Masterbeato's form

[Bradley Walker]

This was a good thread.

http://www.discgolfreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=25072#25072

I will post when I get some time.

[black udder]

Blake or MB, Could you reword/rephrase "clearing the hip" at least 1 or 2 ways for me?

Clearing the hip is where your hip strikes forward, just like your foot does when it pivots at the release point.

Notice when you watch Timmy Gill's foot (for example) it strikes forward, rather then just slowly rotating to the forward position.

This would imply that you pivot on the heel (or strike forward on the heel and follow onto the ball). right?

[DaPats]

Clearing or opening up your hips is where most power is started in baseball, golf and disc. You don't need a run up to learn this. It is good to have somebody around when you are playing to point it out to you if you keep your hips closed during your throw. Just got to get out there and practice. Like Blake said start from a stand still or just step into it like in baseball. You'll be trowing over 300 in no time from a stand still.

[Beetard]

Clearing or opening up your hips

Ah. So "clearing" your hips just means rotating them toward what you are throwing at.

What timing of this is optimal? Start turning the hips toward the target just before the start of the pull through, right? If the hips are helping pull the torso and arm around it will add power, but if you start too late and the pullthrough is turning the hips, it robs power, yah?

I am very sports-stupid. Throwing a disc is the first athletic movement I have ever tried to master. I never got good at hitting a baseball or golfball, or throwing a baseball.

[CJ1998]

I find it interesting comparing throwing a disc to hitting a baseball. I'm right handed in baseball and I throw RHBH with discs (mostly). Think about the motions of each for a moment. As it turns out, they are opposite, or at least the direction of hip rotation is opposite. In other words, throwing a disc RHBH is more like hitting a baseball left-handed. I would guess that if I tried to throw LHBH, my hip action would be OK, maybe even pretty good, but the arm motion would suck. As it is now, I don't think I get very good hip action when I throw.

My guess is that if I hit the batting cages and force myself to swing left-handed, it would only help me to better open my hips when throwing a disc. It could at least be a sort of cross-training method.

The other thing I think would help is those sideways agility drills that football players do. They cross the trailing foot in front of the other foot and then in back alternatively while traversing the football field with a focus on light feet. (make sense?).

The portion of that drill in which you cross your trailing foot behind the lead foot (x step) and step back forward with the lead foot is precisely what we do when throwing with the x step. The difference is that in the drill, you prepare to bring the trailing foot back in front of the lead foot and then repeat the process. When throwing a disc, we explode with the hips and turn completely around. The purpose of the drill is for quickness, agility, coordination, and control of the hips. I still think that it can help a disc golfer at least understand how to use the hips in the throw.

Heres a vid of that drill

[black udder]

Hips, shoulders, arm. Hips start it all. You want to make sure that you don't max out your shoulder rotation before your hips are cleared.

[black udder]

not sure I understand how hitting a baseball left applies to throwing a disc right.

Of course, I never played much baseball either - I thought it's the same process pivot hips, shoulders, arms. Obviously not identical, but you get the idea.

As for throwing LHBH, once you get the idea of the form down, it's really mostly the rotation. I thew LHBH last night for the first time ever and was able to chuck a disc out over 200'. To get greater distance you need the coordination but it does show just how much the hip/shoulder pivot contribute to the arm pull for the throw.

[Blake_T]

hitting a baseball is weight back.

Hips, shoulders, arm. Hips start it all. You want to make sure that you don't max out your shoulder rotation before your hips are cleared.

the hips don't clear until you are going through the power zone.

[garublador]

hitting a baseball is weight back.

Hips, shoulders, arm. Hips start it all. You want to make sure that you don't max out your shoulder rotation before your hips are cleared.

the hips don't clear until you are going through the power zone.

I thought I saw somewhere something about kicking your back foot out. When does that happen? Is it at the same time you're hitting max acceleration (is that the "power zone") where the disc has passed the right pec?

[Blake_T]

lifting the back foot up = when your weight shifts to your front foot.

if you build your footwork from the front to back, it's pretty obvious when this should happen.

seriously... learn with stationary form and work backwards.

[garublador]

seriously... learn with stationary form and work backwards.

Don't worry, that's what I'm going to do. I just wanted to get a few fun rounds in before I get to the serious technique repair so I thought I'd ask some questions in advance.

I've been working on accelerating at the end of my throw since the end of last season and I think I was getting some good 350' or so Teebird shots and I realized that I definitely wasn't clearing my hips and I was purposefully not using much of my legs to concentrate on my timing.

[niuvalleycane]

MB,

Thanks for sharing!

Could we be the lucky recipients of another video or 2 of your throwing form from different angles?

I enjoy what appears to be a very efficient and Blake approved throwing motion and would like to emulate it closely

[Blake_T]

niu:

focus on his timing/acceleration during the late stages of the throw. do whatever you have to do body-wise to emulate that.

there's plenty of body positions that are "good", but most people can only hit large levels of acceleration with 1 or 2.

try to make your timing like his and find a form that allows for that.

[masterbeato]

MB,

Thanks for sharing!

Could we be the lucky recipients of another video or 2 of your throwing form from different angles?

I enjoy what appears to be a very efficient and Blake approved throwing motion and would like to emulate it closely

Yes, I will post more videos when the snow is completely gone and 60 degrees. It just snowed like crazy here today and will until the morning, but we will get rain and stuff for next week so it will be gone very soon. Expect a few videos pretty soon.

[garublador]

2. pace back your footwork from the end of the throw. hence, start at the throw and work backwards... this way every step cnotributes to your finish position. it's easy to have footwork that prevents good finish positioning.... if you work backwards the footwork you develop will have to work with good finish positioning because it was built upon establishing that finish position.

Perhaps a little video of somone doing this might help out. It would be nice to see each step of the process of building your throw from the end backwards.