SuperWookie Form Thread

[sidewinder22]

So I'd still love to hear from ALL of you, how you feel about this topic. Nobody has responded to this.

This idea of loose arm or sling shot arm. I hear all sorts of descriptions of the arm and how it should be during a golf disc throw, but I realized I really don't have any idea how loose or firm it should be, especially when related to other sports. So I watch videos from pros I like every night now. And then I read tons of stuff on here as well all the time. And I keep hearing and reading about having a loose arm. But what does that mean, and how loose is "loose?"

I'm going to create this fictitious scale of 1-5 for the purposes of this question. 1 being a total noodle arm that's like jello and no conscious use of the arm to throw vs 5 which would be a totally flexed fairly firm arm that is being very controlled.

In golf, I would say the arms are around a 2 most of the backswing, then they probably move up to a 4 on the left arm at the hit, and the right arm a little less, maybe around 3.

Baseball, I would say the arms are around a 2-3 in the preswing and back swing. Then right around the hit, up to about a 4 again.

Throwing a baseball would be around a 2 before you throw and around 3ish at the throw.

And tennis would be similar to golf/baseball hit with the arm around a 2-3 pre hit, and around 4/4.5 at the hit.

So if you could use this scale, what would the arm be in Disc golf throwing?

I just realized a few days ago, I've never really asked specifically how loose or firm the arm should be at the different parts of the swing. And how much or little are you controlling it. I feel like it's supposed to be pretty loose and almost no arm for the majority, but at the same time somehow using your arm harder right at the hit? I'm not sure, that's why I'm asking. Thanks everyone

It just feels wrong trying to put numbers on things. BH is no different than other throwing sports, very similar to pitching sidearm/submarine, but mirrored. I used to pitch submarine so my FH is basically the same thing and fairly loose. When I just started mirroring everything from FH, my BH become so much easier which is why perpetual motion drills are so effective IMO. You will see me flip back and forth BH/FH in some of my drills like it's nothing because it is. The tension is kind of reactionary to the acceleration. The string on the ball is pulled taut, but is still supple. Loose is fast and on the verge of out of control. The key being the bounce/spring of the wrist slinging the disc out.

 

[RandyC]

Disc golf is a funny thing. I remember when I started I threw everyday for 4 months in a row and suddenly my arm fell off, I mean.. It hurt so bad I could not pick up a disc. Yet I had planned in advance to go to this monster course the next day, my arm felt bit better the next day so I went with an idea that I´ll just swing the disc without stressing my arm at all.. I figured I´ll throw 150ft shots all day. Boom I broke 400ft with my first throw. That´s how I learned to use my whole body to sling the disc, it took few years to get consistant with that 400ft. Currently I can get to 500ft but still figuring out, how can I get that with proper control.

 

[SuperWookie]

Thank you guys! That helps A LOT. I'm not sure it if will help me throw better right now, but at least knowing how my arm should be helps out. I had NO idea how it was supposed to be. I think I need to just go work on stuff for a long time before asking loads more questions. I've received a lot of good advice here and in my DM box, so I have a lot of stuff to work out now. Can't thank everyone enough!

 

[SuperWookie]

I would say that in a disc golf drive, through the arm extension/hit point phase my right arm feels similar strength to my lead arm in a golf club swing. In that I'm firmly guiding it through contact but not tensing it up terribly so. Keep in mind that I'm not and never was an incredible golfer but I first swung clubs when I was 4 and took lessons when I was young, so I had a solid enough foundation until I stopped playing in my early teens.

Basically the arm feels extended and firm, not fully tensed up but not just loose and being pulled like nothing.

In the backswing I am just having enough control that I'm aware of the arm. Again kind of like lead arm in a batting stance, where you're balancing and aware of the bat but not tensed at all.

It just feels wrong trying to put numbers on things. BH is no different than other throwing sports, very similar to pitching sidearm/submarine, but mirrored. I used to pitch submarine so my FH is basically the same thing and fairly loose. When I just started mirroring everything from FH, my BH become so much easier which is why perpetual motion drills are so effective IMO. You will see me flip back and forth BH/FH in some of my drills like it's nothing because it is. The tension is kind of reactionary to the acceleration. The string on the ball is pulled taut, but is still supple. Loose is fast and on the verge of out of control. The key being the bounce/spring of the wrist slinging the disc out.

