Snap vs. Hit

[threevok]

My technique can be best described by:
Axis
Pitch
Error

[BogeyNoMore]

Originally Posted by Dan Ensor

I knew something didn't seem right; "off pitch torque"

no offense, but this term simply doesn't make sense.
It implies some torque being applied "off the pitch."
Since pitch refers to the angle the disc is being released at (i.e. nose up, flat, or nose down) I'm not sure I get what he's after. How can a torque be off the pitch?

Maybe he's referring to a torque that takes the disc off a flat plane (i.e "off pitch")? In order to change the pitch as you release, you must be apply a torque about the horizontal axis that runs through the center of the disc from left to right in order force the nose either up or down. But people usually just refer to this as throwing the disc "nose up" or "nose down." Further, this implies that it's actually changing as you throw, rather than being pulled through with a nose up or nose down pitch.


Remember: If you're pulling the disc through at an annie angle - that's not OAT.
OAT is the (usually unintentional) wrist roll along the "roll axis" at the end of the throw, which not only causes the disc to release at an annie angle, but provides momentum in that direction due to the torque being applied upon release.

Holding the disc at a hyzer or annie angle and pulling through at a consistent angle does not introduce an additional torque along the "roll" axis, so it doesn't impart momentum in an undesired direction - and allows aerodynamics to control the flight.

The same thing would apply to pitch: pull through at the desired angle of release, rather than adjusting to it just prior to release. That momentum carries into your throw, since the momentum vector is already pointing in that direction when you release.

[Dan Ensor]

You can push the front up with your fingers, and the middle (relative rear) down. Thus, you're applying torque (rotational force applied in a manner that will flip the disc back to front) to an axis other than your swing plane. The flight axis would be generally horizontal, the axis of the forces in question would be more vertical.

[Dan Ensor]

I'm getting the impression that there are different ways to create "snap". Is that accurate, or is everyone doing it the same, just to different extents?

[BionicRib]

^To sort of answer that question, the differences between players as a whole is whether they are more of a spin thrower or velocity thrower. I read an article about this a while back, (pretty sure it was on dgr, but I couldn't find it just now, maybe somebody else can link it)........What I personally got out of it was essentially there is a happy medium between the two, but having too much of one means you will have too little of the other. Also I think if you were to have too much of one, I would lean towards being heavy on the spin side.

Because snap is such a broad term.......then yes I would say there are different ways to generate snap.......but when you look at the elite level players, (and they all start differently to some extent) they all look extremely similar, when you get down to the hit. You may be able to argue that some are a little bit different, but not by much.

[garublador]

Originally Posted by Dan Ensor

I'm getting the impression that there are different ways to create "snap". Is that accurate, or is everyone doing it the same, just to different extents?

There are two styles that people use, "Swedish" and "American" that people use and a spectrum between the two. The actual "snap" part is similar between the two but the way extra force is generated is a bit different.

Here's a start to a search about it on DGR:

http://www.discgolfreview.com/forums...p?f=2&t=16354&

My recommendation is to really work on getting the feel of the hit and snap first and then worry about how to strengthen that feel. Getting that feeling is by far the most important part. The rest is just figuring out what works best for you for making that feeling stronger. Many find that trying to work on mechanics and body positions doesn't do any good when trying to learn to generate "snap." It way more helpful once you have "snap" and want to find the best way to make it as strong as possible.