Arm speed vs strength

[HybridZombiw]

5'7, buck20. I can throw 360-400 (pretty controlled too) with a 2 finger grip. I don't have big muscles, just proper technique, a good snap, and strong grip. I love out driving big, muscled up players thinking they are the all that only to be embarassed Though both is very important, and having muscles is qutie important as it helps as well.

 

[Teebird Elvis]

I agree with myself.

Then you are both wrong.

 

[Teebird Elvis]

I've seen Will in person. He's skinny all right, but his form is textbook.

Shoot, just look at Paige Pierce. Great mechanics= Great distance.

5'7, buck20. I can throw 360-400 (pretty controlled too) with a 2 finger grip. I don't have big muscles, just proper technique, a good snap, and strong grip.

Question answered.

 

[garublador]

Think of it this way. There are two parts to how far you throw, how much energy you can generate and how much you actually transfer to the disc. Someone with great arm speed and strength might be able to generate 550' worth of power, but if they only transfer ~60% of that energy to the disc they'll be sitting at 350'. Someone with below average strength and arm speed might be able to only generate 450' of power, but if they have good technique and timing (timing is the hard part) and they transfer 90% of the energy they'll throw just over 400'.

So strength and arm speed only matter if you have the timing to take advantage of them. Very few actually do that.

 

[BrotherDave]

Evidently you do not need strength.

Ever check out Will Schusterick's 9" pythons?

Maybe you should read my post again where I talk only of grip strength. I doubt he can throw as far as he does if he struggles to open pickle jars like I do.

garublador basically nailed it.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

Think of it this way. There are two parts to how far you throw, how much energy you can generate and how much you actually transfer to the disc. Someone with great arm speed and strength might be able to generate 550' worth of power, but if they only transfer ~60% of that energy to the disc they'll be sitting at 350'. Someone with below average strength and arm speed might be able to only generate 450' of power, but if they have good technique and timing (timing is the hard part) and they transfer 90% of the energy they'll throw just over 400'.

So strength and arm speed only matter if you have the timing to take advantage of them. Very few actually do that.

this makes so much sense it's virtually impossible to misunderstand.
:hfive:

 

[Hartley444]

I was experimenting this week and tried a slow x step and not trying to force the throw but rather make my arm move faster. I noticed in a recent tournament that the pros threw further with much less effort. My throws seemed to fly much further much more easily than when I tried to kill it to get distance. It also seemed to help my accuracy a lot. Thanks for the tips everyone.

 

[Colt]

I was experimenting this week and tried a slow x step and not trying to force the throw but rather make my arm move faster. I noticed in a recent tournament that the pros threw further with much less effort. My throws seemed to fly much further much more easily than when I tried to kill it to get distance. It also seemed to help my accuracy a lot. Thanks for the tips everyone.

Disc golf 101, smooth is far

 

[knettles]

I just wanted to say, when I think of "strength" in disc golf, I don't think of big muscles or strength in the traditional sense. I think of speed. I always imagined Bruce Lee could have thrown insanely far. Just work with him on technique for 6 months to a year and I bet he could have been throwing as far as the pros. Hell, we need to contact Jet Li or Tony Jaa and see if we can make some progress on this.

 

[Hartley444]

I find I was trying to throw my whole body into the disc rather than focusing on transferring the energy and moving my arm faster. Moving my legs/body fast rather than trying to move my arm faster. I realize it is better to have everything fast but I think arm speed is probably most important. I have seen some local pros with very little leg movement bomb it.

 

[drblam]

I am a big dude. I can probably out lift a lot of disc golfers, but after watching Mike C's vids on youtube and one video with a dude in his front yard talking about snap, I noticed nobody was hurling discs the way I was.
I was literally pulling them across my body like I was trying to tow a truck. I was straining my arms, running up like a wild buffalo, and barely throwing discs 200ft.

I now throw with a motion that is smoother, thinking about hearing that towel snap and not flutter, and using a much more relaxed xstep. The gains are slow but are coming steadily. I can now consistently hit 250, 325 if I use dgcoursereview measurement standards and fish-story inches, and it feels like much less effort.

For me, which may mean absolutely nothing to everyone else, strength seemed to get in my way more than help.