Just venting

[Mike McQuinn]

I've only been playing for about 6 months. I have putters, neutral mids, and understable fairway drivers. I try to play 2-3 rounds per week and do field practice 2-3 times per week. I've been maxing out my drivers about 240 but not consistently. Mids and putters a little less, respectively. Accuracy is hit and miss.

I had only been throwing from standstill until a few days ago. I have been annoyed because I couldn't get any discs to flip or turn over at all. Obviously I haven't developed any real snap yet. I've read all the threads and watched tons of video and still nothing.

Well, a few days ago I decided to incorporate a slow run up during my field practice and was thinking about the different aspects of good form that I've learned and voila! All of a sudden I was Able to turn my discs over! It was awesome! I was hyzer flipping all my fairway drivers and getting them to fly beautifully and land consistently around 270 and usually really straight. It was so cool!

The next day I was excited to hit the course and try out my new distance. Well, you guessed it. Nothing! Back to my old ways. No accuracy, no turn over at all, crappy distance. Bummed out I went home. Now after 2 more trips to the field, I still can't do it! The magic was there and then so quickly has vanished.

I'm certainly not giving up, I still love playing and practicing, but it's so weird. Once I had it working I never thought I would lose it right a away.

Anyway, long post. Had to tell someone because I don't know anyone else who would listen or care.

Love the forum!

Mike

 

[thrembo]

I've been trying to figure it out for over forty years. If I do, I'll let you know. But seriously, some people have "it" and some don't. I don't, and I'm ok with that. As long as you are having fun and enjoying the activity, you win. It will be possible to get better, and you likely will if you stick with it.

 

[Lazerface]

Keep on keeping on man. Field work can be weird. I have had those moments where I "figured something out" all to have it disappear the next time I throw.

It WILL click and it will be magnificent. I miss the milestones you hit being a new player. Its crazy what a few hours in the field can do.

 

[jeffmonty]

Get yourself some Comets and hit the field again. They should help you with your form. Try to keep at it until you develop habits that carry over to when you hit the course again.

 

[JedV]

I feel your pain Mike McQuinn. I've been playing for almost 7 years now and my max distance is 320 (or maybe even less )

After much reflection, I blame my crappiness on not playing throwing sports as a kid. I have a tendency to strong arm throws even if it's something like a baseball. It's not natural for me to use my legs, hips, core and shoulders as part of the system that develops power.

The throw starts from the ground up, and your joints are a series of levers, that, if you are able to coordinate can work beautifully together. I spent years trying to throw hard instead of working on being smooth. It's more natural for some than others, I know that first hand.

Just watch some World Series baseball. When those batters crush homeruns, you can really appreciate how they derive power from their legs and hips, everything else follows.

 

[Mike McQuinn]

Thanks for the replies!

Btw, I currently have
Z buzzz
Big z comet
Gstar mako3
Dx roc

Proton inspire
Star leopard3
Dx archangel
Gstar valkyrie

Several putters

 

[zontar]

320 I can only wish.....enjoy the game and it'll come.sort of.

 

[Mike McQuinn]

I really look forward to improving and I know I will. I keep rereading the common plateaus thread and find it fascinating!

 

[slowplastic]

Yep, the more times you change the form the more you can repeat the changes next time though. But I just expected to lose "it" next practice session for the first while of learning. Until you've had that throw on 2-3 separate days, near consecutively, it can be a crapshoot for if "it" will work next time. Good news though, you will learn your personal cues for what is off over time and identify it faster. But it's super frustrating and happens to everyone.

 

[bsammons]

The best thing I can tell you for practice: practice from a standstill and keep it CLEAN. I was the worst at leaning over, strong arming, rounding, collapsing my brace, etc... the past few days I got sick of it and decided to stand still and keep my back straight and pull the disc straight through on a straight line. Today I threw a driver from a standstill further than I normally could with a runup, and it was exactly where I wanted it to go and stayed 10-15 feet above the ground the whole time. Use your putters and just pull straight through without tying to force it with any other muscles except basically your triceps. Pull that bad boy straight through straight across your chest and don't try and muscle it up. It'll come, trust me.

 

[cjman]

Great disc choices!

Have you recorded your throw? Even watching it yourself will help!

