rate of progress

[jspector]

Hi all,
So here is a question for ya. I've been playing and trying to get better for a few months now. I certainly am better than when I started (though I still can not hit the 300 ft mark to save my life). I play almost every day. I really love the game and have no intention of giving up. My question, and the answer might just be "depends on you" is, what is a "typical" rate of progress for a beginning to become "adequate" ? I ask because I talk to and see a lot of guys who say they've been playing for a year and they are really good, certainly they play at a level I don't think I can reach in a year but there are a lot of guys like that so it just makes me wonder...Is there usually a linear increase in skill or is it more of a "A HA" moment after which you just kind of "get" it? just curious..fyi I currently use a discraft glide or avenger SS as my main drivers and can get them out to about 220 on a good throw so I KNOW I have a LOT of work to do..

 

[smyith]

too many variables.

- disc selection
- athleticism
- instruction - as in someone experienced (not a yr more like several yrs and is highly rated)
- willingness to accept criticism
etc etc

 

[ambroze]

Yes too many variables and we all develop differently. My advice is to practice, practice and more practice, so don't give up. There was an "A HA" moment for me about 3-5 months in that made that one thing click for my drives. Once that occurred it changed my game from there on out. I'm not sure what type of courses you play where you are at but I stuck to an open course that was short-medium and I worked on nothing but pars. Focus on driving straight and don't worry too much about distance. Then work on your mid-range game then putting. Don't expect birdies too often, working on all aspects of the game will really improve your game. Trust me on this one, distance does not mean you are good. I'll take accuracy over distance any day. Let the game come to you.

 

[notBOB]

it depends a lot on who youre playing with. i learned soooo much from other people when i first started taking the sport serious 3-4 years ago. little pointers here and there sculpted my game and i began improving way faster. play with people better than you, observe and ask questions at suitable times- you will see yourself getting better, and convince yourself its easy, cause it is..and i still feel i improve everytime im on the course.

 

[Chiefstang]

Playing with better players makes a huge difference, but I think plateaus are the tough part. For me, I'll suddenly figure something out and get better for it, and then struggle to jump the next gap.

Join your local club and play some doubles. Loads of fun and you'll learn a ton!

 

[garublador]

It depends a lot on how willing you are to work on just learning how to throw. Most new players enjoy playing so much that they'd rather play courses than spend the time throwing in an empty field. There's nothing wrong with that but your distance and accuracy won't increase nearly as quickly as they would if you spent that time building your throw correctly.

If you put the work in you can get reasonable distance after a few months. If you put a lot of work in and/or are aided by a good instructor you can get good to great distance in a month or two. If you play the whole time casually to have fun you'll probably plateau really early. You have to consciously work at getting better and do a good job at it to see real progress.

 

[chrishysell]

I didn't start playing until I was 30yrs old. After 3 months I quit playing intermediate and played advanced. 6 months after I started playing I was running tournaments and playing Open locally. I did not officially play Open in a PDGA event until I had been playing for 2 years.

It's all up to you. I recently met a Pro who played and practiced with 2 discs for 6 months before he played in an event. His 1st player rating was 1000. He was an athlete and a good player. He was very committed to getting better.

It's really all on you. How bad do you want it?

 

[jspector]

Thanks for all the replies,
I've been playing a mostly wooded course with a TON of cedar trees which basically means any throw over around 15-20 ft off the ground WILL hit a tree. I guess this is good to teach me to keep it low and level and I have been making progress in that area. I talk to a lot of 1000+ rated guys and they all are open and willing to give advice which I always listen to. I'm not after killer distance but a controllable 300 ft throw within a year of playing would make me pretty happy. I've gone throwing in a field once, and it helped an enormous amount. I will probably do it more, but as was stated, especially for a beginner it is so fun to play that sometimes I don't really "practice" one thing...
thanks for all the interesting replies. Discgolf is such an open and awesome community to be a part of...

 

[smyith]

^^uh oh. someone better get prerube. someone thinks that the people on DGCR are nice and helpful....lol jk all in good fun

 

[SirRaph]

I've spent a lot of time on the driving range over the last couple months. Probably an average of 50 drives per day, followed by at least 9 holes of golf.

I was getting frustrated, as I hadn't seen much improvement for the first 6 weeks or so. But suddenly last week I started getting about 20' more out of my mids and about 30' more from my drivers. I'm starting to realize that even when a breakthrough like that occurs, it's a lot of work just to get to that point, and you'll not get giant leaps in distance. But, you'd be surprised how much of a difference just 30' can make.

A couple tips:

1. Just keep practicing. It'll take a long time. And don't try to take your progress to the course and expect instant results.

2. Don't keep throwing after you're tired. And take a day off between heavy practices. There's nothing worse for your form than practicing after you're exhausted, (I have a tendency to start strong-arming discs.)

 

[RichMeade]

For what it's worth I've only been playing about two months, and feel I've made leaps and bounds in my game.
I'm similar in that I play nearly every day...but I usually have a goal in mind when I hit the course or field...
For example... I recently had an "ah-HA" moment with my drivers (thanks to these forums), and wanted to really see if it was a fluke and or if it applied to all of my discs (not just my new DX Teebird). So I went to a wide open course, just to work on my release and watching how my discs were acting NOW as opposed to last week.

One of the biggest factors for my improvement comes with playing doubles...and playing with much better players. I get tips, and see shots and techniques that I wouldn't have thought of or tried having not been on the course that day.
If there is local action I'm there...because I'll always learn something. I also go ahead and play the local tourneys as well...
Tournaments give me the perspective of where I am in comparison to others, not to mention it's a whole other technical beast because there is no option for "I'm going to take another shot"...

One last thing... I go to an open field...
I can't tell you how much this helps in figuring out discs...
Even just getting out there and tossing a new disc 10 times, I'll start to get an idea of how it acts with my current throw...And, as my throw changes, the field time really helps get back on the horse after chitty round.

In all fairness, I'm a fairly athletic guy that can pick things up really quickly... but I've managed to knock about 10 strokes off my average in the last 2 months...but like I said... I'm out virtually every day with a goal to work on.
I think in general the more you play the faster you'll get better, but also the harder it is to be consistent because of the constant evolution of your game.

Right now I'm rated 803, from my first tournament my second week of playing, I'd say i'm in the 830-840 range now.

 

[upfromtheashes]

I have always practiced a lot more than I've played. I'm lucky to play an actual round or two once every other saturday, but if I have an hour of free time in an evening, I can walk down to the park at the end of my street and throw 50 or 60 drives.

Being as I've never played in leagues or tournaments, I've never really been able to glean knowledge from other players. I've mostly had to figure this stuff out on my own, trying to learn as much from the internet as possible. There's a lot more info online now than there was 6-7 years ago, I can promise you that.

Anyway, I was throwing a valk 300+ after my first few weeks of practicing at the park. I remember having a lot of problems keeping the nose down for my first few years. Eventually I learned how to get my weight forward and get the nose down.

I've had a few plateau breakers along the way. I taught myself to throw forehand to give me some additional options off the tee, and my scores dropped a few strokes. Later, I bought a portable basket to practice putting in my yard. My game improved a couple of strokes very quickly. Even later, after being dissatisfied with my midrange game, I started throwing most of my approach shots forehand, and again my average round dropped another stroke or two.