Field Work Advice

[Joemic]

I've been taking the advice of those on these forums, those I see at leagues, and those in the random videos I've watched and have spent a lot of time working on my throws in a field, rather than on a golf course. My problem, though, is not knowing how to go about practicing disc golf. When I go out to the field, I end up just emptying my bag and throwing wildly, trying to get extra distance.

When you guys do field work, how do you go about it? I guess what I'm looking for is a more solid regimen/practice schedule. I'm used to practicing team sports, but I don't know what I'm doing on my own for disc golf! Any help is appreciated

 

[DeadEye]

My routine for field work.

1. Stretch, then take a jog around the field to warm up and get the blood pumping.
2. Start out with your putters or midranges, the slower speed the better. Start by throwing them flat, then the next round throw hyzer, then the next throw anny.
3. Move up to faster discs, fairway drivers. Same order.. Flat, hyzer, then anny.
4. Try adding new stuff in. More reach-back, more weight shift, faster hip rotation, whatever you feel will help. I always do this after my initial throws, because you can see if you're getting more D.
5. If I'm bored, I start pulling out distance drivers, throw some forehand, maybe some rollers, thumbers.. Whatever just to mix it up and not get bored.

If I'm still up for more after that, I'll go back for another round of drives with the added hip-rotation or reach-back to see if it's still feeling right or adding distance. After field work, take a jog around the field to get your blood pumping again... Going for a run afterwards will wash the lactic acid buildup in your muscles and you won't feel as sore.

When you get back.. take a hot shower to relax, and if you did a lot of field work and don't want to hurt as much the next day ice down for a bit.. 20 on 20 off... maybe pop an advil or aleve.

 

[Joemic]

My routine for field work.

1. Stretch, then take a jog around the field to warm up and get the blood pumping.
2. Start out with your putters or midranges, the slower speed the better. Start by throwing them flat, then the next round throw hyzer, then the next throw anny.
3. Move up to faster discs, fairway drivers. Same order.. Flat, hyzer, then anny.
4. Try adding new stuff in. More reach-back, more weight shift, faster hip rotation, whatever you feel will help. I always do this after my initial throws, because you can see if you're getting more D.
5. If I'm bored, I start pulling out distance drivers, throw some forehand, maybe some rollers, thumbers.. Whatever just to mix it up and not get bored.

If I'm still up for more after that, I'll go back for another round of drives with the added hip-rotation or reach-back to see if it's still feeling right or adding distance. After field work, take a jog around the field to get your blood pumping again... Going for a run afterwards will wash the lactic acid buildup in your muscles and you won't feel as sore.

When you get back.. take a hot shower to relax, and if you did a lot of field work and don't want to hurt as much the next day ice down for a bit.. 20 on 20 off... maybe pop an advil or aleve.

I'd say that's just about exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for sharing, DeadEye! I'll try that out next time I'm doing field work and try to get into that routine. Seems like it'll be a lot more helpful than what I'm doing now haha

 

[The Ox]

Accuracy over Distance

After your first shot, try to make your other shots land as close as possible to that disc.

Accuracy at 200 - 250' is more valuable than reaching 350' all day.

 

[DiscinFiend]

My routine is similar to DeadEye's. I first stretch & warm up. Then I throw all my driving putters hyzer, flat & anhyzer backhand. Then I do the same with my mids. Then I go back to my putters again, then my mids again. Finally I do my fairway drivers. Then my distance drivers. That is what I considered one set of throws for myself. Then I will do all that again but sidearm. After that I throw my other shots like rollers & overhand throws. And if I have time (& im still up for it) I will do another set of backhand or forehand. I usually bring water/gatorade with me to stay hydrated. And I always listen to my ipod while I throw.

 

[the1discChallenge]

This may seem like it's going off topic, but bear with me...

I was coming home from work tonight (I work on a ball golf course) and the cart people (me) are the last ones to leave, literally. A buddy and I went to the range and he wanted to practice hitting....so I got out the discs and made a game out of it. (here's where I start getting to the point ) We did CTP to the first green (about 250ft), then the next green (about 300ft), then the next green, etc. I tried a few different shots to each green; anny, hyzer, straight, etc. I always like to make a game out of field work. Pick a target and go CTP with putters, then mids, then if you're feelin it, drivers. That's what works for me, anyway.... Hope that spawns some ideas!

 

[knettles]

Haha, I literally just posted on a different thread about this exact thing. While field work is nice, it's not always that much better than playing on a course. As you've stated, you feel like you're just throwing wildly. In my opinion, playing a round with better players is much more productive than getting in field practice by yourself when (no offense) you're not sure what exactly you're doing.

Having that been said, when I do field work, I usually try to focus on specifics. I'll work on slight variations of my runup to see which ones work best and try to figure out why. Or I'll toy around with different styles/lengths of reachbacks. Since it seems you're relatively new, try talking to others about form/technique and have fun.

 

[demon102]

For field work its nice to have an objective in mind. Sometimes I just want straight distance, sometimes I want to get more controlled shots, all FH, all BH, hyzers, annys, learning how discs fly, run up, no run up.

I always go with a friend otherwise Ill just play at my home course that is wide open. Its always nice when you play with a friend who is also learning and you just go back and forth critiquing and adjusting. Field work alone just doesnt seem worth it if you have a course thats wide open, with a friend tho its easy to be motivated and so much more fun. We usually end up with more people down there and just end up talking on the picnic bench after only tossing for 20 minutes or so. We get a lot of new people chucking disks and that always fun.

 

[StarFirebird]

You know I never really do any sort of Fieldwork. I would like to,but I'm too old for that stuff now. I just save myself for the course.

