Backhand Form Check - I've tasted the nectar

[DrBone]

Oh yes txmxer - I think that first image in my last post really illustrates the wrong hand problem you mentioned! Never noticed that before! I have been working on some nose up issues as well which were for sure an issue as you guessed.

[DrBone]

Got back in the field today and had some insight (though no magic improvements). Details below!

https://youtu.be/WD_Mdf3tW1I


I was trying to focus on having a real noodle arm and whipping it through with my lower body. Lots of inspiration from this thread: https://www.dgcoursereview.com/forum...d.php?t=139128

I felt I was noodle arming pretty well but my shoulders were opening too much and that is when I realized I needed to start my lower body shift even earlier. In my mind I'm thinking of two phases to the throw: the "shift" and the "whip".

I think of the whip as the uncurling of the arm and ejection of the disc. The shift is the weight shift from back to front. If the whip starts at the same time the shift starts then the shift doesn't benefit the whip at all. This is where my form started. I was spinning my hips and shoulders but it was all happening too late and not adding anything to the throw.

SO I figured that if I could delay the time between the shift starting and the whip starting I would be able to keep my shoulders closed and have a better whip action. That is when I FINALLY started to actually understand the shift. By turning back more and leading the shift with my butt I could create some lag between when my weight shifted and when my shoulders started to come around (and therefore get the release point to occur with a more closed shoulder).

here you can see that I've got all my weight on my front foot and my back is still to the target. This is a new position for my throws:


I think there are new problems to solve as my rear foot is coming off the ground quite early instead of pushing into my lead leg (and my left arm is all wily nily out there and trying to rotate)


This lead to some very different feeling throws and a few that felt really good. I'm starting to feel the ability to "push back" with my front foot in order to propel the whip. However I feel like I'm bbaarrreeelly loading my front leg and don't have much to resist with right now.

Another issue that I want to work on is making sure my arm angles are correct. It doesn't feel (or look) like my arm is getting in that 90 degree position and it doesn't really feel like my arm is fully whipping. It actually feels more like rounding or an ultimate throw still.


The weight shift was a big change for me, I was able to get a sort of 'falling' feeling going into my lead leg and it really felt like I was leading with my butt and hips and able to put weight into that front heel. Excited to work on that more. I also tried some double dragon drill which I will do more of. That **** is hard - it was really difficult to maintain my balance which leads me to believe there is lots to gain there!

Happy Thanksgiving - I'll be back in the field before long!

[sidewinder22]

Looking good in general. You are over turning away with your head and rear arm going behind your back. Want to keep your head more forward looking at your disc and rear arm more forward in front of your body/chest.

[DrBone]

Thanks - I suspected I was overturning, trying it out at home and keeping my head more centered makes me feel more balanced and upright. My hips actually feel a little sore which really tells me that I'm finally engaging them AND that I haven't been doing so ever before. Hope I can keep the momentum going before it gets too cold out. I'll be back with more updates before long.

[DrBone]

Dear Diary,

Haven't done any filming worth posting recently but have thrown almost everyday and actually played a round on Sunday. It was possibly my best round ever! I really mangled it with a quadruple then triple bogey back to back but my throws were feeling very good and most interestingly I felt I was able to get more power on my putts. I was much more aware of how my weight was distributed through my feet, my balance and my momentum.

On Friday and Saturday I focused on the closed shoulder snap drill. I realized that I was never NOT trying to crank out max distance shots and this forced me to slow down and focus more. I started just throwing into fence from 10 feet away and slowly backed up while trying to still hit the fence with a similar velocity. This let me slowly work more of my body into the throw. It also is a lot easier on my hips as all my previous field work I was slamming my weight back and forth through my heels. It is nice to slow down and try to feel the proper form with a more controllable amount of weight and momentum. Hoowwwwever, I did just watch the Shaolin Lumberjack video and seeing that dude throw his whole body weight into that fist strike is inspiring and I'm for sure going to try and rip some max distance shots with that in my head.

