Noodle Throwing Strategy

[TankerRed101]

It is called an atlatl. It is an ancient hunting weapon used for throwing spears. LINK I checked the rules and could not see anything against as of second day of build season. I have not tested it on a noodle but seems like it could work just probably not as accurate as the historic equivalent.

[rich2202]

The robot can't throw the Litter to the other side of the field - Rule G24.

I will have to look into it, but I doubt it could be considered part of the driver's station, and thus available for a human player to use. Rule R83, and section 4.11 doesn't seem to prohibit it though.

[Tim Sharp]

I believe the noodles are too light and flexible. I've been trying to throw one across the shop for the past 5 minutes. I can't see any way to throw one more than 15-20 ft.

[SkittlesCharge]

Our team tried multiple methods for throwing the noodle at kickoff. I used a technique where I loosely held the far end of the noodle in my left hand, then pushed the closer end (but with a kind of throwing motion involved too) with two fingers on my right hand. With that, I was able to reliably throw the noodle almost half the length of the field, and sometimes quite a bit farther. Our team's human player from last year tried this method as well, and he was able to throw it a bit farther than me. On one attempt he threw it almost the entire length of the field.

I don't know if that was a very good description of the technique, but I'll try to explain it further if anyone is interested.

[Tim Sharp]

Originally Posted by SkittlesCharge

Our team tried multiple methods for throwing the noodle at kickoff. I used a technique where I loosely held the far end of the noodle in my left hand, then pushed the closer end (but with a kind of throwing motion involved too) with two fingers on my right hand. With that, I was able to reliably throw the noodle almost half the length of the field, and sometimes quite a bit farther. Our team's human player from last year tried this method as well, and he was able to throw it a bit farther than me. On one attempt he threw it almost the entire length of the field.

We'll definitely have to schedule some practice time for this.

[cmrnpizzo14]

Originally Posted by SkittlesCharge

Our team tried multiple methods for throwing the noodle at kickoff. I used a technique where I loosely held the far end of the noodle in my left hand, then pushed the closer end (but with a kind of throwing motion involved too) with two fingers on my right hand. With that, I was able to reliably throw the noodle almost half the length of the field, and sometimes quite a bit farther. Our team's human player from last year tried this method as well, and he was able to throw it a bit farther than me. On one attempt he threw it almost the entire length of the field.

I don't know if that was a very good description of the technique, but I'll try to explain it further if anyone is interested.

One of our students tried this today with quite a bit of success. We didn't have a field setup to try it on but it traveled over half the field according to our measurements.

[tanogirl]

Originally Posted by SkittlesCharge

Our team tried multiple methods for throwing the noodle at kickoff. I used a technique where I loosely held the far end of the noodle in my left hand, then pushed the closer end (but with a kind of throwing motion involved too) with two fingers on my right hand. With that, I was able to reliably throw the noodle almost half the length of the field, and sometimes quite a bit farther. Our team's human player from last year tried this method as well, and he was able to throw it a bit farther than me. On one attempt he threw it almost the entire length of the field.

I don't know if that was a very good description of the technique, but I'll try to explain it further if anyone is interested.

Do you think you could post a video of it?
I've been trying but couldn't quite figure out the technique.
Thanks

[EricH]

Originally Posted by tanogirl

Do you think you could post a video of it?
I've been trying but couldn't quite figure out the technique.
Thanks

Judging by your user title, you do archery. Imagine, if you will, that you've got an arrow ready to loose. Now, instead of an arrow, you have a pool noodle; instead of a bow in your hand, you're using your bow hand as a rest for the noodle; instead of a bowstring, your free hand is providing the push.

Experiment with that a few times.

We've gotten similar results in our experimentation--some throws short, some long enough, and one or two that are like "Do that again!" due to the length.

[tanogirl]

Originally Posted by EricH

Judging by your user title, you do archery. Imagine, if you will, that you've got an arrow ready to loose. Now, instead of an arrow, you have a pool noodle; instead of a bow in your hand, you're using your bow hand as a rest for the noodle; instead of a bowstring, your free hand is providing the push.

Experiment with that a few times.

We've gotten similar results in our experimentation--some throws short, some long enough, and one or two that are like "Do that again!" due to the length.

That makes more sense- thanks

[Jacob Bendicksen]

While it's not difficult to get a fresh KOP noodle 15-20 feet with a few minutes of practice, keep in mind that noodles after Week 1 events will be anything but fresh. They'll be driven over, crushed in intakes, and take all sorts of other abuse, all of which make them not fly straight. Fresh noodles are reasonably rigid, which means that some sort of javelin-ish technique can be used to throw them, but once they start getting weak spots and bends they won't fly nearly as far.

[wolfgang42]

Originally Posted by EricH

Imagine, if you will, that you've got an arrow ready to loose. Now, instead of an arrow, you have a pool noodle; instead of a bow in your hand, you're using your bow hand as a rest for the noodle; instead of a bowstring, your free hand is providing the push.

Here's a video of someone doing this: http://youtu.be/vyboSYt6J8I

[SkittlesCharge]

Originally Posted by EricH

Judging by your user title, you do archery. Imagine, if you will, that you've got an arrow ready to loose. Now, instead of an arrow, you have a pool noodle; instead of a bow in your hand, you're using your bow hand as a rest for the noodle; instead of a bowstring, your free hand is providing the push.

Originally Posted by wolfgang42

Here's a video of someone doing this: http://youtu.be/vyboSYt6J8I

Yep, this is basically what I was talking about. I kept my hand around the noodle a bit longer into the throw, to keep it aimed straight, but the technique is basically the same either way. I think with a bit of practice, a human player could pretty reliably throw the noodles pretty far onto the opposing side, hopefully behind some stacks.

As far as damaged noodles go, I think as long as the noodles weren't permanently bent the technique would still hold up pretty well. Since it achieves its distance by having the noodle travel with very little air resistance, minor damage (cuts, chunks out, etc.) to the sides of the noodle won't affect its flight much. Less-rigid noodles will probably be more of a problem than damaged ones, but mostly during the throw itself, not the flight, a problem which can be helped by remaining loosely holding the noodle as it is thrown. While the distances achieved will certainly be greater with fresh noodles than noodles in actual competition, I still think that human players, with practice, will be able to throw them far enough to make it worthwhile.

[KineticCougar]

Make sure the noodle is straight

[GaryVoshol]

Originally Posted by KineticCougar

Make sure the noodle is straight

I'm sure noodles at events will not all be straight. That's not one of the conditions to replace them.

[cgmv123]

Originally Posted by TankerRed101

I checked the rules and could not see anything against as of second day of build season.

See T21.