Girls throwing, and Ashley rambles about sidearms

[Leopard]

Does having breasts affect your throwing motion? This is a serious question. I used to hit my chest when I first started out and then I learned proper technique. But I've always wondered if having extra tissue on the front of your body makes things difficult or if it adds something to be conscious of.

That's a great question as my girlfriend is starting to get better and has big boobs, do you have any advice that I could give her in this matter?

I noticed from the driving range that there are far more female "naturals" than male. IMO it comes down to beginners wanting to pull from the hip to the shoulder. A much higher % of ladies would pull across above their chest, making for the best beginner drives I saw, aside from sheer bro-monkey force + oat. Ladies throw pretty clean when they start like that.

[ashley]

My daughters are 10 & 12, they have been playing for 8 monthes. My youngest competes in the monthly tournaments with the men and really enjoys it. She has a solid driving game and her putting is getting really godd inside of 15 feet. She is a little timid on the upshots, in trying not to over shoot the basket with her mid, she comes up way to short and leves long putts.

How do I get her over the fear, and get her to go for it?

I have always had a solid approach game, but the biggest thing that help me overcome this was working on my putting. Once I felt more confident farther and farther out, I didn't stress so much about putting my approach directly under the basket.

[ashley]

Does having breasts affect your throwing motion? This is a serious question. I used to hit my chest when I first started out and then I learned proper technique. But I've always wondered if having extra tissue on the front of your body makes things difficult or if it adds something to be conscious of.

That's a great question as my girlfriend is starting to get better and has big boobs, do you have any advice that I could give her in this matter?

I noticed from the driving range that there are far more female "naturals" than male. IMO it comes down to beginners wanting to pull from the hip to the shoulder. A much higher % of ladies would pull across above their chest, making for the best beginner drives I saw, aside from sheer bro-monkey force + oat. Ladies throw pretty clean when they start like that.

I have never noticed this to be a problem, or something I really even think about. After reading this I looked into it, and it seems my pull line is slightly higher most of the time. In fact when I tried to pull directly across my chest, it felt a little unnatural and forced.

[veganray]

I see you're a Vulcan tosser. I have a small stack of 148-151g R-Pro Vulcans. If you're interested, PM me.

[ashley]

I see you're a Vulcan tosser. I have a small stack of 148-151g R-Pro Vulcans. If you're interested, PM me.

I haven't thrown the r pro, my hubby is of the opinion that it is garbage plastic. My vulcan is a 158, and I am getting great distance with it, but I have to have a wide fairway where I throw it hyzer and it flips and does a nice s turn. I think a 150 might be a little too light for what I want. The verdict is still out as to whether it will stay in my bag.

[ashley]

I was out in the field today working on my sad little sidearm. I think I will have to get a video of it, so I can see how it looks. At first I kept throwing them into the ground, so I adjusted it and started throwing them high. I was able to get my better ones out around 125' which was a big improvement from the 80' I was getting. What do I need to do better to keep them flat? Also, what is the best disc for this throw?

[ashley]

I have to say that I love this place. I picked up a link last night to a youtube video of Chris Woj. He was showing a sidearm grip where you place the pads of your two fingers against the rim. I have never seen that before. I went and tried it out in the field today. At first it felt a little strange, but it really helped me to keep the disc flatter. I was able to pick up another 30-40 feet throwing today. And, for the first time, my throw actually looked like a side arm shot. If I had to guess I would say I was getting them out to 150 or 160 today, improving my distance by nearly 80 feet in one short week.

[ashley]

I was able to measure my sidearm yesterday. My best one on Wed was 132 and the best one on Thurs was 158. I think for now throwing understable is the way to go, because it is pretty obvious when I throw it poorly. I have been working with the leopard, roadrunner, and 150 valkyrie. Does that sound about right?

[JR]

That is good for technique but you also want to learn real throws in real situations with the discs you're gonna use on the course in every kind of condition. That is why you want to practice also with more overstable discs to see how far and how hard they curve for you, s-curves and flight changes in different wind speeds from every wind direction.

