My journey to 450feet consistently. Help!

[podskiii]

Hi everyone!

I'm back and ready to do more field practice. I took a break regarding field practice, we had the best summer in many years and I felt for playing and having fun vs. throwing in a soccer field. I probably have a lot of the same leaks as I did in the past. Now I want to become active again and fix my terrible form. I'm happy with my distance, it has improved a lot, but I'm not steady at all.


One thing that happens a lot, is that the disc is close to my stomach area. Sometimes it hits my stomach and change the angle, a total grip-lock. Mostly this happens when I'm trying to throw on a straight light, which makes me throw understable stuff on a hyzerflip line to prevent this. When I'm throwing anhyzers, it rarely happens.


I'm going back to throwing standstill for a while, trying to fix my issue and implement it in my run-up routine later.


Things that I think is the problem:

- I'm bending over instead of holding a straight line with my spine. When I'm throwing I feel like I'm holding a straight line. When I practice this inside my house without throwing, I'm holding a straight line. Whenever I get a disc in my hand and actually throw this changes.

- I might think that my reachback and pull line is forcing me to bend over the disc. I'm not sure about this. When I practice this inside without throwing a disc, it looks good I think. I consider buying PowerSnap Disc Golf Trainer. Anyone recommend this?

- There might be something wrong with my grip?

One day I think it is my footwork, one day I think it is my grip, and one day I think it is my pull line. I just don't have a clue and it makes me really uncertain.

Anyways I'm ready to try and fix this problem I've had for quite a while. I appreciate the help.

 

[slowplastic]

I'm not 100%, but I think you're late getting to your front leg...like you are pushing/directing your weight forward and maybe down, and just catching your weight while already moving forward with the upper body.

Rather than landing on the front leg more in transition, so the entire forward swing feels like you're already on the front leg.

 

[sidewinder22]

Things that I think is the problem:

- There might be something wrong with my grip?

One day I think it is my footwork, one day I think it is my grip, and one day I think it is my pull line. I just don't have a clue and it makes me really uncertain.

Grip and footwork issues are typically inter-related to each other. You compensate one leading to the other. Your grip has the disc oriented nose up to compensate for your footwork/balance going over top your front leg, or vice versa. If you swung the lower arm/disc on correct plane alignment, your discs should be worm burning into the ground right in front of you. But since you release nose up, it flies "flatter".

Like SP mentioned about being late off the rear foot. Your rear foot is pushing your shoulders over instead of your hips forward with the shoulders being lagged behind like Door Frame Drills.

Need a more underhanded/bowling swing motion with your disc nose down.

 

[podskiii]

Slowplastic and Sidewinder22:

I usually don't focus on throwing nose down when I'm throwing putters and midranges, especially putters. Is this something I should also change, throwing everything nose-down as a general rule?


I could definitely see myself also throwing nose-up when I'm throwing fairways and drivers.
Now that you mention that my left foot could be the reason my upper body is bending over, it makes perfect sense. Would you recommend me throwing some hyzers and try to throw nose down when I make my next recording to see if anything changes? I assume my left foot should be coming up by itself? For the last couple of months I've been trying to never have my left foot touch the ground entirely. I also wonder if "bad brace" is the reason my left foot never leaves the ground before in the last second.

Is there any specific drill you guys recommend me?

I did two recordings yesterday, one were I was throwing some hyzer upshots with putters and midranges and one where I was working on one step drill. Didn't focus on nose down when I was recording. I will try to make another recording today where that area is my focus and see if anything changes.

 

[slowplastic]

I would recommend one leg drill/throws...and film it for sure. From the side with a good angle, and from the back too if you can.

For me, I never had the left leg coming up and leaving the ground the right way. The closer I've come to getting to my front let in balance, the more my left leg and foot leave the ground correctly and counter the throw automatically. I began to feel the constant leverage off the rear foot. It's all a result of getting onto the front leg in balance, while being aware to let the rear leg do the extend and countering type of feel. If you do it right it just happens.

As for nose angle and grip, I had a grip for a few years that gave me nose down flights. But this was in conjunction with me not getting to my front leg correctly. It worked for me and I would get low line drives and turnovers with pretty decent control. But I very recently adjusted my grip alignment and angle based on SW22's feedback and initially I was getting nose up flights pretty often. But his explanations and understanding of form have earned my trust so I stuck with the grip even though my results were temporarily less consistent, and sure enough as my balance improved a little I was getting nose down flights again. Honestly I would almost teach beginner/intermediates my old grip and not change their grip until they are getting closer to correct balance and hit point extension I think, although I'm not 100% decided on what is best throughout the learning stage.

