New player, go easy on me!

[derfernerf]

This is my second year of "serious" play. I'm starting to feel like I'm lacking in distance. I have a feeling my form is terrible. I would really like to improve this year. But I was out the other day, and I could throw my putter about the same distance of my drivers (Around 250-300). What the heck!? I was okay with my distance, I could make par if I made good shots, But that happens maybe 50% of the time. I want to be able to make good shots all the time, and (IMO) the key to a good hole, is a good drive. My drives have the typical straightness, then "drop" to the left (RHBH). where as a putter I can throw dead straight. I'm also changing my grip a bit, I was using my index, and pinky fingers as my "grip fingers" and thanks to the "snap" videos here, I have found the index/middle grip is a lot more comfortable for me. Heres a video, and some pictures. I'll take all the help I can get, just nothing too mean. I'm trying to learn

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tq8FKZ6lBbo

[Leopard]

got a good x-step..

[keltik]

there is so much i could say but I'll start with:
Eating snowflakes with plastic fooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrks and a paper plate of course you think of everything

sorry couldn't resist. and you're throwing nose up.

[derfernerf]

I'm not sure if I should be offended by that or not. Not my choice to live in a trailer, I'm only 19...

Any tips to fix my nose up problem? Aside from "Don't do it" or "Point the nose down more" haha. And by nose you mean the "front" of the disc, or the side of the disc opposite of my hand?

I've been reading, and I think my "snap" is off. Like I said I'm lacking the distance, and no matter what disc I have I throw it the same distance. I've been thinking of picking up something like a Leopard or a Roc, something slower, what do you think? I'll see if I can get out tomorrow and throw some discs, and set up the camera at different angles for you all to see.

[Sean40474]

What discs are you throwing with now? There are better discs that lend themselves to making your journey easier and shorter.

Are you keeping the disc nose down during your pull? There is an article that Black wrote with Dave D's help called Grip it to Rip it: The Ins and Outs of Grip. That should assist with you nose up issue as that is what really helped me in the beginning.

[keltik]

I didn't mean any offense. I just couldn't help myself.

as for not throwing nose up the key is keeping your weight (center of mass aka your breast bone) moving forward. you start off well, knees bent body bent. but like everyone in the early stages of developing their form you tend to pop up at the hit. I still catch myself doing it too. the best way to keep your breast bone/center of mass moving forward is to keep your knees slightly bent and concentrate on being smooth.

I wouldn't worry about your snap too much right now. just concentrate on making the disc go fast.

[derfernerf]

Lol alright. Cool. So your saying stay lower/bent/relaxed all the way through my throw? I'll get out tomorrow and try that. In the mean time I'll check out that grip thread. As for discs, The few I throw the most are:

Surge SS FLX 170 (In the pictures and videos)
X nuke 172
Pro Katana 172 (I think)
And I just picked up
R-Pro WaHoo 169 (I'm really liking this disc!)

[Sean40474]

I'd think about throwing slower discs; nothing faster than a fairway driver honestly. Think about throwing putters and comet like discs and concentrate on being smooth and consistent. All that other stuff will come later...learn accuracy and being fluid now and it'll save you time later. Think about it as in building the foundation in which you need to propel yourself from instead of a balsa wood floor that you'll break through when you try to jump.

[JR]

Welcome. Don't worry everybody starts from zero and you're farther than that.

Those discs you have are too fast for learning all the intricacies of form and they do show nose up throws. Leopard is not so nose angle sensitive but it will teach other things well and not fade out on you as much or at all. One prime reason for is reaching back lower than the release point. Try to do a pre throw slow arm swing from reach back keeping the disc at the same height all the way and then do a real throw concentrating on the same. Keeping the heart and the right knee at the same distance from the target at the rip is helpful to minimizing the nose up flight. The bones of the wrist tend to raise the hand in the end of a throw. Check out Marty Peters starting wrist motion from straight ending up right avoiding this problem: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-5uHMoYJ6Q When you move the wrist right of neutral also pushing it down with force helps a lot. To keep the wrist neutral until the snapping of the wrist right you need to tense up the wrist when the elbow starts to straighten.

