Brychanus
* Ace Member *
On new Double Dragon lessons learned:
Like many drills I found that this one has become even more useful as I've developed more.
A lot of people talk about getting loose and finding the "whip." But then a lot of them also talk about getting into the pocket, and like many players, early on I acquired a strong arm/elbow hinge mechanic that has been horribly difficult to undo. After I got rid of the conscious swing thought, unconscious habits persisted, and I never fully developed a weight & shoulder-led whip. I think this is one of the more pernicious issues out there in certain DG coaching resources, and now I notice it in other players all the time. There's a safety issue too - SW22 has made my lower body so much more efficient that when I'm in my best swing positions, I can feel tremendous speed/force coming up the chain. But arm tension and a bad shoulder/arm/disc path is bad news for that vulnerable shoulder joint and pec/shoulder/bicep muscle. So now I have to slow down just to keep from blowing it out & take the time to fix the mechanics.
SW22 helped by getting me to windmill the arm with my weight, and advised me to "think Feldberg" in the swing. Yesterday, I also realized that Double Dragon, if done properly, really is the best drill I've encountered so far to obtain a full-body whip starting at maximum extension. It trains your whole body to be two crossing whips from the hand/disc to opposite foot, and it helps you get wide & long in the swing. You can feel the flow of force across the whips when you get the rhythm and balance. As you speed up, you'll naturally find whip coil in the arms. If your arm is loose and shoulder is leading correctly, the feedback is instant - if you hit your chest or get pulled off balance by the arm/disc, you can quickly adjust.
The deep idea in an actual throw is that the whip should start wide and coil/uncoil dynamically with your bodyweight and the right posture leading the arm/disc unit. As you speed up for a throw, more speed causes the appropriate amount of coil if the body & balance are right. The pocket is just part of the coiling/uncoiling employed through our joint system, and the forward elbow is just part of an efficient system of high-leverage whipping.
As I understand it, Feldberg had a shoulder injury and found a way to make do (understatement) with a much less coiled arm. But starting by using his swing as an example of one extreme of a swing thought and then learning how to whip into the coil with Double Dragon and similar drills is yet another thing on the list of things I wish I'd started with! If I had, I'd have acquired less hard-to-kill habits from the months before coming here.
Also, getting the arm nice and loose with your weight leading with drills like a weighted vertical windmill/perpetual pendulum is a great warmup for Double Dragon and pretty much every other drill. I windmilled several times in a round today just to get the system loose and primed and it worked wonders. Permanent part of drill and round warmup routine.
Like many drills I found that this one has become even more useful as I've developed more.
A lot of people talk about getting loose and finding the "whip." But then a lot of them also talk about getting into the pocket, and like many players, early on I acquired a strong arm/elbow hinge mechanic that has been horribly difficult to undo. After I got rid of the conscious swing thought, unconscious habits persisted, and I never fully developed a weight & shoulder-led whip. I think this is one of the more pernicious issues out there in certain DG coaching resources, and now I notice it in other players all the time. There's a safety issue too - SW22 has made my lower body so much more efficient that when I'm in my best swing positions, I can feel tremendous speed/force coming up the chain. But arm tension and a bad shoulder/arm/disc path is bad news for that vulnerable shoulder joint and pec/shoulder/bicep muscle. So now I have to slow down just to keep from blowing it out & take the time to fix the mechanics.
SW22 helped by getting me to windmill the arm with my weight, and advised me to "think Feldberg" in the swing. Yesterday, I also realized that Double Dragon, if done properly, really is the best drill I've encountered so far to obtain a full-body whip starting at maximum extension. It trains your whole body to be two crossing whips from the hand/disc to opposite foot, and it helps you get wide & long in the swing. You can feel the flow of force across the whips when you get the rhythm and balance. As you speed up, you'll naturally find whip coil in the arms. If your arm is loose and shoulder is leading correctly, the feedback is instant - if you hit your chest or get pulled off balance by the arm/disc, you can quickly adjust.
The deep idea in an actual throw is that the whip should start wide and coil/uncoil dynamically with your bodyweight and the right posture leading the arm/disc unit. As you speed up for a throw, more speed causes the appropriate amount of coil if the body & balance are right. The pocket is just part of the coiling/uncoiling employed through our joint system, and the forward elbow is just part of an efficient system of high-leverage whipping.
As I understand it, Feldberg had a shoulder injury and found a way to make do (understatement) with a much less coiled arm. But starting by using his swing as an example of one extreme of a swing thought and then learning how to whip into the coil with Double Dragon and similar drills is yet another thing on the list of things I wish I'd started with! If I had, I'd have acquired less hard-to-kill habits from the months before coming here.
Also, getting the arm nice and loose with your weight leading with drills like a weighted vertical windmill/perpetual pendulum is a great warmup for Double Dragon and pretty much every other drill. I windmilled several times in a round today just to get the system loose and primed and it worked wonders. Permanent part of drill and round warmup routine.
