and not somewhere weird (and wrong).

Remember to PULL (or push) with your non-release hand... you will have a tendency to make your release hand do the toss by itself, when in reality, your other hand should be sharing the work. Be strong with your toss... don't do some wimpy half-pull and expect it to spin beautifully! You have to really put work into a toss to make it pretty!

When you move around under your flag while it's spinning in the air, that's called "dancing" under your flag. If you do a toss correctly, you should not have to move to catch it. It should sort of "land" in your hands without you moving to it. Remember your flag goes where you make it go - so if you're running off to the right to catch it, you must have released to the right.

DO NOT PREP! (Unless it's choreographed, which it may be.) Prepping will generally take power away from your toss, which is a bad thing. It will also cause your toss to be late, which is also not good. Unless it is specifically called for, prepping will not help your toss.

Most tossing problems are self-fixing... just see where your flag went in relationship to where it should have gone, and adjust accordingly. If you need to purposefully drop a toss, just so you can check your release position, then do so. Or, if you need to act like you're doing the toss, then stop at your release point and not let go, that may tell you a lot about what you're doing wrong.

Your release hand controls height ... so if you flag isn't spinning high enough, let go higher with your release hand. Pull it more towards or above your head and your flag will spin higher. This will also probably reduce its rotation and/or make your flag spin slower, so you may have to adjust those factors as well.

Your free hand controls rotation... so if your flag isn't spinning around enough, then pull harder with your free hand (before you let go). You're probably making you release hand do all the work, which you shouldn't do. Avoid prepping and jumping when you toss, because both of these will take power away from your toss. Also, don't lose momentum between when you let go with one hand and then release with the other hand... you should not slow down when you let go with your free hand!

If your flag is spinning too high or too much, then basically do the opposite of what's listed above. If your flag is spinning too high, you're probably releasing too high... so bring your release hand down. Also, pull more with your free hand, because your flag probably isn't spinning enough, either. If your flag is spinning too much, then don't pull as hard with your free hand. If you have both problems, just take everything down a notch... pull less and release lower. You're probably trying too hard!

There are 3 parts to a good catch: timing, grip, and position. Timing is sort of obvious... make sure that you are catching on the same count as everyone else (preferrably the CORRECT count, as well).

Grip refers to how your hands are; unless specifically taught differently, you should always catch your flag with your hands as wide as is comfortable. This will give strength to your catches and prevent your flag from wobbling. A very important part of grip is to catch with both hands at the SAME TIME. When one hand catches before the other, your catch is weak, wimpy, and wobbly. When working with your grip, also remember to catch at the correct points, be it cheat tape, tab, silk, stopper, etc, and with your hands over or under hand, whichever they are supposed to be.

Position refers to several different things... first of all, where the flag is. Is it an angle, flat, straight up and down, etc? Also, where are you supposed to be facing... front, side, 45? The last major thing is where are you catching in relationship to your body? Usually, you are NOT going to catch the flag way above your head... most likely it will be at your chest or waist. Recognize if you are incorrectly catching off to the side, by your face, etc. Position can also be where you feet need to be, if your head should be down or up, and if you are supposed to be moving, jumping, turning, etc. while you're catching your flag.

Late catches are usually because of 2 reasons... either you released late, or your flag is spinning too high. If you released late, then speed it up a little bit and release on the right count! If your flag was spinning too high, you're probably pulling more with your release hand than with your free hand... pull harder with your free hand so that your flag will spin faster and lower and it will be easier to catch on the right count.

Early catches are because of the 2 opposite reasons... either you released early, or your flag is spinning too fast. If you released early, then slow it down a little, and release on the right count! If your flag was spinning too fast, then pull a little less with your free hand and a little more with your release hand, so that your flag spins slower and higher, making it easier to catch on the correct count.

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