RHBH - 200 foot average

[andrew.gacek]

I'm looking for some pointers on my backhand form. I can tell already from watching the video that there's a lot of awkward stuff going on. I'm averaging about 200 feet and haven't been able to move past that despite trying all kinds of drills and field practice. As I said, there's a lot going wrong, but what would be the most imporant things to work on first?

 

[sidewinder22]

Need to firm up your rear side foot/leg. You are flat footed and your rear heel spins out backward instead of making a forward move.

 

[andrew.gacek]

Thanks! That back foot really sticks out at me now that you've pointed it out. I watched the videos a couple times and recorded another form check after practicing for a bit. I tried to focus primarily on my footwork. I can feel more power in my weight transfer due to the back foot. Any further advice is greatly appreciated

 

[sidewinder22]

Much better with the rear foot. Now you are turning and swinging before your weight transfers to the front foot/leg. Really need to feel firmly braced on the front leg before swinging and have your spine/shoulders tilted toward your knees into more athletic position.

 

[LimeyMotors]

I'm surprised that you can get to 200 feet with that bed sheet in the way. try to throw with out anything to stop your disc. I'm no expert but I bet the disc goes farther with out the bed Sheet. - Duncan

 

[andrew.gacek]

Sidewinder22 - Thanks. I can clearly see what you are talking about in my video now. That makes it much easier to fix! I'll report back when I feel like I'm getting it right.

Duncan - I tried without the bedsheet and the disc went about 4 more feet before it hit the wall. :\ Not sure if you have any advice about the wall.

 

[andrew.gacek]

I feel like this part is going to be more of a struggle for me than the feet were. I have a hard time feeling the bracing that is supposed to be going on. I feel like I'm getting into a more athletic position at least, but I also feel like I'm missing the bracing point.

Even still I went out to the field for the first time in a week and was throwing an extra 20 to 30 feet thanks to other changes

 

[sidewinder22]

Your plant is actually decent there but end up over the top. The issue starts from your backswing into the rear leg as you lean over top it trying to shift your weight back and your head is way behind your rear foot/knee. If you try to shift your weight back you will lose your balance and center. Go figure... Same issues in the backswing with the rear leg and in the forward swing with the front leg...like it's a mirrored system. You need to keep your head balance/braced inside your rear foot and keep some flex in your rear knee in the backswing. The flex in the knee helps lower your center of gravity and drive your weight forward without tipping. So your body should be more stacked athletically and balanced and centered throughout the whole backswing and forward like you were squatting a bunch of weight over your shoulders without collapsing or losing balance.

 

[Mocheez]

You need to brace against the inside of your plant foot. You are bracing flat footed and straight down into the ground. Try to brace at a forward angle into the ground.

 

[andrew.gacek]

These responses are extremely helpful. It's amazing how clear things become when pointed out to you. I'll take this into account and get back to practicing.

 

[andrew.gacek]

Here's my latest form check. Already I see see some of the problems from before. 1) My back foot is flat through most of the throw instead of getting up onto the ball. 2) I'm not crouching over enough into an athletic position. 3) I'm failing to brace at the front and some of my weight is carrying over my front foot.

 

[sidewinder22]

Yeah, they are all inter related issues, I think not being in a forward athletic position being the main issue. You want to bring your throwing shoulder through lower over your knee.

 

[andrew.gacek]

I tried to stay more athletic this time. It's certainly closer than before. I can see from the video that I'm not shifting my weight forward enough now. I'm leaving some of it on the back foot even through the throw.

 

[sidewinder22]

This is where it gets funny talking about shifting your weight forward. Weight is force or pressure up/down against the ground. You have the weight of the whole world under your feet, that is the weight you need to use and leverage/torque yourself against. You have made a massive shift forward of your hips, but your leverage totally spins out on both your feet. You want a more compact hip and weight shift, quick and powerful. More stacked athletic position like squatting weight over your head, or think of the world under your feet trying to crush you, you need to squat it. If you were squatting weight during your swing, you would collapse and fold your posture like a lawn chair head into knees and fall on your rear end because your balance is too far behind both your heels. Time to crush some cans.

 

[andrew.gacek]

It's been very hard for me to put this into action. I pick out from my video where things are going wrong. I have a hard time telling if I'm actually making progress or working on the right thing even.

I tried focus on just one thing at a time tonight so I have multiple videos. The first one I'm trying to focus on really pushing into the earth with my back leg. The second one I'm trying to focus on bracing with my front leg against the ground. On the last one I'm trying to focus on a compact shift from back to front.

Looking at them honestly though, I can't see a huge difference among them. Are any of them getting closer to the goal?

 

[sidewinder22]

You are not centering yourself/balance on the front leg from heel to lower spine to head. See how your head is tilted forward/over, and your balance - chin to head are centered on the rear foot. See how Paul's head is tilted back and centered on the front leg, his whole spine and head are dynamically balanced, no balance or weight on the rear foot as it's airborne. I'd suggest doing the second crush the can drill with your rear foot up, and actually crush some cans.

 

[andrew.gacek]

Alright, I got some actual cans and tried some crushing. It's a lot harder than it looks. I had to put this together because it cracks me up:



After doing those exercise and practicing some more, here's another form check. I feel like the bracing is better here, but I repeated my earlier mistake of letting my head get out of balance during the reach back which caused me to go a little too far over on the follow-through.



Using an actual can did help a lot to get a feel for things. I'll have to find more cans so I can try this again soon.

 

[sidewinder22]

LOL...comedic gold! Yeah, that's getting better. Try setting up with the can closer like an inch in front of your heel.

 

[andrew.gacek]

Here's another form check and more can crushing. Problems I see in the form check:

1. Head goes past my back foot during the reachback
2. Rear foot is spinning on the toe rather than lifting off with the heel leading the toe
3. Weight only half transfers to front leg

Any suggestions of drills or exercises to help correct these issues are welcome. The reachback should be easy enough to fix if I just catch myself doing it. For the weight issues I may need to watch more can crushing.

 

[sidewinder22]

Watch the tilted spiral video again and again. You aren't staying braced against the insides of your feet in the backswing or forward swing. You shift your lower spine and then your upper body over the top and stand up out of athletic forward tilted posture. The upper and lower should shift together and maintain forward tilt(chest toward ground).

A rear view video may give you a different or better understanding of your balance and posture.