It is pretty impressive how much power you can get with just a small reach back and proper un-hinging release. I found the 'swing thought' of throwing the back of the disc to be helpful. It is hard to be consistent though, so lots of room for improvement during my continued practice!

[lostDoughnut]

i see a few of the older videos where u had the hammer and you were swaying back and forth. the elephant walk drill came to mind and that really helped my body sync up when going from backswing to downswing. (also when the disc is slung forward your body leans backwards, swinging a heavy item will help get this feeling as shown in the videos)



this will start at a certain timestamp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uWigK12xNY&t=358s

i used an old kitty litter tub and filled it with water. for myself the item i swung had to be heavy for my muscle to figure it out

[lostDoughnut]

this thread talks about the elephant walk

https://www.dgcoursereview.com/forum...d.php?t=136487

[DrBone]

Oh nice thanks! I think that is a great idea, I felt some things with the hammer but upping the weight might accentuate it and make it a bit more obvious. I'll try it out - it seems to me like an easier more beginner friendly version of the double dragon drill.

One thing I notice when trying the closed shoulder snap drill is that to get my elbow up and my arm in what I *think* is a good position for a flatish throw I find myself engaging my tricep. If I'm trying to noodle arm and swing through using my body not arm should I expect to still use the tricep in the same way? Struggling a bit with the idea of keeping the arm relaxed but still keeping proper shoulder/elbow angles I think

[azplaya25]

Originally Posted by DrBone

Oh nice thanks! I think that is a great idea, I felt some things with the hammer but upping the weight might accentuate it and make it a bit more obvious. I'll try it out - it seems to me like an easier more beginner friendly version of the double dragon drill.

One thing I notice when trying the closed shoulder snap drill is that to get my elbow up and my arm in what I *think* is a good position for a flatish throw I find myself engaging my tricep. If I'm trying to noodle arm and swing through using my body not arm should I expect to still use the tricep in the same way? Struggling a bit with the idea of keeping the arm relaxed but still keeping proper shoulder/elbow angles I think

You’re whole body will be slinging the disc, you don’t want to feel like one specific muscle is engaged or you are likely strong arming. I don’t like the idea of starting the throw from the closed shoulder snap position. SW22 talks about it in the figure 8 video, your kind of starting from a position that doesn’t exist in the swing.
Try what he says in that video…just let your arm hang totally loose, then play around with using your body to get the disc/hammer in the power pocket position without using a single muscle in your arm, like the arm/disc is a ball and string you are swinging with you body.

https://youtu.be/muz3IBPX58k

[lostDoughnut]

Originally Posted by DrBone

Oh nice thanks! I think that is a great idea, I felt some things with the hammer but upping the weight might accentuate it and make it a bit more obvious. I'll try it out - it seems to me like an easier more beginner friendly version of the double dragon drill.

haha, i laughed out loud when you mentioned the double dragon drill . that was the last and current item that i was/am working on. for me its an expert level movement ( i might be also making it harder than it should be )

if you try the double dragon drill you might run into issues that i had (below is my thread where i am working on that drill and it might give some insight into familiar issues)
https://www.dgcoursereview.com/forum...=140181&page=2

Originally Posted by DrBone

One thing I notice when trying the closed shoulder snap drill is that to get my elbow up and my arm in what I *think* is a good position for a flatish throw I find myself engaging my tricep. If I'm trying to noodle arm and swing through using my body not arm should I expect to still use the tricep in the same way? Struggling a bit with the idea of keeping the arm relaxed but still keeping proper shoulder/elbow angles I think

im in the same boat too regarding keeping my elbow up. my elbow wants to not stay up. its something that i was not aware of before and now im simply making sure during my backswing my arm/elbow stays high and im going slower during the downswing to hopefully update my muscle memory. you can see my issue in the link to my form thread too (link to said post is below)
https://www.dgcoursereview.com/forum...9&postcount=29