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Skip a flat stone across a lake in ten throws. Drag to set the angle and speed, let go at the peak of the spin, and read the wind and the chop before every throw.
Put a finger anywhere on the lake and drag forward: the direction of the drag is the release angle (from −10° to 40°) and its length is the speed (7 to 17 m/s). While you hold, the spin ring fills and empties; let go when it is full for the most spin. The stone skips as long as it meets the water flatly enough.
The ring swings faster the harder you throw — half a swing per second at the softest throw, three per second at full power — so a full-power throw gives you a much shorter moment to catch full spin. A stone can only skip if its entry angle into the water is no steeper than 10° plus 10° times the spin, minus up to 4° for rough water: 20° with perfect spin on calm water, as little as 6° with no spin on rough water. Too steep and it plunks straight in.
Every skip costs some speed. More spin, a flatter contact and calmer water keep more of it; once the stone is moving slower than 1.2 m/s it sinks. Wind blows from −4 m/s (into your face, ←) to +4 m/s (at your back, →) and, with the water state (calm, choppy or rough), changes before every throw. After each throw the top line shows the entry angle you hit and the limit you had.
A run is ten throws. Each throw scores 100 points per skip plus 10 points per metre the stone travelled before it sank, and your score is the total of all ten.
Flat beats high. Because the stone leaves your hand only 0.6 m above the water, a level throw already arrives at a modest angle, and every degree you aim upward adds height that turns into a steeper entry. A higher throw does carry further before the first touch, so the best throws sit just under the limit rather than at 0° — but a plunk scores almost nothing, so creep upward a few degrees at a time.
Read the conditions first. Rough water takes up to 4° off your limit and costs extra speed on every skip, so aim lower on rough water and accept fewer skips. A headwind slows the stone in the air, which steepens each landing; a tailwind keeps it moving and is the throw to push your angle a little. The entry angle and limit shown after each throw tell you exactly how much room you had.
Spin is worth more than raw power. Full spin raises your limit by 10° and keeps more speed on every skip, while the fastest throw only adds speed. At full power the ring swings three times a second, so do not let go on the first fill: hold, watch one or two swings to feel the rhythm, then release on the next full ring. A long drag with a late, well-timed release beats a long drag let go in a hurry.
The ring fills and empties again while you hold, so you do not have to rush. Set your angle, then watch for the next time it turns green and let go. Ten throws is a short run; one plunk out of ten costs more than a slightly shorter throw, so play the percentages.