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The best post you will ever read on DGR

I am guilty of using the advance techniques before I truly had the basics figured out. I was manipulating the weight of the disc but it was all well timed arm and shoulder rotation with no added core power. As a result I was stuck at 330-360 average distance. Once I figured out the rhythm and timing of the weight shift, it didn't take too long to reincorporate the advanced techniques.

My light bulb moment was capturing the feeling of falling forward while reaching back. From there, incorporating Feldberg's arm swing (forward and back) allowed me to get a better sense of rhythm and feel for momentum. ZJ has been a big advocate of learning from Feldberg's style. His movements are very simple and don't require a lot of athleticism or flexibility to duplicate (Schusterick is on the opposite end of the spectrum).
 
Mocheez said:
My light bulb moment was capturing the feeling of falling forward while reaching back. From there, incorporating Feldberg's arm swing (forward and back) allowed me to get a better sense of rhythm and feel for momentum. ZJ has been a big advocate of learning from Feldberg's style. His movements are very simple and don't require a lot of athleticism or flexibility to duplicate (Schusterick is on the opposite end of the spectrum).
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Yeah I definitely encourage trying his style. I use it to help people feel proper weight shift. His pendulum creates the natural shift. You can then adapt your own throw to get the same feeling, even if you don't use his pendulum. You will at least know what to feel for in your own style.
 
Didn't read every post, but:

Never a smart move to approach somebody and say, "hey let me help you get better" when a player is happy enough the way it is.

When somebody has reached maximum frustration, I usually tell them one thing they can do to fix it (usually changing grip, fixing reachback, or telling them to stand still).

Depending how they react to that, I will help them more. Some times they try but fail at executing the change and dismiss the advice. Sometimes they execute and get immediate results and begin asking more questions.

however, it's pretty fun to start coaching a newbie from day 1, one tweak at a time, and watch them eclipse the local veteran players in a matter of weeks.

Lastly, a local AM Grand Master (rated 940 now 960) added 50-70 feet to his drive last year (throwing 370-400 with a Tern now) by working on heal pivot. He picked it up by playing with some Pros at an A-Tier. He used to say "If only I could throw a far as you young guys"... well now he can and now he spanks us!
 
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I think yes you can teach balance and or rhythm. But they are both best developed at a young age and there is a certain innate level that everyone starts with. I was fortunate to be born with good rhythm and am thus a good dancer (don't ask me to sing unless you want to hear pitch perfect farm animal death).

Both have a lot to do with proprioception but balance has more to do with strength especially with the muscles in the feet legs hips and buttocks. a lot of these muscles are poorly formed in westerners due to our pervasive use of shoes and sitting on our butts. but with lots of training balance can be developed a bit more rapidly than rhythm. Rhythm has a bit more to do with "feeling" and anticipation.
 
On the topic of rhythm, I played a lot of music growing up. There were definitely people who had better or worse rhythm in that context. Looking back, I think I could roughly categorize people's skill into the following order. People whom which it came easily to AND practiced a lot. People who practiced a lot because it didn't come easily, people to whom it came easily but rarely practiced, and people who just didn't care/try.

There are a lot of particularly awkward rhythmic things you can do in music. Like a drummer playing eights on one hand, and tripplets on the other. And sometimes skipping a beat or few in the middle.

I realize there's a ton of difference between music and discing. But I think there's a lot of mental overlap between the ability to feel the rhythm in what your body is doing, and especially in being able to overcome a rhythm which at first feels awkward or unintuitive. And that's definitely something you can teach/learn/practice, and thus ultimately get better at.
 
sidewinder22 said:
This is venturing into the realm of can you teach/learn balance or rhythm?
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This is where I am am at and why I haven't posted any more videos. I spend a few hours a week working on standstill drive basics, putters only. I do okay in the field, think that I'm doing better. Then play in a tourney and shoot 75-100pts less than my rating.

Trying to just accept that I probably won't get any better.

I would be happy with only throwing 250', which is where I'm at with putters, but if midranges and fairway drivers would go exactly where I wanted them to in the woods, then that would be some progress.

Know how it feels and I Think I'm ready to hang it up
 
zrxchris said:
This is where I am am at and why I haven't posted any more videos. I spend a few hours a week working on standstill drive basics, putters only.
...
I would be happy with only throwing 250', which is where I'm at with putters, but if midranges and fairway drivers would go exactly where I wanted them to in the woods, then that would be some progress.
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Hmm. I've pared my field work down to just the basic throw I described in a different thread (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/showthread.php?t=112454). I've found that after just a couple of sessions, my groupings have been much better, I'm not spraying discs out to the sides much at all, and distance has gotten more consistent. I practice with only putters.

I play a round right after the field work and use a greater selection of discs. I still only use the basic throw, so I can practice what I work on in the context of an actual round. I find that my drives (fairway drivers, at this point) are getting more consistent. Now, limiting myself to the basic throw means they aren't flying more than a couple hundred feet; I'm fine with that while I work on developing greater consistency with that.

How far did you pare your throw down? When you say "standstill," are you completely stationary or taking a small step and shifting weight?
 
zrxchris said:
Trying to just accept that I probably won't get any better.
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I don't think you've been at it long enough to make that assessment. My own experience is full of steps forward and steps backward, but overall there things gradually move forward.

While you continue working on distance and accuracy, don't neglect putting. Increase your range a few feet and you'll save yourself some strokes. Practice course management to improve hole-to-hole consistency. As a relatively short thrower, I face some long holes where getting a 3 is a very long shot. In those cases, I make sure to get the 4 rather than trying for two heroic shots and a putt, an approach that usually ends up with me in trouble and carding a 5 or 6.

There's a lot of enjoyment in making small incremental steps. I think more distance will come as a byproduct of continued all-around work.
 
TAFL said:
How far did you pare your throw down? When you say "standstill," are you completely stationary or taking a small step and shifting weight?
Click to expand...

Yes, standstill for me is a one small step. In round play and tourneys I just do a standstill, no x step unless it's wide open and really long.

Thanks for the support. Guess I'll do a new video and see if I've made any progress
 
blah blah blah.

Half the fun of disc golf is trying new things and seeing if they work. If you stop trying new things because you are "too inexperienced" then you are dumb.
 
zrxchris said:
Yes, standstill for me is a one small step. In round play and tourneys I just do a standstill, no x step unless it's wide open and really long.

Thanks for the support. Guess I'll do a new video and see if I've made any progress
Click to expand...

And it's a matter of time, in largest part, with getting better. Figuring out how to do it right is the prerequisite, then just putting in the time practicing it is what garners the results. Figure out ways to practice the exact skills you want, and then do it.

Want to hit spaces between trees more reliably? Find a hole where you've had problems with the trees and toss stacks of discs there, beginning with low power throws and then adding juice when the accuracy gets better. I recall emptying my bag on one hole at Brahan Springs in AL one day, due to frustration. The last couple of discs flew exactly where I aimed. I rounded up all of the discs and threw them again, slower, beginning with the putter and moving up through the ranks--and most of them hit the space I was aiming at. I then picked them up, pulled out a driver, and hit the space at full speed...only to hit a tree much closer to the pin (part of that course is in heavy woods). Playing that hole that day got me out practicing throwing on the very tight lines for a while after that--which made a major difference.
 
Just a quick point for anyone wondering: SW22 does an excellent job of giving you stuff to work on that isn't too advanced. Don't let anything here prevent you from visiting the form a/c.
 
Anyone have the link to this "License to Drive" article Blake mentions in OP?

Maybe that's the article I've been looking for, since I can't reach 350 yet.
 
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