I find it a bizarre tactical strategy for Captain America to routinely throw his shield. I mean, it is effective, it is shaped like a Frisbee and he is good at aiming it, and I could see throwing it as a last-ditch desperate strategy, but not something should be doing often.

At least in the original Captain America movie in WWII, they say that shield is all the vibranium the US government has. I don't know if that's still true in present day, but considering the general lack of vibranium kit, it's very rare (except in Wakanda?, but that's secret)

And here Cap is, throwing the US governments entire Vibranium supply like a Frisbee, often in target-rich chaotic battlefields where not even a well-informed computer mind would be able to entirely predict every bounce.

All it would take would be for it to bounce off the edge of a building or to roll to a stop by a lackey, and the US government would no longer HAVE a vibranium supply because it would have been transferred wholesale to Hydra or whoever the villain of the day is.

This is never more clear than in The Winter Soldier, where The Winter Soldier demonstrates that he can catch the shield and Cap later again throws the shield at him! Why would you do that when you know The Winter Soldier is capable of catching it?

At this point I will also point out that The Winter Soldier's tactic in just throwing it back like they're playing hot potato is ALSO a questionable strategy. Exiting the battlefield with Cap's iconic and extremely rare shield would be a major victory by any measure.

Mind you, I haven't read the comics, but as far as I know Cap's shield is not actually bound to return to him, right? It's just that he supposedly plans for it to bounce that way? It would be different if it worked like Thor's hammer where he could call it to him.

To be fair, part of the problem predates Cap's awareness of Vibranium. The US government had a small amount of vibranium and they used it to make a shield that was not ideal for modern military tactics. (So many times he could be defeated by just, like, shooting at his legs)

Why a shield specifically? Because it makes for nice branding? Wakanda was way smarter than the US to make Black Panther a suit of Vibranium armor. T'Challa makes great use out of it, and he's never at risk of accidentally handing to an enemy on the battlefield.

And OK, obviously that was partly because Wakanda has more Vibranium. Maybe US didn't have enough to make full armor. OK, fine, but maybe enough to make a bulletproof vest? Even one that covered only the front and not the back would be useful.

Tangentially, is there any canonical support for Steve Rogers playing Frisbee golf/Ultimate Frisbee in his spare time for fun? Because that would be hilarious.