Form Critique/help please

[zachyattacky]

Here's a link to the video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Zm40_AV040

Wow, I had no idea I grabbed the disc on reach back with my left hand...

Other than that the things that jump out at me right away are:

-I notice my upper body seems to follow through way faster than lower body
-I need to turn my shoulders more on the reach back

 

[sidewinder22]

You are planting quite open, need to turn your whole front side more backward into the plant. Get your chin up over your shoulder so it can rotate further back unimpeded and also keeps your posture/balance more stacked.

https://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/showthread.php?t=127477

 

[zachyattacky]

Thank you for the input! After browsing that link you posted I definitely don't feel like I'm bracing/transferring my weight correctly (most likely I'm sliding into the brace because I'm not turned back enough like you said). Got some new things to focus on, so I should keep everything really loose and slow (especially my xstep) until I can feel a good brace/weight transfer right?

 

[sidewinder22]

Yeah, although IMO you will figure things out quicker working from the One Leg Drill or standstill. X-step just adds extra forward momentum(more variable) to your swing foundation that happens on the front leg.

 

[zachyattacky]

Okay, I throw a lot of stand still drives anyways, so I guess I'll do more of that for a few weeks, I got out last night and after doing some weight shift drills from the link you posted and it seemed to add a lot of power to my throw while I felt like I was putting much less effort into it. I actually over shot a hole by 40 feet that I usually can't reach. Woohoo, it's nice when you can feel a difference. I'll have to get out do some field work and really get my stand still down.

 

[zachyattacky]

Well, if you factor in internet vs real life distance conversion I over shot by about 20 feet...

 

[zachyattacky]

Okay, still getting better, switched to stand still drive, and it helped with consistency.
I'm getting out to 330 feet with my drivers, I hit 350 a few times, can only get putters/mids about 250 feet, but I haven't done enough field work, but I think I'm still just not getting the timing right on the shot. But my accuracy in that 300 foot range has been pretty good. Still not getting the timing right on my weight transfer and such.

So I'm left pondering, what do your hamstrings do, I don't really hear anything about them, I'm pretty flexible for a larger guy, but my ham strings are super tight, could that be effecting my shot and making it not as smooth as it should be.

When you hear the weight is coming from behind you, is that behind on the linear line you're throwing on or actually from behind you, like glutes, and that weight, does it travel on a very straight line over the balls of both the feet?

Also, this is hard to explain but you've got your weight, and the disc/arm weight, how do they relate... , does the weight of the disc trail behind the weight of the body, until you plant, then goes past and you try to keep your weight moving with the disc until it comes out of the hand?

I've been doing the towel snap drill quite a bit, trying to get it to snap good, but I can't seem to have a good follow through doing that.

 

[sidewinder22]

Lots of questions, and different ways to think about things. Your legs should be squatting/thrusting so you are going to be using all those core muscles, quads, hammies, calves, glutes, abs.

Your weight should be moving linear to the target, you catch it from behind you by planting closed like a skier going into a turn or mogul. Then after planting your weight is slowed forward, but transfers rotationally and actually accelerated through the front leg axis by clearing the front hip out or back.

You want to throw a disc more like swinging/tossing a sledgehammer, not snapping a towel. The disc is a lever, not a whip - although it gets whipped by releasing the lever forward. You leverage your body weight against the disc or sledgehammer the same way, easier to naturally feel by swinging something really heavy. You should feel your butt/weight swivel counterweighting the arm swing.

 

[zachyattacky]

Thank you, that helps a lot. I will review those video's, practice for a week or so focusing on mids and putters again and then get a video of my stand still drive. I really appreciate the assistance!

 

[zachyattacky]

Standstill drive

https://youtu.be/b6ZxJiySa-8 - Stand still drive

Okay had a bit of time today so I went out and got some shots of my stand still drive. Definitely a work in progress lol. Immediate things that pop out for me:

-Really odd reach back angles
-Lead more with elbow
-Need to do more Crush the Can drills.

 

[zachyattacky]

Need to work on Door Frame Drill too for my reach back problems....

 

[zachyattacky]

So when I plant my foot, my toes appear to frequently point more forward, like my hips are already open, between that and my oddly high/inconsistent reach back is most likely why I sometimes shoot far right, like, fairly normal looking throw but rather weak + oat, right?

 

[sidewinder22]

You reachback high because you are falling/collapsing on your front leg during the swing and going leftward and not quite leading forward with your weight/from behind you. Your head/chin are sinking below your shoulders, you need to keep your head/chin dynamically upright balanced and stacked above your shoulders. You can see my head rises up on the front leg during the swing and stays more centered and stacked above the shoulders. Also note how my right shoulder is turned much further back and tilted down because my spine is tilted forward in athletic position and turned back under the chin.

Door Frame Drill part 2 in particular and Crush the Can pt 2 and One Leg Drill.

 

[sidewinder22]

You are correct with the front foot planting too open and extremely flat footed. You want to catch yourself/weight more from behind you so you can land on your toes first so you aren't flat footed and then plant into the heel.

 

[zachyattacky]

Alright, drills drills and field work.

It's been kind of frustrating the last few days, but in a really good way I guess. I've fervently been doing your drills and tossing my putters in the field. (Does head wind amplify OAT?)

I pound a lot of stuff at work with hammers (car mechanic) so I guess the brace came so naturally for me on my left side (most of the pounding I do is from right to left swings with my right hand) I didn't even know I was doing it until I really focused on feeling it. I was pleasantly surprised by how good the brace was by disc golfing standards, stacked weight from the ground up etc, very solid. So now I definitely can feel what the brace is on my right side for throwing.

I think I finally had another break through last night. 18th and final hole just before it was too dark to see anything... Hole requires the biggest hyzer you can throw. It has been bothering me for a few weeks now that I never felt the weight transfer from behind, so I tried getting my glutes into the throw and I think it worked...

It kinda felt like a huge weight swinging around from my right side behind me, cork screwing me around into the ground, and from the ground up I spun around so violently fast I didn't even get the chance to throw with my arm. (it felt extremely smooth and balanced though, forced me to follow through and the weight of my arms whipping around forced me to take a step forward)

So I threw three more drives, felt the same sensation on all of them, like I was backed into a corner, braced/pushing from my left side, then the weight swung behind me and into my right side/brace. They were all really good throws, one was a new personal best on the hole, and the others weren't far behind. They didn't go that much further than usual but the perceived effort I put into the shot was very minimal.

Last night I also was doing the feet together drills from Shawn Clement on the T-pad, loosening up, then on the back swing I'll take a step forward, crush the can, and whip, that feels really good, and my accuracy and power level were on point.

I find myself reaching for my mids and putters more and more now when I'm playing a round (even off the tee) just because it's so easy to over shoot with the drivers on the technical holes, the mids and putters are so controllable for so many more lines in the approach shots.

Anyways, just wanted to drop in with an update, thanks for the continued support, I'll keep working and when I feel like I've plateaued and need more expert guidance next week I'll get another video.

Also, you should get an amazon wishlist thing or something so I can donate for the time you put into helping us disc golfing peons. Cause I'm gonna have to work on my atrocious forearm shots next.