Level of athleticism of disc golfers

[zj1002]

Yeah this question about athleticism needs a base point.

I played basketball my whole life. Played on a state title team that had 3 guys go onto to play for Big 12 teams. I met plenty of ELITE ATHLETES, but most of them never knew what to do with their skill set or had other passions. I know guys who are just as freaky athletic as LeBron James, but they never were able to take it past high school/college. Being an athlete doesn't mean you are good at a sport. Just like how most body builders aren't always athletes, they are just obsessed with their body.

The proper mechanics and coordination required for disc golf at the ELITE level are some of the most challenging I have ever encountered. Now if I hadn't spent my entire youth playing sports and training for them, I probably wouldn't be as good as I am at disc golf. I have developed muscles that translated to the sport easier than others. I also knew from experience what it took to train myself in terms of a practice regiment. You don't meet a lot of elite pro disc golfers that didn't play other sports growing up. They either grew up in disc golf or picked up when their high school or college sports career was over.

Sports are not just about being freaky athletic. Disc Golf isn't a game where you need to run a 4.2 or have a 40+inch vertical. The game of Golf itself, ball or disc, requires an INDIVIDUAL mental side that most elite athletes in team sports don't train for.

I can bet if some of these top end athletes played disc golf we would see new distance records, but I am not sure they would be the best players and average 1100 rated rounds.

[JHern]

Yeah this question about athleticism needs a base point...Sports are not just about being freaky athletic. Disc Golf isn't a game where you need to run a 4.2 or have a 40+inch vertical. The game of Golf itself, ball or disc, requires an INDIVIDUAL mental side that most elite athletes in team sports don't train for...I can bet if some of these top end athletes played disc golf we would see new distance records, but I am not sure they would be the best players and average 1100 rated rounds.

^^^^^ Indeed!

[jubuttib]

While I have the greatest respect for people who can do what I cannot do (and never could have done given my genetic limitations) in many, many sports (and totally agreeing that gymnasts are studs), disc golf excellence demands hand-eye coordination to an extent likely beyond most gymnasts. Not that some gymnasts do not have it or could not develop it, of course.

They have amazing body control though, and that means a lot when it comes to developing form. I'd also consider being able to a lot of the stuff on the pommel horse and high bar at least require a fair bit of hand eye co-ordination, and seeing how surprisingly many of them dabble with things like juggling etc. (not to mention rhythmic gymnastics) I don't have any reason to doubt that they lacking in that respect, it may not be quite as developed though, and certainly not for the task of throwing a disc. =)

[JR]

Rhythmic gymnasts toss objects up in the air do stunts while the objects are falling and catch or juggle the objects back into air. Sounds like freestyle. So those people might have an even shorter transition period. I saw a newbie lady practice once and she had no follow through to the point of forcefully stopping the arm straight at the target each time. I told her that can cause injuries fast, hurt D and form etc. and showed her a proper follow through and it didn't work. Then i told her how to use her muscles to get it right. Minor improvements and not all of the time. Then i asked if she has a dancing background and it turned out she had jazz ballet and other dancing career on an amateur level. I stood to the right of the tee and asked her to not hold a disc and do a stand still throw turning to me and take my hands as if we'd end up in a pair dance position. No. She did turn for a half follow through but couldn't do it. Then i asked her to do a pirouette and no problem there. Then i asked her to do half a pirouette and face me. Nope. Oof i ran out of ideas. How can she do a throw and a familiar dance move after it if she couldn't perform that familiar half pirouette? The end result was that she had almost no hip twist to the right of neutral and a third of a full arm follow through. So i think it's all in the brain and trying to think too much and not perform physically instead. Do no think, guide each motion. That does not equate to doing. Just like dancers they must be able to perform not think one two three turn...

So many regardless of sex have no trust in their ability to perform or stay upright doing new moves. If they just let go and weren't afraid of falling down and allowed their automated reflexes to keep them from falling down they'd be much looser and incidental motions would kick in. I think because of the above Blake is right that one needs to train for the feel not thinking of now i'm gonna do this and next that giving them this much time in between. It ain't all in the head but you need to switch off much of the thinking to be able to perform well. Samurais i think were taught to not think at all to be as fast as possible to even stay alive. Traditional samurai sword fights lasted seconds on average not over ten second. That leaves no time to think if that 10 seconds holds 50 motions or more of different body parts with several attacks.

[Frank Delicious]

Pretty much any sport at a high level requires good hand-eye coordination

[veganray]

Pretty much any sport at a high level requires good hand-eye coordination

Soccer?

[TOURNEYPLAYER]

Pretty much any sport at a high level requires good hand-eye coordination

Soccer?

[keltik]

Pretty much any sport at a high level requires good hand-eye coordination

Soccer?

yes if you are Italian or play in La Liga. You have to coordinate when to put your hand on your "injury" so the ref can see you and award a free kick or a card.

[bergdawg]

Pretty much any sport at a high level requires good hand-eye coordination

Soccer?

If you're a goalie, yes.

[bergdawg]

People who play video games well usually have good eye-hand coordination, too.

[AcesAZ]

People who play video games well usually have good eye-hand coordination, too.

Im going to play some Wii Disc golf.

[Jeronimo]

Send Feldberg to do a Decathlon.

[JimW]

The two popular sports that I consider to have the people that are the most athletic are soccer and basketball.

Personally I think I'd pick male gymnasts at number one. With the level of power, dexterity, control and versatility required there they could be pretty good at pretty much anything if coached properly.

Some years ago the local paper did an article about what's the toughest sport to play or something along those lines. They looked at a ton of different ones and eventually named water polo as the top one because not only is doing stuff while swimming pretty damned hard there's also a lot of physical interaction with the opposition in the water.

After some googling I think I found the article. It was actually about the World's Greatest Athlete and they chose a water polo player.

Jump into a pool. Tread water for an hour. Don't touch the sides or bottom. Swim about two miles. Throw a ball the size of a volleyball upward of 70 mph. All the while, get punched, pinched and kicked in the mouth, eyes, nose and places you don't want to think about.

That's water polo, a sport that requires the skills of baseball, the strategy of soccer, the teamwork of basketball, the endurance of a marathon, the exertion of swimming, the grit of hockey, the contact of football, the danger of boxing and . . .

"Wrestling. Think of wrestling in the water," Azevedo said. "You're focused in on trying to score, working with teammates while you're getting roughed up like you wouldn't believe. You should see the stuff that goes on under the water. And all the while you're trying not to die from drowning. I'd put water polo up with any sport in the world."

...

Water polo players practice eight hours a day, six and a half of which are spent in a pool. They endure nasty injuries such as eye gouges, punched-out teeth, torn noses and broken eye sockets.

"I've been lucky," Azevedo said. "The worst thing that has happened to me is having my ear drum broken - three times."

[JR]

Underwater rugby and free diving have to rank up there among the toughest sports.

[rusch_bag]

I didn't want to make a new thread on this and it sort of fits in anyway, but I went and watched a tournament yesterday since I haven't played in like a month and the guy that won is a right handed person that drives lefty and putts righty. He drives lefty because it is a more natural motion for his body from previous sports experience like swinging a bat. Does anyone else do this? The guy can throw 500 feet so this isn't just some weird gimmick.