Working back from the hit: A progress thread

[Triflusal]

So in the last couple weeks I have been doing lots of field practice, but I think it hasn't really been helping. I've decided to start over again, this time with a solid plan.

I believe the field practice I have been doing has been ineffective, because I didn't have a set goal for each session. I would do some right pec drills, then maybe some full reachback throws with run-up, then maybe some one step throws, and then get frustrated.

I read this thread on DGR, and decided I'm gonna do something like Dan Beto did (watered down of course, I couldn't handle 8+ hours in the field). Im gonna do an extended period of working back from the hit. I'm making this thread to help track my progress, ask questions, and make sure what I'm doing is right.

I plan to focus on tons of right pec drills, really trying to feel the late acceleration, and just burn it into my muscle memory. Then I plan on (after loads of right pec drills) experimenting with bent elbow vs. straight arm reachback.

Am I approaching this right? Anything else I should add? Suggestions would be welcome.

Current golf D is:

Fairway drivers (eagles): ~330
Mids (rocs, comets): ~300
putters: I can push 280, but useful golf D is about 260

My distance did improve, (jumped by about 15-20' in each category) but only for a couple days, and then I lost accuracy and D again.

For the first couple days of standing right pec drills, what type of disc would best facilitate this? Just putters? Or would anything up to fairway drivers work fine?

If what I am doing here is way off base, someone tell me PLEASE

 

[prerube]

Why do I have the urge to post a starfruit?

 

[Triflusal]

Cause you just downed some haterade

I don't troll the technique section, just most of the other sections

Technique or GTFO

 

[prerube]

Have you tried the hammer drills?

 

[craigg]

Consistency is as much or more about footwork than anything. Consistent footwork is what allows you to have a quick turn, which then allows you to turn your arm into the whip it needs to be. You can get good practice in the field without ever throwing a disc (which ultimatley is what gets you tired and sore).
Try this; take a VERY slow jog up the sideline of your field and take yourself through your throwing motion over and over. Focus on the turn your torso makes and how it feels as you start to bring your arm through the throwing motion. This will also help you discover which is more comfortable - straight or bent arm. Focus on reproducing your step pattern. Once you feel comfortable with your feet - everything else will follow, and you can have better/more productive field practice.

Good luck!

 

[tom8658]

I'm a terrible golfer, so I can't give you any specific advice, but I can offer some general advice on how to practice. In the "secret technique" thread, Blake talked a lot about how people were coming into it with the wrong mindset, and they weren't practicing correctly, and I think I understand what he was getting at.

What you're really trying to achieve are enough QUALITY repetitions to build new patterns in your muscle memory, without so many bad repetitions that the previous patterns are further ingrained. Of course, that's easier said than done, so what you really want to learn are techniques to achieve that.

You've already figured out that it's important to have a goal for the whole session, but if you find that you're having trouble concentrating for the entire session, break it down even further. Set a timer for ~10 minutes or as long as you feel you can concentrate on a thing, then tell yourself that you're going to work on a particular facet of the skill until the time is up, and move on to something else. If you were practicing the guitar, you might work on a particular scale and its major and minor chords for 10 minutes, then move on to a difficult part of a song that you want to master for 10 minutes, et cetera. Jumping around may not always be ideal, but sometimes it's better not to beat your head against something until you're frustrated and making mistakes

It's also important to find the balance between mindfully executing every repetition in the same way and over-thinking them. Here I can offer first-hand advice, because I've been training for a geared powerlifting meet, which is almost as much about technique and learning to use the gear as it is about strength. In that sense, learning to squat in a suit is very similar to learning to throw a golf disc - both are complex, multi-joint movements which have to be programmed into your muscle memory, and both can be totally ruined by being as little as a quarter inch out of position at any point in the movement. That said, here are some observations you may find helpful:

* When learning to squat, verbal cues are used to get the lifter into the proper position: "knees out" or "sit back" to get the proper descent in the suit, or "chest up" to remind the lifter to hold a tight arch in their back. More experienced lifters are sometimes still cued verbally, but they typically use the cues as a way to prepare themselves while setting up under the bar. That said, no one uses verbal cues for the *entire* movement - they're just used as a way to remind you to set up the same, start the lift the same, and stay in the same positions throughout. In a way, they help trigger the muscle memory that the previous reps have built.

Disc golfers use cues as well, though they aren't always verbal. The best disc golfer that I know personally (he pushes a TBird 370 with good control, and is overall very accurate) cues his distance drives exactly the same way every time by tapping the heel of his front foot against the toes of his back foot. It just helps him get the timing right, and he can't throw nearly as well without it, or if we point it out and he starts thinking about it. EDIT: This jives with what craigg just said - he cues his footwork, not his whole throw.

* The best way to practice technique is to do single repetitions - you may keep the bar on your back for a set of 8 repetitions, but you would pause between each one, and reset yourself as necessary. In the same way, you may throw a stack of 8 discs using the right pec drill, but shouldn't be throwing the stack, you should throw individual discs. This is why, when I first got my practice basket, my putting didn't improve at all: setting up a stack of putters and hitting 10 putts in quick succession didn't teach me a thing about how to set up and hit a single putt when it mattered.

