One Legging It - Perhaps the gold standard

[HyzerUniBomber]

I've had 3 new guys that I've been giving lessons to in the last couple months - all of them needing focus on getting their brace worked out.

Hands down the drill that fixed posture the fastest was the one leg drill, and I would run them through the knees together drill, the front side hip to the sky - it is REALLY impressive how quickly the 1-leg drill clicks and they would throw further with one leg (done correctly) than with both feet.

I do this drill myself quite regularly when warming up, as it helps me stretch out my front side hips and reminds me to stay loose and focus on posture. I was discussing this drill with a couple buddies this week as we approached the tee for a 275' shot - and I was explaining how quickly it shows players that they'll throw further when they fix their posture and brace angle.

I flipped my back foot over and set my toes on the ground, loose backswing with a Roc on a hyzer and missed the chains by 12".

I just wanted to really express my gratitude to andrew for promoting this drill - and let everybody know that even if you have a relatively good brace, do this drill:

1. It corrects shifting in a different direction than throwing (or shifting from behind).
2. It self-corrects getting posture stacked: toes, knee, nose.
3. It forces a loose backswing and helps teach the importance of getting the disc back to the "starting point" of the power pocket.
4. It's easy to show and explain upper arm alignment to shoulders with this simple drill.
5. Teaches the feeling of instep pressure.
6. It is best done slow - giving you time to be aware of what's happening.

Hope all is well friends!
Jason

 

[Jimbat]

Just posting the videos for anyone not familiar with this fantastic drill. I agree that this drill is the #1 thing to get me on the road to proper bracing and swing consistency.

Good counterparts to Sidewinders one leg drill are the hammer videos.

 

[Putt for D'oh]

To add it helped my sequencing sooo much. I was a victim of early opening launching discs right the way the one leg drill helped me fix keeping the disc backs bit is amazing.

 

[RistoS]

I recently figured out my weight shift and bracing during a run-up but I've still been having some timing issues with standstill throws. I think this drill just improved it significantly.

 

[Lumberjack504]

it is REALLY impressive how quickly the 1-leg drill clicks and they would throw further with one leg (done correctly) than with both feet.

The done correctly part is what I think I'm lacking here. Perhaps you and/or SW can weigh in - I've tried the drill many times, and have watched the video numerous times as well but I'm either doing it wrong or missing something obvious, or going into it with the wrong focus.

I think in the past, I would just pop my rear foot on its toes, balance on the front foot, turn back, and then pull the disc through. Would love to drill this some more, especially with the right intention.

 

[sidewinder22]

The done correctly part is what I think I'm lacking here. Perhaps you and/or SW can weigh in - I've tried the drill many times, and have watched the video numerous times as well but I'm either doing it wrong or missing something obvious, or going into it with the wrong focus.

I think in the past, I would just pop my rear foot on its toes, balance on the front foot, turn back, and then pull the disc through. Would love to drill this some more, especially with the right intention.

Video. Also note the front foot must be at least 90 degrees from target in one leg drill.

 

[Aim For The Chains]

Video. Also note the front foot must be at least 90 degrees from target in one leg drill.

Errr ... wrong video but right idea?

 

[sidewinder22]

Errr ... wrong video but right idea?

More like the porch dance move:

 

[Aim For The Chains]

Lol! We need the mixtape.

 

[slowplastic]

Just so we're clear, this is what the drill helps avoid:

But really, this was a good reminder...I haven't actually tried to show anyone balance during transfer with this drill/move for some reason. That will change, it's so self correcting.

 

[dehaas]

Long story short I hurt my shoulder couple years ago and went rhfh primarily. I've been trying to get my backhand back, but everything had felt like there was no acceleration and a was throwing off my back foot. Prior to getting hurt I was at the point were I was starting to get consistent 400ft golf lines. Now the only time I really feel any weight shift is throwing a flex line. I tinkered with this drill this morning and everything felt awesome, really felt the left leg driving the weight shift forward and my right hand was stinging (doing it with no disc in hand).

So my question is this. Working backward is there anything else drill wise that I can be doing to help consistently put myself into this correct posture? Any backhand I've thrown the last 2 years has been from a standstill up until the last couple months...I've been trying to get it back by adding the run up back. This morning felt really really good though.

 

[KRATC]

So, quick question I have been thinking about for a while now. Naturally, my feet do not point parallel to each other when standing still. In fact, when I make them face that way, it's uncomfortable. They make more a "V" with the heels being closer and toes being more apart. Would I have to focus on having more of a "closed" foot placement? I am probably over-thinking this.