 

[podskiii]

Thanks, I really appreciate all the information you guys provide. It's quality! :clap::clap:

I will focus on one leg drill and keep working on this. I feel bad about going to work on Thursday and be gone for 2 weeks without the chance of playing. I love this game. I've been really focused lately and been doing a lot field practice and no time spent at the course playing rounds. Today I tried to focus on bracing and watched videos for several of hours, whenever I simulate throwing the disc my left foot leaves the ground naturally. When I try to throw the disc the same issue appears, the rear foot just refuse to leave the ground. I'm not trying to force it, I assume it's going to happen naturally?


Do you know about anyone in the form thread that has similar issue that I have?

 

[slowplastic]

Do you know about anyone in the form thread that has similar issue that I have?

If you read the last few pages of my thread you can see a video of how I changed my grip with a hammer, and how I adjusted my one leg throws to get closer to balance...SW marked up some pictures really well. In the last couple field throws you can see how my rear foot is then leaving the ground heel-first even though I'm still not perfectly balanced.

 

[sidewinder22]

IMO your starting stance in both those are incorrect and end up too wide stance and tipping over the front hip. I don't like starting with the feet together requiring long stride, or feet spread wide apart without a stride. If you do start in that wide stance, then you could stride the front foot backwards away from target a couple inches to narrow up your stance and help get off the rear foot and into the front foot quicker/more upright, that should be your natural throwing stance a few inches narrower given your rear leg bend or lack of bend during the throw as you are extending the rear leg instead of the foot.

I like to start with feet about shoulder width apart maybe slightly wider, nice athletic and stacked starting position and ready to move quick in any direction. So with feet shoulder width, your front foot will/should be pulled up off the ground as you turn into the backswing/not lean back. Then you should naturally stride about 6" into plant. Stopping leaning back is going to feel very weird to you, like it's too quick and short, but keeping your stance narrower will help you maintain your balance and shift your weight quicker and more compact and impactful. A wide stance slows down weightshift, it's a longer distance. A narrow stance speeds it up, shorter distance to travel. Compact movement is quick and powerful. Only need a 1" long weightshift or punch for massive force.

 

[UhhNegative]

I think it's less about "leaving the rear foot" and more about "landing on the front foot". If you think about just getting off the rear foot, it's just not going to work out well. But rather the task is to get all the weight on the front foot. I think the Kick the Can drill is probably the best for getting that feeling. I think for you the upper body unwinding will feel a lot later than you think.

 

[Lumberjack504]

Stopping leaning back is going to feel very weird to you, like it's too quick and short,

Exciting to hear you say this...

After your markups in my thread the other day, I tried some dry runs in the house where I tried to do the beginning of kick the can where the front leg is swinging back, away from target which seems to help keep the shoulders/spine tilted forward, then tried to stride forward/turn back from that point. The stride into plant from there felt a lot shorter and more sudden, and a lot more "catch-y". This sounding right? Haven't actually tried throwing this way yet, but I'll probably have to start with a standstill or one-step because it feels so different.

 

[Lumberjack504]

I think it's less about "leaving the rear foot" and more about "landing on the front foot". If you think about just getting off the rear foot, it's just not going to work out well. But rather the task is to get all the weight on the front foot. I think the Kick the Can drill is probably the best for getting that feeling. I think for you the upper body unwinding will feel a lot later than you think.

Also, for me, the HUB windmill drill really helps (I reference kick the can in my above post as well). Thinking about dropping from a taller rear leg into the front versus imagining the shift laterally has really helped a lot.

 

[podskiii]

Thanks again for all the good information I get

I'm really looking forward to fix this problem. I just bought 12 cans of Pepsi Max, going to pour the soda into some bottles so I can start working on "crush the can".

This might be a dumb question, should I just be focusing on my plant foot and not have my left foot over the ground as I've done in other recordings. I assume the left foot should leave the ground by itself? Changing the grip might be a project I will work on later.

This is how I've been doing my throws for quite some while, trying to help my rear leg.
https://ibb.co/nB7EoL

 

[podskiii]

Today I did "crush the can" exercises on my balcony before I went out throwing. It definitely felt different compared to when I'm out throwing. It felt like the shot was delayed in some weird way. I have to try more of this when I get home. My left foot didn't really get up or follow my shot. Should my rear leg come up by itself and follow my shot automatically or should I help it?


When I went out throwing, I recorded myself from a lot of angles and also threw some hyzers too see if I could feel something different. In the last video I recorded I felt something different when I was throwing with a run-up. Otherwise I felt that my session today was worse than before, I might have been a little bit desperate.


My focus today was to have my closed stance similar to shoulder width.