Disc golf is a funny thing. I remember when I started I threw everyday for 4 months in a row and suddenly my arm fell off, I mean.. It hurt so bad I could not pick up a disc. Yet I had planned in advance to go to this monster course the next day, my arm felt bit better the next day so I went with an idea that I´ll just swing the disc without stressing my arm at all.. I figured I´ll throw 150ft shots all day. Boom I broke 400ft with my first throw. That´s how I learned to use my whole body to sling the disc, it took few years to get consistant with that 400ft. Currently I can get to 500ft but still figuring out, how can I get that with proper control.

So I just re read an article I'm 90% sure I read a LONG time ago when I first got into this sport. And it confirmed what I have been thinking lately and directly in contrast to what these answers are saying. This article is from someone name JHern and it's an old old post from 2010 I thin on the old DG course review site. And he is literally saying what I've been wondering and thinking about how the arm is mostly passive in the swing.

"Fact 1: 300 ft is about as far as most men can throw using primarily the strength of their arm to propel the disc. For women it is closer to 230 ft.

Fact 2: The fact that you get the same distance no matter how you do your step implies that you aren't getting anything out of your legs, which drive your torso, which is the platform for your shoulders...

The sum: Fact 1 + Fact 2 = You're strong-arming, throwing with your arm, and you're not getting much of anything from your torso and shoulders.

Your arm is of order 10X less powerful than your legs/torso. Stop throwing with your arm! Your arm is only useful for positioning and gripping, other than that, it is purely passive. Your arm needs to be turned into a whip that is driven by the powerful motion of your legs/hips/torso/shoulders.

Here's an exercise I might suggest:

Stand still with your arms at your side, completely relaxed. Turn your hips and torso back slowly and then rotate your hips quickly to the open position. Your arms should be whipped out and around in a windmill motion, without you using a single muscle in your arms. That's the feeling you should be aiming for.

Next do the same thing, except extend your throwing elbow out sideways from your body and hold it there (as if you put a vice around your shoulder). Allow your lower throwing arm and hand to hang limp from your elbow. Do it as if your arm were asleep and some mechanical device was locked onto your shoulder to keep the elbow pointed out side ways from your torso. Don't allow your elbow to move forward or backward, nor up nor down. It is completely locked in place, as if you no longer even had a shoulder joint and your upper arm were fused into your shoulder so that it would always point out sideways.

Now slowly turn your hips and torso back, and turn them abruptly open again. Don't use a single muscle in your arm! Now you should find that you've turned your arm into a whip. Your lower arm should be whipping forward super-fast. In fact, you can whip your lower arm forward way faster in this manner than your arm muscles could ever dream of doing. Your arm muscle strength decreases rapidly as speed increases, so they are useless anyways...trying to use them will only slow down this motion. You'll find that whipping your lower arm forward in this manner, with the elbow "stopped," will feel relatively effortless in comparison to trying to throw with your arm as you've probably been doing before.

Practice getting this feeling for a while. (Later you can work on the grip and positioning in finer detail, but for now focus on using your legs/hips/torso/shoulders as the powerful motor for whipping your arm forward.)"

So how would you guys respond to this post? It sounds COMPLETELY different than anything I've read on here and nobody has replied to my question about this topic with this response. You guys are saying my arm should be fairly firm but loose like in a golf swing, tennis swing, baseball throw. And yet this guy here is saying, literally, keep your arm like a dead noodle and let your legs and body WHIP your arm through. So is this guy wrong? Or is he right? And why such a stark contrast between what he's saying and what you guys have told me? I once again am at a loss for how my arm is supposed to be being used and how it feels when throwing. And I go back to HUB's water bottle drill idea lately and wondering if that idea and this JHern's post are the same?

