Lateral Weight Shift - Am I doing this right?

[wh cream]

Been going out to the field again to try to improve my form. After watching videos of myself I think I am spinning in place and not laterally transferring my weight and throwing stacked on the plant leg. I have been working on some standstills to try to get the feeling of "sitting down" or "falling backwards". Not sure if I am doing it correctly. At a glance, I think I am pulling thru before fully transferring my weight. Also, I am leaning backwards during the swing which is definitely not helping. Any feedback, tips, drills, etc., is greatly appreciated. Here is a standstill throw example from today:

 

[itlnstln]

Your feet are pointing backwards which is an indication of not actually coiling, but simply turning back. Your feet should nominally face perpendicular to your target. I would work on a combo of Sidewinder's One-Leg drill and Disc Golf Doctor's Postman drill to get the sense of where your balance should be in the throw. Both are going to give you the feeling of being weighted over the plant leg as a reference point that you can work backward from. Once you're comfortable with the one-leg drill, then standstill into the one-leg drill, then add a step into the one-leg drill, then add a walk up into the one-leg drill. I think you'll find that you'll get to where you need to be just by building on that drill vs. trying to execute a specific motion, especially if you're not solid on what the outcome should be.

OLD:

Postman:

 

[Brychanus]

For your Q at the top of the post about the "lateral shift," you can look at the OLD video right here. The move around 2:40 specifically.

That's basically the "entire throw":

 

[itlnstln]

@wh cream , if you maintain the posture SW describes in the OLD video (tilted upper body, athletic stance on the balls of your feet with your knees bent), when you step/x-step into the OLD, you'll be "sitting into" the plant as a matter of course. You won't actually need to do it as a discrete motion

 

[wh cream]

Thanks guys, I'll get to work practicing the OLD. I actually did a few reps of the Postman drill today, felt very awkward but I guess that's the point of practicing something new.

 

[sidewinder22]

Slow down and try to swing your shoulder targetward linearly as far as possible over the front foot, while keeping it closed rotationally to target as long as possible until you start to extend the elbow/disc out.

 

[Brychanus]

I just want to caution in advance that if you cannot balance in braced tilt like Steve Pratt does in this drill (timestamped around 4:00), your balance is fundamentally compensatory and not in tilted balance like walking or running. This will affect everything in the one leg drill and your throws.

You should generally not need to hold onto a post to be in the tilted balance during any phase of the motion. If you do, at least part of the move is off balance. Notice how Pratt as complete control no matter how deep he is into the move.

 

[wh cream]

I spent some time doing the perpetual motion machine on one leg with the hammer today. I definitely felt the brace and the "hit" over my toes. I don't think I really was able to transfer that feeling into throws, however. It looks like I am not maintaining the tilted spiral, and as I pull the disc thru I lean backwards. Is there anything else that's obviously incorrect with these one leg drills?




I also did a handful of tosses with the hammer to see if I could feel it better. Not sure if I was doing this drill correctly, I wasn't able to really get this one down as I couldn't spend much time on it.

 

[sidewinder22]

The first set of swing pumps looked ok, but then you backed off your front leg. Don't be afraid to go over your front leg in this drill. Swing your shoulder over the front foot.

On the hammer swings, your swing and body are too separated. Everything should flow more together. Relaxed and effortless, don't try to swing too fast or too horizontal.

 

[wh cream]

Went out and did more work on OLD and planting. I am feeling the plant better now, so I also tried to do a couple of standstills and attempted a dramatic weight shift + abrupt plant. Do these look any better? (Also the ground was wet and muddy so I lost balance a bit during the standstills).

 

[itlnstln]

First video looks better; you could soften your elbow in the dingle arm to get a better feel of the disc and its inertia/momentum

The second video is on the right track. You still seem to be weighted back. Notice on the follow through that you sort of spin and fall back. A little more knee bend and tilt at the waist might help. You're a little too upright maybe. For a couple of reps of the OLD, try lifting your back foot off the ground and see if your posture shifts forward a bit

You're definitely on the right track now

 

[Brychanus]

I am also wondering what happens to your coil and balance if you think "more side bend like eagle." Part of the way the whole rear side works is, to some extent, it's either all working together in sequence, or it isn't.

