Any good drills to shorten my stride?

[dehaas]

I know this would be a lot easier if I had a video of my throw for everybody, but I know that my last step in my x-step is too long a lot of the time. This causes me to lose momentum going forward, and because my last stride is so long I tend to throw a lot of low shots. That isn't bad most of the time, but I'm prone to throw tee shots into the ground from time to time. Obviously I'd hope this gets worked out with the changes to my footwork.

So has anybody else had issues with over-striding at their last step, and did you find any good drills or anything to help eliminate this? I got some field throws in this morning, and was trying to actively not over-stride. On my better throws (RHBH) I noticed that my final step was aligned slightly left from my previous steps. After looking at Avery's slow-mo vid is looks as if he does this on his on his backhand throw too. It seems like I had more leverage on the disc in this position, if that makes sense. I'm not comparing my throw to his by any means, I've just been trying to clean up my form this summer and this seems to be still holding me back. I've done a lot of right pec drills and then added a reach back and feel good throwing from a stand still but I don't get a lot more distance with a run up than from a stand still.

[fanter]

I know that I have this issue, also, so I'm interested to read the responses. That long last step creates some weight-shift and disc plane issues that I think I've managed to hide by other means, which bothers me.

[keltik]

something like this just takes conscious effort and a lot of practice. a good place to start is the good old Beto right peck video. you could also go to a field and make yourself a "tee pad" in the grass and force yourself to make the steps inside the box. remember it's conscious effort and practice.

[dehaas]

yeah, i think the biggest problem at this point is the lack of practice. i've been focused on everything from scratch, so the biggest bulk of my field work is getting a good feel of the right pec drill and then adding a reach back to it. i just don't think i've got enough reps in yet with a full run up. i'm hoping that focusing on the hip rotation and the hit will help me realize that i don't need a huge stride to get power.

[JR]

How about putting step marks on the ground and trying to hit each of them? The next thing is dangerous and you could hurt yourself so do it at your own risk and warn everyone trying to do the same of these caveats. Starting with a one step throw simulation with the legs only arms at the side all the time plant before hitting a wall/tree trunk, rock or whatever. You'll know when you've overdone the plant step length. Ouch! slowly increasing speed and then adding another step starting slowly going faster etc. but always keeping the speed so slow that you don't ram anything in the follow through step should give you a slow speed approach shot type drill. Never try a full speed run because the momentum will push you into the object you are trying to avoid in the follow through.

So the sane drill for full speed and following through could be a ball on the ground or any other object that won't hurt you if you hit it and that allows a follow through. And moves away if you hit it not tripping you or sticking your leg to the plant position removing the pivot. You must always be able to pivot to avoid severe injury or excess straining of the plant leg and back. That will lead to injury sooner rather than later.

[DsmDisc]

My suggestion would be to slow down. I had the same problem with my final step being far to large in my walk-up. When I started slowing myself down significantly (like I was in slow motion), I could actually focus on getting smaller steps. After doing this for awhile it became second nature when I sped myself back up to keep the small steps. I know this isn't really a drill, but I found it very effective.