Jim's (bad) drive

[JimW]

So after a lot of frustration and difficulty trying to get my uncooperative body to coordinate itself somewhat I've finally got an x-step basically established. I'm only getting drives out to about 240 at best so I know I'm probably doing nearly everything wrong in some fashion but I'm actually pretty happy about this because I've finally got something that I should be able to build off of. All advice is greatly appreciated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLXRFSGZh9I

Next time I think I need to get some shots with the camera positioned behind and to the right of me, the straight across view isn't the best way to see everything that's going on.

[black udder]

alrighty then...


1) Weight back at rip
2) Not anywhere near close to your chest when disc comes around
3) Wrist is loosening and the disc is going nose up at rip
4) Your hips and torso are moving as one, rotate hips and keep the back leg back. Try a few easy throws keeping the back foot on the ground until after the disc is gone. Increase speed/power as you feel comfortable and safe. The motion you want is a twisting motion, not a twirling one.
5) You might get more power by bringing the disc a bit lower.
6) Watch Brad's snap videos and try and pull that disc in tighter and get some tendon bounce.
7) Pull later. Looks like you're pulling from fairly far back.
Stop the elbow to really force the lower arm out faster.

To get the idea of keeping both feet on the ground. Stand still and throw, but try and get as much hip twist as you can. You should need to keep both feet down to stay balanced. You want that kind of balance and then add the x-step to give you some forward momentum. I believe when it's done right, you end up with something like Dan and Brad's 'walk off' after the rip.

[JR]

Additionally try getting the elbow farther toward the target prior to chopping the elbow.

[Aaron_D]

Everything said so far is right on. Also, take smaller, slower steps in the run up. The run up is more about creating the right body positions than adding momentum. You arent getting over the disc at all. Dont reach back as far and generally relax more...especially at the reach back and the start of the pull. Accelerate slowly then fast as you get into the power zone. How is your grip? I highly suggest the Climo 'fork grip' or the Blake 'above the seam' grip. Make sure you are getting a consistent release. Make sure and try and stay on plane throughout the pull including keeping the wrist down as the disc pivots out of your hand. Totally drop all fast drivers and throw 170ish dx gazelles or 165ish dx teebirds and start pushing them out as far as possible...putters and mids too.

[black udder]

Everything said so far is right on. Also, take smaller, slower steps in the run up. The run up is more about creating the right body positions than adding momentum. You arent getting over the disc at all. Dont reach back as far and generally relax more...especially at the reach back and the start of the pull. Accelerate slowly then fast as you get into the power zone. How is your grip? I highly suggest the Climo 'fork grip' or the Blake 'above the seam' grip. Make sure you are getting a consistent release. Make sure and try and stay on plane throughout the pull including keeping the wrist down as the disc pivots out of your hand. Totally drop all fast drivers and throw 170ish dx gazelles or 165ish dx teebirds and start pushing them out as far as possible...putters and mids too.

I'd recommend 165ish gazelles and no teebirds until you can hit 300' on demand. Teebirds, especially dx, are such meat hooks until you can get some pop on a disc.

[JimW]

Grip is the Climo grip. Most of my driving is done with Cheetahs already.

The wrist down upon release has always been a real problem for me. No matter how hard I concentrate on keeping it angled down at the beginning of the driving motion and maintaining the angle through the pull I can never keep it down till release, always pops back up.

Any advice for getting a proper release off of putters and mids? Most of the time I can release drivers pretty cleanly but I am pretty much horrible at doing a regular reachback throw with mids and putters because I can't seem to release them off of all my fingers at the same time, giving me a lot of flutter.

I'll be trying to put this stuff into action. Right now I'm just hoping to get up to 275' with consistency and control in time for Mocassin Lake.

[dgdave]

You're supposed to use your right hand

[black udder]

Getting your weight forward more and pulling on a lower line can help with keeping the nose down because it puts your body in a position where it's more natural to keep the nose down than let your wrist pop up.

Also, if you focus not on throwing hard but on the wrist pop and extension, it can be easier to do because your focus then is on extending your wrist straight out or downwards. Once you can do that consistently, you can move to something else and see if it's in muscle memory.

As for putters/mids, don't grip too hard. Use the Climo fork grip.

One thing I believe helps is to get some tendon bounce going. The disc comes out so fast that there isn't time for your grip to affect the disc with wobble - it's just in your hand, then gone.

[chiggins]

The wrist down upon release has always been a real problem for me. No matter how hard I concentrate on keeping it angled down at the beginning of the driving motion and maintaining the angle through the pull I can never keep it down till release, always pops back up.

How's the disc aligned in your grip?

http://www.discgolfreview.com/resources ... l#nosedown

[JimW]

The wrist down upon release has always been a real problem for me. No matter how hard I concentrate on keeping it angled down at the beginning of the driving motion and maintaining the angle through the pull I can never keep it down till release, always pops back up.

How's the disc aligned in your grip?

http://www.discgolfreview.com/resources ... l#nosedown

It's aligned downwards.

You're supposed to use your right hand

That's actually true since I'm right-handed, but it has always been far more natural for me to throw a frisbee/disc backhand left-handed. I've tried to learn right-handed because I can tell I have better coordination and snap that way but throwing right-handed with any sort of force results in shoulder pain after just a few throws so it's pretty much not an option. I can throw all day left-handed with no pain or soreness so that's just the way I'm going to have to continue.

One other thing I've noticed from this video: I look like I'm about 17

[rehder]

this is a case of classic, not pulling through with your elbow and keeping it close (as can be seen in pic), Your elbow hasnt really made it across your body before you already start opening your arm. So think about starting the pull WAAAAY later, and try to pull the disc forward into your elbow joint.

[JimW]

I've been working to incorporate some of the advice into it, though unsurprisingly for me I have a very difficult time actually implementing anything. I did feel like I had made some minor progress though. Unfortunately I was running into some shoulder pain this past weekend so I haven't thrown at all since the past three days, it does seem better though so tomorrow or Friday I'll be back in the field.

[Greatzky]

You're supposed to use your right hand

[Greatzky]

you should also remember that being too tense will cause a lot of pain when throwing as well as inconsistent throws and bad releases.
I find that if you tense up too early and also try to muscle a disc through you'll probably get the nose up too which isn't good.

I have changed my throwing form at least 12 times in the last 6 years(NOT A GOOD THING) and my bets throws are always when i'm throwing lighter and when I don't tense up my forearm and wrist. I actually don't throw as far as I use to and it's because I screw around with my entire form too much.

I would recommend the Disc golf Fundamentals DVD. It has some good advice for starting to get your throw down. They also suggest keeping your muscles loose and, from my interpretation, tensing them up as late as you can.