Keep at it, your routine is well balanced. If you're hungry to improve, you will get there, but be patient, there are many nuances along the way you'll need to work through.

 

[air show]

You think your venting now wait until you get serious about putting. Just remember though you can't make'em all.

 

[SonicGuy]

Get hyzer flipping out of your head. Getting turn on a driver at 270' means OAT, no exceptions. You are mortgaging your future if your field sessions are training up OAT levels.

 

[bnbanbury]

I absolutely believe that anyone, barring serious physical limitations, can get their throw up to and over 300'.

I plateaued at 320' for almost 5 years and there were a lot of frustrating days in the field and to be honest some of that time was probably ingraining bad habits as much as developing good ones. When I committed to starting over and incorporating one thing at a time, spending time on the forums, filming my throw, and watching clinics I finally started to see improvement.

In my 30s now I throw distances I never thought I would touch even 3 years in. The minute you decide "well some guys just know how to do it and some don't" you are deciding to sell yourself short. Looking at progress from one day to the next is too short of a timeline. Embrace and commit to the process. If you want to see progress film yourself now, work for 6 months, and then film yourself again and compare the results.

 

[lyleoross]

I've only been playing for about 6 months. I have putters, neutral mids, and understable fairway drivers. I try to play 2-3 rounds per week and do field practice 2-3 times per week. I've been maxing out my drivers about 240 but not consistently. Mids and putters a little less, respectively. Accuracy is hit and miss.

I had only been throwing from standstill until a few days ago. I have been annoyed because I couldn't get any discs to flip or turn over at all. Obviously I haven't developed any real snap yet. I've read all the threads and watched tons of video and still nothing.

Well, a few days ago I decided to incorporate a slow run up during my field practice and was thinking about the different aspects of good form that I've learned and voila! All of a sudden I was Able to turn my discs over! It was awesome! I was hyzer flipping all my fairway drivers and getting them to fly beautifully and land consistently around 270 and usually really straight. It was so cool!

The next day I was excited to hit the course and try out my new distance. Well, you guessed it. Nothing! Back to my old ways. No accuracy, no turn over at all, crappy distance. Bummed out I went home. Now after 2 more trips to the field, I still can't do it! The magic was there and then so quickly has vanished.

I'm certainly not giving up, I still love playing and practicing, but it's so weird. Once I had it working I never thought I would lose it right a away.

Anyway, long post. Had to tell someone because I don't know anyone else who would listen or care.

Love the forum!

Mike

The secret to both accuracy and distance is as follows, your throw isn't meant to put distance on the disc, it's meant to put spin on it. The harder you throw the disc, the more problems you have. I like to think of it as spinning the disc towards the target. Everything behind you is set up to put the disc on a path where you can spin it well. The throw happens in front of you, or facing the basket.

 

[SonicGuy]

The secret to both accuracy and distance is as follows, your throw isn't meant to put distance on the disc, it's meant to put spin on it. The harder you throw the disc, the more problems you have. I like to think of it as spinning the disc towards the target. Everything behind you is set up to put the disc on a path where you can spin it well. The throw happens in front of you, or facing the basket.

If this mentality works for you great, but it is probably the worst advice ever given on this forum.

 

[ru4por]

Get hyzer flipping out of your head. Getting turn on a driver at 270' means OAT, no exceptions. You are mortgaging your future if your field sessions are training up OAT levels.

No it doesn't.

 

[thrembo]

If this mentality works for you great, but it is probably the worst advice ever given on this forum.

I don't know about the worst advice. It's old school advice. Body mass is where it's at today. It helps if you have arms that hang down to your ankles too. (F=MA)

 

[SonicGuy]

No it doesn't.

Unless you are launching it straight into the ground, yes it does.

 

[SonicGuy]

I don't know about the worst advice. It's old school advice. Body mass is where it's at today. It helps if you have arms that hang down to your ankles too. (F=MA)

It is certainly old school advice. Because old school throwers were really freestyle throwers, and in freestyle spin is King. But in disc golf we throw for distance, and that means arm speed.

You can throw 350' and accurate throwing for spin. That was the 90's game. But you can also throw 350' and accurate throwing with arm speed, and it will allow you to get up to 400' and beyond with practice. I really don't see the point in instructing new players to build fundamentals that will hurt them in the long run.