joohn
Newbie
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2020
- Messages
- 12
LHBH
Fun fact: I throw overhand (baseball, football, basketball) righty, but do tennis, disc golf, and write lefty. I also swing a golf club/baseball ball righty.
Started playing regularly March 2020 & became interested in backhand mechanics shortly after.
I've been keeping a lot of notes on my form since I started, and I would like to consolidate it here moving forward. I'm at the point of finally translating the concepts I read about on here into my actual throw. I figured now would be a good time to post to see if I'm doing it right and figure out the blind spots in my self-analysis. So here are some of the major concepts I have been working on, the improvements I've made, and what I think needs changed.
But first, my most recent throws:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7R8_bTqv8s
Normally at the end of field work I record some regular throws but the wind was about 30mph so I stayed in front of the net.
Shifting from Behind: This is the most notable improvement in my form as I start to consistently implement this idea into my swing.
• Previously: Would open up/swing upper body through way too early, and reach back in the backswing too early. I tried to fix timing by delaying the swing until I was planted, but this was not sustainable as I was still reaching back early, pausing unnaturally as I shifted, and then swinging. https://youtu.be/ct0fzpjZnJ0?t=95
• Worked on: Setting up the backswing better has been the key for me. Door frame drills, moving body around disc, and taking a smaller and quicker x-step has helped put my body in the right positions, so the timing becomes more easier/more natural.
• Now: Even though I still reach back a little early, I am doing a better job fully shifting my weight before swinging my hips, shoulders, and arm through.
• Need to improve:
The Hips:
• Previously: I basically just used to spin/twist them. The hips are complicated in the way that they move, I really wasn't sure how they worked or what I was supposed to do with them.
• Worked on: The conceptual understanding is really to key here for me, understanding the lateral move, rocking the hips, clearing the hips, pointing the hip to the sky, watching the all the golf videos that people post here.
• Now: I am using my hips much better and it is really is the key to the lower body. I imagine pointing my hip out to the side and up (rocking the hips). I feel a better connection to the muscles that internally rotate your hip and the muscles that point the hip up/out (glute medius and hip adductors perhaps?). Using the hips properly has solved a lot of other issues I was having, it makes shifting your weight natural and bracing really easy and natural.
• Need to improve:
Shoulders/the Hit:
• I think I am over rotating my shoulders. When looking at a side view of my swing, the disc doesn't really extend away from my body, the shoulders keep going and the hit is in front of my body. It's really hard to tell if the pros decelerate their shoulders, but their hit point is definitely more out in front of the body. (Note: my first video posted here, my most recent throws, I was trying to address this issue. Here's the first side view I recorded today, for comparison https://youtu.be/YyNgxWKHnQA?t=131 disc is more targetward instead of leveraged out in front of body)
• I have been trying to keep the disc more in my CoG during the backswing (1st attached). I have trouble bringing the disc close to my body, and it's worse when I let the disc drift away. I also have been trying to keep my upper arm at 90deg to my shoulders to get as much space as possible to tuck the disc into.
Okay that's the notes on my own form, hopefully I edited it down enough to be legible for anyone reading this. Any thoughts, suggestions, or comments are welcome. Maybe I even helped someone working on their own form by writing this up.
Finally, a huge thank you to everyone who posts and contributes on this forum. The wealth of knowledge available here is stunning, and it has made learning to throw so much more clear and rewarding.
Fun fact: I throw overhand (baseball, football, basketball) righty, but do tennis, disc golf, and write lefty. I also swing a golf club/baseball ball righty.
Started playing regularly March 2020 & became interested in backhand mechanics shortly after.
I've been keeping a lot of notes on my form since I started, and I would like to consolidate it here moving forward. I'm at the point of finally translating the concepts I read about on here into my actual throw. I figured now would be a good time to post to see if I'm doing it right and figure out the blind spots in my self-analysis. So here are some of the major concepts I have been working on, the improvements I've made, and what I think needs changed.
But first, my most recent throws:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7R8_bTqv8s
Normally at the end of field work I record some regular throws but the wind was about 30mph so I stayed in front of the net.
Shifting from Behind: This is the most notable improvement in my form as I start to consistently implement this idea into my swing.
• Previously: Would open up/swing upper body through way too early, and reach back in the backswing too early. I tried to fix timing by delaying the swing until I was planted, but this was not sustainable as I was still reaching back early, pausing unnaturally as I shifted, and then swinging. https://youtu.be/ct0fzpjZnJ0?t=95
• Worked on: Setting up the backswing better has been the key for me. Door frame drills, moving body around disc, and taking a smaller and quicker x-step has helped put my body in the right positions, so the timing becomes more easier/more natural.
• Now: Even though I still reach back a little early, I am doing a better job fully shifting my weight before swinging my hips, shoulders, and arm through.
