How to Throw a Boomerang

Throwing a Boomerang should be easy. If you can throw a ball twenty meters, chances are you can throw a boomerang. The key in learning to throw a " Comeback Boomerang " is to have one that will come back when thrown as required. Come back or returning boomerangs are available from many reputable suppliers. We have a selection available on the Beginner Boomerangs page for you to chose from. Not all boomerang shaped bits of wood have the craftsmanship to be classed as returning boomerangs. (Even with written guarantees.) Step 1 - Safety There are basic safety rules to be aware of to ensure you get the best enjoyment while throwing boomerangs. Injuring yourself or others is not part of the fun. Enjoy your throwing, and follow a few simple rules. 1. Most enjoyment will be had, with at least 50 metres clearance in all directions around you. Breaking boomerangs against buildings or trees is not fun. Climbing high trees to recover boomerangs is also no fun. 2. Throwing when there are spectators on the field is your responsibility. Ensure they are aware that boomerangs are being thrown. The key to safety is to watch the boomerang while it is in flight. If you are on an uncontrolled public field, interested spectators should follow your directions as to where to stand for the best safest viewing location. At a controlled throwing area spectators should be outside the designated throwing zone. 3. Beginners should never throw a boomerang so as it is released horizontally. Known by boomerangers, as side-arm or flat release. The resulting flight is unpredictable and extremely dangerous. At best the boomerang will break. At worst, you could seriously hurt someone. That someone will most likely be YOU. Boomerangers call "Heads Up", when a boomerang is heading towards others who may not be aware of its flight. Should you be totally unaware of its flight, it is best to crouch low to the ground with your hands clenched behind your head, forearms and elbows protecting the side of your head and face. If you are watching a boomerang heading towards you and you want to have it avoid hitting you, just step out of its way or duck. Just don't pause to long. NEVER TURN AND RUN so as you cannot see its flight. These are the main safety rules. Follow these and your boomerang experience will be enjoyable for everyone. It is fair to say that although accidents do happen, with experienced boomerang throwers it is rare. Step 2- The Wind Boomerangs are not designed to fly in heavy winds. If it's good kite weather, it's not generally good boomerang weather. Light boomerangs generally handle wind worse than heavier ones. Heavy ones generally require some wind to make it back to you. Any good sport boomerang you buy will tell you what wind conditions it is designed to fly best in. If it doesn't, it's not a good Sport Boomerang, hang it on the wall instead. Angle to the wind Boomerangs are either right-handed, or left-handed. Make sure you are throwing from the correct hand. A boomerang is generally launched between 30 - 80 degrees to the right (left for left-hander) of the direction the wind is blowing from, depending on the particular boomerang. Once again, the required angle for your particular boomerang should be indicated by the supplier. The average is 45 degrees. We will cover how to find the exact angle in the troubleshooting section below. Step 3 - The Grip How to hold a boomerang is critical to getting a good flight. There are several elements that you should consider. The boomerang should be held by the wing tip. Either the leading or trailing edge, it does not matter. Try each and see which is more comfortable. I tend to get better spin when I hold by the leading tip, but everyone throws differently. Hold the boomerang with the flat, bottom side facing your palm (ie away from your body). There are 2 main types of grip The pinch grip is where the tip of the boomerang is pinched between your thumb and index finger. This grip generally gives more spin to the boomerang, but less power. The full grip is where you hold the tip of the boomerang by wrapping the 1st and 2nd fingers and thumb around the bottom of the boomerang This grip gives more power to the throw, but requires a good snap of the wrist the get the most spin. This is more important for heavier or Long Distance boomerangs. With beginner boomerangs, spin is more important than power. Once again, different people throw differently, so try both and see which works best. Either way, the boomerang should be held in the hand, with the wrist cocked back as far as possible, ready for a big flick to impart lots of spin on release. The boomerang should be laying along, or next to your forearm, not sticking up at right-angles from it. The pinch grip usually makes it easier to get this layback, and therefore more spin with less effort, as can be seen in these pictures. The pictures also show the initial grip, as you bring your arm back for the throw, your wrist should go right back, ready for that spin. Layover The Boomerang should be held near vertical, with only about 10 - 30 degrees layover from vertical. Too