Good Day on the Course...Taught Someone Snap in 2 Throws

[slowplastic]

It may be nose angle a bit as well. If you're hitting 350'-400' that should be enough to turn tons of different discs that are marketed as understable. Usually the problem seems that people turn the understable discs too much because they crank on them. It seems you have a different "problem" which is you are throwing them hard but cleanly, and they aren't really turning.

If you throw them more nose down that may make them fly more understable (in a controlled way). It may force the disc over a bit more...nose down makes discs a bit more turny I find.

Spin I find stabilizes discs, so more spin on a disc makes it drift right and left a bit less.

Do you have any speed 7ish understable discs? Like a River or Leopard? I haven't thrown a Tern, but I do have a Vulcan which is very understable. But that being said, it's a speed 13 so unless it's thrown with 350' of power it is straight to fade. When thrown with clean power it turns right for the majority of its flight. The Tern may be acting speed stable as well. This is just a possibility though, I've never thrown one.

 

[DiscFifty]

I ran into someone tonight during field practice who made me wonder if this makes sense to work on...his form was horrid...but he seemed to have awesome wrist snap, elbow extension, etc, and was easily chucking out to 400ft+. He said one of his drills was to simply chuck a disc a few feet in front of him and try to spin it as fast as possible using just your wrist. Would this help improve wrist bounce? Naturally in my over thinking mentality I didn't want to dive in too strong with this drill until I heard some replies from this thread. lol.. In a related note I did see some random improvement with my throws working on the principals in this thread but I can see it won't be an immediate "gotcha" for me as I was hoping. lol..

 

[slowplastic]

The issue is "try to spin it with your wrist" is a vague and different thing to everyone. I don't wind up the wrist and try to spin it. The wrist being loaded and then opening at the hit gives more snap and results in more spin. Everyone has a different thing that clicks for them, so feel free to try different ways until something works.

The key thing to remember is that if something isn't working, then try something different. Keep altering what you're doing slightly in different ways until it feels better, then repeat it to try to get it consistent. Don't just keep doing the same motions over and over hoping that one of them will bomb...they'll likely be slight variations of the exact same throw.

 

[slowplastic]

Just to address diving in too far with this drill...it's like the hammer pound. You don't have to drill it, it's more like an experience to me. Try it to see if you feel your wrist close then open. After that it's almost lost its use as a "drill" or exercise.

Then it's just about throwing some discs and getting into positions that give your wrist a similar feel (albeit in a smaller range of motion than the drill's potentially big close to whipping open). The elbow position out front will likely be similar to in the drill, so it's a good reminder to really get your elbow forward.

The key is to not think about your throw, about your body, about your power. Just focus on feeling your wrist load up, then open your elbow and shoulder. Do that a bunch, don't even bother thinking where the disc will go. If you're really not used to getting your arm out front, then after doing this type of throw you may find discs going way right of your target. But it doesn't matter, you're throwing in an open field. Just throw some discs without thinking about direction or anything, just focus on the wrist feel and elbow position/timing. If you're trying to aim you may not let the new body positions release the disc where they should naturally.

Once you're getting it consistently you can start worrying more about aim and remembering your other mechanics too. You may have to close your stance more than you previously did in order to throw "straight" ahead.

At least this is how it worked for me, but I realize different people learn differently.

 

[sidewinder22]

Spin is just a byproduct of leverage. Leverage the disc out far and it will spin, just like throwing a hammer far, it will spin. Try to spin a hammer far, it doesn't work.

 

[Timhawk33]

You can't throw a disc very far without inducing large amounts of spin like sidewinder said. You are holding the disc at the edge so any force you put on it will cause spin. So you should never worry about getting the disc to spin.

Also the disc will turn/fade more the less spin it has because increased rotational speed adds gyroscopic stability.

 

[Teamkiller]

Great Post! I am eager to try this on lunch and see if it helps I have been at the 280-350 stage with all mids/drivers for about 3 months and have just recently begun reading the DGR posts by Blake, but this diagram and explanation of the feeling gives me something to look/feel for besides "spin" "snap" "speed" etc. I think this kindof helped it dawn on me what the end of the throw should look/feel like. I have been going for a wide reach back (which I saw on HUB's site) and pulling in a straight line without using the wrist in anyway. Hopefully this will help me push it! Bumping this post also for the other newb's who may not have seen the diagrams or read the descriptions herein.

 

[NathanNoodleArm]

Nice bump Teamkiller.

