Greetings from Taiwan & Questions about teaching beginners

[taiwanhyzerflip]

Hello everyone,

My name is Nils and I'm originally from Germany, but have been living in Kaohsiung, Taiwan for over 10 years. I started playing disc golf one and a half years ago and since became totally addicted to it. I absolutely love the challenge of constantly trying to improve form & technique while enjoying the beautiful outdoors with friends.
Although the disc golf community in Taiwan isn't big, there are monthly tournaments and active communities in all of the bigger cities. You might have also heard about the Taiwanese disc golfer Jacky Chen who beat some of the top pros to take down the Asia Open in 2020.

My buddy and I recently decided to open an online disc shop that also serves as a platform for course, tournament and beginner information. Our goal is to grow the sport and build more permanent courses here in Taiwan. In April we're planning to do a workshop for friends and the Ultimate Frisbee community (which is bigger than disc golf here) with the goal of inspiring new people for this sport.
I've checked the forum for tips on how to teach beginners and like these advices best so far:
- Keep teaching sessions short and simple
- Use only putters & midranges
- Use the same discs as they do
- Klimo/stacked/control grip
- Disc parallel to forearm
- Hand on the outside of the disc
- Start with standstill throws
- Keeping a flat plane throughout the throw

I don't really like comparisons to starting a lawn mower or smashing something with your elbow as in my experience those can lead to pulling the disc from the reachback (right shoulder goes up) instead of bracing and engaging with the hips correctly. I started to practice with these comparisons in mind about a year ago and found (and still find) it really difficult to break the bad habit that I got from them. A drill that really helped me to overcome this issue is the Loose Arm Drill by Richard Hatton (thank you!). Would this be a good drill to do with people completely new to the sport as well in your experiences? And what are good advices for Ultimate Frisbee players that want to try disc golf?

I appreciate any feedback, tips and other advice on how to inspire people for this sport!

 

[DiscGolfFev]

Hey Nils, small world! I just saw Nathan's post about your disc shop on our Chiang Mai disc golf page not that long ago! I didn't see your post but I just posted something similar here. https://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/showthread.php?t=138862

So I have similar questions about learning path so to speak. I think the answer is probably for those that wanted, some clinic would be good. Since I am no pro, I would find good videos on Youtube to do the teaching for me. Danny Lindahl, loopghost (https://www.youtube.com/user/loopghost/videos), and few others explains things really well. I am little ambivalent about "short and simple". I know I have accumulated a lot of knowledge over the last eight months and that could be overwhelming to new people, at the same time, I wish someone just told me in the beginning 1) you are rounding 2) you are not engaging your hips 3) wrist angle is leading to nose up etc etc, then give me a list of videos to watch and practice.

Basically a guided curriculum rather than episodic tips here and there and let me figure it all out myself. Thanks for the loose arm drill, I will work on that.

Ray

 

[RFrance]

Welcome both of you to DGCR. You've come to the right place.

Taiwanhyzerflip, here is a thread on Jacky Chen
https://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/showthread.php?t=135917

Here is the DGCR repository of Instructional Videos which is updated regularly.
https://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/showthread.php?t=119328

There probably isn't one guided curriculum but this is the Forum to check out for self-learning and teaching others, from beginners to more advanced.
https://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=44

Since a disc is such a light weight and awkward object to throw, probably the single best video to watch and actually do is the Hammer Toss Drill. Most of us have watched it but only after you actually pick up a hammer and throw do the concepts start to become clearer. Don't just watch, throw a hammer.

 

[DiscGolfFev]

Awesome

Thanks RFrance, for the links. I love the list of videos and will work through them. Can't wait to go home and swing me a hammer!

Nils, forgot to address your question directly. These are tips I heard from others: having two people tossing the disc back and forth like they are play frisbee then increase the distance help them develop a feel for release and angle. Former Ultimate players (or new players in general) might benefit from an understable disc that fights the left fade for you go straighter.