Giving Form A Chance

[Lastchancer88]

Hello! DGCR seems like a wonderful place from what I've seen so far and I wanted to join the fun! I've been playing for almost two years although the bug really bit me at the end of last year so I'd wager I'm more like 1 year into playing with more than 1 or 2 discs (folfing as some say). I'd like to think I have quite a bit of mental knowledge from studying disc golf and watching endless coverage, but less in the way of physical execution in my own form.

I've been analyzing my form quite a bit for a couple months. I'm optimistic about progress but there's something that's been troubling me and I'd like feedback from other eyes. Since I started playing in a local league and taking throwing more seriously, I've had issues with different arm/shoulder pains. I'm not sure if this is from throwing too hard, poor form, or both. I can say for sure there have been specific shots that I've gone hulk on and strained muscles (especially get out of trouble tomahawks), but soreness seems to creep in towards the end of rounds. I'm wondering if anyone else has ever had to slow themselves down because they were throwing too fast/hard? Currently I'm getting a muscle strain in the muscle between my peck and armpit/bicep area. I think it's from trying to power too much at the top of the backswing.

Anyways, general critic and/or drill suggestions are very welcome! I know there's a lot of people who are looking for tips so thanks for reading through this.

These are 3 throws, the last being the slomo.

rhbh from side youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEiFYMAJY7Y

rhbh from behind youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbTX2qMvYcM


From what I see I'm working on slowing down my arm to get the disc back into my chest (Beto style), Also driving my left side through and tucking that arm. Also, had a friend suggest shortening the backswing a little to try and help get back to the power pocket, any thoughts on that?

 

[Mocheez]

Pretty much all of my breakthroughs have happened while going through the throw in slow motion without throwing a disc.

 

[Mocheez]

Just watched the videos... we could be twins. Form looks similar too.

Slow down and take smaller steps. Right foot needs to stride underneath you instead of in front of you. It will feel awkward and harder to balance until your left leg muscles get stronger.

You are turning back too early. Keep your eyes on the target until your left foot plants firmly on the ground. This will also feel very awkward at first.

Get the left elbow tucked firmly into your rib cage ahead of the disc and before shoulder rotation... this will give you 30-40 extra feet and will be the easiest fix.

I am sure there is more but those three things will fix a lot of other problems.

 

[Lastchancer88]

Thank you! I'll try these out over the weekend and hopefully get some footage as well. Always happy to meet a doppelganger

Just watched the videos... we could be twins. Form looks similar too.

Slow down and take smaller steps. Right foot needs to stride underneath you instead of in front of you. It will feel awkward and harder to balance until your left leg muscles get stronger.

You are turning back too early. Keep your eyes on the target until your left foot plants firmly on the ground. This will also feel very awkward at first.

Get the left elbow tucked firmly into your rib cage ahead of the disc and before shoulder rotation... this will give you 30-40 extra feet and will be the easiest fix.

I am sure there is more but those three things will fix a lot of other problems.

 

[Lastchancer88]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DBl2qCNL94

Had some time to practice. I don't think I made progress on the legs but I did try. The left arm got pretty tucked in this one and I definitely felt some improvement in power transfer. this session had a couple putters going about 250 from very controlled throws.

Here's a back view but this one wasn't as good form wise:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWe8KbAirkc

 

[sidewinder22]

Lead more butt first into plant.

 

[Lastchancer88]

So I haven't had much time this week in the field, though I am trying to work through the throw at work. Trying to get my butt leading the throw after a smaller x-step. I tried some hershyzer drill to get that along with the kinda heel drop thing from that golf video ^^.

I just wanted to share this because I think it's funny. One of the guys whose form I really like is Oskari Vikstrom. This throw was me attempting his form. Everything into the power pocket looked good to me but then I was so far into a place I'm not used to my arm and brain just lost it. I throw with some wobble but not usually this much

https://youtu.be/XemucvOG5VA

Anyway. After this I threw in the park measured some d-line P2's at 278' and 287'! I didn't feel like I was throwing particularly hard so I'm thinking some progress is being made.

I'm working on getting a full turn backwards but still keeping the disc away from my body and getting my left arm back pushing through the throw instead of windsailing.

 

[sidewinder22]

That looks better. Now swing into center with disc wing down instead of pulling it up into center.
https://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/showthread.php?t=134415

 

[Lastchancer88]

So SW, it should look like this sorta?

Made the mistake of trying this out on a casual round and threw a couple unintentional anhyzers into the trees.

I'll get to the field this weekend to try and work out the timing.

 

[Lastchancer88]

So I tried to rotate my wrist naturally in the backswing, which led to some serious inconsistency in lines. I think an issue I have is my hand at release. In this video you can see how much wobble happens. Is there a way to keep your hand angle better? I feel like it's the end of my extension in the pull through that causes my hand to come upwards but it happens naturally.

I was kind of hopping in these shots because the grass is so tall, didn't really feel worse or better. I'm still having to force my brain on every throw if I don't want to flail my left arm out.

https://youtu.be/-JwzrTdKahM

 

[Lastchancer88]

Here's a terrible quality video from behind. The sun was setting.

https://youtu.be/1AEFEzRPJHE

 

[Mocheez]

The rotation happens in the elbow between the upper arm and forehand. The wrist should stay fixed relative to the forearm.