* If you think too hard about the lift, you'll psych yourself out and miss it. In the same way, if I think think too hard about a throw, I'm more likely to shank it than if I just step onto the teepad, line up, and throw. This is part of the reason why some lifters sniff ammonia caps (smelling salts) - the adrenaline rush pushes your thoughts right out, so instead of focusing on "oh sh*t this is 600lbs it's going to crush me", you focus on setting up, taking the bar out, getting settled, and letting muscle memory take over.

Sorry I can't offer more specific advice, I hope you can get something out of it.

 

[Triflusal]

Have you tried the hammer drills?

yeah, I'm doing those too

thanks for the strategy and mindset advice guys, that is gonna be helpful when I inevitably get frustrated

 

[Thuracine]

Towel drills. After doing the hammer drills for a while I went back and tryed the towel drill again, and was finally getting it to snap with a disc golf throw(never could before) you can hear the difference on good a try and a bad try. Helped me get past the 400 feet mark with wraith's and force's with control.

Good luck on your quest

 

[Triflusal]

Yeah, I'll throw in some towel drills

What do you guys think of isometric resistance band training for fast twitch muscles?

 

[JTacoma03]

What do you guys think of isometric resistance band training for fast twitch muscles?

Borderline useless when isolated from/outside of a more comprehensive conditioning program.

Plus in this scenario it won't just magically give you distance - throwing is a full body motion. If you really want to help yourself, athletic conditioning is always a good idea, but you'll get the most out of coordination/agility drills and core strengthening.

EDIT: not saying you think that (about the magic), but isometric training programs are hawked like snake-oil as if they'll magically make you quicker just by stretching a band around a couple times per week. From experience on both sides (training and trainer) I've found the advertised stuff to be at best greatly exaggerated. I'm not saying isometric training is bad or false - but it's not going to do you much good unless you're already at a certain level of conditioning.

 

[jeffmonty]

Have you tried one of those $30 power/balance bracelets?:doh:

 

[JoshEpoo]

I plan to focus on tons of right pec drills, really trying to feel the late acceleration, and just burn it into my muscle memory

The following bit of information from Blake in regards to the right pec drill is very very important. It's crucial to having success with the shot and getting natural acceleration vs. an awkward forced failed attempt. If you never learn this part of the shot, you'll be strong arming forever and stuck at 375-400'.

the early stages of this drill are to work with just upper body rotation.

rotate away, push off with your left foot and rotate forwards. if you are relaxed you should feel when you want to start tugging hard. you'll be surprised how faced up to the target you will be and how the disc actually leaves from in front of your body.

You have to rotate your shoulders back a little bit, then open your body up in a relaxed, natural way until your elbow's momentum "wants" to swing open from the rotation of your body.

 

[Triflusal]

@ jatacoma (or whatever)

This is what I thought, just wondering what other people thought.

@Josh

Thanks, I will remember that

 

[Triflusal]

Man, I picked non stop rain week to start this

 

[Triflusal]

UPDATE:

did about 150 right pec drills today, I was aiming for 200, but it started raining. Most discs are averaging about 200', and I am feeling the acceleration.

I am introducing some accidental OAT on some throws, and it feels like my middle finger is getting in the way, i.e. I am not getting a clean rip. Also, about halfway through, I realized I was doing more of a release (actually, more like a really weak grip) rather than a sling/rip, and I wasn't really relaxed, so I tried to fix that.

tomorrow, weather permitting, I am either gonna do the same thing, or right pec drills with one step. I will see how I feel. I think the one step right pec drills will help me shift my weight better.

 

[Triflusal]

UPDATE: DAY 2

Today I did 100 right pec drills with one step. I was gonna do more (yep more excuses) but my rotator cuff started to ache a little, and I didn't want to tweak it.

I found that if I dropped my lead shoulder just a tad while taking the one step, it felt more powerful, and I got some good throws that way. It was crazy windy though, so I don't know how consistent my grouping actually is. The one step did help me shift my weight better, as I predicted.

tomorrow I will probably do some more one steps, and then maybe throw in a two step if I feel comfortable.

 

[Cnote]

UPDATE:
tomorrow, weather permitting, I am either gonna do the same thing, or right pec drills with one step. I will see how I feel. I think the one step right pec drills will help me shift my weight better.

I was playing with the right pec drill yestday too. I got to the point where I was doing a full x-step with it. The cool part is I was throwing as far as I normally do (farther at times) with less effort and more on target. Cool stuff.

 

[i_throw_bricks]

Have just started working back from the hit myself. We'll see how it goes.

 

[rdwyer]

Have you tried one of those $30 power/balance bracelets?:doh:

just found out those dont work at all. If you search for it, you can find a press release where the company admits they just have a placebo effect

 

[Triflusal]

please dont turn my thread into one of the 4 power balance threads