Common Plateaus, Issues, and Breaking Through Them

[UhhNegative]

I think it was his way of saying that he was strong-arming the disc less and using the body more to power the shot. If you stop strong-arming if feels like there's more force on the shoulder because you are surrendering more of the weight of your arm to gravity instead of fighting it with the arm muscles.

 

[ukulelethrower]

Good thread, it helped me today. I keep breaking through barriers, nothing amazing, but bumping out my distance a little each time out. As is gospel in ball golf since Bobby Jones, grip pressure is a fundamental, it should be 2 or 3 pressure out of 10, or holding a little bird in the hand for maximum distance. (Why reinvent the wheel?) Today I was reacting to yesterday where my shoulder was starting to fatigue and strain after about 30 hard throws. So today, after about 40 throws, I just really went loosy goosy limp with EVERYTHING above the belly. No strain, no strong arming, no holding it firm, just letting everything whip at about 90% effort. Even though I was tired, (I'm 62 years old), I parked the last two drives at 10 feet under two baskets at 305 and 337 feet level no wind. Not bad for a 11 month newby. I highly recommend studying the throws of Sias Elmore, the chubby pro. I love that guys move. He's a slow arm pro, seems like its just a hang on pull, gives me hope, and there is no tension, no rush, just a 450 foot pull every time. He approaches the tea pad at 45 degrees sideways.

 

[azplaya25]

Good thread, it helped me today. I keep breaking through barriers, nothing amazing, but bumping out my distance a little each time out. As is gospel in ball golf since Bobby Jones, grip pressure is a fundamental, it should be 2 or 3 pressure out of 10, or holding a little bird in the hand for maximum distance. (Why reinvent the wheel?) Today I was reacting to yesterday where my shoulder was starting to fatigue and strain after about 30 hard throws. So today, after about 40 throws, I just really went loosy goosy limp with EVERYTHING above the belly. No strain, no strong arming, no holding it firm, just letting everything whip at about 90% effort. Even though I was tired, (I'm 62 years old), I parked the last two drives at 10 feet under two baskets at 305 and 337 feet level no wind. Not bad for a 11 month newby. I highly recommend studying the throws of Sias Elmore, the chubby pro. I love that guys move. He's a slow arm pro, seems like its just a hang on pull, gives me hope, and there is no tension, no rush, just a 450 foot pull every time. He approaches the tea pad at 45 degrees sideways.

Nice man!! Well done. I'm really glad you bumped this thread, I had forgotten about it. I'm totally at the elbow flinging place and it's pretty crazy how spot on SP is here. My distances are exactly what he says and like he says, distance drivers are useless. My next plateau is the one he says it's really important to get to. Need to work on my brace man


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[ukulelethrower]

35 more feet, one practice session

Added 35 feet to my left handed throw with one practice session throwing into a net working on only one thing. After a morning session of practice with about 30 throws into a net, I went to a course nearby, and sho-nuf, +35 feet.

I'm right handed, but I throw both ways, rhbh I usually am hitting recently after a breakthrough average 300ft. (i'm 62, super bad right knee, newby about 11 months playing). rhbh at 300 ft average is a breakthrough in that I'm doing that every time now, my breakthrough is more consistancy. But due to a the bad plant leg knee, i can't rotate on the heel after the plant with confidence, I've sprained my knee about 6 times trying to do that, and I'm a bit scared of the plant/twist move. However, left handed, I have no physical handicaps, and can plant left foot at 90 degrees then at the hit (like every pro) hyperextend the lead leg with weight on the heel and rotate lead foot toes toward target. So this morning I focused on that, first in slo motion then in regular tempo. I ended up my session with 30 throws into my 10x10 nylon net with target in the middle, at about 80% effort, just focusing on the plant foot planting 90 degrees and then spinning with the hit to point toes target-ward. Two holes require a curve to the right, first I parked lfbh at about 260, second parked it 280. both LHBH. I think with about a years work at 30 throws a day into my net, my lhbh will eclipse my rhbh in distance. I'll always have more touch and confidence and control righty, I'm 25 % stronger righty, but I can't move the body around right properly like lefty. (I was a righty ball golfer for 50 years, a competitive amateur D1 in college, so its a natural transition to lefty disc throwing).

