Form Help

[retro]

Hi All,

I am a 62 year old guy who played a bit 5 years ago--but very casually--about 8 months ago i got back into it and began using the training videos, pec drills, hammer drills etc. Started out with an average throw of about 150 and now have progressed to about 220 with rare throws in the 290 range. Dropped down to mostly the 150 gm class and my short game is ok--but working on that too.

I often have wobble so I guess that's the OAT issue--anyway please review this vid and point out my "needing improvement" areas. I also joined a league to play with better (and way younger) players to improve my game.

http://youtu.be/PkJmDzLZpB8

 

[prerube]

You seem to be bending backwards as you throw and giving it a wicked anny.

 

[prerube]

it also looks like your weight is back, see how your front foot is totally straight infront of your body. Not as bad as I originally thought, but it is a good still to see what it looks like.

 

[retro]

I had no idea I was-but in reviewing I see it now--and I often get that hard anny issue-thought it was from ,how i was holding/releasing the disc

thanks

 

[sidewinder22]

You got the classic hulk smash OAT! I could tell off the bat by how you are aiming you were going to torque the crap out of the disc. Your aiming will change quite a bit as you learn snap. You are reaching back with your arm, but not your hips and shoulders, so your arm collapses against the chest. Looking down from a bird eye view keep your arm 90 degrees to your shoulders so your elbow can bend and the disc can swing into the chest and follow a straight line from reachback to the target. Practice throwing putters and mids will force you to learn proper technique and you might be surprised how far they will go, maybe further than your drivers. Throwing drivers before learning snap oft leads to your current form and maxing out under 300' unless you are a hulk.

You should benefit from all the links in the technique sticky, I prefer to preface the drills with the snap 2009 vids/thread and then going to the hammer drills and working from the hit backwards. Since you are not getting snap, your run-up/x-step is not helping you(other than adding momentum to your OAT).
Technique sticky:
http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26165
Snap 2009:
https://www.dgcoursereview.com/dgr/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=13291
Visualize throwing the pink hammer:

 

[retro]

Great help Sidewinder and those pics really help. I do about 5 hours of field work a week and will incorporate your advice. i am throwing putters and mids in that field work but put some more forgiving light weight drivers too

 

[garublador]

One visualization type thing I'll suggest is to not try to throw it hard. If you're pushing 300' with how much effort you're putting into it now and with that form then you'll easily break 300' with much less effort if you concentrate on your timing (late, late acceleration compared to what you're doing now) rather than trying to throw hard. To start you don't even need to accelerate hard, you just need to do it later.

FWIW, it doesn't look like you "got" the hammer pound drills. The point of those drills is to feel what it's like to manipulate the weight of the disc. The point is not to show you what the movements should look like. It feels like the weight is on the opposite edge of the disc and that's the weight you want to launch. If you can get that feel, then all you have to do is worry about getting that feel when you throw, you don't need to worry about a bazillion little things. If you have questions about those drills don't be afraid to ask. Read a bunch about them at DGR, too. In the last few pages there are some more recent visualizations that might help out.

 

[sidewinder22]

FWIW, it doesn't look like you "got" the hammer pound drills. The point of those drills is to feel what it's like to manipulate the weight of the disc.

If you visualize throwing a hammer, you would/should also visualize/conceptualize the weighted end, otherwise it would just be throwing a stick.

 

[retro]

I get working the idea of the hammer visualization but didn't until i saw the graphics I am working on those drills and will see how they pan out i will be back with progress and more questions and hopefully a positive progress report

thanks very much

 

[retro]

Well i practiced the hammer drills for two days, used a lot of visualization and threw a round last night. My worst round, ever. Was just too tense, over thinking and self critical. Not unexpected I guess. Going to skip league play tonight and gets some field work done instead. Friday i have to travel but i have identified two course i haven't played along my route and will try to hit both of them

 

[prerube]

It is proven that anytime you change anything in your form (in any sport) you will see a brief period of lesser results before you begin to see the larger improvements. You just need time to get comfortable with the changes.

 

[garublador]

Well i practiced the hammer drills for two days, used a lot of visualization and threw a round last night. My worst round, ever. Was just too tense, over thinking and self critical. Not unexpected I guess. Going to skip league play tonight and gets some field work done instead. Friday i have to travel but i have identified two course i haven't played along my route and will try to hit both of them

Two days of the hammer pound drill seems excessive. Once you get the feel in parts 1 and 2 the rest should only take you a matter of minutes. Staying relaxed is key. The "too tense" comment makes me suspicious that you did the hammer pound drills right because to do those drills right you have to stay relaxed. You only need to do them until you get the feel of pounding the hammer. Then you figure out how to work that feel into your throw starting with the right pec drills. Then you build your throw from there back. You'll most likely end up rethinking your entire throw.

I don't know if this is what you did or not, but if you just mindlessly go through those drills focusing on the movements rather than the feel and then try a full on throw you probably won't see any benefit. It's a really common misunderstanding when it comes to these drills. Your entire throw will be different so doing anything but building your throw from the hit back after doing the hammer pound drills doesn't make any sense.

 

[retro]

No I just did them several times over the past two days to get the feel---I wasn't tense with them but when I got on the tee and began to throw I jsut became over analytica I think---Will begin with the pec drills again and relax--I am always more relaxed in field work than play. My focus is always better also

 

[retro]

I was relaxed with the hammer drills and by two days I meant that I did them intermittently when I had the time and did not play. I was just very tense on the Tee and way over analytical I think--I am always more relaxed and focused while in field work. I hope that once I gain some control and confidence I will be able to relax while playing a round.

 

[garublador]

No I just did them several times over the past two days to get the feel.

I was hoping that's what you'd say. I'm analytical as well and I've found that this "feel based" approach to learning to throw makes is quite a bit easier. When the only thing you're trying to get right is the hammer pound rather than 15 other tiny little things it's a lot easier to know what to work on.

 

[retro]

That makes perfect sense---will hit the field after work tonight--

 

[retro]

Well I have spent about two hours throwing mids. They are totally unforgiving of bad form and they really began to show me my faults. Used a bit of that muscle memory and threw my teebirds, cheetahs and leopards for another hour and had solid distance and better control.