Need ideas for instructional articles

[Blake_T]

hello,

i need some ideas for instructional articles that will be published and also featured on disc golf review.

if anyone has any ideas/requests, please post them here.

articles that are in the works as of 12-12:
-building consistency - aiming with your body
-reading between the lines - a guide to throwing distance lines
-everything you've ever wanted to know about snap but were afraid to ask - a comprehensive snap article on par with my grip article in length/depth.
-jump putting
-turnover vs. torque over - why discs turn.

[CincyKeith]

Hey Blake,

I thought I might chime in here, give my $0.02. I haven't completely searched through your already posted instructional articles but here's a few ideas:

Playing in specific weather conditions:
How disc flight is affected by cold, extremely hot temperatures, windy conditions (ie....what disc is best to throw with what trajectory or nose angle for a tailwind, etc.)

Mental & physical preparation for tournaments or sanctioned events.

How to throw a hyzer flip.....

Some of these suggestions might already be redundant with the stuff you already wrote.

-Jason

[presidio hills]

aiming with the body sounds like an article i could really get into. i can't wait to read all of those, though.

i think i've read all of your articles at least once. as for suggestions... maybe an article about practicing; routines, good discs, specific shots... just learning how to use time efficiently to build skills.
thanks,

[Blake_T]

i hesitate to cover any articles on practice aside from the "measure skills not scores" article i have written.

doing something wrong 1000 times just makes it more difficult to fix it/change it in the future.

mental game is a tough one too but it has also been requested on some of the other message boards i post on... basically, i already have a very strong mental game and i believe it just stems from confidence and balance (zen). that is very hard to teach and everyone finds it in different ways. it is also very hard to teach how to "see" the course/shots. have a buddy willing to pay me $25 a round during C-Tiers to just walk with and tell him what disc/shot to throw as he doesn't see the lines very well.

i will likely go with the wind article as that is something i could write easily.

[CincyKeith]

That's good to hear that you're considering the wind conditions idea. I'm already looking forward to it . I'm also excited to hear about your decision to run your own store.

Good Luck !!!

[presidio hills]

i hesitate to cover any articles on practice aside from the "measure skills not scores" article i have written.

doing something wrong 1000 times just makes it more difficult to fix it/change it in the future.

i understand your point here. so then, how should one practice playing disc golf?
i think i have ways of knowing if i'm grooving bad or good habits. i can watch my discs and notice if they're flying properly. i can ask myself if a throw felt uncomfortable or effortless. i can throw putters or understable midrange to see if my throw has off axis torque. etc...
i completely see your point. my putting at one time went really downhill when i started putting like crap and kept trying to get through it when really the best option would've been to take a break for a week.
but don't we need to practice to improve? we play all the time. we love to play. so how can we play without getting worse?

[Smyith]

visualizing
everyone i have used this technique to teach my friends how to play.
personally i think it is the most important part of any sport.

[Toney]

Blake, you're adding many feet to my game. Great effort. Here's an article idea, which others mention as well. You touch on playing in wind. I would love to see a lengthy article just on wind (though an article that covers all weather conditions might be better still). Particularly, I would like these questions answered: ***What disc angles, hyzers, should I use for the different wind directions AND different wind strengths. ***Should I make a different disc selection for different wind directions, or can I get away with the same disc but thrown differently (which is how I want to approach it, since i think I learn more this way). ***When it's freezing out, the disc skips more, I think. Can this be confirmed in the article.

Thanks,
Toney

[presidio hills]

i dig your idea tony sis. wind can come in all directions... it ain't as simple as 'head wind' and 'tail wind'. i keep thinking about this one hole i played at this tourney where it was a 400'+ hole, tail/cross wind coming diagonally from the right, slightly down hill... i attempted to throw a lefty backhand hyzer flip and it sucked... the wind just pushed it down and made it fade too early. i've always wondered what wouldn't happened had i thrown a lefty sidearm with hyzer instead, or a big anhyzer. i was inexperienced at the time, but it left me with a lot to contemplate, since. it'd be great to have some wind principles contemplated...

[Blake_T]

there aren't really defined angles for wind play, more just general rules.

like, headwind = add more hyzer. tailwind = less hyzer.

for cross winds you basically want the disc to hit the wind where the angle pushes the disc forward and nose down, e.g. w/ a left to right tail you will throw an anhyzer that will catch the turn and ride w/ the cross wind pushing it forwards and very nose down (this requires more height).

[presidio hills]

w/ a left to right tail you will throw an anhyzer that will catch the turn and ride w/ the cross wind pushing it forwards and very nose down (this requires more height).

what would happen if in the same situation you threw a righty sidearm with hyzer? would it work too?

[Blake_T]

not particularly well.

things to keep in mind:

-if the wind hits the top of the disc, it will press the nose further down (which will increase turnover) and keep the disc from lifting.

-if the wind hits the bottom of the disc it will make it drop (steals the air pocket from under it) and make it fly more stable and deccelerate less.

trajectory comes into play. a right to left wind will hit a rhbh throw hits the bottom of the disc when it fades and accelerate it into the fade. a disc that turns into a right to left wind will continue to turn since it is pressed more nose down.

a pure tail wind will knock down a nose down throw and make it fly more stable. a nose up throw with a pure tail will also be pressed downward since the wind hits the top of the disc.

it's pretty much elementary to figure out after that... basically picking discs that will work WITH the wind to counter everything that happens. e.g. throw understable plastic with a tailwind, always throw a hyzer into a pure headwind, etc.

[TexasOutlaw]

Is there currently an article that discusses height? I know the more distance you seek the more height you need. I've been playing around with distance and height. For example, on some ceiling shots, I'm trying to throw over the trees and just outdrive obstacles.


Also, I wouldn't mind learning about disc maintenance. I'm not sure if it could encumber an entire article, but I would like to learn more about sanding divots out of discs and such. Now that I throw primarily x plastic, this will become something that I must learn about. More specifically, fixing a disc and not tearing it up.

[Blake_T]

if you use fine enough grain sand paper you won't tear it up.

scuffing it up will actually make it fly better.

as of now, the only height reference i will make is in an upcoming article on distance lines.

[Torg]

How about taking a few average players out (like me for instance) and make a few videos highlighting things wrong with players throws and how to correct them. Most people fall into the average player mold so trying to make that step up would be very useful to a lot of people. You could cover everything from grip to x step etc.

This would dovetail nicely into different discs and making appropriate choices based on level of skill. Everyone wants to think they throw 450' and that they should be using the latest high speed disc, but should they really.