 

[azplaya25]

Man after I read this, I did the doorframe drill but locked/hypertended my knee more than I had been, and when I released the door all that momentum went into my upper body and just shot up and out faster than it ever has. It was like I was on some crazy roller coaster lol. Feel like my brace has been weak and I haven't been transferring my momentum because of it. Nice breakthrough


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[Twmccoy]

Hardest plateau for me to overcome distance-wise was going over 450'. I had been sniffing 450' for several years. It was absolutely the max distance I could throw, and I couldn't do it often. This year I've been working more on hard hyzerflips, and I've suddenly seen my distance jump about 30' in 3 months. I now do 450' very regularly, and I've started sneaking quite a few discs out to 480'.

I can't even pinpoint one magical thing I've changed that led to this. It was just a lot of practice and figuring out which lines to throw which driver on. One thing I will say is that you should use your arm like a sling rather than trying to muscle the disc. The looser you keep everything the better snap you'll have at release.

To get max distance you need a driver you can hyzerflip. That was the key for me. Letting the disc do the work rather than trying to muscle them out there. I figured out I could get better distance consistently with something like a Katana or Tern thrown hyzer than trying to muscle a Nuke or Boss anhyzer.

Distance gains take a lot of work. You'll need to figure out what line to put a disc on to maximize its potential. Every model driver flies somewhat differently. You can't go up there and try to throw a Sheriff the same way you would a Boss.

One last bit of advice... listen to your body. If you start feeling overly fatigued, stop throwing. You need to feel fresh to throw max distance. Attempting to work through pain or fatigue won't get you anywhere except frustrated or possibly injured.

 

[Steve West]

Hardest plateau for me to overcome distance-wise was going over 450'. ...

I feel you. I found it hard to overcome the plateau of keeping 12 girlfriends all satisfied.

 

[Twistedhorse]

been stuck at the 300 barrier, anyone got any additional tips?

 

[aphilso1]

been stuck at the 300 barrier, anyone got any additional tips?

For me it was incorporating weight transfer through my brace leg. Specifically, it was learning to get my front foot at 90* to the target line, or even a little closed, to enable a brace. An open stanced brace is a power sucker.

 

[Twistedhorse]

For me it was incorporating weight transfer through my brace leg. Specifically, it was learning to get my front foot at 90* to the target line, or even a little closed, to enable a brace. An open stanced brace is a power sucker.

front foot at 90 , and brace? where can I find any info about the brace and the front foot 90 degrees

 

[aphilso1]

front foot at 90 , and brace? where can I find any info about the brace and the front foot 90 degrees

There have been a lot of threads on these boards about 'bracing' against your front leg. My brief, non-expert interpretation of it: it's how you anchor your leg to allow force and weight transfer from your backswing into the hit.

Think of holding a Y-fork slingshot firmly in hand, and how that firm grip allows you to launch an object with force. Now think of holding that same slingshot loosely with just your thumb and finger. Even with the same pull, you simply will not be able to transfer that force into power. Same thing with a backhand disc golf shot, but your front brace leg is acting as the slingshot's Y-fork.

There are many aspects of transferring power with a good brace, but the first step IMO (and the one that got me past the 300' barrier) was making sure to keep the front foot perpendicular to the target line or even slightly closed.

 

[RyanRehberg535]

front foot at 90 , and brace? where can I find any info about the brace and the front foot 90 degrees

It's not so much about the direction of the foot at plant as it is the way the femur is hanging from the hip socket.

Femur needs to be neutral. Too internally rotated before/at plant will restrict the hip's ability to naturally rotate and clear as you swing through. Too externally rotated will make you spin out early and generally results in tipping over the top of the front leg and leaves you with nothing to brace against.

 

[Twistedhorse]

Im at the The 300' Barrier. Just took out all of my fairway drivers from my bag, been stuck for like 6months, with just small improvements.. So, now I'm just going to do midrange and putters until I get some form improvements. Anyone got any tips ? any good drills?

 

[scooby snack]

Im at the The 300' Barrier. Just took out all of my fairway drivers from my bag, been stuck for like 6months, with just small improvements.. So, now I'm just going to do midrange and putters until I get some form improvements. Anyone got any tips ? any good drills?

Post a video of yourself throwing 2-3 drives. Then we can recommend drills to fix your form.

