What to look for when analyzing a throw.

[Joe_tcdg]

Long time lurker first time poster.

I have a mild obsession with discgolf and ive been reading quite a few articles on form. Soon here I'll be posting a video of myself for analysis but I'm very interested in what sticks out to you all in most form videos, and what reference points you all use to determine these things.

Poor reach out/back is pretty clear if the arm is seriously bent, or pulled past about 170 degrees of the target line

Bracing seems to be harder for me to see in some cases, though if a person Flys forward after their throw that's my clue.

Strong arming is something i only notice because of the upper half getting ahead of the lower half or if the throw just looks wonkey

I think it would be super helpful if you analysis guru's made a list of common form issues, with what to look for, what's happening, and suggestions for each individual aliment.

Cheers
Joe

 

[Aim For The Chains]

We could use a FAQ of throwing or something im sure with uodated current drills and videos referenced but i always used this:
https://www.dgcoursereview.com/dgr/resources/technique.shtml

 

[rickles]

and the new sticky here on DGCR thanks to slowplastic

 

[sidewinder22]

 

[slowplastic]

Most common problems involve trying to do everything "at" the target, rather than through the hit point. Throwing the arm and upper body directly at the target, which lunges forward, and typically going through the X-step too fast for more forward momentum, which is improperly used. And then when that doesn't get the results that are wanted, adding in more speed and strength.

 

[Boss Man]

Fantastic reply. This made my day :clap:

 

[Joe_tcdg]

I have checked those out (very helpful), but what I mean is something to help others to spot these issues in video analysis. So that rather than people posting videos here and hoping one of the handful of guys that analyze well does so, hopefully more people will have a greater understanding of the throw from seeing common errors. Using different submissions here to highlight them.

I just think this would be a way to teach people and let them gain understanding, a way to grow the sport.

 

[DiscFifty]

For me, when watching someone's form, I'm not a technician so I only look for a few things: (btw..these are the 4 things I focus on when working on my form, which seems to help me the most.)

1) X-step speed. Are they going too fast? Slooow down.
2) Late acceleration: Is the arm moving too fast, too soon, through the pull?
3) Reach back. Granted, you don't need a full reach back for good d, but some reach back is essential.
4) Coiling. Are they coiling too soon, too much, or at just the right time. (Coming across the chest/core.)

 

[PWaggoner]

The only reach back that matters is elbow reach back.

Read about the bent elbow technique on the link Aim posted (dgr.com)

 

[Buddymc]

It would be nice if someone would break down the form the way some folks have done with ball golf swings. Sidewinder has heavy intense info, but I just don't really always understand what he's talking about. HeavyDisc's blog has some really nice vids.

 

[banzai7]

I'd be nice to have something like this for disc golf throws.
(From here: http://www.allsportsschool.com/userfiles/2013 TOM HOUSE.pdf)

 

[roflsocks]

I look at the legs, hips, feet, overall posture, elbow, bracing, and follow through. Also look for rounding, and if the disc is traveling in a plane or not.

Legs and hips, because that's where the power comes from. I have the easiest time telling how much someone is engaging their hips by looking at their legs, especially on shots from the side. If it's a shot from behind, I think it's easier to see the ass snap around in a pronounced manner. Regardless, hips need to be driving the body around, not merely moving around incidentally.

I look at the feet, because people will often have their feet pointed wrong. Rear foot is commonly pointing too far back, and/or people are pushing off the heel. Front foot is commonly too open, which opens the hips up without getting any power from it. If either of these are wrong, it's harder to engage the hips.

I look at the elbow to see how much elbow extension is there. Unless they're throwing sweedish, lack of good extension usually goes along with accelerating the throw too early.

I look at the follow through, both that the arms/shoulder spin around fully, and also that the body doesn't fall forward after the throw. If the arms/shoulders aren't following through fully, then it usually means there's a bunch of other stuff wrong too, mostly that there isn't any hip action in the throw, because if there were, the follow through would be pretty much automatic.

Falling forward after the throw means the brace was poor, and that rather than bracing and sending the power into the disc, that energy was used to carry our body forward instead. Also commonly done wrong when there's no hips involved.

And obvious things like rounding, or the disc not being pulled on a plane. Because they're wrong, and probably easier to fix than some of the other things people do wrong.

That's not really all of it, but perhaps the major stuff that stands out to me the easiest. Good weight shift, bracing from behind, overall timing, late shoulder tug, staying loose until you're gripping hard, etc are all important too. I think most of the above do a good job of capturing the majority of the big things I see wrong a lot. Oh, also people going too fast. That's another big one.

 

[runningDoc]

It would be nice if someone would break down the form the way some folks have done with ball golf swings. Sidewinder has heavy intense info, but I just don't really always understand what he's talking about. HeavyDisc's blog has some really nice vids.

this is the basic primer video to further understanding SW22's videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0gzNIRxRbY




after you get the basic 5 steps in the video down you can use SW22's videos + Heavy Blog's posts to understand the separate 5 steps further. There's no actual step by step total breakdown, but you can use the Sexton/McBeth video as the jumping off point to get the great basics down.

 

[banzai7]

If you want to know what to look for in video, you can't do much better than to watch the first 1min 15sec of this: