Age vs distance?

[markmcc]

as long as you are pushing off of that rear foot also, getting your weight on to your front foot, with good follow through

I probably need to work on actually pushing with my rear foot. Right now I feel like it is lifted by my follow through rather than momentum from a push. Thoughts on how to accomplish that?

 

[DGfan68]

FWIW- When I first started I used the fore hand technique until I was playing everyday and developed tennis elbow. Then I forced myself to learn backhand. At first I tried a crazy run up, looking like an idiot, and did horrible. Then I switched to just standing sideways and transferring my weight forward and following through. I could hit 300 fairly regularly. Now I have switched to a slow walk up with an x-step. I have a lot more control and I have hit 400-450 mark 10 or 12 times now, 350 regularly. (again I'm 45 with history of back injuries) The biggest impact on my drives was watching Will Schusterick's practice video and applying what he teaches. Good luck.

 

[mattc]

I probably need to work on actually pushing with my rear foot. Right now I feel like it is lifted by my follow through rather than momentum from a push. Thoughts on how to accomplish that?

i am no expert, but to me its not so much of an actual push off, but just making sure you are transferring your weight forward onto your front foot with a good follow through.

i find if i am having problems throwing up, instead of flat, i am not doing this enough

from your original throwing movement description, i wasnt sure this was happening, and most people that dont get any distance are often throwing high

 

[markmcc]

i am no expert, but to me its not so much of an actual push off, but just making sure you are transferring your weight forward onto your front foot with a good follow through.

i find if i am having problems throwing up, instead of flat, i am not doing this enough

from your original throwing movement description, i wasnt sure this was happening, and most people that dont get any distance are often throwing high

I got to thinking that if I end up with my weight on my front foot I must be doing at least some pushing off from the rear. I think that I am accomplishing the weight transfer, but I need to continue to work on a smooth, flat follow through.

 

[banknwank]

I am 40 yoa, and can't really comment on ten years from now..... I have had a bad back since twenty seven yoa, knees getting more pissed by the day and just starting to feel "over the hill" in general. I have still been able to find more and more distance. My longer throws seem to be effortless, smooth and put less strain on the body in general. So , technique can go a long ways. I think, for us older guys, cross training and agility work is most important. And not over doing disc golf, as addictive as it is. The repetitive motion of things like golf quickly stress the body and joints. Anything around 300 seems to keep par attainable on most courses, with a few bird opps. I think 300 ,or more, is doable for people into sixtyish yoa. Assuming no major injuries . I plan on finding out how long the game stays playable for me.

 

[bayouace]

Wow! In this thread "old" seems to be 40 and 50. I am 67 and there is a big difference. I can throw 250' and am still improving. Blizzard plastic around 148 will help. Young guys use it too. My game is built on a drive that doesn't hurt and a good second shot. I have a longer second shot, but that is the key to scoring my best. I play tournaments with a 72 year old Legend and he can hit 300 often. Just keep on going as hard as you can for as long as you can, and spit in the Grim Reaper' s eye on the way out

 

[banknwank]

When you are talking athletics, 40+ is old. How many professional athletes , seeing consistent game day action , is there over fourty? Fourth is old in ball golf, baseball, basket ball, tennis, football...... That's why 40 is the over the hill b-day. You are simply past your physical prime by 40. Depending on occupation, 40 can feel older/younger for different people. I have worked physical jobs and now feeling my bad choices at 40. And I can only assume it gets better!:thmbup:

 

[laerton420]

i am 55 yrs old and overweight,with one lung,I started playing last may.My average distance is about 220 ft,and i sometimes can reach out to 250 or so....i do not believe that i am maxed out due to these conditions,i truly beleive its in the mechanics and technique.although i can throw straighter and with less slow speed fade with mid range discs,i can get alot better distance with with drivers.i prefer the light wgt. blizzards,dont know why,but the heavier wgt. discs hyzer on me pretty bad.its just lack of knowledge and mechanics ,i believe

 

[Razor]

I am 50 and I played softball until an groin injury at 45 put me in the dugout. I was then introduced to discgolf by some younger relatives and have been hooked since. When I started I could throw 250ft easily and I thought "this is going to be a piece of cake". Boy was I fooling myself. I wanted so bad to throw farther than the younger guys but never got there. I throw RHBH and can get my Blizzard Katana to about 325-340 on a good day if it has room to flex back. I also thought that a forehand would be more natural for me since I was a middle infielder and the motions look similar. I was wrong there too. I struggle with distance using the forehand, I'm fine up to about 200-225ft. We primarily play wooded courses so we rarely get a chance to really air one out. I try really hard to find those lines in the woods and practice putting to try to make up for the distance I lack from the tee. I wish I had been introduced to this awesome game when I was younger.

 

[JimmyDG]

After having watched Glenn Patterson throw 500' in person, I'm pretty sure you'd be able to improve on 300' at least a little bit.

 

[KniceZ]

When you are talking athletics, 40+ is old.

I'm over 50 and still play soccer, hike, whitewater raft, and snow ski pretty agressively, but I don't expect to keep up with 20-30 somethings - at least not all of them. One of my favorite sayings is : you don't stop playing because you get old, you get old because you stop playing!!

Your correct in terms of "professional" athletes. But the OP didn't ask if he could compete in the Open Pro tour. He asked if he should expect to be maxed out at sub-300 ft due to age. Of course there's a general downward trend with age but at 50ish the answer seems to be a resounding - no.

 

[DiscoBriscoe]

how old is glenn patterson?

I'll be 60 in feb. took up the game in mid mid fifties.
I've seen my max distance go from ~340' to ~300. how much due to age or due to technique errors, i don't know.
we know distance isn't primarily from strength, but it is a factor. technique is not literally everything either. but speed at the hit is a lot more of it. technique, timing, and strength can maximize the speed achieved at the release that give the disc more linear and angular velocity [speed and spin]
but quick twitch fibers are a big part of an athlete's "losing speed" with age. surprised no one's mentioned quick twitch muscle fibers which decline [in performance or number, im not sure] but that's a big factor in the inevitable loss of distance in later years. how much is a matter of genetics, and is affected by conditioning, skill and practice. one guy may not lose as much as quick as another guy, but it's happening to both.
of course muscle mass itself is also declining in later years, and can only be slowed down, by good nutrition and conditioning.
this little table of distance world records from a couple of years ago is telling. look what happens after mid sixties!!!:
age, meters, approx feet (~X3)
5, 43.23, 130
10, 121.65, 365
15, 178.9, 537
peak , 250, 750
35-44 , 200.06, 600
45-54, 170, 510
55-64, 168, 504
65+, 77.31, 232

sorry, but i can't seem to get a table format going here!

 

[chain_ape7]

I just turned 43 and have been playing about 16 months. I've hit 400' a few times but mostly around the 325-350' range during a round. Practice and proper technique will get you where you want to be. I would gladly give up distance for pinpoint accuracy in the woods. Ron Convers told me at Am Worlds - "It isn't how far you throw... it's how few you throw"

Learn to whip your hips and arm through the hit-point. Accelerate from slow to fast. Connect your lower body power to the upper body - just like a good baseball swing.

Good Luck!

 

[DiscHurler]

age		meters		approx feet (~X3)
5		43.23		130
10		121.65		365
15		178.9		537
peak		250		750
35-44		200.06		600
45-54		170		510
55-64		168		504
65+		77.31		232

sorry, but i can't seem to get a table format going here!

Code tags are your friend (In the editor select text and hit the little # above the text field)

 

[mattc]

I'm in my mid 50s, pretty active and in good shape. I just started playing DG at the end of this past August and try to play a round or at least do some field practice at least once a week. I currently throw my mids from 220' to 245' (on a real good throw) but average closer to the 220' range. The average distances I'm hitting with my distance drivers is only marginally better than my mid range drivers but most of the courses I play are wooded with relatively short holes in the 300' range so I don't throw DDs that often.