 

[Twmccoy]

Im at the The 300' Barrier. Just took out all of my fairway drivers from my bag, been stuck for like 6months, with just small improvements.. So, now I'm just going to do midrange and putters until I get some form improvements. Anyone got any tips ? any good drills?

At least practice with the fairway drivers. Just throwing putters and mids won't magically gain you distance. You don't have to use the fairway drivers on the course right now, but keep working with them.

 

[lee76007]

I'm at the 300 foot barrier when landing on the fairway. But, a handful greater than 300' to the left of fairway or rough and into the wind(I'm a lefty) when not hitting a tree or landing in water. Also mix in some snap or from what I've been told, and from this thread I recognized I've been strong arming.
So, I was inspired by this thread and one other, and put away the bag for a week, studied two videos (picked after viewing several) on Standstill. Decided to build a better form with a Standstill, and throwing two Roc3's (complete trust) which I started a few days ago on the practice field. I liked what I saw and felt on the practice field this week. It seemed like I was getting more distance, but definitely straighter.
Tomorrow morning I'll visit a course I know very well in a remote area, and see how it goes. If the Roc's go as well as I expect. I'll likely park it on an open tee and throw other mid's and drivers. If those don't go well, I stick with the Roc's and try the others later. No matter what happens tomorrow, I plan on sticking with the Standstill until all discs work out, and eventually to a one-step and etc. My goal is to have a much better form by Spring. Each step starting with the Roc's, then the other discs.

 

[semisensei]

I

Problems:
-starting the throw by crushing the can with the plant foot (dragging the body into the throw), rather than shifting into the can crush

Slowplastic, can you explain more about what you mean by shifting into the can crush, as opposed to just crushing the can, and dragging the body into the throw?

 

[Brychanus]

I revisited this post after getting some form advice from Sidewinder22 (who has been more than helpful already).

I'm wondering if there's a tendency for peak distance when the brace either doesn't come from behind or isn't complete before the throw.

I'm working to push through the 350' barrier. I'm noticing that 350 is about the farthest I can muscle a throw out without a good brace. When I brace better, that same distance feels much easier, and it doesn't feel much harder for throw past it. It is like a completely different throw.

Do other people relate to this, and is around 350' the "threshold" over which you find that a decent brace is necessary?

 

[Bush122]

I revisited this post after getting some form advice from Sidewinder22 (who has been more than helpful already).

I'm wondering if there's a tendency for peak distance when the brace either doesn't come from behind or isn't complete before the throw.

I'm working to push through the 350' barrier. I'm noticing that 350 is about the farthest I can muscle a throw out without a good brace. When I brace better, that same distance feels much easier, and it doesn't feel much harder for throw past it. It is like a completely different throw.

Do other people relate to this, and is around 350' the "threshold" over which you find that a decent brace is necessary?

I think pushing past 350' can be a lot of things honestly - our bodies are dynamic systems not independent pieces, and until ~mid 400's I believe that an improvement in either the lower or upper body will usually show noticeable improvement. Anecdotally, in my personal experience & what I see with other players on the course, 350' is regularly an issue of strong-arming/muscling the disc. Once I improved my arm mechanics (even slightly! They're still not that good!) I was able to push 400 pretty regularly and without too much stress, but I still really haven't been able to apply a proper shift from behind/brace at this point.

One hypothesis for why this may be: if you're "muscling up" or trying to strong-arm, you're removing all/almost all connection from your lower body and so you're fully dependent on the strength/efficiency of the arm to provide power to the throw. Whereas with poor lower-body behavior you may just get 10% or 20% (randomly selected numbers) from the lower body, which is enough to get that small extra pop

 

[Brychanus]

Interesting. Just over the past two days of hips drills and improving them in my swing is making a huge difference in the ease and distance of my drives. I wonder if I'd learned the hips and plant earlier whether I'd learned the arms faster (e. g., if feeling the need to "strong arm" would have been mitigated by adding more lower body power). Or maybe strong arming seems so intuitive that most of us have to undo it no matter where we start.

Also, I wonder how grip relates to plateaus. Sw22's grip feedback was revolutionary for me since I misunderstood a few basic ideas for weeks. But now I have to relearn my release point as I'm gaining speed and using slightly different angles. Do people usually tend to just implicitly learn the timing/feel of the grip through experience? I'm relearning the new point fairly quickly, but there too I wonder if it's faster just because I remember what it was like to learn my older release point.