Field work today

[DougCrawford]

I Had a chance to go throw in a field at the family farm for a while today- first field work I have had in a while. Threw stuff I don't usually throw that much, and was trying for good technique over my usual style, of crap. Avoiding rounding at all costs, pulling into the right pec, and slamming my right heel down into the plant, trying to use my lower body more.

The first several throws were cutting hard right. Some were going high, some were going low. After a while I got it a little dialed in, got my trident out past 250, which I only ever used for thumbers before, it cuts hard.

The big surprise for me was the Scythe- usually I throw the bolt for max distance- or something a little more understable since my form isn't amazing- but i got the scythe out to 360 today, which is usually a pretty beefy disc for me.

Had my first successful backhand roller- with my daughters Opto air diamond- 373 feet-

Feels like progress is being made- but there is still lots of work to do. Still not feeling the snap, I'm kind of stuck on that point.

Anyone have any ideas on how to chase the unicorn? To find the mythical "snap" that unlocks miraculous distance?

 

[goeyj]

I've found it helpful to practice standstill shots to cut out extra movement and just focus on pullthrough/snap. When comfortable with that, add in a small step (with weight transfer) before the throw then add the full x-step. This progression helps to isolate smaller pieces of the whole process.

 

[DougCrawford]

I was doing that with my putter/mid shots- just a one step, just enough to get a good stride and forward momentum into the hip rotation- I should probably do that with the faster discs and see what happens.

 

[Dan Ensor]

Slow it down, and focus on feeling the far edge of the disc being leveraged.

 

[catastrofyk]

Forget about the snap for a bit, focus on a clean slow throw. Then once you see it on film after some practice (could take a while) then just move your arm faster.

I just focused on slow is smooth and smooth is far. Then I was hitting about 440' at that speed, I then was like why don't I rip my arm way faster as it gets to my right pec. And then came the snap. KABOOM.

 

[slowplastic]

^If you're hitting 400'+ without throwing "hard" then you definitely have snap. Different people feel things differently, and some things are just natural to some people. So maybe you always had it. If someone knows they don't have that motion in their throw...then it absolutely needs to be focused on in order to find it (or at least different timings tried).

 

[sidewinder22]

Video always helps, sometimes what you think you do and what actually do are way different. As for slamming the heel, the toes must land first and then roll to the heel, catching yourself from behind more so than slamming.

 

[PWaggoner]

Isn't the mythical snap just holding onto the disc while it pivots till the end? Bradley walker in the fling video explains snap as I know it. Which is the idea of hitting vs half hitting/micro slip.

 

[Dan Ensor]

I just try to think of "Snap" or "Hitting it" as taking advantage of the longest lever you can on the disc (throwing the other side of the disc).

It's all about control of the disc to me. However, I don't throw 500'. So I may just be waiting for my next breakthrough.

 

[DougCrawford]

Rain finally stopped! Had a chance to throw a bit today, here's the results- a couple slow standstills and a couple with a slow x step

http://youtu.be/StkJiS9HLsE

From what I can see-

Getting better on my end: holding onto the disc longer, some of a pivot getting more rotational power

Need to work on: opening shoulders too soon, OAT cause I start low on my backswing and release high.

Any other thoughts?

 

[DougCrawford]

Distance on those was 210 average on standstill with wizards- 230 max, 225 average with the x step, 250 max.

 

[sidewinder22]

It's a weird camera angle, but looks like your stance is quite open to where you end up throwing, and your head is tilted forward - over the top. You can keep your elbow further forward and turn the shoulders further back.

 

[mm1315]

Yeah weird angle can you get one were it's more of a side view rather than diagonal to you? Anyway first thing I notice is you're not turning your shoulders and reaching back nearly as far as you could. Also with your x-step you're weight is to far forward when you first plant so you're not getting the proper weight shift, I use to do that when I first started getting serious. It will feel weird starting off keeping your weight on your back foot and shifting it to the front in the plant but it adds a lot of distance in my experience once you get it down. SW22 has good vids showing all the mechanics definitely watch them then look back at your vid and it will become clear.

 

[slowplastic]

I think you're throwing nose up as well, which is likely just killing your distance. Can you see the flight plate of the disc (at all) while it's flying? You shouldn't really be able to.

 

[DougCrawford]

Here's some from the side

http://youtu.be/G7IOqKd2vkw

 

[DougCrawford]

I think you're throwing nose up as well, which is likely just killing your distance. Can you see the flight plate of the disc (at all) while it's flying? You shouldn't really be able to.

Yes I tend to throw nose up. Still working on that too.

 

[sidewinder22]

Your rear foot is too far backward to make a forward move and load into your rear hip, and your front foot is too far to the right side of the tee compared to your rear foot, so it's not a closed stance. Your rear heel spins out back away from the target, it should head toward the target when it leaves the ground before the toes.

 

[DougCrawford]

Curious- why should the heel be pointed toward the target instead of away? The calf muscle is quite a bit stronger than the shins, so pivoting and using the calf to push off the toes seems like it would generate more force than the opposite. It looks like mcbeth just finished pushing off his toes in that picture above, with the heel behind.

I may not be fully understanding what loading the hips means either- when I pivot my left leg inward, and keep my right leg with the foot parallel to the target, knee slightly inward and hip shifted toward the target, it feels like there is a lot of tension- is that what I should be feeling?

I've never played ball golf so some of those videos terminology is foreign to me, but I do see the importance of fully bracing- which I am obviously not doing yet.

Thanks for the help- this process is frustrating, but you are definitely making it easier

 

[sidewinder22]

McBeth's rear heel is leading the toes toward the target. The toes are pointed away from the target airborne trailing his entire body, he has gone full superman off his rear foot using the foot/plantar muscle as well as the calf. When you start your forward move with the arm, your rear heels spins back, it unwinds some your torque or keeps you from maintaining and building more torque and throw off timing. Weight follows your heels, heel moved backward = weight moved backward. Heel moving forward = weight moving forward.

If you are asking about your rear heel in the setup of your stance...If your rear toes are closer to the target, the tendency is to throw out to the right or be too open and shorten the swing. Swinging from a more closed shoulder/stance allows you to lengthen the swing, it's like moving the fulcrum on a see saw.

 

[DougCrawford]

So what I am seeing in the picture is him pushing hard off his toes and rolling from ball/"bunion"/big toenail?

The left/right stance makes sense- I'll keep working on that.