Forgot how to throw?

[Fgfg]

I have been practicing drives almost every day this summer. Finally last weekend I felt like I "learned" how to throw. Drives felt effortless and went way better than ever before. I threw at the field for maybe 30-60 minutes and didn't have many bad throws. I sometimes practice too long and start getting worse and frustated so this time I decided to quit while I was still doing well.

The next day I went back and tried to throw the same way I did earlier and I felt like I couldn't throw at all anymore. Throwing didn't feel nearly as good and discs went everywhere in the field. All throws were alot shorter than the day before.

Today and yesterday have been even worse. I have tried slowing down and throwing from stand still but throws just don't feel right anymore. My drives haven't been this bad in a long time.

Have you had similar experiences and do you have any advice? Could it just be that I have been throwing too much and need a break?

 

[VictorB]

As with any athletic movement, once you 'learn' how to do it, you have to repeat it ad nauseam. Just because you've done it one day doesn't mean you're going to be able to reproduce it immediately.

Take your time and realize your throw is a 'golf swing' and that it's going to take a ton of practice to get it right.

But, at the same time don't overdo it. That might have been part of the reason you didn't feel the same the next day.

 

[DiscGolfMaster]

Happens to me all the time with long drives. Most courses near me don't require long throws so it's not something I get to practice a lot. About a week ago, I thought I finally figured it out. My 350-400 foot drives were flying well and far. Finally played a longer course yesterday, and I felt like I was moving in slow motion and stumbling over the pad and coming up 50 or more feet shorter than I know I could.

For me, I just chalk it up to not throwing that hard often enough to really nail down the muscle memory. So just keep practicing. Make sure you have some rest days in there too.

 

[Celos]

Have you had similar experiences

Loads. Last month I suddenly added an extra 30 or so feet to my throws, seemingly conjured out of nowhere. Gone the next week, when I felt I might as well be kicking the disc off the tee. I've been really on and really off pretty frequently. But on average, even my throws on off days are more accurate and go further than previously.

As for advice, I feel it's all about small and iterative improvements. On your off days, focus on working out one specific kink in your form and leave the rest or just play a casual round. On your on days, just keep doing what you're doing to reinforce your muscle memory.

 

[deyo7]

I've had some similar experiences. I bet everyone has been there in one way or another. For me anyway and probably many others the more you learn and progress the more things you have to change bad habits and or incorporate new things and therefore you'll fail to do x, y or z properly because you're focused on the other.

BUT I understand that you are just talking one day to the next and I get your frustration, especially if you feel that you were simply mimicking the day before. For me, when something like this happened it was usually that I was failing to do something critical while focusing on the wrong thing. It COULD BE that you are trying to mimic the wrong thing that was the true driver of your successful day. OR maybe you just needed a break and had an off day. My advice would just be hang in there, you'll get it back.

I remember just a couple months into learning backhand finding that effortless feeling by simply focusing on getting a good shoulder turn and using the leverage of body and arm lever to throw the disc (rather than pulling the disc forward). But then the next two months were pretty awful - or at least inconsistent - because I kept learning new things that "improved" my form... but I wasn't always doing these new things right and/or might fail to do something I should be doing because I was focused on another. The disc golf throw really is a skill that we have to learn and continue to practice. Takes work and more so than I would have thought. Just remember to have fun and be OK with failing a long the way.

 

[Shamis]

This happens to me about 3 times a year. I get dumb. Sometimes it takes days, sometimes weeks to fix. It's worth really analyzing what you do when you are throwing well so you have some idea what to look for when you're throwing terrible.

 

[ryanrockmoran]

Try using interleaved practice instead of mass practice. Meaning instead of just working for backhand over and over again in a field session, add some other form to break things up. Like try alternating forehands and backhands, or standstill backhands and x-steps. This is a super frustrating way to practice and you won't feel like you're getting better on the day, but it makes your brain work harder and thus helps with long term retention so you won't have as many "one step forward, two steps back" days

 

[slowplastic]

Happens to everyone, it sucks. Remember the mindset you were in when you were throwing well. What did you concentrate on? Slow footwork, delayed reachback, upright balance, etc.? Point is, think of exactly what you were going to concentrate on when it worked out.

Instead what people do is go back to the field thinking about their past success, autopilot their throws with their previous form, get frustrated with their expectations...and try to throw harder. Then they throw worse. Then repeat until ragequit.

It can also be helpful to throw slower/glidey discs that reward clean throws but aren't bombers...that way you can see a good throw but aren't expecting to break distance records so you don't push yourself too hard.

 

[Putt for D'oh]

Yep lots of times. Sometimes it feels like little baby steps forward then two big steps back.

I would say FILM YOURSELF AND POST IN THE CRITIQUE section. I've been on these forums and self evaluating for two years thinking when I hit a plateau i'd post a video.

I have plateaued and filmed myself the other day and OH MY GAWD it was awful. I have I think better than average kinesthetic awareness and what I thought I was doing and what I am are so far apart. I now have to break down a couple of very ingrained bad habits to fix a string of bad issues.

Throwing well occasionally isn't even that much of an indicator it turns out. I've increased distance and accuracy over time and compared to the other chuckers I play with i'm out driving most by a long ways. What I thought I needed was some small tweaks to get my regular Teebird distance from ~360-375 to 400'. I need much more unfortunately, and the biggest issue I have now is how uncomfortable the whole motion is trying to fix the major things I was doing wrong.

Practice doesn't make perfect it makes permanent, so if you aren't practicing good form you are reinforcing bad form.
My opinion, if you are noticing big swings in consistency and distance then there is probably some major issues, even on your "good" throws. Getting some video critique is the best thing you can do.

 

[sidewinder22]

I never recommend back to back field practice days, almost always will throw 20-30' shorter the second day. Your body needs some time to recover and make those new learned connections part of your fiber. I often found the longer I took off, the further I would throw the next practice session. In between practice, study film of yourself and the top pros, visualize yourself throwing like the top pros, it's almost like learning by osmosis. Visualization is a huge part of the process.