I've been told by a few other players that I have probably about maxed out my distance due to my age.

I disagree. I think that if I work on and improve my form, practice and maybe begin strength training targeting the appropriate muscles I should be able to make fairly significant gains in my distance. :\

So I guess the questions is are these guys right... have I about maxed out or can I ever hope to hit or exceed 300'?

I hope some of you in the 50+ age group can chime in here and give me a ray of hope. :thmbup:

out of curiosity
what discs and weights are you using for DD, FD, and Mids?

 

[bald condor]

I just turned 56 two weeks ago and started throwing again about 16 months ago after not playing since about 1983 (I started in 1976). I competed in overall (freestyle, distance, mta, golf) as well as at a high level in both guts (third place, Worlds 1979) and ultimate (Madison Ultimate). I had some tournament success (Wisconsin overall champ, 1980) but stopped playing after grad school, marriage, children and career intervened. It's has taken me a while to adjust to the new golf discs (still have a box of midnight flyers) but I am now (well, not now, I live in frigid Minneapolis) hitting 400+ with my distance drivers that I just started using late this fall. Before that I was only throwing mids (up to 300) and fairway drivers (330+). To this day, I still have not played a golf only tourney and I'm not a PDGA member. I plan on joining soon and competing this year in Grandmasters.

It's all about the technique...

 

[DiscoBriscoe]

Code tags are your friend (In the editor select text and hit the little # above the text field)

Thnx. I'll try that, if i remember it!
I'm so old, i don't know what code tags are!
I'm guessing they're those weird bracketed irritations that show up in my typing?

 

[Spinthrift]

It's never too late to get better. I'm 64 this year and also took up DG late, about seven years ago when my son asked if I wanted to tag along. I loved it, but after about a year of 225' drives and spraying shots across the course like a scattergun I resolved to become as good as I can be, before I no longer can be (ya gotta be 50+ to understand).

I'm fortunate to play in an area with a number of very good players, and I worked to absorb as much advice and tips as I could. But my game didn't really begin to shape up until I started heeding Blake T's teachings on Disc Golf Review, especially in the Techniques thread:
https://www.dgcoursereview.com/dgr/forums/viewforum.php?f=2&sid=240c2de1db79394feea1325dc781c3db

(It's a pity that site has fallen into such disuse. The knowledge there is so much better than the anecdotal misinformation you have to wade through here.)

The starting point was doing the drills, cleaning up my form and developing a smooth, accelerating release. Most of my progress came in field work rather than on the course, throwing shots with more concern for form and disc flight shape than with hitting a target.

Most of the better, older players I know have maintained or reacquired some degree of flexibility. Not many of us have the power to strong-arm a disc 350+ anymore, so a smooth, flowing, straight release that begins with leg drive and moves through the body's core becomes even more important.

Keep working and, a little at a time, you'll see rewarding improvement.

 

[Questatement]

I've been told by a few other players that I have probably about maxed out my distance due to my age. So I guess the questions is are these guys right... have I about maxed out or can I ever hope to hit or exceed 300'?

I've been playing 2 years this coming spring and will turn 52 in the summer. I got stuck at 300' for a while until I played with an 11 year old girl that weighed about 70 lbs and threw 375' consistently. It was then that I settled down, disced down, went to Youtube, etc. and started working on form. I can now get a max weight, stable Wraith out to 425' on a consistent basis. I really don't expect to increase that but in all honesty, that's all I need for a chance to park 80% of the courses that I play from the tee.

 

[Questatement]

I should add this as well, stretch every day, eat as healthy as you can, do core/resistence exercises, work extra on your grip (I keep a Dyna-Bee in the car), get out every other to every third day to play, and Shaklee makes a muscle recovery shake that is nothing short of miraculous.

Remember, your body is the tool.