Revisiting the elbow chop

[Banjar]

Hi guys,

I need some clarifications on the elbow chop. I've reached the conclusion that my next step of development in my throw will come once I actually manage to get a good elbow chop. I am currently throwing around 300ft on line drives without too much OAT. I have also realised that I have a lot of unlocked potential in my poor elbow chopping.

There seem to be two conflicting concepts in my head at this point. The right peck drill requires 'igniting' all muscles and push the underarm out to deliver the disc at the hit. At the same time, a lot of people here seem to use the 'whip' concept to explain the elbow chop (i.e. the guy in full upper body cast, whipping the underarm out or ). These two concepts seem to contradict each other in my mind, could someone shed som light on it?

[Blake_T]

the strength/ferocity of the chop is not nearly as important as the timing of the chop.

most players rush their shoulder rotation to the point where they can't chop correctly. the shoulders must pause (or at least slow down) in order to trigger the chop.

also, there's a lot of misconceptions about what the chop really is, because the term chop usually gives people a vision of some kind of quick strike. the chop is more like a wrist shot in hockey, with your arm being the stick blade and the disc/hand being the puck. your peak in speed should happen at the moment the disc wants to leave. it's easier to perform with a slow build to shift the disc's momentum and a hard "shove" at the end.

The right peck drill requires 'igniting' all muscles and push the underarm out to deliver the disc at the hit.

this isn't really true. it's more of a drill that puts you into the correct positions and is supposed to help you build your timing for how to hit a disc. usually this involves SLOWING DOWN your upper body during the early parts of the throw in order to learn to accelerate at the later part of the throw.

[Banjar]

the strength/ferocity of the chop is not nearly as important as the timing of the chop.

I find this interesting and potentially very important as Dan's right peck drill video doenst really touch on that. Neither does Bradley's snap video. Dan's explanation is basically "punch it at the target" and most people here explain it along thew lines of "push/pull it as hard as you can once the disc is in the right pec area". If it is so much more about timing (and feeling the disc do weight shift, I imagine), perhaps it would be good to emphasize that more than the sheer muscle strength.

Personally, i can execute some sort of elbow chop with my wrist I think (see here: http://www.discgolfreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=21160), but i struggle transfering that to an elbow motion.

I will try to get some video soon (in a day or two..) and get some new pointers. Blake, are there any good ways to learn the timing? In particullar, I am looking for something slow that would create the right feeling that can be successively sped up over time?

[Banjar]

hmm, recorded myself today, and I think my elbow chop looks halfway decent, but I might be wrong. This thread can probably be closed, so if you have any input, please take a look on the video critique thread linked in the above post. Thanks!

[Blake_T]

your shoulder is too fast on its rotation to really get a strong chop.

the best timing drill i have found for this is going to be throwing with a hammer pound or the handle pull/reverse thumb lead.

[itlnstln]

your shoulder is too fast on its rotation to really get a strong chop.

the best timing drill i have found for this is going to be throwing with a hammer pound or the handle pull/reverse thumb lead.

This.

Find Bradley Walker's latest video. Even though he is drilling another problem, it helps wonders with getting your shoulders in the correct position if you do the drill correctly. I have been re-working my timing in my full throw based on the feel I developed in this drill. I was getting my shoulders too far around, thus robbing power from from the hammer pound. When I hit my timing now, discs come out like bullets. It's the consistency part I need to work on now... again.