For more power you can eventually reach back farther by pointing the right toe 180 degrees away from the target and turning the shoulder line as far away from the target as possible. That advanced and takes huge amounts of body control and some muscle power and you need to fix the following things first: You're flat footed. Not only is it an injury risk with neon blinking red lights and a bull horn but it also limits your power by slowing down the turning toward the target. It also may lock your hips preventing you from turning toward the target meaning you'll miss left of if you notice it and try to compensate anything can happen. Your hips are along for a ride almost totally. You do turn the hips left of neutral at the reach back which is good. You have so called control drive now for more power you need to reduce the time you're looking at the target and reach back farther. There more hip turn left at the reach back helps. It ain't enough to bring the hips to neutral. You also need to actively using muscle power to the max twist the hips right of neutral after the right pec position. Search the right pec drill and doing that helps a lot with snap. The shoulders too need to reach back farther than hip line and turn farther right just before the rip. Taking the steps faster adds power and reduces accuracy. You have way more speed available in the legs which in turn makes everything else happen faster. Keeping form is a challenge when you add speed. There are many levels of skill and needed control and muscle power all over required for higher speeds.

[derfernerf]

Sean - Thanks man, Today is pay day, and I think I'm going to pick up a leopard or buzzz (Or both) on my way home from school, and see how that works.

JR - Thank you so much, so many helpful tips. I can't wait to get out and practice. I noticed the flat footed thing when I made the video, time to work on that! Just so I understand, your staying focus less on my reach back, and more on my finish/snap? Then when that comes, I can work on my reach back? That makes total sense! PS: The video you linked, where they are playing is my home course

Now I'm bummed it's going to be in the 30's this weekend Keep the tips coming, I'll try to make a video focusing on the tips I've gotten so far, as like a "Am I doing it right" video. Thanks again!

[gretagun]

I'm not really good at critiquing drives as I'm still trying to refine my own, but there is some good advice given in this thread. Kudos for picking up the Leopard and Buzzz. Both are great discs and will help you advance your technique much faster than some of the wider-rimmed, fast stuff you are throwing. I have put down my fast drivers in favor of Leopards and Teebirds, and have definitely benefited from this. Don't get discouraged at first, as they will probably not go as far as what you are currently throwing, but after some solid practice your accuracy and distance should surpass the distances you are getting with your Surges, Katanas, Nukes.
I would also advise you read and practice the drills in the "Super Secret Technique"
http://www.discgolfreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=19220.
I'm not contradicting anyone's previous advice, but personally I wish I had started with these drills before ever worrying about my x-step, shoulders, hips, body positions etc. The hammer drills outlined in the above link will really help you figure out timing and wrist movement. Once you get a feeling for these drills, then you can start start adding/focusing on everything else to make your "hit" stronger.

[derfernerf]

Thanks for the link, that should help out a bit. I'll be out practicing next week a ton, as it is my break between quarters for school. I have an elementary school 1/10 of a mile from my house, so I can just walk there whenever I want and use the soccer field as a good place to practice. It has been snowing all day so luck trying out any new disc...

I'll keep reading up on what you all say, and hopefully get out this weekend/next week!

[JR]

Sean - Thanks man, Today is pay day, and I think I'm going to pick up a leopard or buzzz (Or both) on my way home from school, and see how that works.

JR - Thank you so much, so many helpful tips. I can't wait to get out and practice. I noticed the flat footed thing when I made the video, time to work on that! Just so I understand, your staying focus less on my reach back, and more on my finish/snap? Then when that comes, I can work on my reach back? That makes total sense! PS: The video you linked, where they are playing is my home course

Now I'm bummed it's going to be in the 30's this weekend Keep the tips coming, I'll try to make a video focusing on the tips I've gotten so far, as like a "Am I doing it right" video. Thanks again!

That's it. Once you get better with the mentioned issues please don't hesitate to post a new video so that we can suggest the next goals and how to drill those.

[Jak3]

Pulling your pants up might help some.

[derfernerf]

Hah, I knew someone would say that. I don't even notice it. My weight changes a lot so some days pants fit, some days they don't. It's a part of life for me!

We had a nice ice storm last night, no practice for me today