And another thing that caught my attention is that last little bit from you SW. "The key being the bounce/spring of the wrist slinging the disc out." What does that mean? I thought the wrist was supposed to be stiff and passive, and yet here, it sounds like you are saying it is VERY active and THE KEY to throwing far and slinging the disc. So once again, I feel lost and confused. Should my wrist be bent back in towards my body when the disc gets near the "power pocket" from the force of disc getting heavy? Or is it a purposeful motion I make while I'm pulling the disc in towards my chest? And I'm trying to resist it, but it's too strong and it bows my wrist back anyways? And then right as it gets near release, it springs out and away from me?

This goes back to my idea I just brought up recently about a LOT of longer throwers that look like they actually curl the disc in towards their body right before it gets slung out. So they curl it up into their belly at the start, then their wrist gets pulled taught as their plant foot lands and their arm gets pulled back. But then as they pull the disc in towards their chest, I notice quite a few longer throwers look like they then curl the disc AGAIN in towards their body right as the disc is about to get whipped out. What is that? Here is a few photos of the swing the frame RIGHT before the disc is far away from their body. And it's VERY noticeable how bowed/curled in their wrist is. Thanks

 

[SuperWookie]

And here's even more in that thread from another confused person just like myself.

I have a question though. There is a conflict in my head. MB says from the right pec go like hell and punch toward the target. Bradley says once the disc is coming away from the right pec and into the "apex" accelerate and sling the head of the hammer. With JHern it is sling the forearm out with the power created from the lower body and leave my arm muscles out of the equation. To make matters worse there is a post by Blake where he says don't accelerate the arm until the very last second.

Same thing goes for me. I read ALL sorts of varying ideas on this arm being dead like a noodle or not, and accelerating the arm at certain points or not and just letting your momentum you've already made sling the disc. I don't know which idea/s is right? It's all tied together. This idea of getting the disc to feel heavy and SLING it out or WHIP it out. NOT using your arm/rotator cuff muscles to THROW the disc, and instead let your body provide the power and let your arm sling it out. I know these ideas are THE reason why I can't throw far, and once I figure it out, I WILL throw far. All the other balance and timing stuff is just icing on the distance cake. Once I get this part down, I'll be throwing very far. And any further distance increases will be small and incremental But that IS the problem. I can't figure this out, and I read SOOO many posts and ideas about this, and yet, nothing is working yet. Or at the very least, I haven't figured out how to do them correctly. And I don't want to waste time doing things incorrectly. So I'm asking for help ONLY on this topic and how to accomplish this. Thanks

 

[UhhNegative]

Nothing is in contrast here. You are WAYYY overthinking things. I'm not sure how many times I or others have responded in exactly the same manner to this exact question.

YES THE ARM ACTS LIKE A WHIP!

The inward bend of the wrist is passive and due to lag. Backhand = passive wrist; Forehand = active wrist.

The momentum of the disc + not keeping your wrist stiff will collapse the wrist naturally before it redirects outward.

Swing a damn hammer around and post a video. There's no way on paper to say exactly what happens, but the brain is, to quote Sean Clement, "a gravity flipping genius". You can feel how to sling the weight. You'll never be able to throw a disc if you think, "Ok, first I tense my lats, then .063s later I will fire my triceps, etc." Just like pumping a swing on a swingset like a kid, you gotta just feel it. Let gravity/momentum do its thing and see how you can add to it.

 

[NoseDownKing]

Just swing the ****ing disc. It really is that simple once you get it right.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

 

[sidewinder22]

It's really hard to respond to your wall of text that contain about a thousand questions.

I think "COMPLETELY different" is only in the state of your own mind.
Olympic Hammer Throw Drill: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2eWfwpahfk#t=50s
Reciprocating Dingle Arm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1pkfJtVq-8

IMO MB, BW, and Blake are all basically saying the same thing there, just their brain processes/feels things slightly differently or slower or faster. Like UN said, this is all taking place in the blink of an eye, much faster than your brain can process. If you say you want to fire right now, it's already too late, cause there is a delay in your nervous system.