• Need to improve:
o On bigger shots I often unconsciously take a huge x-step, lose all my momentum, and throw all of my timing off. Need to always leverage CoG ahead of feet and fall forward/catch myself. This has been my hardest habit to break.
o I still have a slight pause at the top of my backswing on most throws, caused by still reaching back early. I am wondering if I can still be reaching back with my shoulders as I shift forward, equal and opposite, I will be more wound up/x-factor?
o Update: I have been practicing with a kind of one-step/elephant walk drill. The timing of the elephant walk to make sure you plant on the heel then swing, and the one-step to still feel the leverage in your rear leg during the backswing and then shift/use hips correctly (for some reason I couldn't do both before this, I would spin out on the rear leg).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MLDrirueOc&t=39s
o I still have a slight pause at the top of my backswing on most throws, caused by still reaching back early. I am wondering if I can still be reaching back with my shoulders as I shift forward, equal and opposite, I will be more wound up/x-factor?
o Update: I have been practicing with a kind of one-step/elephant walk drill. The timing of the elephant walk to make sure you plant on the heel then swing, and the one-step to still feel the leverage in your rear leg during the backswing and then shift/use hips correctly (for some reason I couldn't do both before this, I would spin out on the rear leg).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MLDrirueOc&t=39s
The Hips:
• Previously: I basically just used to spin/twist them. The hips are complicated in the way that they move, I really wasn't sure how they worked or what I was supposed to do with them.
• Worked on: The conceptual understanding is really to key here for me, understanding the lateral move, rocking the hips, clearing the hips, pointing the hip to the sky, watching the all the golf videos that people post here.
• Now: I am using my hips much better and it is really is the key to the lower body. I imagine pointing my hip out to the side and up (rocking the hips). I feel a better connection to the muscles that internally rotate your hip and the muscles that point the hip up/out (glute medius and hip adductors perhaps?). Using the hips properly has solved a lot of other issues I was having, it makes shifting your weight natural and bracing really easy and natural.
• Need to improve:
o I don't know how much to "rotate" my hips back in the backswing. More rotation = feel more wound up in rear thigh. Less rotation = Feel more wound up between hips and shoulders?
o Rear leg kicks up weirdly. I know that the rear foot should go targetward per the lateral move, but my whole rear leg still seems to have a lot of energy after the shift. I think I need to leverage more horizontally forward and get my knee in front of my rear ankle. https://youtu.be/F4AGSN1FZuA?t=122 "when I push my front knee forward it pushes everything forward"
o Rear leg kicks up weirdly. I know that the rear foot should go targetward per the lateral move, but my whole rear leg still seems to have a lot of energy after the shift. I think I need to leverage more horizontally forward and get my knee in front of my rear ankle. https://youtu.be/F4AGSN1FZuA?t=122 "when I push my front knee forward it pushes everything forward"
Shoulders/the Hit:
• I think I am over rotating my shoulders. When looking at a side view of my swing, the disc doesn't really extend away from my body, the shoulders keep going and the hit is in front of my body. It's really hard to tell if the pros decelerate their shoulders, but their hit point is definitely more out in front of the body. (Note: my first video posted here, my most recent throws, I was trying to address this issue. Here's the first side view I recorded today, for comparison https://youtu.be/YyNgxWKHnQA?t=131 disc is more targetward instead of leveraged out in front of body)
o Should I try to stop/slow the shoulders after they go from opposite the target to in-line with target, or rather, the elbow/lats take over as the engine of the throw at that position, adding to the power? Is this what the swim move helps to do? The image of Ezra someone posted (can't find the OP right now but thank you) really helped me try to get a better feeling today, and I was really trying to feel the leverage in the elbow instead of spinning the shoulders. I only got the feeling a few times, but I felt like I was using my lats more, and was pulling the slack out from loose to taut like the beginning of a deadlift. I think I may had avoided this in the past out of fear of strong arming, but the idea of building tension/late acceleration is surely different?
o I remember from the "make your shoulder lever longer" thread the idea of your rear shoulder being connected to your brace leg. It looks like my rear shoulder is still moving forward relative to the ground. How can I get the rear side to feel more connected to the brace?
o I remember from the "make your shoulder lever longer" thread the idea of your rear shoulder being connected to your brace leg. It looks like my rear shoulder is still moving forward relative to the ground. How can I get the rear side to feel more connected to the brace?
• I have been trying to keep the disc more in my CoG during the backswing (1st attached). I have trouble bringing the disc close to my body, and it's worse when I let the disc drift away. I also have been trying to keep my upper arm at 90deg to my shoulders to get as much space as possible to tuck the disc into.
Okay that's the notes on my own form, hopefully I edited it down enough to be legible for anyone reading this. Any thoughts, suggestions, or comments are welcome. Maybe I even helped someone working on their own form by writing this up.
Finally, a huge thank you to everyone who posts and contributes on this forum. The wealth of knowledge available here is stunning, and it has made learning to throw so much more clear and rewarding.
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