vertical and the boomerang won't layover, and will fall to the ground half way around. Too horizontal and you've violated safety rule 3 of never throwing sidearm - it'll zoom high into the air, and come crashing down at great speed. Elevation The Boomerang should be launched with only 5 - 15 degrees elevation. If you aim at the top of some distant trees, you'll have it just about right. Too low, and the boomerang will either crash into the ground before making it halfway round, or it may zoom up into the air air come crashing down in front of you. Too high, and it will probably not make it all the way around, and fall to the ground half way around. The Throw OK, now you know all the elements that go into a good throw. The only thing left is to do it! Hold the boomerang in your hand with the correct grip, arm stretched out in front of you at shoulder level and line up with the point at which you are going to throw. Bring your wrist back, arm bent with your hand beside your ear, you're ready to throw. The throwing action is like throwing a baseball, except you have to flick your wrist to give it as much spin as possible upon release. Remember, don't throw too hard. Remember to aim at the top of the trees, keep the boomerang at the correct layover angle through the whole throw, and make sure you follow through!! OK - Ready, Set, Throw!! If the boomerang crashes to the ground, you probably dropped your arm. If the boomerang doesn't go straight out in front of you, but goes across your body to the side, you've pulled your arm across your body. These are both signs you haven't followed through with the throw. The boomerang should fly out straight in front of you for a short while. It should curve to the left (right for lefthanders), start to layover into the horizontal position, and climb slightly. The height it climbs is dependent on the type of boomerang, but if it's going straight up, you've laid it over too much and it's going to come down with a crash. If things are going well, it should be about half way around, and at it's maximum distance now. Once it has reached it's maximum height, is will start to come down again, although hopefully not too quickly, or it's likely to crash again. If it doesn't go very high, and does crash to the ground, it probably hasn’t had enough layover on release. It should still be curving around, and be starting to turn back towards you. The boomerang should be laid over quite a bit by now, flying close to horizontal. As it approaches you, it should be slowing down rapidly. It may either start to hover close to you, or be coming straight at you, but should be going quite slow by this stage. The Catch Time to get ready for the catch. The simplest way to catch a boomerang is to have you hands apart, one above and one below about chest height. Either as the boomerang floats down from above your head, or as it's coming at you and about to drop to the ground, you should clap your 2 hands together, one on top and one below the boomerang, to trap it in the middle at chest/stomach height Aim for a spot in the middle that the boomerang appears to be spinning around. Congratulations! You've done it... What, you've missed? Join the club! It sounds good in theory, the practice is what makes this sport so challenging. All of the elements you have to consider can all alter the flight of the boomerang so that it's not perfect. Having said that, it’s really not that difficult. Once you throw one successfully, you catch on pretty quickly. Beginner boomerangs are designed to have quite a bit of allowance for various types of throw, and still work OK, so don’t worry about trying to get everything perfect the first time. Common Problems Here's some of the common problems that you can identify, and the fixes. Left handers reverse left and right below. The Boomerang zooms up into the air and comes crashing down in front of you You laid the boomerang over too much on release. Remember, it should be almost vertical when you throw it. It's easy to twist your wrist and lay over too far if you don't follow through, so it's better to be too vertical for a start. The boomerang doesn't layover, and falls to the ground half way around There has not been enough layover - the boomerang was launched too vertical. Throw again with a LITTLE BIT more layover, not too much. The Boomerang lands to the left and behind you You've probably throw it too much into the wind. Turn to the right a little and try again. The Boomerang lands to the right and in-front of you You've probably throw it too far off the wind. Turn to the left a little and try again. Where do you buy a good beginner boomerang? The perfect boomerang for anyone from 10 years old to 100 years old is the EasyAus. Each of these boomerangs is hand crafted and flight tested, so you know it works. For just US$9.95 +pp, for standard air-mail delivery world-wide, plus a hard copy of these instructions in full colour, you can be out amazing on-lookers before you know it. To purchase your EasyAus securely on-line using your credit card for just US$15.99 plus FREE SHIPPING worldwide, simply click below .