Most every top pro say to keep the wrist locked straight or slightly flexed/cocked and let acceleration/change of direction lag the wrist and load back like a spring. I think some grips with the thumb closer to the middle of the disc make it appear like the wrist is curled more, or that tends to naturally curl the wrist more. Force dissipates over distance, so more compact wrist motion transfers force more efficiently, the wrist doesn't generate power, it facilitates the transfer from the body to the disc. Do you think about your wrist when you hammer a nail or throw a baseball? Is it stiff or loose or is a combination like passive-aggressive. I think Drew states it quite well with the wrist action... https://www.youtube.com/watch?=6&v=wstfsTWvGFQ

I think you need to work on your mental attitude...
https://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/showthread.php?t=134975

How much wrist curl do you see here?

 

[sidewinder22]

I think SC lurks on DGCR.

 

[SuperWookie]

So just going to bring my discussion over here, as my previous posts were starting to cut into the Floating Arm Thread and I didn't want to hijack Drkevans thread.

So as I previously mentioned over there, one thing I also am realizing I don't do well for some reason is bracing up BEFORE I even think about beginning the forward motion of the disc. I went out last night to work on the windmill drill and just slowing down, trying to focus on keeping my hand on the outside of the disc, and not only was it completely horrible, but I realized, I can't for the life of me brace up strong and BEFORE the disc comes through. For some reason, in a disc golf throw, my brain is telling me I HAVE to time the plant with my arm coming through to be fast and powerful. Which is obviously totally wrong. But I can't stop doing it :wall:

So that is something I think I should work on first, do drills for over and over. And everyone keeps telling me once my lower body movements, weight transfer and bracing is all correct, throwing it or slinging it will become second nature, or at least easier. So I think I should just focus on that aspect for now.

So what would you guys suggest (Drills I can do in my family room or in the field) for someone that is just NOT able to plant and brace BEFORE the disc comes forward? Like it's debilitatingly bad. I tried so hard last night to just keep the disc behind me and really wait for the plant foot to come down and then crush the can, but I just can't. It feels SOOO weird and awkward. I can plant very well and feel the gravity pull my arms in my golf swing, baseball swing, tennis stroke, etc. But NOT with a disc.

Also, not going to post the video footage I took from last night, it was HORRIBLE. And one thing I think I've realized is really hurting me, is practicing in HS football fields. The grass is so deep, the ground is lumpy, and when I watch the video, I'm all out of balance all the time, and throw horrible. Then when I can throw from a teepad on the course, I all of a sudden can balance so much better and my throws are usually better. So I need to figure that out as well. Need to find a place I can practice where I can throw off of a flat surface. So once I can find a good flat firm surface to practice from, I'll get some video of where I'm at and post that to see where we're at.

Thanks

 

[Lastchancer88]

So just going to bring my discussion over here, as my previous posts were starting to cut into the Floating Arm Thread and I didn't want to hijack Drkevans thread.

So as I previously mentioned over there, one thing I also am realizing I don't do well for some reason is bracing up BEFORE I even think about beginning the forward motion of the disc. I went out last night to work on the windmill drill and just slowing down, trying to focus on keeping my hand on the outside of the disc, and not only was it completely horrible, but I realized, I can't for the life of me brace up strong and BEFORE the disc comes through. For some reason, in a disc golf throw, my brain is telling me I HAVE to time the plant with my arm coming through to be fast and powerful. Which is obviously totally wrong. But I can't stop doing it :wall:

So that is something I think I should work on first, do drills for over and over. And everyone keeps telling me once my lower body movements, weight transfer and bracing is all correct, throwing it or slinging it will become second nature, or at least easier. So I think I should just focus on that aspect for now.

So what would you guys suggest (Drills I can do in my family room or in the field) for someone that is just NOT able to plant and brace BEFORE the disc comes forward? Like it's debilitatingly bad. I tried so hard last night to just keep the disc behind me and really wait for the plant foot to come down and then crush the can, but I just can't. It feels SOOO weird and awkward. I can plant very well and feel the gravity pull my arms in my golf swing, baseball swing, tennis stroke, etc. But NOT with a disc.

