Weight lifting & disc golf?

[RobA]

Nobody is talking about winning a distance contest. These guys are all young lanky dudes who have a clear advantage being young and lanky which helps them with distance and playing rounds and tournaments in general.

I am specifically coming from the perspective of a not young, not lanky dude who is approaching grandmasters division level. I throw fairly far, and can compete well against people younger than me in part because of my workout routine.

I guess everyone comes from a different background and is in different stages of the game, so this conversation definitely does not have a cookie cutter solution.

 

[Major Tomahawk]

I did not read this entire thread, so if I am repeating somebody else's advice, don't kill me.

Jobe exercises for the rotator cuff are an extremely beneficial system for shoulder fitness if performed correctly and they are disc golf sport specific.

You can find youtube videos on the subject. I've been doing them for years.

If you are skeptical, I do have a Masters in Sport and Exercise Psychology/Exercise Physiology from The Pennsylvania State University. I've also conducted thousands of assessments and trainings in a physical therapy environment.

Keep those shoulders strong, discers. Just trying to help...

 

[SonicGuy]

Those guys couldn't get muscles if they tried, and have natural advantage in throwing due to their long levers.

Sandstrom - arguably one of the best distance throwers ever competed in Mr. Fitness competitions:

Argument A is that muscle mass does not help distance, and argument B is that it does. You cannot win argument B by posting isolated examples of buff guys that throw far. If muscle mass has no impact on distance, than there should be a good spread of muscle masses among people that throw far, something you are proving by showing two noodle arms with one buff guy.

I suggest you rethink your strategy because you have lost this argument due to poor reasoning skills.

 

[Dr.Smooth]

It varies. Flexiblity is speed.

I know sandstrom was able to seperate himself from the pack through his work out routine.

Same for Wiggins too.

Any professional athlete has to do all three to win: repetition (doing the sport they do over and over again), weight lifting, and stretching to ensure flexbility.

 

[sidewinder22]

Argument A is that muscle mass does not help distance, and argument B is that it does. You cannot win argument B by posting isolated examples of buff guys that throw far. If muscle mass has no impact on distance, than there should be a good spread of muscle masses among people that throw far, something you are proving by showing two noodle arms with one buff guy.

I suggest you rethink your strategy because you have lost this argument due to poor reasoning skills.

I suggest you learn reading comprehension skills. I didn't argue for A.

 

[Mocheez]

Lifting weights isn't always about packing on muscle. Throwing a disc is an explosive movement and any explosive movement can be enhanced through powerful or plyometric exercises. Look at the difference in physique between an Olympic distance runner and an Olympic sprinter. Both have very low body fat but sprinters are ripped and have some meat on their bones.

In the past, weight lifting was never a requirement to win in disc golf. It certainly will be in the future, McBeth's physique has changed and he said that he is going to workout a lot more in the off-season. Ball golf has changed in the same way ever since Tiger Woods started dominating.

 

[SonicGuy]

I suggest you learn reading comprehension skills. I didn't argue for A.

Ironic you should say that, I never said you did.

 

[tylerc]

You have to think as distance from what it is created by: power (technique is basically applying power efficiently). the power one can generate boils down into two things assuming perfect efficiency through form which isn't possible but it helps me visualize. the power you can generate is basically how fast you can move a set weight through one rep. so to increase power output you can either move faster or move more weight. developing more speed can be difficult and I think most people hit their limit for speed a lot earlier than their limit of weight. So there are three types of power one purely speed, one purely muscle, and a mix. I think Lizotte, Schuesterick, and McMahon are the first, Jenkins and sandstorm second, and mcbeth, climo, etc are the third. once someone has their set power they can efficiently produce, the weight moved decreases to a disc and the speed accelerated to increases. That is how I understand this whole thing.

 

[sidewinder22]

Ironic you should say that, I never said you did.

You said I posted pics of two skinny guys, which I did not. The poster before me posted 3 pics of skinny guys.

 

[sidewinder22]

Those skinny guys do have muscle but their body type doesn't allow them to get big muscles.

 

[Dr.Smooth]

Yes definetly variations.

Look at some of the dudes playing NBA. Skinny, linky and ripped. Probably steroids, etc.

Key point. Whatever weightlifting you do you can't loos to much flexiblity because it equates to speed.

If you look up some of the long ball hitters in ball golf it varies too on body types.

Some really interesting obeservations on you tube for golf-long ball hitters. Check it out.

 

[wolfmandragon]

It's all speed, which bulky muscles get in the way of. 175g is not enough weight to need muscles but one has to have enough to move ones own body.
Some of the research done for martial arts shows that tuning the body for phosphorus energy burn is the best way to increase power not gaining strength

 

[Mocheez]

Your legs and hips are moving a lot more than 175grams, you have to factor in the weight of your arm and upper body, not to mention the rotational forces involved.

 

[RobA]

Just sayin - if a muscular guy can huck a 3 pound 9 ounce discus 243 feet, who knows how far he can throw a 6 oz. Frisbee, with the right technique.

One stereotype that needs to go away - muscles don't always mean an inflexible clumsy oaf. Throwing a discus requires the same attributes as throwing a Frisbee - flexibility, good leverage, and good technique, and strength.

Even though the world record holders in disc golf distance have been lanky skinny guys to date, there is no telling what will happen if and when people from other sports and disciplines start migrating to our sport.

 

[DG_Before_Breakfast]

Long skinny arms are more whip-like for maximum release velocity

Seriously, it is clear arm muscle mass isn't required for greater distance. But being toned and athletic helps in pretty much any sport, and weight lifting can contribute to that.