Standstill sideview


Frontview


Backview x-step
Am I onto something here?


Sideview


Backview

 

[sidewinder22]

I don't understand why you are starting from the Right Pec Position when you never even come close to coming back to it. You are starting in way too static positions, trying to manipulate into certain positions instead of being balanced and dynamic and more free flowing. Need to move around some back and forth and swing the arm/disc back and forth and then go into the backswing and then swing without pausing at the top.

Note how high your backswing is and swoop way down, so you are telegraphing your trajectory into the ground and changing the disc angle at release. I do almost the opposite starting lower and swinging upward, so my swing is a line to the trajectory.

Your weight and spine are stuck back on the rear foot and pushing it over top your front leg and knee. Note how my front hip clears back inline to the front foot/knee, so my whole spine is oriented on the front leg.

I'd recommend going back and watch the vids linked in the beginning of the thread.

 

[UhhNegative]

Also, for me, the HUB windmill drill really helps (I reference kick the can in my above post as well). Thinking about dropping from a taller rear leg into the front versus imagining the shift laterally has really helped a lot.

Same. Got my first 300'+ mid throw after just doing the windmill for a while.

 

[podskiii]

I don't understand why you are starting from the Right Pec Position when you never even come close to coming back to it. You are starting in way too static positions, trying to manipulate into certain positions instead of being balanced and dynamic and more free flowing. Need to move around some back and forth and swing the arm/disc back and forth and then go into the backswing and then swing without pausing at the top.

Note how high your backswing is and swoop way down, so you are telegraphing your trajectory into the ground and changing the disc angle at release. I do almost the opposite starting lower and swinging upward, so my swing is a line to the trajectory.

Your weight and spine are stuck back on the rear foot and pushing it over top your front leg and knee. Note how my front hip clears back inline to the front foot/knee, so my whole spine is oriented on the front leg.

I'd recommend going back and watch the vids linked in the beginning of the thread.

I think it's me trying to mimic how I want my throw to look like, when I mimic and actually throw it looks completely different. When I get home again, I will be working on starting on a lower and line swinging upward.


Given there is a lot of videos in the beginning of my thread, what videos do you recommend me to focus on at first? If I focus on too much at once, it will just confuse me. I'm guessing the "door frame drill" will be my best pick? Setting myself up for the shot correctly.


Thanks for marking up the picture of me, this shows really well the differences between me and you.

 

[sidewinder22]

Just work on perpetual motion drills, back and forth over and over. This should help you learn to maintain your dynamic balance more upright between or inside your feet, so that you can easily and smoothly reverse or change your direction.

You keep overcommitting your balance back and forth in one direction over or outside your feet, so if you wanted to reverse or change your direction it would be very slow and difficult.

 

[podskiii]

Hi again.

I haven't had much time to work on form lately because of work, and I'm also going for work tomorrow. The weather lately has been around 32 Fahrenheit and I've had struggles recording, picking up my disc and watch my video and continue to throw. Yesterday I bought a cage that I can have inside and get a lot more throws. My focus lately has been weightshift, I'm the type of guy that can only focus one thing at once.


I see that my reachback is starting high, becomes low and in the end it is going up again, I also see my balance is not very good, I'm leaning forward way too much.


Anyways, I felt something different with my weightshift today and I'm wondering if it looks better? Am I onto something? If I'm onto something, I will try to focus getting in a lot of repetitions when I'm getting home from work and than start on my next project.





Thanks for all the help everyone.

 

[slowplastic]

I think the 3rd video/front view looked the best to me. I would recommend doing one leg throws though, setting up on one leg and then swinging that way. Your tendency is to still get the upper body over/leading the hip, and taking away the ability to push off the rear leg will help with that. Plus it will expose why you want to get over the hip. I know I was still doing it in one leg throws until I got positioned more correctly, which took a few rounds of feedback on just my one leg throws or swinging a hammer on one leg.

 

[sidewinder22]

Still having same issues.

1. Curling the wrist and early reachback. I highly recommend you take a full swing/pump to the target in the x-step. Allow your wrist to extend and abandon the weight of the disc to gravity in the backswing like the sledgehammer backswing. Note how your thumb is always curling and pointed to the right, and doesn't change direction. Your disc is always inside your front foot/behind your body, while your release is in front of body sawing off the arc/extension. KJ changes the direction of his thumb/disc and keeps it outside his front foot/away from body creating massive acceleration by changing the direction coming into and going away from his center of gravity and extends the arc further out away.

2. Still going over top your front leg and swinging downward. Need to land in dynamic upright balance on the front leg, so when you extend your front leg and rotate, your front shoulder also rises up, just like a squat on one leg or a hockey slapshot.