What is the best way to log/track distance improvements?

[autocrosscrx]

How do you do it? Or how would you do it? Especially if the plan is to focus the bulk of your field work on other things (putters, mids, lines, throwing at targets, form changes, etc) and just want to do a distance check at the end of every session or maybe every couple of sessions depending how often I can get to a field. To further complicate things, throws will be a mix of different drivers.

-Longest throw?
-Longest throw out of a pre-determined number of throws? 3 throws? 5? 10?
-Average throw?
-Average of the top x number of throws out of y number of attempts?
-Average of some combination of different categories of discs (distance driver, fairway, mid, putter)?

 

[azplaya25]

How do you do it? Or how would you do it? Especially if the plan is to focus the bulk of your field work on other things (putters, mids, lines, throwing at targets, form changes, etc) and just want to do a distance check at the end of every session or maybe every couple of sessions depending how often I can get to a field. To further complicate things, throws will be a mix of different drivers.

-Longest throw?
-Longest throw out of a pre-determined number of throws? 3 throws? 5? 10?
-Average throw?
-Average of the top x number of throws out of y number of attempts?
-Average of some combination of different categories of discs (distance driver, fairway, mid, putter)?

I think the UDisc app is perfect for this. I've decided while trying to improve my game and get ready for tourney season to stop worrying about the longest throw. I'm using the accuracy practice scorecards almost daily. Makes it fun and you can mix it up. Typically I start with putters in the 100-200 foot range. I'll do backhand, flick, forehand roller, thumb roller, thumber, and tomo/scooper. I'll do scramble drills from a knee, patent pending, etc. I'll do the same thing with mids and utility drivers as well just to see what they can do in my scramble game.

 

[azplaya25]

This is the UI for the app. Pretty slick

 

[autocrosscrx]

I think the UDisc app is perfect for this. I've decided while trying to improve my game and get ready for tourney season to stop worrying about the longest throw. I'm using the accuracy practice scorecards almost daily. Makes it fun and you can mix it up. Typically I start with putters in the 100-200 foot range. I'll do backhand, flick, forehand roller, thumb roller, thumber, and tomo/scooper. I'll do scramble drills from a knee, patent pending, etc. I'll do the same thing with mids and utility drivers as well just to see what they can do in my scramble game.

I'm not looking to track anything other than max distance, honestly.

I just want the best representation of that.

 

[ru4por]

I think the UDisc app is perfect for this. I've decided while trying to improve my game and get ready for tourney season to stop worrying about the longest throw. I'm using the accuracy practice scorecards almost daily. Makes it fun and you can mix it up. Typically I start with putters in the 100-200 foot range. I'll do backhand, flick, forehand roller, thumb roller, thumber, and tomo/scooper. I'll do scramble drills from a knee, patent pending, etc. I'll do the same thing with mids and utility drivers as well just to see what they can do in my scramble game.

You get a thumbs up for recognizing the value in game play. Newer players often get caught up in distance gains, when they account for little, in terms of value in overall score. Before anyone gets all worked up, distance work should be part of learning and practice, just a smaller part. I believe understanding the value of accuracy, as part of that learning curve, is a laudable idea.

 

[azplaya25]

I'm not looking to track anything other than max distance, honestly.

I just want the best representation of that.

Measure throw on the UDisc app

 

[azplaya25]

You get a thumbs up for recognizing the value in game play. Newer players often get caught up in distance gains, when they account for little, in terms of value in overall score. Before anyone gets all worked up, distance work should be part of learning and practice, just a smaller part. I believe understanding the value of accuracy, as part of that learning curve, is a laudable idea.

Form work is infinitely more important than distance work. I'd argue that measuring distance and "trying" to throw farther is counter productive for most new players, myself included. Getting a feel for the weight transfer and the swing and the hit is all much easier when you are going slow and not trying to throw hard.

Also - my last tourney of 2020, I tied with a guy who out drove me by 80 feet on every hole. His short game and putting was terrible, and it was really eye opening to just watch him bleed strokes because of it

 

[autocrosscrx]

Measure throw on the UDisc app

That answers the way to measure, not the best way to track your measurements.

I like to do 2 things:
- throw discs as far as I can
- track things.