Also, not going to post the video footage I took from last night, it was HORRIBLE. And one thing I think I've realized is really hurting me, is practicing in HS football fields. The grass is so deep, the ground is lumpy, and when I watch the video, I'm all out of balance all the time, and throw horrible. Then when I can throw from a teepad on the course, I all of a sudden can balance so much better and my throws are usually better. So I need to figure that out as well. Need to find a place I can practice where I can throw off of a flat surface. So once I can find a good flat firm surface to practice from, I'll get some video of where I'm at and post that to see where we're at.

Thanks

Remember, keep it simple, work on 1 thing at a time. Don't let emotions get involved with technique stuff. If you feel disappointed or frustrated, take a break. I've been there and made backwards progress by losing focus.

When something feels weird to you it means you're doing something differently and possibly better.

2 things have made great strides for me and the brace. The one leg drill and the forward arm pump before the backswing. Film yourself doing the OLD. Post it. Looks bad? Post it anyway. Every time I post a swing I cringe at I get more beneficial feedback than the initial cringe. SW will politely tell you what's wrong. Try to fix it and repost. You'll do that for probably weeks as you slowly iron things out. Once you can throw on your front foot balanced, then you try to walk your way into the brace. It took me 6 months to understand what throwing on my front side balanced meant. If you know where you're going, it's easier to get there. Also, 1 thing at a time. It's very tempting to read here and realize something else is off in our swings and go out to fix that which just muddles up our attempts at form improvement. Relax, focus on 1 thing, get it right, move on. I wish I had done this when I started working on mine last winter.

 

[Phathatter]

It's taken me 3+ years of form work to unlearn 10 years of throwing off the back foot, and I still catch myself doing it pretty regularly. It's pretty much the only thing I feel qualified to diagnose in other people's form threads (well, that and tipping over/past the plant). If I don't see those issues, I stay out of it.

 

[SuperWookie]

Remember, keep it simple, work on 1 thing at a time. Don't let emotions get involved with technique stuff. If you feel disappointed or frustrated, take a break. I've been there and made backwards progress by losing focus.

When something feels weird to you it means you're doing something differently and possibly better.

2 things have made great strides for me and the brace. The one leg drill and the forward arm pump before the backswing. Film yourself doing the OLD. Post it. Looks bad? Post it anyway. Every time I post a swing I cringe at I get more beneficial feedback than the initial cringe. SW will politely tell you what's wrong. Try to fix it and repost. You'll do that for probably weeks as you slowly iron things out. Once you can throw on your front foot balanced, then you try to walk your way into the brace. It took me 6 months to understand what throwing on my front side balanced meant. If you know where you're going, it's easier to get there. Also, 1 thing at a time. It's very tempting to read here and realize something else is off in our swings and go out to fix that which just muddles up our attempts at form improvement. Relax, focus on 1 thing, get it right, move on. I wish I had done this when I started working on mine last winter.

Thanks for the encouragement and advice!

The first year or so, I was trying to correct everything at once, and going all over the place with advice and practice. And you are correct, that doesn't work. But it's so hard to come from a background of doing well in all sports and activities, and then get your a$$ handed to you, haha.

But, I took off ALL of last year here on the forum and just worried about playing a lot and getting in reps. The first year I played in 2019, I would practice 8 times for every 1 time I actually played! Because I just wanted to be good right away. And I just burnt myself out! I was trying to learn it all in a few months and getting super upset that I couldn't. Which looking back on that, is ridiculous. I just hold myself to way high of a std I think.

But the more I play and read and watch videos, the more I realize this is NOT going to come easy to me for some reason, nor for most others either. It is a VERY weird, unique, different feel and set of movements compared to other sports. Not so much because the body movements, but because of the LACK of a stick, raquet, bat or club. Those things give you the ability to create so much force and gravity. Whereas disc golf is ALL from your body and arm creating a whip. Which is SUPER foreign to most of us and very hard to learn

I just need to be patient, and really just go back to the basics and learning and progressing in a logical manner. Start off with the OLD, and others. Learn these important beginner lesson, get it down, THEN move on to another part of the throw. And when I go play, stop worrying about trying to incorporate any new changes. Just try to do my best and most importantly have fun. Worry about getting better in practice and drills. As one of my favorite characters ever would say:

 

[SuperWookie]

So routinely when I'm under the influence I think about the Disc golf swing. And "feel" like I can do it better when under the influence. I feel like my over active brain is able to just let go of the superfluous info and just focus on the most important parts at hand.