 

[CreemCheese]

So, quick question I have been thinking about for a while now. Naturally, my feet do not point parallel to each other when standing still. In fact, when I make them face that way, it's uncomfortable. They make more a "V" with the heels being closer and toes being more apart. Would I have to focus on having more of a "closed" foot placement? I am probably over-thinking this.

I'm not the person to give distance tips, maxing at 300'. However, I can speak to joint issues. My hips, knees, and ankles to an extent, all turn out. So much that when sitting on the floor with my legs in front of me, my pinky toes sometimes touch the ground. I was talking to my PT one day about achieving a closed stance, he told me to only go as far as what feels like a good stretch, and be careful about going farther. In my case, he told me if I force my foot too close to 90 away from the basket I could tear ligaments.

 

[sidewinder22]

Long story short I hurt my shoulder couple years ago and went rhfh primarily. I've been trying to get my backhand back, but everything had felt like there was no acceleration and a was throwing off my back foot. Prior to getting hurt I was at the point were I was starting to get consistent 400ft golf lines. Now the only time I really feel any weight shift is throwing a flex line. I tinkered with this drill this morning and everything felt awesome, really felt the left leg driving the weight shift forward and my right hand was stinging (doing it with no disc in hand).

So my question is this. Working backward is there anything else drill wise that I can be doing to help consistently put myself into this correct posture? Any backhand I've thrown the last 2 years has been from a standstill up until the last couple months...I've been trying to get it back by adding the run up back. This morning felt really really good though.

Hershyzer, Door Frame pt 3, Crush the Cans.

 

[sidewinder22]

So, quick question I have been thinking about for a while now. Naturally, my feet do not point parallel to each other when standing still. In fact, when I make them face that way, it's uncomfortable. They make more a "V" with the heels being closer and toes being more apart. Would I have to focus on having more of a "closed" foot placement? I am probably over-thinking this.

I'm not the person to give distance tips, maxing at 300'. However, I can speak to joint issues. My hips, knees, and ankles to an extent, all turn out. So much that when sitting on the floor with my legs in front of me, my pinky toes sometimes touch the ground. I was talking to my PT one day about achieving a closed stance, he told me to only go as far as what feels like a good stretch, and be careful about going farther. In my case, he told me if I force my foot too close to 90 away from the basket I could tear ligaments.

I agree with your PT in that you should never feel pain or stretching beyond comfortable in what ever you do. I can see how Crush the Can might not be for you, it is a drill and all drills exaggerate something - alternative is Riding the Bull from Turbo Encabulator and plant however you do naturally to move quickly back and forth, jump back and forth side to side and brace yourself/balance from tipping over, move your lower body from under the upper body like a skier doing moguls or slalom.

However in a pure One Leg Drill there's no weight shift/shearing force/torque from the rear side, so your foot angle should not make a difference safety-wise. Everything should be able to freely glide/pivot over each other.

 

[DiscGolfMaster]

So, quick question I have been thinking about for a while now. Naturally, my feet do not point parallel to each other when standing still. In fact, when I make them face that way, it's uncomfortable. They make more a "V" with the heels being closer and toes being more apart. Would I have to focus on having more of a "closed" foot placement? I am probably over-thinking this.

I have a similar issue but only with my right foot. When I walk or stand, I naturally have my right foot angled out so when looking down my feet they look kind of like this |/.

I'm not an anatomy expert, but just because your feet are angled out it doesn't mean the rest of the bones in your legs are the same. Meaning your shin bones and femur might be aligned perfectly, even though your feet are telling you otherwise, food for thought.

 

[Owensjef]

You leg moves from the hip, your knee has no rotation, and the ankle only a little. Chances are, where your toes point outward, the tibia and femur follow. This puts unnecessary torsion on the joints, causes hip and pelvic alignment issues, and usually low back pain.

 

[armiller]

Okay. I'm thickheaded and obviously didn't learn from the videos. How do I know I'm doing the one leg drill right or making progress? Please dumb it down for me! Thanks.

 

[axion]

Sidewinder, I have a follow up question. How much weight do I put onto my back leg when doing this? You appear to be moving weight between your front and back leg in the clips at the beginning. I've been attempting to keep 100% of my weight on my front foot, and I can probably only get 100' or so out of my discs.

I'll get a video together, but I wanted to make sure I was doing it right before filming.