How To Increase Arm Speed?

[DiscFifty]

Had the pleasure of playing with a pro open player during a tournament this weekend. Young guy, super cool, didn't mind talking about dg the entire round. It was literally amazing to see how far he could throw. First time seeing a 500ft drive up close and in person. The disc literally flew so fast, looking like it was shot from a gun. lol..

We chatted about form, etc, and he kept on saying for distance, the biggest factor is simply arm speed. He said my form was ok, a few things could be dialed in but he said if I don't increase my arm speed I'll never drive further. He went on to say.."I'm guessing you throw your putter/mid ranges almost as far as your drives?" yep...only around 30-50ft further typically. Perfect example of maxed out arm speed. Sooo....with that in mind...

How do you increase arm speed? Thx for any replies.

Edit: hmm...me thinks the "Why the beato drill.." thread is what I need, but I'm going to leave this thread here in case there are some other tips, drills, etc, added to this thread.

 

[Smigles]

Timing is much more important IMO than arm speed. The "hit" is about bringing many elements together at exactly the right time. not about trying to rip yourself a new one.

The arm does a whip thing if you drive properly. So I guess to make that whip faster, you need to work on your core and shoulder muscles. Twitch muscle training, not endurance training.

But again, i think technique is more important.

 

[Hartley444]

Field practice. Watch videos and practice what they say in a field. I noticed my biggest gains after this. I'm now out driving other that started at the same time as me by 100ft because they do not throw in a field. I would also stick with lower speed discs until you start turning them over. Find out how far you can throw your current mids and putters and use them to drive on holes that are that distance or close to that distance. You will also become more accurate throwing the slowest disc that will get you the distance you need.

 

[rhatton1]

What Smigles said is just about spot on.

What is your end goal?

Is it

A to get your arm moving as fast as possible

or B to get the disc going as far as possible?

If it's A you're thinking about the drive the wrong way. Check out HUB's blog again and see where his improvements have come from.

He's succeeded with a rethinking of the drive and what can produce the most for the least.

Small motions done right can produce huge distance for little effort.

 

[garublador]

Small motions done right can produce huge distance for little effort.

Another way to put it is to think about what you actually use to throw the disc. It isn't your arm. It's your fingers. If you use your fingers and wrist as separate moments (i.e. get "snap" or get a "big hit") then you want them to be fast. Making your arm faster isn't much more useful than making your hips faster if you haven't gotten the part of you that actually launches the disc timed correctly.

 

[storyboy]

Another way to put it is to think about what you actually use to throw the disc. It isn't your arm. It's your fingers. If you use your fingers and wrist as separate moments (i.e. get "snap" or get a "big hit") then you want them to be fast. Making your arm faster isn't much more useful than making your hips faster if you haven't gotten the part of you that actually launches the disc timed correctly.

Snap is where its at for me. I can always tell if I'm going to get good distance on my drive just by the "snap" I get on my hit. I can feel it and hear it. Watch the pros when they release a drive and they almost all have crazy snap on their wrist.

 

[greg_lange]

What Smigles said is just about spot on.
If it's A you're thinking about the drive the wrong way. Check out HUB's blog again and see where his improvements have come from.

Where is HUB's blog? I'd like to read it. = )

 

[Shamis]

Studying the form of the pros has given me a lot more distance recently. To say arm speed is the most important thing is a great misrepresentation of the truth. It's all about the speed the disc comes out, which is a product of many things. Mostly form and technique. Leading with the elbow and pulling the disc through your body instead of around is a big part of it. Also, when the disc passes by your torso, your hand should be on the outside of the disc, if it's in front then you lose a huge amount of snap. I studied this video and added 100 feet to my drives in about 10 days.

http://heavydisc.blogspot.fi/2013/11/improving-back-hand-distance.html

A lot of the kids cranking big drives don't necessarily know exactly how they do it. They were just lucky enough to fall into good mechanics. For those of us that started off with bad habits, it's tough to break them.

 

[rhatton1]

Where is HUB's blog? I'd like to read it. = )

Shamis has posted to it above Heavydisc blogspot - well worth reading every article, he breaks down the quest for finding good form so well with all the pitfalls found along the way and hopefully it can help shave some time of your own quest for better form!

 

[HyzerUniBomber]

Shamis has posted to it above Heavydisc blogspot - well worth reading every article, he breaks down the quest for finding good form so well with all the pitfalls found along the way and hopefully it can help shave some time of your own quest for better form!

^^ I like this guy!

Very kind words.

I just decided to get off my relatively lazy blogging butt and punch out some text and a video that I shot.

But to answer the OP's question, you want to increase LEVERAGE. If we could build the right system of levers, you could eject a disc at 100mph with almost no hand speed.

No question, lots of guys who can bomb have ZERO idea what they're doing. I meet them all the time, and start asking questions and they gloss over and say, "yeah, I just throw it really hard!"

I asked about 10 guys who are 500' plus throwers about half-hitting and full-hitting... I got exactly ONE response from an 18 year old local, who said and I quote:

I think you make some valid points in your question. When you talk about full hitting, I think that is spot on when it comes to getting max distance. As a person who throws farther than most, I can relate to everything you've stated. I've never really thought about it in fine detail. I've always been like, "throw it hard and fast!".

I think it is extremely important to master the fundamentals such as weight transfer, pulling back, snap, grip, etc if you want to achieve great distance. I also think that genes have good importance in the equation. The I've been gifted with a slender body with long arms via my parents. This could be arbitrary, but this is my opinion.

