BY MARTIN FROST

 

Most club passers know the basic doubles and triples, but I'll explain those here for the beginner and then explain, for even the most advanced pattern you can imagine, when and to whom you can throw doubles, triples, etc. Want to throw a quad in a 3-count feed or a triangle? Read on.

 

Basic Doubles: Early and Late

When passing a 2-count (every one) or 4-count (every other), the simplest trick is the early double. Let's assume you're passing six clubs right handed. Instead of making a normal single-spin pass from the right hand, throw a double-spin pass from your left just one count before you would have passed with the right (hence the name "early" double).

 

This early double from your left should not spin faster than a normal single, but it should go higher, high enough so that it has time to spin twice before reaching your partner's left hand. And it should arrive, fully spun, at exactly the same place as a good right-hand single would, just outside your partner's left shoulder. After you throw an early double from the left, your right hand gets to pause because your left hand didn't throw it a club.

 

Another type of double you can throw is the late double. This is done with the very same club that you would have passed as a single. But instead of passing a straight right-hand single to your partner's left, throw a right-hand double-spin pass to your partner's right hand. With a right-hand late double, your partner doesn't receive a pass in the left hand, so that left hand gets to pause while the double is coming down to the right.

 

Whereas the early double is thrown early to the usual hand, the late double arrives late in the other hand. An early double can be thrown in any pattern in which you

have a self to omit. A late double can only be thrown if your partner has a self to omit.

 

When you're learning to throw doubles, make sure you throw them high. Don't use much wrist - you don't want or need extra spin. Just use your arm to throw high enough to provide the time your partner needs before the double comes down. That

time also allows the club to spin twice.

 

Early and Late Doubles in a 3-Count

 

In a 3-count (pass, self, self), you're alternating passing from the right and left, so you can throw an early double from either hand. Just throw a diagonal double one count before you would have thrown a straight single (which you don't throw). As usual, pause after you throw an early double.

 

The easiest way to think of when to throw this early double in a 3-count is that it is thrown by the same hand as the previous normal single. That's two counts after the last pass (hence from the same hand). This is one count before the pass it re­places, which is our rule for an early double. The early double always arrives at the same time as the single it replaced would have, so the receiver doesn't have to do anything special to accommodate it (except see it), in a 3-count or any other pattern.

 

The late double also works fine in a 3­count and is thrown just as in a 2-count. The hand that would have passed a straight single, throws a diagonal double (make sure it's high enough). The receiver as usual has to pause, skipping one self throw, to receive the late double. Since you're passing with both hands, you can throw the late double from either hand.

 

Early Triples

The triple is just a much higher throw ­ high enough to spin three times before reaching your partner. The doubles we've described are diagonal throws (R to R or L to L), but the triples are straight (R to L or L to R).

 

If you're doing a pattern with two or more selves in a row, you can throw an early triple. This might be called an early­early triple, since it is thrown two counts early and you pause for two counts after you throw it. As with the early double, the early triple arrives on time. Both the 3­count and 4-count qualify as having two selves in a row, so the early triple works in both of these.

 

In a 3-count, the time to throw - two counts before the normal pass - is one count after the previous pass. Thus throw a straight triple immediately after a normal pass. The sequence is either of the following, depending on which hand you want to throw the triple with:

 

R-single, L-triple, pause, pause, self, self L-single, R-triple, pause, pause, self, self

 

In a 4-count, the early triple's time - two counts before a normal pass - is two counts after the previous pass, which means it is with the same passing hand. The sequence here is thus:

 

R-single, L-self, R-triple, pause, pause, self, self, self.

 

Late Triples

A late triple works if your partner's pattern has two selves in a row, because the late triple arrives two counts late, forcing your partner to pause for two counts and thus to omit two selves. The late triple is thrown when you would throw a normal single, and it is thrown straight, to the normal hand. This works in a 3-count or a 4­count. Note that in a 3-count, the receiver will omit both selves while the late triple is in the air and then pass from the hand that catches the triple.

 

The Rule for High Throws

You may have noticed above that wherever a double or triple is involved, there are one or two pauses, where throws are omitted. It's not necessary for the same person to have all the pauses, although in the patterns above that is the case. You could, for instance, throw an early-late triple in a 3-count, giving each person one pause (described later).

 

The throws that get omitted because of a double or triple are those from the hands that the special pass has skipped past in the base pattern. For instance, an early double in a 2-count skips your right hand and goes directly to your partner's left-so your right pauses. A right-hand late triple in a 3-count skips your partner's left and then the right, so those two hands pause.