Various helpful things I noticed in Doss in Beaver State Fling 2024. He was playing high 1030s golf back in 2018 before he left competition, and put up a respectable 1007 in his first PDGA tournament back at close to 40 years old. I thought his shot control was still pretty impressive and hanging in with the top shooters, and he was leaving some on the table in a few scenarios, but all the markings of younger 3X champion Doss were still in there.
Now 39, he's relatively tall but somewhat short-levered compared to the current top crop, moves deceptively athletic and balanced using a fairly high arm slot over his tummy, and moves with a relatively narrow stance/vertical shift. A compact yet momentous elbow pump - compare to modern Isaac Robinson. Not a top-tier distance guy but most people wouldn't complain having his distance, consistency, and accolades. Some similarities to later Jenkins, but Doss always looks a little more "clean" to me, motion-wise.
Pre-shot routine
On hole 1. Setting up the shot through the release point, eyes on apex, walking it out in reverse, handling and setting up the disc.
I have been doing that for a while, but recently my own pattern in rounds is something like needing 5-6 holes to get in a rhythm and warmed up to find my easy distance. Then I often have a good streak, then I am trying to maintain it without fatiguing or getting too jittery if I'm doing well heading into the last few holes. So I have been trying to pick up little habits that help increase my chances of success on hole 1, especially if my first shot requires some distance.
Thus, I found the second half of his Hole 1 pre-shot admirable. It is very helpful because it involves very little thinking and a lot of good golf juice (for me). Notice that a lot of little "tricks" are all evident:
1. March around a little bit, feel the ground and your weight and balance. Start out wide, bring it narrow as you approach the starting position. Stretch the body out a little bit.
2. Find and settle into your starting position.
3. Rock up athletically onto the balls of the feet and get your momentum carrying forward.
4. Replicate what you set up in the pre-shot walk-it-out, and fire away.
Shots
Closest to a "stock" hyzer I could skim:
I personally move somewhat more like GG and still prefer to use hyzer whenever I can, but forcing myself to use flatter shots and anhyzers has been helping me get more overall control over my balance and of course some useful new shot versatility. I am enjoying studying his turnovers/natural anhyzers/rollers right now while I work on those shots. Watch for how he modifies the shot with his posture and little details in his arm. Some of these shots still looked better to me than many of the up-and-coming young guns.
Tricky situations
This was maybe my favorite sequence to watch. Notice how deliberate but still confident his pre-shot becomes on a difficult shot - this gif is 10 seconds of a much longer ~40s setup where he first "walked it out" in reverse, then spent more time making sure he could find the exact apex for the harsh trajectory and angle. Take your time and then commit. This shot wasn't perfect but you can tell he usually shakes off little mistakes quickly and moves on.
When I watch the full sequence below (starting around 53:01), it is almost like I can feel him feeling out the shot in various ways - this is a well-established thing in motor systems control where if you sample around the intended behavior, you often get better and more reliable outputs both in the moment and in the long run.
At 53:01:
Say what you will about his commentary, dude can still put some moves on a disc!
! But I can understand how someone in that position might feel that way.
