Increasing hip rotation

[Sean40474]

here is the vid from a couple years ago. pretty basic stuff, it just goes over how to use the hips properly. I am not sure if this drill will make your hip rotation faster but it should help your throw once you understand the timing. I have noticed drastic differences when I don't jam my hip at the hit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDcrO7wPXxU

People with naturally fluid hips are usually world class athletes(or have the potential). last year around spring time I met a professional baseball pitcher at Pease Park. He was pretty new to the game, only playing in his free time(offseason or rehab if recall). You could tell his strong core/hips made him a natural. With just a few tips from me he got out to about 350ft. He couldn't control a disc, but his discs were moving at a considerably faster speed than mine, and with little effort. it was all from his core, and was pretty damn impressive.

I can't believe I haven't seen this video yet, this opens my mind to other things that I could fix. Actually, I didn't even know this existed till someone referenced it in another thread.

[JR]

In physics the term in lever and in the other thread in the Somax video of Tim Lincecum it is shown how the core is the source of power along with the legs that drives the force multiplying lever that is the arm. That is why a top player here mostly trains core. And why martial arts generate the power from the body. MB is a martial artist.

[ajkuck]

I would like to improve my hip rotation and get more on balance so I can switch from a toe pivot to a heel pivot at the end of my shot. Here is a link of a couple recent backhands, any advice would be awesome http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91ueFST7 ... e=youtu.be

[JR]

Welcome Adam. Your backhand throw lacks two essentials called the pause and getting the elbow closer to the target than any other body part before you straighten the arm. Your reach back in the farthest point back puts your torso between the disc and the target which is great for power generation for maximum distance. And reduces accuracy and consistency. The arm must travel around the body when moving the disc in a straight line will put the disc more on a line if you have slips or timing variations.

The pause refers to the body moving in two separate stages from the reach back to the torso pointing 90 degrees left of the target looking from above and then staying there until you move the disc so that it is around the right side and the elbow is well closer to the target than the side. The body starts to turn again this time with muscle power when the first part comes from momentum of the x steps.

The thumber also lacks reaching back. The left side should point at the target and you aim with the left shoulder. This way you can get the arm way farther back and accelerate for a longer time. You should push forward with the left leg, twist the hips and turn the shoulders to the left to add more power. Getting your weight shift and muscles adding speed to the throw.

There's more but that is a lot to train so i'd try those first and then when you like your form post another video to the video critique section. Have fun but really practicing in the snow is hard. It can lead to weird results that won't show you how things really work.

The heel pivot comes from landing the side of the right toe on the ground rolling to the heel on the edge of the shoe sole and side pretty loosely with the muscles and once you get to the heel the ball of the foot you should already have raised the front of the foot to be well airborne. You need to brace the right leg at some point to get the pause and then release the tension a little for the leg to pivot but how much and when depends on the speed and your form so you need to test which way works the best.

[ajkuck]

Thanks for the advice, but just to clarify some of your points, I have a few more comments/questions. Are you saying that my reach back is good or should I rotate a little more to get maximum reach? And as for my elbow, are you saying that I should pull the disc closer to my chest and to not to extend my arm until my elbow is ahead of me and pointing at the target before I release?

As for the heel pivot, I need to work on the planting of my right foot as you stated. The video clips I posted are slightly different than my normal shot being that I was trying to avoid the mud in front of the tee pads. Normally I rotate off my toes more, which is why my body was left open, especially on the backhand clip when I was throwing my buzz.

Also, would you recommend practicing my backhand from a standstill first to get my arm mechanics down before adding the x-step while working on these things?

Lastly, I used to flick and have gone away from it so I could learn to backhand this summer and fall. Unfortunately, my flick has deteriorated since I have gone away from it, so I will also try to add a video of that as well. Being that I live in Minnesota and Wisconsin, I may not get any new videos posted until the weather starts warming up again, but I appreciate the advice.

[JR]

Can you train indoors? It is safer for the body to be in a warm place to train such explosive movements if you're not used to throwing. Filming indoors might produce a darker image but it won't hamper the filming.

You reach back just fine distance wise but for the majority of the throws everyone benefits from less than full power and using a form that maximizes the accuracy and consistency. That is why reaching back more toward the left side of the tee pad looking from behind the tee toward the target is an easier way to get the disc moving in a straight line. This is for accuracy throws which is always my starting point in giving tips to people.

There are tricks to add power but often times trying to be a hero leads to shorter throws than with control throws. Because building up the basics is hard enough starting with stand still throws is a great idea and then taking one step, two then the x steps and at slow speeds initially for each version. I also recommend an excessively slow pre throw routine in which you stand still and pull the disc at a constant height and a straight line concentrating on how it feels. Then trying to recreate the same feeling in a real throw.

You are correct in that the disc should move close to the body and the extension of the arm needs to wait until the elbow is well ahead of the right side. Just make sure that the upper arm is not pointed straight at the target before the elbow extension starts. because the elbow locks up and there is momentum ripping the elbow straight really stretching the muscles and the tendons in the arm hurting like hell and creating a huge danger of injury. A couple inches short of full extension is where the elbow needs to begin the straightening at the latest to have a safety margin. I've pushed my elbow out too far and it almost dropped me to my knees from the pain. And i'm very limber borderline over limber. I am in many places but not everywhere so i'm just short of a medical diagnosis of having over extension syndrome. Gum man is a term that's been used of me often and by many.