So I had my gf film me this last weekend (don't mind the messy family room, my messy hair or silly faces I make, haha. Remember I'm under the influence) just FLINGING my arm like it's a dead doll like everyone says to do. "Your arm should NOT be actively part of the swing, it should just be along for the ride" everyone says. So I finally had her capture me doing it how I imagine this would go if your arm was passive and just along for the ride. And I do this often when under the influence, haha.

So now I have video proof of it, and low and behold, my arm looks very much like how a pro or good throwers arm would be in a good throw. My hand gets deep into the pocket. I keep my 90* or more angle between my chest and lower arm. And my shoulders/core turn WITH my arm and at 90*, ONCE my hand has reached my chest or the pocket. And then my arm just whips through. Plus I look really braced into the hit on my front leg BEFORE my hand/arm starts moving forward.

So please, tell me what you think of this? Great, good, alright, bad? Is this the "SECRET" to throwing well?

And then this brings up my next really important question. How in the HELL can you actually hold onto the disc, when your arm is this limp and passive?!?! It makes NO sense to me. And if this looks right and your arm IS this passive, then I can see what HUB and others mean when they say: "when you hit a disc right and it's really heavy, you will literally not be able to hold onto the disc without actively thinking about squeezing the snot out of it at the last second." There is NO WAY I could even hold a disc in my hand with how passive my arm was in this video or any other time I practice the throw like this.

But I feel like this is good overall?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhOO6AJL4V8

 

[HyzerUniBomber]

Great overall. Now, you didn't just stumble into perfection, but the overall feeling is looking great and I wish I could morph into your size for an afternoon of throwing (and I bet our height limited SW22 would too!)

That feeling will be a bit more closed to the target (including plant foot) and you slow it down enough that you can continue to hold onto the disc. The majority of players are going to move too fast for your grip to hold onto the disc, so that's why I always mention how slow it will feel.

 

[SuperWookie]

Great overall. Now, you didn't just stumble into perfection, but the overall feeling is looking great and I wish I could morph into your size for an afternoon of throwing (and I bet our height limited SW22 would too!)

That feeling will be a bit more closed to the target (including plant foot) and you slow it down enough that you can continue to hold onto the disc. The majority of players are going to move too fast for your grip to hold onto the disc, so that's why I always mention how slow it will feel.

Ok, so this IS how you throw it though? This dead arm getting whipped around by my body movements IS how it's supposed to work? More or less? If so, I'm absolutely SHOCKED and confounded, hahaha. I can't believe this is IT :doh:

And trust me, I know it's nowhere near perfection or anything. But just wanted to finally film this so I could see if it's on the right path.

And yeah, once I get something down, my height makes it very easy to throw, hit, shoot something really far/hard with ease. I didn't even have the best form for my serve in Tennis when I played back in 6th grade through HS. But I had a really heavy serve and it was so easy, haha. My one buddy who was with some high end tennis academy always hated that I could serve harder than him with my less than perfect form. He spent years working on it and was very good, but the length of my body and levers makes it really easy to get good distance or speed when applied even half way decent. Same with softball, hockey, lacrosse and then golf. I had the hardest snap and slap shot of anyone in my league in hockey. Always had the hardest shot in soccer. I remember when I actually started learning from a golf pro about how to get better, and I finally learned about lag from him and getting into better positions and having more efficient movements, the ball just started rocketing off my clubs with ease. I was hitting 2 clubs longer with like 50% of my previous effort, haha. It was SO eye opening, fun, but actually screwed up my scoring for about a year or so. I had to figure out all new yardages for my clubs and it kept changing as I got even better. I was sailing greens or dogleg fairways and was having a hard time scoring as I was constantly in the rough or long. But it is definitely a huge advantage to have so much height and length. Being super tall sucks sometimes, but can have some great advantages. So I'll never complain about it.