[ashley]

Ok, sounds good. I'm thinking I will keep working in the field, and maybe start forcing myself to throw a few sidearms during the round. I will give all my discs a try. I just don't want to get into any bad habits that I will have to later unlearn.

[jubuttib]

I've been wondering why women seem to struggle with any sort of distance so often. Any views on that subject? I'm not talking about 400+ feet of distance, just a nice and consistent 250' or so. Of course it takes some work for anyone to get that, but it does not require much actual strength at all and it seems to be much easier to teach a man to throw a relaxed 200+ feet than it is to teach a woman to do the same.

When our club has been holding some disc golf shindigs for companies I've been teaching lots of total beginners how to throw, and while it's natural that some pick it up faster than others, women almost always seem to have two things in common: They always let go of the disc, no matter how much it's emphasized that you keep on gripping it, and they seem to have huge problems applying any acceleration to the throw. They move at a constant pace through the motions and very often seem like they're purposefully doing it in slow motion. Even women who play sports that require fast whiplike movements of the arms and legs can't seem to apply it in any form to a disc golf throw.

Then again there are these kids, so it's not all bad.

[Akuf]

How do you feel about the growing trend of longer and longer par 3 holes because the disc technology is getting better.

[ashley]

I've been wondering why women seem to struggle with any sort of distance so often. Any views on that subject? I'm not talking about 400+ feet of distance, just a nice and consistent 250' or so. Of course it takes some work for anyone to get that, but it does not require much actual strength at all and it seems to be much easier to teach a man to throw a relaxed 200+ feet than it is to teach a woman to do the same.

When our club has been holding some disc golf shindigs for companies I've been teaching lots of total beginners how to throw, and while it's natural that some pick it up faster than others, women almost always seem to have two things in common: They always let go of the disc, no matter how much it's emphasized that you keep on gripping it, and they seem to have huge problems applying any acceleration to the throw. They move at a constant pace through the motions and very often seem like they're purposefully doing it in slow motion. Even women who play sports that require fast whiplike movements of the arms and legs can't seem to apply it in any form to a disc golf throw.

Well, I believe it was Blake that said a woman can only throw about 230' with arm speed alone. Also, I think that the majority of women are given the wrong discs to begin with when they start throwing. As a beginner, it was incredibly frustrating for me. I had to put in a LOT of work to get to where I am at.

I am also guessing that most of the women you are teaching have long fingernails, at least compared to any of the guys you teach. That will cause the disc to slip early a lot of the time. Also, it will intimidate most women to throw in front of a group of guys. Even now any time I go out to the course, I can see a lot of the guys watching me every hole I play to see me throw. It used to really make me nervous, and I would shank shots I could normally play with ease.

I now realize most guys that I come across have never seen a girl that can actually throw, and even if I throw a crappy shot for me, they think it's amazing.

[ashley]

How do you feel about the growing trend of longer and longer par 3 holes because the disc technology is getting better.

I love it. I think that it makes the sport better. The only hole design that I don't like is something that I am unable to play. For example, something that you have to throw 350' to get to a clearing, and everything before that is shule. Given the chance, I will almost always play the long tees. I like to be able to 3 a 500 foot hole by throwing 2 control shots and a good approach.

[Crosseyed0811]

I'm struggling to find the right discs for my wife. She wants to play but she gets frustrated very quickly and very easily. I feel like I need to find a set of 3 (max) discs and let her just play with them and nothing but them. Course wise we have it made, here in Rock Hill all of the elementary and middle schools have small 9 hole courses thanks to the EDGE program. I've bought her several discs but none of them seem to work out well. I fight over mold/plastic but most importantly weight. She seems to like the Buzzz and she has 2, a FLX and a D both around 168 or 169. She has a 150 DX Leopard but when we were first going out the wind was a little rough on it. She winds arent that bad around here now but she's not throwing it much. As you can probably tell I want her to be able to enjoy playing with me, but I'm struggling getting her off to a good start. She does enjoy going out but quickly gets frustrated when things don't go well. I know you've recommended some drivers already but what about mids and putters... what weights are good and such because I really don't know.