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[itlnstln]

First video looks better; you could soften your elbow in the dingle arm to get a better feel of the disc and its inertia/momentum

The second video is on the right track. You still seem to be weighted back. Notice on the follow through that you sort of spin and fall back. A little more knee bend and tilt at the waist might help. You're a little too upright maybe. For a couple of reps of the OLD, try lifting your back foot off the ground and see if your posture shifts forward a bit

You're definitely on the right track now

Another cue that might work: at the end of your follow through, you should be able to *step* forward and walk down the line you just threw on. If you're falling forward, you over compensated. Another side benefit is that your disc's line will be flatter, too

 

[wh cream]

Got a little bit of field work in today. Tried staying more balanced and also doing the "side bend". I had a couple good tosses that had some zip and were effortless, unfortunately I didn't get a video of those lol. I also was having some trouble with a lot of my putter throws as they were coming out wobbly and turning into big anhyzers. Usually that's a symptom of trying to throw too hard and leaning backwards for me, but I was really trying to stay leaned forward. Still think I am swinging before all my weight is transferred forwards. I think I will to do more OLD drills at home.

 

[Brychanus]

Hershyzer +Door frame drill might be more helpful at this point. Your rear leg looks pretty confused about what it is supposed to be doing and your body mass isn't really balancing back on it like walking or pitching.

 

[itlnstln]

Got a little bit of field work in today. Tried staying more balanced and also doing the "side bend". I had a couple good tosses that had some zip and were effortless, unfortunately I didn't get a video of those lol. I also was having some trouble with a lot of my putter throws as they were coming out wobbly and turning into big anhyzers. Usually that's a symptom of trying to throw too hard and leaning backwards for me, but I was really trying to stay leaned forward. Still think I am swinging before all my weight is transferred forwards. I think I will to do more OLD drills at home.

Looking a LOT better! Yeah, you might be starting your swing a touch early, but it's not crazy egregious. The other thing I noticed is that you start with some bend at the waist but you kinda straighten up as you get to the power pocket. This is changing your swing plane mid-throw and giving you the upward trajectory in the shot. I would also venture that it might be resulting in the OAT you see in the putter throws.

 

[itlnstln]

To illustrate further:
Your front shoulder is lower than back shoulder here (this is fine and great):


A few frames later, your front shoulder is higher than your back. Not bad if you're throwing anhyzer, but that's not where you started:

 

[itlnstln]

Hershyzer +Door frame drill might be more helpful at this point. Your rear leg looks pretty confused about what it is supposed to be doing and your body mass isn't really balancing back on it like walking or pitching.

There's definitely something off there. You might want to try a few throws with a short walk-up and see if that feels more natural. I've been playing for damn-near 20 years and I still don't feel comfortable doing a 1-step shot. Some days I don't even feel good doing a standstill and I do a short run up sometimes

 

[Brychanus]

Haven't done any of these in a minute but just so you can learn to "see through" your posture and balance:

Note Ezra's head to toe balance line vs yours. Also note the pitch of his posture from shoulder to hips. He is more "Double Dragon" on the rear side, whereas you are carrying your weight and balance out of posture in the backswing. Can't land on the front side in balance and your shoulder has nowhere to go but "up" as a result because you are actually getting your weight fully trapped behind the brace rather than balanced on it.



Hershyzer helped me with the rear side balance and transition. Double Dragon helped fix the tilt. Door Frame fixed the shift forward in posture committing it into the release. All of that functioned best throwing on hyzer at first.

 

[wh cream]

There's definitely something off there. You might want to try a few throws with a short walk-up and see if that feels more natural. I've been playing for damn-near 20 years and I still don't feel comfortable doing a 1-step shot. Some days I don't even feel good doing a standstill and I do a short run up sometimes

Yeah next time I go out I'll try with a walk-up. Standstills and 1-steppers feel awkward, I usually do very small walk-ups on the course if I don't have space. I was forcing myself to do some standstills as I thought it might help me break habits that are ingrained in my full run-up and swing.

Haven't done any of these in a minute but just so you can learn to "see through" your posture and balance:

Note Ezra's head to toe balance line vs yours. Also note the pitch of his posture from shoulder to hips. He is more "Double Dragon" on the rear side, whereas you are carrying your weight and balance out of posture in the backswing. Can't land on the front side in balance and your shoulder has nowhere to go but "up" as a result because you are actually getting your weight fully trapped behind the brace rather than balanced on it.

That makes a lot of sense, thanks for the diagram. I'll take a look at those drills and start working on them and see if I can incorporate those into my swing.