Now onto, HOW DO I HOLD A DISC and still do this movement hahaha? I'm not sure I could even hold a disc while my arm is this loose and passive. So how do I hold onto a disc and still do this with my arm? Let alone hold on until THE HIT?

And if this is all true, then I feel this is something that is MASSIVELY understated or known amongst most disc golfers. I always thought you were supposed to hold the disc fairly firm, but not death grip like. Most instructional videos say it should be firm enough in your hand to not be pulled out by someone else. Which is WAY more pressure than you could use to get your arm THIS passive.

My arm is literally dead in this video and I'm not even sure I could hold a disc in my hand, let alone hold onto it without it slipping out way early with my arm this passive.

And then another follow up: How is it that Eagle, Simon, AB, Gibson, Sepo, Tanner, etc can throw so far and LOOK like they are only moving fast at the hit, and yet still hold onto the disc so late? What exactly are they doing to accomplish that great feat, that the rest of us can't do?

I especially notice that some of the super lanky guys like Eagle or AB can REALLY whip the disc out with seemingly little overall effort compared to other players that seem to use a LOT more body and energy. Like Wysocki, Conrad, Dickerson, Gossage, etc. Guys like that are RUNNING down the tee pad and really straining to get their distance. While Eagle, AB, Simon, Sepo, McBeth, etc use the bare min energy, and most have slow to medium walk up/run ups.

Like I just saw this guy Aaron Gossage guy playing with Eagle, AB and Ricky at that OTB tourney. And that guy looks like he's moving at light speed the second he moves down the Tee pad. He starts at the very backend of the tee pad or farther and then violently sprints to the throw. Yet someone like Eagle, AB, Simon, Gibson, Tanner, etc can just casually take 2-3 steps up really slowly and just MASH a disc 500' 5-10' off the ground with so much less energy than someone like Gossage. At a WAY slower walk up/run up. What is the secret to their massive easy distance that most other players don't have or can't figure out?

But it sounds like you're saying I should chase this feeling, but go slower for now? Really just not sure how I'm going to be able to translate this feeling into an actual throw. EVERY TIME I go to practice and TRY to do this in the field or on the course, I can't. My arm is too tense from holding the disc. Holding onto a disc AND letting your arm be this passive seem like they are mutually exclusive and not able to be done at the same time? So cool to finally figure something out, but now it opens another can of worms to work out :wall:

 

[HyzerUniBomber]

It's not that you have to keep the arm dead. It's that if you're playing catch with a baseball, you want enough engagement to hold onto the ball, but you don't want your arm muscles tightening up.

It's nearly exactly like a wrist/slap shot in hockey, where being athletic but not tense gets you your best results.

Once you start to see the big picture of this motion, I'll post this here too:

You'll see where the tension is maintained... muscling up at any point will break that dark line.

 

[sidewinder22]

Need to drop your right shoulder and let it hang and swing underneath.

Shift from behind. Stop your body's forward momentum after you shift forward with butt still facing targetward(somewhat closed to target) and let your arm/elbow continue forward with shoulders still closed.

Note how your head continues forward while you are swinging, instead of your arm accelerating out away from your head/body.

https://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/showthread.php?t=118948
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5xfv9jPqZs#t=7m16s

 

[sidewinder22]

It's not that you have to keep the arm dead. It's that if you're playing catch with a baseball, you want enough engagement to hold onto the ball, but you don't want your arm muscles tightening up.

It's nearly exactly like a wrist/slap shot in hockey, where being athletic but not tense gets you your best results.

Once you start to see the big picture of this motion, I'll post this here too:

You'll see where the tension is maintained... muscling up at any point will break that dark line.

That is a big picture, but I can't tell which TMNT it is? Is that a bow/arrow draw around the arm?

 

[HyzerUniBomber]

Putta-tello the 5th TMNT.

Yeah, so the bow and arrow represents the momentum trapped at this point as the maximum draw back of your "bow" that is actually pulled tight around the hip to shoulder down arm to outside of disc.