 

[ChrisWoj]

Amused by the pictures of the youth. Anyone got anything of Kenny from his very first Worlds? I'd like to compare that to 30-35 year old Kenny. You see the Sandstrom pic up there as another example. Will, Simon, some of those young guys aren't gonna pack on much - but they're all going to pack on a little, and a few of them are going to wind up with significantly broader frames over time. They're young, were raised on development for a sport that prizes length over strength, and over the next few years they're going to start to reach male maturity and pack on a bit more mass.

Maybe Will never winds up 175, but maybe Simon - who looks tremendously undeveloped there - puts in a few years of active workouts? You just never know. The body broadens as it moves toward 30.


On a side note: any workout geared specifically for disc golf that includes any bar presses is disc-qualified from being called purely disc oriented. Don't do it. The twisting forces being applied from a bench press or a military press, for example, are absolutely awful on the rotator cuff. Stay away if you're truly building something geared toward this sport, your shoulder is too valuable to take even minor risks like that.

 

[runningDoc]

I'm all for lifting weights and resistance training and agree it'll help out in DG or any athletic endeavor.

but a prime example of it not being that important in being able to throw far:

https://youtu.be/P7JG97Af8mE?t=918



^go straight to 15:25 to see how many pushups simon lizotte and eagle mcmahon can do.

 

[sidewinder22]

Argument A is that muscle mass does not help distance, and argument B is that it does. You cannot win argument B by posting isolated examples of buff guys that throw far.

Argument B showed Argument A is not true = that's called a big fat win in the logic world.

Will is pretty buff in that pic for being an ectomorph. If he didn't have those muscles he probably wouldn't throw as far. Sandstrom was the only example needed to prove argument A false. Avery, Wiggins, McBeth, Gibson, and GG are other examples.

If muscle mass has no impact on distance, than there should be a good spread of muscle masses among people that throw far, something you are proving by showing two noodle arms with one buff guy.

Right I proved argument A false. If you want to get into the nitpick physics F=MA. There's diminishing returns on mass helping, but you would essentially have to be a "body builder" or too massive to move/accelerate vs an athlete seeking strength/explosiveness.

I suggest you rethink your strategy because you have lost this argument due to poor reasoning skills.

I didn't lose the argument. You ASSumed my argument was something it was not.

 

[ChrisWoj]

I disagree with the earlier poster who shamed us for working out for disc golf - if you're going to work out anyway, the question is: why not gear it toward disc golf? If you truly want to improve your game, gearing your weight training toward it will do nothing but give you a nice full body workout, and you'll in no way be neglecting improvement of your everyday health.

In general I'm a huge proponent of the idea of bodyweight work for disc golf. This is one reason why I say all of the above - I avoid things that could cause injury. As has been stated numerous times by posters here: overall weight training is more risk than reward if you follow a lot of plans geared around general mass or general cutting. Many of them are pushed on people that want "results now" and aren't willing to simply make it a consistent part of their life.

I've taken a basic bodyweight routine - I hit one area per day over five days, and take two. I don't do a leg day because I'm a very active XC and Track coach (why do a leg day, if I'm not building for mass, when I can go outside and push a strong 5 miles?). I utilize the following core exercises: pushup, handstand pushup, pullup, straight leg raise, and bridge progressions as my core exercises on each of my five days. I do them consecutively, but split the arm oriented work with the ab and back oriented work. Each is supplemented with dumb-bells at 6-10 repetitions, no bar-bells as I prefer to keep motions natural.

To focus it on disc golf I follow these rules:
1. Avoid any injury causing reps. This means focus the workout on a very slow controlled negative portion, and if any reps start to push me to the point that my form can not be maintained I end the set.

2. On the positive part of the exercise (the contraction of the targeted muscles) I try for a controlled explosion: accelerate through and hit hard at the point of maximum myofibril contact (mid-rep).

3. I make sure that every exercise I do, core or auxiliary, has a focus on full body engagement over isolation. Disc golf form, done right, is a serious of natural movements for the body. Sped up, sometimes to the point of being violent in terms of speed and power, but natural movements. None of these movements are isolated to just a single part of the body. So when I do my straight leg raises, for example, I focus on maintaining a high shoulder carry when I hang, I minimize finger contact so I'm engaging my forearms, I don't bring the rep to the bottom or let the legs bend... Carefully maintained form. Same thing with pull ups: never swing, never kip, hold tight with the abs to prevent swinging.... Pushups maintain the planked body... And so on. Engage the whole body, just like a throw does. The natural movement of lifting your legs on a straight leg raise involves the back, so don't try to isolate the contraction on the abs, let your body function correctly.

And always remember that there's a next year to think about, and a next five years. A whole Masters career. So don't get hurt being stupid and trying to make advances too quickly. If you ruin your joints, you've messed up the whole damn thing.

 

[ChrisWoj]

I'm all for lifting weights and resistance training and agree it'll help out in DG or any athletic endeavor.

but a prime example of it not being that important in being able to throw far:

https://youtu.be/P7JG97Af8mE?t=918



^go straight to 15:25 to see how many pushups simon lizotte and eagle mcmahon can do.

Heh.... Eagle got to three, maybe. That is funny. But really - they're young, and not great examples. All told - even if you'd put some older guys up there, it wouldn't have beaten down the fact that weight training can supplement what you can already do. Those saying they want to weight train for the sport are saying they want to supplement what their talents on the course can get them. Both Lizotte and McMahon would throw further with a lifting program done right. There's no doubt about it. Added muscle means added force. Provided you're not taking away from their disc golf practice routines, it would improve them as golfers. Disc golf is just the latest to have this 'to work out or not to work out' argument. And the only place I've ever seen the 'to not work out' side of it win out was auto racing... which in my eyes shows exactly where that stuff is as a sport (it is a hell of a great competition though).