The Blake_T\masterbeato\Bradley\JR\JHern\??? combo has helped it get through my thick skull. I think it comes down to someone getting it that thinks similar to yourself. Someone who has went through the same problems as you. That'd be JHern for me. He helped me find the pieces that I was missing THEN the writings of everyone else started making literal sense. Before it was like I was reading about some mystical force!
i agree here, which is why i was kind of looking for people to summarize their takes on it. it could basically be a copy/paste with some editing and transition sentences and their own descriptions added as well.
You write as a scientist or engineer. But many of your readers don't have that background and probably miss much of what you are explaining. I know I do.
So for writing purposes your ghost writer/collaborator should be someone who has a background in science and the ability to break down and explain the technical terms used. And the patience to do this. In addition, drafts should be tested on different players to see how much they are actually absorbing.
my early articles were very feel-oriented. my writings for a couple of years got more scientific, but as a whole, i've tried to find a balance: explaining what happens and then coming up with a variety of feel-based methods to help facilitate those actions.
i don't think having someone throw a pen and observe their own finishing mechanics is very scientific. the main thing i have come to learn over the years is that worrying only about the science and perfect positions doesn't do much in the greater scheme of things compared to throwing with specific intent.
most of the topics i write about has been broken down in detail with explanation of technical terms in previous writings. e.g. i don't feel like explaining what OAT is for the 120th time every time i write about it.
everyone reaches understanding in their own way.
The greater need is for you to do videos. The easiest way to understand motion is to watch it.
Imagine if I wanted to explain to someone how to tie a necktie. A hundred thousand words, carefully and skillfully chosen would be inferior to a simple video showing how to do it for most interested learners.
with the topic of snap, which has been what i have been writing about most lately wouldn't benefit from a video because the people who don't get it don't know what to look for. the people that do get it, see it, but there has to be a way to bridge the gap conceptually. anyone who wants to see video of big snap simply has to be buy a DVD with kallstrom, feldberg, jenkins, brinster, etc. and watch that for hundreds of hours. they can slow it down, frame by frame it, capture still images, etc. but unless you have a basic understanding of flow, it won't do much for them. basically, with snap, there isn't anything you can really see unless you already know what it looks like.
my process is like saying the wrist has to open. then saying how the wrist opens, it opens because the forearm stops moving forwards (due to directional change). the people who have the potential to "get it" (the concept) are defined at this point. the guys who can get it will stand up and start swinging their arm, trying to see the forearm "stop" and the wrist extending. the guys who won't get it are the ones that either don't try to understand it or can't make this happen.
the next step is to integrate that into the throw, and so on (although these steps eliminate roughly 90% of the remaining players).
personally i think with tying a necktie, a video does better since there's no required timing component, no "trick" or feel needed, you just perform a set of actions at your own pace and under no time constraint. what about splitting firewood? show 2 videos of 1 guy who understands how to swing an axe powerfully and 1 guy who doesn't and there isn't much to look at without a conceptual backing for it. watching hitters in baseball, seeing guys that can drive it vs. slap it, watching a boxing match and being able to tell if a punch probably did real damage or not, etc. aren't things that the untrained eye can usually see.
keep in mind what i'm trying to teach here are not the basics. the basics have been documented in video already and written about time and time again.
i'm going for the most intricate of nuances, the hardest thing to "get" in disc golf, which is, big snap. right now there's guys who got it naturally and there's a slew of guys who'll never get it (the uncoachables). the smallest demographic by far are those who didn't get it naturally but were able to work their way to it.
basically, my goal is to find a method to achieve 1% success with getting people to learn to throw with snap (up from 0.1%).
i think something like this is more like learning a hard guitar solo or a difficult piano piece than tying a necktie. you can memorize what notes it should be, but then you just now what notes it needs. you can buy a steve vai video and watch him and his 10" fingers play it, mimicking his body and hand positions before finding out that you can't just copy him since your fingers are 5" long.
those who have learned a tough guitar solo know the process:
break it down into phrasings. learn the notes. find the basic positions. find a way to play through the notes in a manner that fits your hand. practice at a slow speed (whatever the fastest speed is you can do it at). gradually increase speed as you get more comfortable with it. learn how to transition to the next phrasing.
i see a disc golf throw in a similar light. if it was easy to do, everyone would be doing it perfectly. similarly, there aren't a lot of good guitar players out there since most people aren't disciplined enough to cover the process i listed above.
that being said, there are a handful of people that become good guitar players because of the process i listed above, and their disc golf equivalents are whom i would target with this article.