If I was you I would focus on getting the discs to perform how they are supposed to on the course. It would make it to where you are not throwing each disc exactly the same,if you think about it not all discs are thrown the same.

 

[blackcatsmith]

I like to make a game of practice. One game I play is to throw laps. The goal being to throw around the track in the fewest throws possible, 5 being par. I use only my putters thrown from a standstill for this with the occasional Comet or M4 thrown in. The disc has to lie at rest on the track, and I play from the farthest and best drive. I always try and have one(just one) technique that I focus on while I throw each shot, all the time building a routine that starts with picking up the disc. I say just one technique knowing full well I'm going to get distracted and become undisciplined if I overload my plate. and by technique I'm talking about something simple, like say pivoting on my heel, or reaching back fully. Always be trying to learn a specific thing. Be focused on your goal and disciplined in your approach, be patient and repeat. I relish my time practicing for it is when epiphanies occur.... and everyone knows how much I like me some epiphanies.

 

[blackcatsmith]

I like to make a game of practice. One game I play is to throw laps. The goal being to throw around the track in the fewest throws possible, 5 being par. I use only my putters thrown from a standstill for this with the occasional Comet or M4 thrown in. The disc has to lie at rest on the track, and I play from the farthest and best drive. I always try and have one(just one) technique that I focus on while I throw each shot, all the time building a routine that starts with picking up the disc. I say just one technique knowing full well I'm going to get distracted and become undisciplined if I overload my plate. and by technique I'm talking about something simple, like say pivoting on my heel, or reaching back fully. Always be trying to learn a specific thing. Be focused on your goal and disciplined in your approach, be patient and repeat. I relish my time practicing for it is when epiphanies occur.... and everyone knows how much I like me some epiphanies.

Bonus points in the game of throwing laps occur when the disc comes to rest in the same lane you threw from, oh and around the field goal posts is mandatory.

 

[Joemic]

I love that everyone has a completely different way of going about this. I suppose it's to be expected, as there's obviously no one way to practice, but I still think its cool. Even though everyone's answer is so different, everything is helpful! I think I can get a lot of use out of both the strict practice type methods as well as the fun and games type. Thanks everyone! All of this sounds significantly better than just throwing randomly :wall:

 

[bnbanbury]

I do field work, but rarely in fields. I like to take a bag to a park with trees and create imaginary holes that require the lines i want to practice. I throw 20 discs on an anhyzer line to one tree, then i pick a gap and throw 20 tunnel shots, then i pick a tree and swing big sweeping hyzers around it. I find it a good way to get course-esque practice more efficiently that throwing on the course.

 

[BruceLeroy]

I've been doing field work in an empty soccer field near one of our local 9 hole courses. I'll play the 9 holes to get warmed up then I hit the field. Since my arm is nice and loose from the quick round, I start with my drivers going goal to goal. Trying each time to place my shot in the net or to either side of the goal depending on which disc or type of throw I'm going for. Then, I go to my mids and putters. From half field I again aim at the goals and adjust my throws and discs to get it in the net. Then I switch to tomahawks, thumbers, rollers(all of which need more work). I've been doing it for the last few months to gain more control and to learn how each disc in my bag will fly. I guess it paid off; I hit my first ace about a week ago

 

[Mike C]

I usually do something like this.

Throw a bunch of discs backhand, then forehand. Warm up. 80% power.

Throw some backhand hyzers, straight shots, S curves, turnovers and rollers.

Throw the same forehand.

Rip a bunch of putters on different distance lines.

Max D bombs.

Hit the course.

These days I do more practice at the course than on a field because its easier to pick specific gaps to hit and stuff.

 

[msfried53]

I have about a 350 foot line at home that I will occasionally go out and unload the bag on. When doing this, I mainly focus on my form and trying to get a tight grouping with every set. After doing this for about a year, I am starting to see the differential between putter, mid, fairway and driver distances which before was all scattered. I will also take video probably about once a month doing this to see where the form is at.

Another thing that I like to do is just go play a round with a couple of discs such as a mid and a putter. Play each disc individually on every hole so you get the equivalent of several round with only one time walking through. Great way to master a certain disc and really work on form, especially with those putters.

 

[yangs1]

I do a bit of fieldwork. I generally just pick a tree on the other side of the field and throw at it. I then go throw mids or putters from the drives to the tree working on upshots. To mix it up I'll also just take only putters or mids and do the same thing. If I take the whole bag then I'm throwing every disc and sometimes I just want to work on tossing putters and mids.

 

[keltik]

When I go out to the field, I end up just emptying my bag and throwing wildly, trying to get extra distance.

I don't care what anyone else says this is what we all end up doing...


but in all seriousness you should go to the field with a particular shot in mind that you want to practice. say rollers or annhyzers or flex shots or FH or whatever, just pick ONE shot to work on and you throw that shot with everything in your bag or with a certain group of discs. but really try to stay on task with just the one shot type of the day.

 

[Smigles]

be creative and set yourself goals. I usually work on distance and line shaping.

My field for fieldwork is a football field, so i have a nice raster of lines that give me distance orientation. I usually throw my putters from 80 meters, mids 90m, fairway drivers 100m, long distance drivers 110m and try to park them all in the feetgoal across the field. Then collect and repeat.

I make empty the bag and try to make every disc do what it is supposed to do. I have always a understable, a straigth and a overstable putter / mid / driver, so I try to throw the understable anny, the straigth one straigth and the stable one hyzer. Of course also work on hyzer flips, S shots etc. Basically I make 20 different throws with different discs from different distances, and then repeat.

That's for line shaping, for distance I just try to ripp it

And then you have to practice putting, too. I'd say at least as much time as driving shoudl be spent on putting.

That's how you build your arsenal of throws. Then you can go out on the course and use the arsenal.