Physical and Mental Fatigue and Overload

[mostlynorwegian]

I am looking to start a conversation about fatigue and overload. Mostly mental but also physical.

Brief disc golf bio: near 20 years playing fairly seriously with breaks from competitive play. about 6 or 7 years ago (around 30yo) I peaked at 970 and maintained a 960s average with minimal practice or playing. As soon as I tried to jump in and play more things started slipping. Backhand distance has always been a strength, at the time there was only a handful of guys in CO that I wasn't keeping up with off the tee. Putting has always been a weak point to an all out a struggle.
I am 37yo, 6'2 170-180lbs, naturally athletic and throwing comes easily to me. Self awareness is minimal, I have never been good at understanding form or what I do right/wrong. That lack of understanding has made coming back from injury (mild shoulder issues, broken hand, some hip issues, lots of knee issues) tough.
I have always tuned my form through drills. Field work or putter rounds generally. Playing putters only for a few weeks is my go to reset button.

I have been working at coming back from a pretty significant mental breakdown followed by injuries over the last few years. I feel I have continued building my skillsets but my mental game has made near zero improvement. I understand better physical health and nutrition should be an easy step toward improving both mental and physical endurance. I am fairly healthy but have plenty of room for improvement there as well. I do not tend to take myself or game too seriously, or have too high of expectations. Possibly to a point it's become a fault. Focus is still terribly difficult, especially late in a tourney round.
While I do not take much too seriously, it is quite humbling and border line humiliating to be scoring worse than I used to with 6 discs and less than a years experience despite having a better skillset and 20 years experience and knowledge.

I am at a loss of where to start to make and maintain actual improvements. I have tried to attack my putting yips that have plagued me for nearly 5 years. Lots of practice and developing a putt with fewer variables. I feel like I make improvements in my putting and generally then find myself back at the bottom. IE this weekend having a physical/mental block where on my final 5 of 60 tourney holes on a weekend I genuinely could not let go of the disc and was missing 30+ degrees right regardless of how much I was trying to put on the disc. Definitely a mental block as much as a physical one. From what I can tell is I have not gotten my lower body timing to be as natural as it once was and that's led to rounding and timing issues. That coupled with the mental block of not trusting my hand to function as its supposed to (lingering from post rehab grip issues). Overall hand strength despite injury, I have always had decent grip strength, and being an electrician makes sure I maintain it (was able to pull over 80psi on a dynamometer by the end of rehab, about on par with my left. I believe I have continued to regain strength in my right). In events like this weekend I have found my hand feeling significantly weaker and range and ease of motion in my my ring/pinky were limited.

My thoughts:
Continue to improve diet, especially leading up to long weekends.
Re-incorporate a little more cardio into my life again.
Continue pushing though the mental stresses of daily life in hopes to have more available bandwidth. This includes continuing therapy
Possibly take a break from competitive play for a few years so I can come back with a fresh mindset and not continue to re-enforce negative mental habits.
Possibly find mobility exercises to increase hand flexibility and endurance.
Overshare on DGCR in hopes for some nuggets of wisdom.

Try just going out, and having fun throwing discs. Try doing literally just that. Play casually with zero expectations.
As well. Get your body looked at. Physical therapy might really help you. Because this statement kind of sticks out. "---- naturally athletic and throwing comes easily to me. Self awareness is minimal, I have never been good at understanding form or what I do right/wrong. That lack of understanding has made coming back from injury (mild shoulder issues, broken hand, some hip issues, lots of knee issues) tough.."
Listen to us older farts who complain. It will only get worse from here on in if that's how you wish to go about it, and you are actively lying to yourself if you say that you are naturally athletic while also lacking self awareness. That isn't necessarily athletic. That's just a work ethic. Have you ever tried something to just fail? And you are there just for the process? Because, that's where learning happens.
There are also literally arm loads of videos about form.
Disc golf, while mildly athletic. More from a hiking stand point than anything else. IS NOT A SPORT WHICH NEEDS OR EVEN REQUIRES RAW STRENGTH. It requires balance, flexibility, and being limber a whole lot more than any kind of actual strength. Note the number of string beans that you could blow over with an industrial fan that can out-throw you with 1% power. So, your shoulder injury is likely just you PLOWING into getting distance. Work ethic is great. But, it's also extremely over-rated because it disallows simplification and enjoying process.

 

[BillFleming]

@BillFleming Hey Bill have you tried a splob putt? Rather than backhanding etc you basically bring it up like it's a horseshoe with a just past the side (towards front, finish with side) grip and kinda and toss a touch of spin on at level? Deadly inside 30' I can get 40 comfortably. I think envy's help haha. Maybe it's a pitch putt I dunno haha.

I have never heard of that type of putt. Do you have a link to a video of it? I'm open to trying anything to improve my odds of making putts.

 

[BillFleming]

I do this putt to make people upset.
But its a good putt to have in the toolbox as well, there are actual times where just the ability to throw this putt can save you when you're around the green and normal putt is out, and high putt is out. but you can stand there and pop lob it out with that.

Do you have a video of that putt? I'm open to trying it, but not quite sure how to do it.

 

[Sheep]

Do you have a video of that putt? I'm open to trying it, but not quite sure how to do it.

I dont' do it quite like the pitch putt thing he's talking about. But no I don't have a video.

It was on coverage earlier this year though what he's talking about. He'd have to find it for you though, I don't quite remember when it was. I don't watch live coverage, i just remember the video clips of people going "WTH"

 

[BillFleming]

Well, I tried the 'horseshoe' putt and it's still a work in progress....I don't know if it will really work out for me, but I'm giving it a try.

It worked great in my backyard and at the practice basket before league, but during league....not so great missed way too many putts. The issue was that the wind picked up during league and changed directions during play. During practice, I found that I putted the best if the disc came out on a hyzer angle, but that did not work at all with the wind. I'm lining up the putter by holding it straight out, bringing it down to the outside of my right leg with the top facing my leg. Then I bring the disc back up towards the basket turning it slightly to a hyzer release. I'm thinking that I'm going to have to try more of a bowling form and release the disc flatter with my palm facing upwards. That might improve the results in the wind. Another issue I found was that it doesn't work at all with elevated baskets, and the course I play league at has a few of those.

I've considered a turbo putt, as I've used that in the past on elevated baskets, but I don't get much oomph with it, so it's not good from outside 15 feet. Oh well, I just have to keep trying and practicing and hoping that I will find the putt that works for me.

 

[mostlynorwegian]

@BillFleming Hey Bill have you tried a splob putt? Rather than backhanding etc you basically bring it up like it's a horseshoe with a just past the side (towards front, finish with side) grip and kinda and toss a touch of spin on at level? Deadly inside 30' I can get 40 comfortably. I think envy's help haha. Maybe it's a pitch putt I dunno haha.

It was also briefly known as the Hebenheimer. For me, it's generally an outside the circle, and to get around something kind of putt. As a dedicated mediocre player. I use it several times a round. If it doesn't connect. It's (hopefully) going to end up being a tap in. It's kind of an energy saving putt.