 

[caleb1989]

Frustrated.

As someone who has been getting very frustrated with seeing little improvement over the last 6 months, I'm excited to try this, currently my max distance sits at around 300-320, average is more like 290, I went out to the garage and tried it and it defiantly makes my wrist fell more springy but I see what you mean with timing i tried the x step along with it and it felt all out of whack so next time I'm at the field I think I'll try just stand stills to get the muscle memory and than later add an x step. Here's hoping I finally see some improvements.

 

[DamonRipper]

I had a major half-hit moment yesterday working on this in the field. I was throwing a bunch of mids, working on leading elbow and wrist bounce. I was throwing probably about 250', just working on technique with moderate power. I was in a park by my house, throwing towards a cul-de-sac. I had 7 mids of varying stability, and had thrown 5 and they were all out there about same distance. Then I threw a Z Comet, no difference in effort, and BOOM ... It flew the most beautiful straight line and soared way past my others at least 40 or 50' !! It went so far it carried into the street, thankfully no cars were there.

I can throw a mid 300' all out, but this was different in the amount of effort. I've experienced the same hit feeling before, and recently it is happening more often. Now I just have to figure out how to capture it consistently! I'm not sure, but I think have a weight-transfer/bracing issue that is hampering me as well. I've noticed this playing, one of my drivers is a Star Tern that I get a nice S out of. I can throw it 350-360' or so consistently, but now and then I'll get it all right and it will go 390-400'+ with the same effort.

I've slowed down my run-up incredibly, where it is more like a walk-up and that has helped a lot with consistency. I've also worked hard on keeping the back heel off the ground like HUB has espoused. I need to do more throwing from standstill I think, but I really have never liked doing it. Even a slow walking X-step feels much better to me. However, I've seen where many of you (that are better than me) have expressed difficulty getting the right hit while x-stepping. I suppose I need to force some standstill work for a bit to get the snap part consistent.

Anyway, great thread! :clap: I am enjoying the journey to finding my optimal throw ...

 

[Star Shark]

Yeah, I've had the zero effort long shot happen to me once. I was warming up for a field session and I smoothed a TL on a line probably 12' high out to 375' at maybe 70% power. Was unable to recreate that situation.

 

[ohtobediscing]

^^^Same with me. Tom Brown #9 in Tallahassee, 700'. Threw a Star Wraith twice, and wound up 100' past the basket. As far as I know, the only two times I've ever hit 400' on a drive. It seemed easy, and yet I've never hit 400' since.

 

[PRkilla]

Ian is a good friend of mine - and has one of the best forehands that I've seen in Colorado. He's able to shape shots FH that I would have said were impossible and his game is pretty much 100% FH for drives, BH for short approach.

http://www.pdga.com/player/49138

The last couple years he's played Open - and has cashed in most of the tournaments. He's a very solid player.

He wants to develop his backhand - and so after a round yesterday we spent some time working on some fundamentals.



Now, first off - this was maybe a 45m session. He's incredibly flexible and to be honest I was shocked at the improvement we were able to make, mostly because it took me months to make adjustments that he made in minutes!

He's still not hitting, but he's getting into the right positions. I will send him those diagrams... thanks.

I actually muttered "I think I'm a better coach than a player.... uhhhg."

Lol, those who can't..teach.

 

[FarFromPar]

Finally felt something like this today. Felt my wrist actively load and unload. Normally i tend to strong arm and have more or less a locked wrist, but today on a random throw it had a spring action to it. I kept trying to repeat that feeling on subsequent throws and today has been pretty consistent.

Not seeing added distance yet as i can only get this hit when i throw at about 60 percent power. When i try to drive off the tee with 80-90 percent like normal, i guess i go back to locking my wrist and trying to strong arm it. But, those 60 percent power throws are going just as far which means there is potential for a good amount of distance gains. Also those those drives where i have proper spring action in my wrists it feels like an effortless throw which i think will save some joints in the long run.

 

[ThrowaEnvy]

Well what the heck, where's slowplastic? I command you! Rise from the dead!

 

[krooster]

I have been trying this tip for the first time the past few weeks, and doing this drill every time before I throw has been really helping my consistency. It's essentially ensuring I get into the power pocket without any rounding, so I'm more consistently generating power and hitting the intended line.

Also, thinking about what it feels like to be in the power pocket takes my mind off timing and the rest of my form, so I'm not overthinking everything else and seeing my timing break down in the middle of a round.