Jeremy Howe frisbee injury: Frisbee boss says serious injuries can happen

AS stories swirl as to how Jeremy Howe broke his finger, the boss of frisbee in Australia says he wasn’t surprised to hear the Collingwood utility injured himself such circumstances.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 20: Jeremy Howe poses during a Collingwood Magpies AFL press conference at Holden Centre on October 20, 2015 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

FRISBEE is a dangerous game.

A bad catching technique can be costly.

While speculation swirls that Jeremy Howe injured his finger playing cricket, Collingwood and the man himself are sticking to the official line — he had an accident while playing frisbee with his dog.

Chief executive of Ultimate Australia, frisbee’s governing body, Simon Wood wasn’t surprised when he read about Howe’s accident.

“If you’re actually diving to catch a frisbee with your fingers down, you can catch your finger and snap it right backwards,’” Wood said.

“The same with your thumb. If you’re catching a frisbee low to the ground with your thumb down, it can quite easily break.

“I’ve actually seen it ... it’s basically bad catching technique.

“I’ve seen totally dislocated fingers and actually a broken thumb.”

So it’s not common, but it does happen.

Wood said Howe might need to improve his catching technique.

“If you’re catching something that’s low to the ground, you need to have your thumb up, fingers down,” Wood said.

“You won’t actually do it catching a frisbee, it’s the ground that will do it.”

Ultimate frisbee is a seven-a-side game played on a rugby shaped field. A score is secured when the frisbee is caught in the end zone, much like NFL.

Tactically, Wood said it’s similar to AFL.

Australia women’s representatives Michelle and Cat Phillips have trialled for the new women’s AFL competition, set to launch next year.

The national ultimate frisbee championships will be held in Ballarat in April.