Techniques to improve in the winter months

[rhatton2]

There don't seem to be many good technique tips and tricks out there for disc golf to try at home or away from the course.

There is a lot of do this, do that kind of information, and thats all well and good to know, but putting it into practice is not so easy.

One of the ways I improved my ball golf swing was through different techniques that didn't involve actually hitting the ball. They were techniques designed to get my body working properly. When I actually took the newly developed swing to the driving range the effect was immediate and dramatic.

What I am looking for is a repetitive action that can train your muscles into the correct motions without actually having to throw a disc, something that can be done indoors would be ideal. (The best device i used in ball golf was a 6 foot eliptical contraption that you stood inside of and swung a weighted metal pole around the inside. It completely replicated a perfect golf swing and I stepped straight from this on to the driving range and started hitting dead straight 250 yard drives uphill)

There are some techniques suggested around here but as far as I can see all of these do still involve throwing a disc, has anyone got any good techniques that can replicate an action? These are a much better way of developing a throw than telling someone to do this do that and then expect them to be able to put this in place mid throw.

This thought came about after I was giving some tips to someone the other days and there must have been about 10 different things we were saying he should try to do, there is no way he was going to be able to take it all in and use this information mid throw.

Its all well and good Ken Climo saying get out and practice for 2 hours a day, but as I live in the UK for four months of the year its dark before i get to work and dark when I finish, there is no time for practice at the course.

What I ideally need is some techniques for improving the short game and midrange game. So...Hit me.
_________________
Whats that.....? Is it a hot air balloon?
BDGA No. 311

[Redisculous]

Bump.
This is a good idea, let's hear what you all do in your living rooms during the winter for practice. The only idea I can think of is the "snap the towel" exercise that Feldberg talks about in the Champion's Way DVD.

[JR]

Rubber tube with handles attached to a door handle. If it's good enough for current world champion it's good enough for us.

[rhatton2]

Avery talked about the resistance ropes he used when he came over here in the Autumn. I thought though this was more for strength training. Does he also use these for technique training? If so do you know what sort of exercises he does with them?

[JR]

I don't remember in which interview he said that he uses resistance bands to be able to make throwing motions in winter. No other specifics which kinds of other motions he makes. For othr motions check out the FCGU clinics at http://www.youtube.com/results?search_q ... type=&aq=f

Avery also said that he doesn't throw in the winter for a couple of months during weight training season. So that his form doesn't suffer from being stiff from weight training. One needs to be loose and relaxed for throwing. I'm so jealous of that because I need all the weight training my body can take all year round which means I'm almost always throwing tired and stiff. And inconsistently.

One reason for the throwing break is to allow the body to heal from the damage from touring. He does throw hard so it's no wonder that damage occurs. Kenny has talked of similar things and wanting to play when he's 80 and consequently he tours less than many world champs.

[rhatton2]

I still think there must be some way of perfectly replicating a throwing motion.

Even tying the resistance bands to a door handle and pulling away presupposes a knowledge of what the perfect action should look and feel like. Without this knowledge there is a good chance you are training your muscles into a memory of an incorrect throw. I can see what a good player looks like throwing but I'm never 100% sure i'm replicating that. (On seeing my earlier videos I definitely wasn't, I need to post some new ones now that I have changed it with huge improvements to my game, thanks for that help JR!)

This was the beauty of the elliptical device I described above for ball golf as it trained your body into the perfect action without having to hit a ball or know what that perfect action looked like. You just had to stand in the right place and swing the weighted club around the ring and bingo! Swing improved. There was also another device that was quite good for use at home which was a small club with two balls attached. If your swing was perfectly on line the top ball would hit the bottom ball with a clank at the point you would normally hit the ball, if it clanked before or after you would know your swing was off.

Surely in this sport filled with engineers and generally geeky geniuses there has to have been some device built that would do a similar thing? If not one of you better get designing and patenting, I would buy the product!

[JR]

I'd like to see what kind of device that is. It's probably not gonna happen because it's too complicated.

[toothyfish]

I think I know what you mean by that eliptical device. Is it two parallel curves and you swing your club in between them to create a nice plane?

I was trying to come up with a way to mount a disc on some type of rail where it could slide. One problem I have is that on a full reach back, I know the disc does not travel in a straight line through the hit. Some contraption like this would force the line. Without someone watching you throw, it's hard to tell where you are.

I also thought about doing it in a mirror, both behind me and in front of me so I can at least see it. The rail would actually allow me to do a full standing still drive...