 

[azplaya25]

This is measure throws UI from back when I was tracking. Seems to be exactly what you are after?

 

[autocrosscrx]

This is measure throws UI from back when I was tracking. Seems to be exactly what you are after?

I'm looking more at how to use that kind of raw data to make quantifiable determinations.

I know that my best measured throw is 60 feet longer than it was at the beginning of last year, but what have I really added to my game as far as distance?

 

[JuanA]

That answers the way to measure, not the best way to track your measurements.

I like to do 2 things:
- throw discs as far as I can
- track things.

Do you mean something like an Excel Spreadsheet?

 

[klodkrawler05]

I think how I tracked it would depend what I'm trying to learn from the data.

I know I throw further than I did last year because L shaped fairways that I could not reach the corner of I can now reach/clear for potential bridie looks. Before I needed to play a straight shot, then have an overstable upshot around the corner.

I use udisc to occasionally measure a throw that seems really long so I know what my max internet bragging distance should be.

If I was trying to figure out which discs give me max distance potential at any given point in my form development I guess I'd use a spreadsheet and avg 5-10 throws with each disc?

From a tournament scoring perspective (with my limited experience in MA4/MA3) it seems like a massive issue most players struggle with is recognizing flaws in their drive/distances. In these lower divisions par is usually good enough to cash (or win in ma4) I've played with so many people who know they can throw 300-350' and so they try to throw that far on every hole that is at least that long. But what they fail to consider is that the distance they can get frequent birdie looks is more like 200-250' range. Which, IMO should mean that rather than pulling out their longest disc (some sort of fast fairway, or DD) and taking a wild kick into scramble for bogey city they should just pull out their trusty 200-250' disc, lace that right up the middle, then have an easy 50-100' jump putt/standstill approach.
So from the tournament standpoint I'd probably either use the udisc, or make a spreadsheet. My goal for this spring is to have a basically pp360 spreadsheet, but setup for putter/midrange/driver and track how many times I hit C1 from 5 different distances, That way I can track how my scores are improving to see if my accurate distance is getting better.

 

[azplaya25]

I think how I tracked it would depend what I'm trying to learn from the data.

I know I throw further than I did last year because L shaped fairways that I could not reach the corner of I can now reach/clear for potential bridie looks. Before I needed to play a straight shot, then have an overstable upshot around the corner.

I use udisc to occasionally measure a throw that seems really long so I know what my max internet bragging distance should be.

If I was trying to figure out which discs give me max distance potential at any given point in my form development I guess I'd use a spreadsheet and avg 5-10 throws with each disc?

From a tournament scoring perspective (with my limited experience in MA4/MA3) it seems like a massive issue most players struggle with is recognizing flaws in their drive/distances. In these lower divisions par is usually good enough to cash (or win in ma4) I've played with so many people who know they can throw 300-350' and so they try to throw that far on every hole that is at least that long. But what they fail to consider is that the distance they can get frequent birdie looks is more like 200-250' range. Which, IMO should mean that rather than pulling out their longest disc (some sort of fast fairway, or DD) and taking a wild kick into scramble for bogey city they should just pull out their trusty 200-250' disc, lace that right up the middle, then have an easy 50-100' jump putt/standstill approach.
So from the tournament standpoint I'd probably either use the udisc, or make a spreadsheet. My goal for this spring is to have a basically pp360 spreadsheet, but setup for putter/midrange/driver and track how many times I hit C1 from 5 different distances, That way I can track how my scores are improving to see if my accurate distance is getting better.

Good post - this is why I stopped trying to throw as far as possible and have just focused on smooth, easy swings with good form. Accurate 250-275 drives with a mid will definitely cash in MA3.

The last part you are taking about - that's exactly what the accuracy scorecards on UDisc give you.

 

[txmxer]

Form work is infinitely more important than distance work. I'd argue that measuring distance and "trying" to throw farther is counter productive for most new players, myself included. Getting a feel for the weight transfer and the swing and the hit is all much easier when you are going slow and not trying to throw hard.

Also - my last tourney of 2020, I tied with a guy who out drove me by 80 feet on every hole. His short game and putting was terrible, and it was really eye opening to just watch him bleed strokes because of it

Form work results in improved distance and lower scores through better accuracy. Win-win!