 

[Lastchancer88]

The rotation happens in the elbow between the upper arm and forehand. The wrist should stay fixed relative to the forearm.

So is this me rolling my wrist/flipping it backwards? The first two of these images seem positive to me and then the third feels like its outta nowhere. I wonder if I'm trying to "throw" at the end instead of letting the disc rip out.

 

[Mocheez]

Your hand is rising upwards because your shoulder is rising at the same time. Shoulder is rising because you aren't throwing from the ground up.

Looks like you are picking up the right leg instead of swinging it forward. Need to get taller on the left leg to allow the right leg to swing forward underneath you.

Practice standstill without throwing a disc. Weight shift and land on the right leg to get a feel for using the bounce off the ground to add power to the forward momentum. Play around with your posture and shoulder angles to maintain balance and maximize efficiency.

It's easier to identify wrist/grip and swing plane issues during the one leg drill. If you are throwing nose down in the one leg drill, then the nose up issues are caused by something further up the line.

 

[Mocheez]

So is this me rolling my wrist/flipping it backwards? The first two of these images seem positive to me and then the third feels like its outta nowhere. I wonder if I'm trying to "throw" at the end instead of letting the disc rip out.

Yeah, you need to get the elbow and upper arm higher so that your wrist is hanging below the elbow. Don't rotate your wrist.

 

[azplaya25]

Your hand is rising upwards because your shoulder is rising at the same time. Shoulder is rising because you aren't throwing from the ground up.

Looks like you are picking up the right leg instead of swinging it forward. Need to get taller on the left leg to allow the right leg to swing forward underneath you.

Practice standstill without throwing a disc. Weight shift and land on the right leg to get a feel for using the bounce off the ground to add power to the forward momentum. Play around with your posture and shoulder angles to maintain balance and maximize efficiency.

It's easier to identify wrist/grip and swing plane issues during the one leg drill. If you are throwing nose down in the one leg drill, then the nose up issues are caused by something further up the line.

Man I have the exact same nose up issues. This is good advice. Think I'm going to go back to the one leg drill and try to dial it in

 

[Mocheez]

Hold the disc out in front of you flat relative to the ground. Then raise your elbow up. The disc should now be angled down without having to rotate your wrist.

With the elbow up and out, you can get your lats involved in the throw and your other big muscle groups will follow. With the elbow down and in, you can't use your lats.

 

[Lastchancer88]

Alright so yesterday I did some field work. Also got some new aviar classic putters so I had my basket which helped with the height of my videos! Here's a vid of me doing some one leg stand stills. There's no slomos, but multiple shots help because I vary a lot on my throws depending on what I'm focused on.

https://youtu.be/k6iTwcv7v58

I'm definitely pulling through too low. The third throw shows that pretty clearly I'm down near my hips almost. In my backswings I can see the disc is off of parallel to my forearm which is super frustrating because I actively try to grip in a way that keeps it in line. I think it's coming from the backswing getting lazy and I open my wrist up and backwards to "reach" more. I also have a tendency to bring the disc behind my body when I get lazy.

https://youtu.be/CJ4EDfYjv5E

Ok here's a throw from behind. Something small I noticed recently is my plant foot slides to the right when I throw. Is that from not bracing on it hard enough? I know in general I need to work on using my lower body more.

I was really throwing my left side into it (for me anyway). This whole field session moved in a direction of less arm and more body rotation to get power which felt pretty good. I felt like I had some good releases if I held on a little tighter, my understable discs actually acted understable, but the videos show a lot of wobble. I'm assuming that comes from the disc being off axis with my forearm and shoulder swoop?

I could go on about every detail I see (that are probably small and less important than the big things I'm doing wrong) but I would love some help on the one or two things I should fix first so I can try to go change by change. I would love to eliminate this disc wobble if anyone has tips. I get too much in my head currently with 5 things to try and do. I used to do the same thing in golf.

Sidenote, how does one embed the videos? I tried using the youtube embed link and the preview shows it as text still.

 

[Lastchancer88]

Hold the disc out in front of you flat relative to the ground. Then raise your elbow up. The disc should now be angled down without having to rotate your wrist.

With the elbow up and out, you can get your lats involved in the throw and your other big muscle groups will follow. With the elbow down and in, you can't use your lats.

In these vids I just posted I swear I felt like my elbow was up and pulling through but of course looking again it's definitely not :doh:

I'll keep working on it. It feels like I'm rounding if I keep my elbow too high for the throw, but maybe I'm not bending and extending it enough during the throw. I'm guessing if I got this down better it would help with disc wobble?

 

[sidewinder22]

Can't see feet in OLD, but I think you can setup with rear foot a little further back and actually shift a little. I don't think you are swinging too low, your CoG is popping up from your rear leg pushing you up late, instead of driving forward early and dropping into the plant.

Your rear elbow is dragging behind, needs to lead forward.

Your front foot "slides" to the right to get back underneath your CoG. Your front foot is planting too far over to the left from your CoG.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4-IN1yMQXc#t=5m