What to practice as a beginner?

[TwilightZone13]

I have been playing disc golf seriously for the past 1-2 months and I am trying to get better at my backhand throw. I am overwhelmed by how many drills/exercises/information there is on improving the backhand throw. I don't know exactly what to practice.

 

[seedlings]

One thing to practice? One leg drill/windmill drill.

 

[armiller]

I think there are different places to start depending on where you're at now. To be honest, I think one good place to start is to video your throw and then watch the video yourself. Uploading the video so folks on here can give advice is also helpful, but starting to dissect your own throw and understanding where you're not generating or where you're losing power is big.

 

[Plastic Thunder]

Having fun. Remember the fun part first. Parts of this game take a bit of time and some progress faster than others. There are any number of instructional aids out so I will not going into what you should do other than put all your discs aside and play with just your putter for a while.

One other thing, there is nothing better then hiring a pro to do a few lessons. This will get you started out properly. Or if they are running a clinic somewhere near by you might sign up. You're in Sweden check in with a local club or disc store and see if they are running something that fits your needs.

Reach out to Seppo Paju on social media and see if he responds with a suggestion. He might be able to give you a name of a player in your area that could help you with your game.

 

[pfpro]

Second on keeping it fun, and playing putter only rounds. When I started my local course was a par 3. I played it as a par 4, so I was "rewarded" for par. I could feel good about my score (2
-under vs +16 even though it's the same number of strokes). On the putter only rounds, concentrate on smooth and straight, rather than throwing as far and fast as you can.

At some point it will click, but don't force it. Remember a bad day playing disc golf, outside in good weather is still a pretty good day!

 

[itsRudy]

I have been playing disc golf seriously for the past 1-2 months and I am trying to get better at my backhand throw. I am overwhelmed by how many drills/exercises/information there is on improving the backhand throw. I don't know exactly what to practice.

I noticed a lot of backhand tutorials and get better videos like to explain the ENTIRE backhand in one video. Which is a good thing to get an overview.

The problem is the human mind can't really improve on more than one thing at once. The throw happens so fast that when it's hard enough to concentrate on one thing, which will slow it down, let alone two. When you are trying to do 2+ it will be jerky and slow and confused and improvement happens a lot slow in my experience.

Imo, it doesn't matter what you concentrate on but do it ONE thing at a time. Try something a few minutes, days or weeks, and then completely forget it (set it aside) and move onto the next thing. Depending how fast you are on the uptake on that sort of thing anyway.

This is what I did the last year of improving. I forgot the videos and said to myself "Today, you are concentrating on keeping the head down back until after release" or whatever, because I had a tendency to look at the throw while throwing it. And then, that's all I concentrated on while letting my body do everything else automatically.

Chances are, you will be revisiting basics anyway time and again and rewiring/tweaking the fundamentals so order doesn't matter too much imo.

 

[txmxer]

If I were starting over, I'd focus a lot less on distance and more on consistency. Throw at targets 50-75% of your max. Goal of consistent release angle, height, etc.

Then there is putting. Trying to find your putting stroke takes a ton of repetition. It's also technique driven. Watched a Philo video on putting the other day. I liked it. Thought it hit on and presented some great fundamentals.

 

[ragmanXL]

I think there are different places to start depending on where you're at now. To be honest, I think one good place to start is to video your throw and then watch the video yourself. Uploading the video so folks on here can give advice is also helpful, but starting to dissect your own throw and understanding where you're not generating or where you're losing power is big.

I have been using my phone which is just a Galaxy S20 Plus, would that be able to upload video to here or do I need to invest in an actual video camera?

 

[Rastnav]

I have been using my phone which is just a Galaxy S20 Plus, would that be able to upload video to here or do I need to invest in an actual video camera?

Initial side note: If you don't have a tripod with a phone mount, very inexpensive ones are readily available and make life much easier. Here is a link to the one I bought at Amazon, which is only $22.

It's fairly easy to use a smart phone and the youtube app to snip out a specific example of your form and then upload it to a youtube account. You don't have to make it a public youtube video, just leave it unlisted. You can easily make a new youtube account if you want to separate the videos from anything else that you happen to put up there.

You can then provide links to the youtube videos when you ask people to review your form.

Typically, it's best to try to provide a 1080p video that shows your entire throw from both behind on the target line as well as from the side. It's better if you can capture the example using the slow-mo video feature, as sometimes specific positions aren't captured well at 60fps, but that isn't strictly necessary.

 

[txmxer]

I have been using my phone which is just a Galaxy S20 Plus, would that be able to upload video to here or do I need to invest in an actual video camera?

If it's in MP4 format it should work fine.

I don't believe you can upload video to DGCR. Most create a YOUTUBE account and upload there, then link here.