 

[autocrosscrx]

I think how I tracked it would depend what I'm trying to learn from the data.

I know I throw further than I did last year because L shaped fairways that I could not reach the corner of I can now reach/clear for potential bridie looks. Before I needed to play a straight shot, then have an overstable upshot around the corner.

I use udisc to occasionally measure a throw that seems really long so I know what my max internet bragging distance should be.

If I was trying to figure out which discs give me max distance potential at any given point in my form development I guess I'd use a spreadsheet and avg 5-10 throws with each disc?

From a tournament scoring perspective (with my limited experience in MA4/MA3) it seems like a massive issue most players struggle with is recognizing flaws in their drive/distances. In these lower divisions par is usually good enough to cash (or win in ma4) I've played with so many people who know they can throw 300-350' and so they try to throw that far on every hole that is at least that long. But what they fail to consider is that the distance they can get frequent birdie looks is more like 200-250' range. Which, IMO should mean that rather than pulling out their longest disc (some sort of fast fairway, or DD) and taking a wild kick into scramble for bogey city they should just pull out their trusty 200-250' disc, lace that right up the middle, then have an easy 50-100' jump putt/standstill approach.
So from the tournament standpoint I'd probably either use the udisc, or make a spreadsheet. My goal for this spring is to have a basically pp360 spreadsheet, but setup for putter/midrange/driver and track how many times I hit C1 from 5 different distances, That way I can track how my scores are improving to see if my accurate distance is getting better.

I'm not totally sure I have a goal as far as game development thru this exercise.

I think a lot of it is Covid. The courses are packed, we are at a 35+% positivity rate, and I'm not comfortable waiting at teepads with a handful of strangers not wearing masks. I may not play a course again until we are vaccinated. Or people find another hobby.

...but I like to throw as far as I can. And I want to have some kind of metric to measure progress.

 

[arbutus]

I emailed UDisc a few months back to request a csv export feature for measured throws. The function is already in the app for scorecards. Maybe if more people do the same they will act on it more quickly?

I'm not aware of other apps that could maybe bridge the gap, possibly its out there in a non-disc golf genre. Any app developers reading this?

UDisc would be the optimal solution to me and an easy add in their backend, I'd think. In the meantime, manually entering the data in a spreadsheet is the best I've come up with so far.

 

[JuanA]

It sounds like you're making this harder than it needs to be.

 

[klodkrawler05]

...but I like to throw as far as I can. And I want to have some kind of metric to measure progress.

If pure distance is the goal I'd think just tracking the distances in excel would work, you could set up any sort of pretty graph or trend line you want from that to see if things are moving the correct direction.

You could even make a separate column for each disc/mold so you can see if some discs are trending faster than others etc?

 

[autocrosscrx]

If pure distance is the goal I'd think just tracking the distances in excel would work, you could set up any sort of pretty graph or trend line you want from that to see if things are moving the correct direction.

You could even make a separate column for each disc/mold so you can see if some discs are trending faster than others etc?

My question is more along the lines of what is the best representation of your distance.

Is your longest throw the best representation of your distance or picking 1 particular throw and measuring it? Probably not.

Is it an average of 3 throws? 5 throws?

Is taking the best 3 out of 5 throws or 3 out of 10 throws an accurate representation?

Average of your best out of 3 throws each for a putter/mid/fairway/distance driver?

It hadn't really crossed my mind that people would think I don't know how to measure throws or type numbers into a spreadsheet.

 

[klodkrawler05]

My question is more along the lines of what is the best representation of your distance.

I think the best representation is the avg distance in the scenario you're in.

If someone tells me they can throw 400' but I never see them make it more than 250' at idlewild before hitting tree/rough I'm gonna say their distance is 250'. If we're throwing over the water on hole 1 at Eureka temp I can see/say they can throw 400'

And even to that note, It's still a bit of a misnomer. ma3 400' is probably a distance driver flip up shot. MPO 400' is a stable fairway on hyzer or low straight line drive under a ceiling.

Disc golf distance seems kind of like dyno numbers, they're easily manipulated and what they tell you only really matters compared against the same previous setup (yourself vs yourself) So I guess pick some method that seems to give you the answers you want, and roll with it.