So, yeah... let's take certain input with a grain of salt. Some guys get there through trial and error and end up with big distance. Some guys, like me, it's trial and error and analysis and this forum and lots of slow motion video... and there's MANY want to get to 500' - from super hard grip that deforms the flight plate to 2 finger grip that accentuates leverage.

But at the core of all good GOLF form is smooth, controlled, repeatable shots that don't injure you and puts the disc where you want it. Pure distance is way outside my current wheelhouse, and I'll leave 360's and the likes to others (for now).

 

[rocthecourse]

We chatted about form, etc, and he kept on saying for distance, the biggest factor is simply arm speed. He said my form was ok, a few things could be dialed in but he said if I don't increase my arm speed I'll never drive further. He went on to say.."I'm guessing you throw your putter/mid ranges almost as far as your drives?" yep...only around 30-50ft further typically. Perfect example of maxed out arm speed. Sooo....with that in mind...

I have never once heard someone say that throwing putters almost as far as drivers was due to maxed out arm speed. More than likely you are throwing nose up.

 

[DiscFifty]

Thanks for the comments and the links. I think we're on the same page overall. The young kid had good slow, relaxed form with dramatic explosive energy. The beato drill and the awesome comments on this blog is what I'll be focusing on.

http://heavydisc.blogspot.fi/2013/11/improving-back-hand-distance.html

 

[DiscFifty]

I have never once heard someone say that throwing putters almost as far as drivers was due to maxed out arm speed. More than likely you are throwing nose up.

I still wonder about this. I've always thought nose up meant the disc would literally go up, stall, etc. But would even an ever so slight...nose up cause a dramatic difference in potential distance?

 

[slowplastic]

I still wonder about this. I've always thought nose up meant the disc would literally go up, stall, etc. But would even an ever so slight...nose up cause a dramatic difference in potential distance?

Especially with drivers. They'll glide out there straight and fade off if level/slightly nose up. But with a real nose down they'll turn over more easily and just plow forward. Plus they can turn over while still dropping and not fade until very late in the flight.

Try gripping in a very nose down way on drivers and try to overdo it a bit on 10' high or lower line drives. Drivers love very nose down throws.

 

[HyzerUniBomber]

I still wonder about this. I've always thought nose up meant the disc would literally go up, stall, etc. But would even an ever so slight...nose up cause a dramatic difference in potential distance?

HUGE!!!! It's almost like cheating. Tip your drivers nose down past where you think it should be. -5 to -10 degrees easily.

You've effectively destabalized the disc for the distance that it takes the disc to right itself back to flat. You won't turn or fade until the disc gets back to it's default flight angle. (EDIT: I personally don't see any turn when I do this, could be disc selection).

I would be shocked if it wasn't 50' of distance added to a 350' shot thrown flat with a distance driver like a Tern.

 

[DiscFifty]

Especially with drivers. They'll glide out there straight and fade off if level/slightly nose up. But with a real nose down they'll turn over more easily and just plow forward. Plus they can turn over while still dropping and not fade until very late in the flight.

Try gripping in a very nose down way on drivers and try to overdo it a bit on 10' high or lower line drives. Drivers love very nose down throws.

THIS might be my issue. Because even though I'm EASILY getting discs to fly out to 300,320+, the 350+ drives have always been with a slight head wind which..yep...causes my disc to flip a little easier and get that classic s-curve, otherwise my discs fly very straight and fade left at the end under normal conditions so I'm always having to aim to the right of the basket. I will do as suggested and report back, thanks for taking the time to reply.

 

[DiscFifty]

HUGE!!!! It's almost like cheating. Tip your drivers nose down past where you think it should be. -5 to -10 degrees easily.

You've effectively destabalized the disc for the distance that it takes the disc to right itself back to flat. You won't turn or fade until the disc gets back to it's default flight angle. (EDIT: I personally don't see any turn when I do this, could be disc selection).

I would be shocked if it wasn't 50' of distance added to a 350' shot thrown flat with a distance driver like a Tern.

oh boy...thanks for replying about this. I've got some field work to do. Thanks! :clap::clap:

 

[DiscFifty]

One final issue that's perplexing me...is exactly where the hand should be positioned on the disc as it comes across the chest to get that, snap, hinge, thingy happening. You read comments about "coiling the disc", "cocking your wrist", etc, etc, but it sounds like you want a bit of this actually happening. So...can someone perhaps take a picture (over head would be ideal) to show the preferred position of the hand on the disc as it makes it's way across the chest, elbow out, right before (or during?) the "hit"? Thanks again.

 

[TalbotTrojan]

One final issue that's perplexing me...is exactly where the hand should be positioned on the disc as it comes across the chest to get that, snap, hinge, thingy happening. You read comments about "coiling the disc", "cocking your wrist", etc, etc, but it sounds like you want a bit of this actually happening. So...can someone perhaps take a picture (over head would be ideal) to show the preferred position of the hand on the disc as it makes it's way across the chest, elbow out, right before (or during?) the "hit"? Thanks again.

There is a good video from Discraft called more distance now. Perhaps some who is not typing a response on their phone can post it here. It talks a lot about the wrist and what is good and not. I think you will find that helpful.

 

[TalbotTrojan]

While I am going to take time to do some field work with HyzerUniBomber in the near future and while I do think most of big distance is form, I am also working on a few other thoughts right now which would help those who are not naturally gifted or have the supposed genetics to throw a disc really far. As with most athletes, depending on their sport and the motion they need to train for what they do, there are very specific muscles that need to be trained to help. My current theory is that training quick twitch muscles are the most important. I am still doing some research on the topic and by no means is it the most important part of throwing a disc, but I am hoping that training these muscles will help increase distance.