Benefits of more reachback?

[gretagun]

Simple question, and it may be a dumb one, but how does a longer reachback benefit a thrower, who we will assume has their timing down (not me)?

I've read over and over not to "pull" or accerlate or really do anything until the disc is in the right pec position. I've also read that you do not want to start your pull from the reach back position, and my understanding is the disc is just guided or lofted to the right pec position, and THEN you start pulling like mad. If this is the case, then why do we even bother with reachback? Why not just start at the pec or power zone on every throw? I'm really trying to understand how a longer reachback benefits someone who has really good timing, and can really hit it well.

[Wyno]

I think there are two similar mechanisms involved;
1. To reach back you have to turn your shoulders/torso, "loading" your muscles and tendons which creates more potential force. However, you can achieve this with a bent elbow as well.
2. The same effect is achieved in the arm muscles/ tendons when your arm goes from straight to bent, "loading" tension for an explosive straightening.

The last effect would be stronger for a player who is strong-arming, it's also the only real argument against a bent-elbow throwing style, as far as I understand it.

[gretagun]

Thanks Wyno. I hadn't really thought about the involvement of the shoulder and torso when writing this post. I may just stick with my bent elbow type throw for now, as it usually provides better results for me personally. I have seen some of our better locals succeed with both types of throw, but I just can't get the timing right with a straight arm reachback.

[mark12b]

Also pay attention to how the reachback relates to the weight shift, which Feldberg shows beautifully here (thanks to @seabas22, who has posted this a couple of times recently):

[Redisculous]

The way I throw, which may or may not be "correct", the first 90 degrees of upper body rotation is passive. I'm not turning my shoulders, I'm allowing my weight shift to aid in snapping my upper body back to "neutral" after twisting it away from the target.

With this in mind, that motion takes about the same amount of time regardless of how far I reach back. SO, if I reach back further, the disc will have moved a longer distance in the same amount of time, which equals more speed at the hit. More speed at the hit equates to more distance, as long as you're not going so fast as to mess up your timing, and still hit it.

[chunk]

...which Feldberg shows beautifully here (thanks to @seabas22, who has posted this a couple of times recently):

say what you want about feldberg, but the guy is a great instructor of disc golf and i'd love to attend one of his classes.

[Blake_T]

this is my thoughts independent from everything else that has been written so far.

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a longer reach always has more potential velocity than a shorter reach. key word: potential.

most that are looking for instructional vids aren't smashing the crap out of it and looking for a way to turn 520' of power into 580' of power. almost all of the driving advice that i don't preach is applicable to some, but people often get hung up on things when it isn't applicable to them at this time.

if you are throwing 380', adding a long reach back won't take you to 580'. you first need to develop timing to go from 380' to 480'. then from 480' you improve things little by little, creeping your way up.

All of my newer teaching methods have nothing to do with reach back. i don't teach people to reach back far nor do i tell them to not reach back far. i tell them to hit the piss out of it. once someone can do that a lot of other things all of a sudden become applicable.