The Newest Greatest thing you just figured out

[Qikly]

I'm not sure I understand woodshedding. If you "play until you practice", does this mean that in the middle of a round you come upon an interesting challenge-a particular shot- and abandon the game for a while to practice that shot over and over?

Yeah, that's basically it: I start out playing, until I come upon a hole/shot/etc that is uncomfortable: maybe it's a tight shot between two trees, or an awkward shot at an awkward distance (too short to properly drive, too long to just lob it easily). When I stumble onto such a shot, I repeat it, like you said, trying out different lines, different discs, or just trying to get the same shot right. I basically do this until I feel comfortable with the shot, or until mental fatigue starts setting in and I can tell I'm losing focus. Then I'll return to simply playing, until I stumble upon another tough shot. Rinse and repeat.

Not a revolutionary concept by any means; I just happen to relate it to my experience as a musician, since that's the terminology I inherited. It's a nice way to go about things for me: I can just play a hole if I want to, but I'm able to break things down and practice when presented with the opportunity. Practicing specific lines is obviously much easier to do on a course than in the field. I do field work, too, but I focus on other things then.

Anyway Good Luck learning anhyzers. They are infinitely challenging. When you think you have learned them, step up to rollers (which are just severe anhyzers) and find out how tough those shots are.

Yeah, I can tell they're a mountain to climb, which is why they sucked me in. Right now it's simply about getting my Comets to turn over and my Cyclones to hold anhyzer lines. Haven't even touched rollers yet. Well, not on purpose, anyway.

[JR]

How did I not think of this before?

Pant legs which are too wide or too long get in the way when golfing. I cut a couple nylon straps down to the correct length and tie them at the ankles. Problem solved.

Rubber bands might be easier to use but i have no idea if that would be sufficient to hold the pant legs in place in the snow. At least in a layer cake of snow,ice,snow...

[JR]

I have started to wear jackets which are shorter, so they stop at just below the waist rather than go down over the hips. It seems shorter jackets are less restrictive, allowing easier twisting at the waist and greater freedom of movement. The jackets they make for snowboarding are just the opposite of this, going down to mid thigh. I also like deep pockets (so handwarmers don't fall out) and sleeves which are not tight.

This is where jackets with adjustable diameter help a lot. It is better to have adjustment around mid height and not just the bottom of the jacket too so that you can have the lower half of the jacket be tight enough to fit well but allow free twisting of the hips to the right and the upper half is loose enough to throw well while having some air inside for keeping you drier. From having the air moving inside the jacket from your movements. It helps to keep you from becoming sweaty.

Sweat can easily condense inside the jacket after which the outside air can cool you down 20-60 times quicker in different conditions than being dry. Not being sweaty means that you can get by with less clothing thus less restriction and distance loss. Optimizing for the temperature takes experience and it is best to carry spare layers of clothing.

[Mark Ellis]

I tape my middle finger to prevent a callus from forming (and the resulting cycle of building up until it drys out and tears off, leaving a bloody gash until it heals and rebuilds the callus, etc.). I tried different tapes until I settled on a Paper Tape made by 3M. This tape has no break in period. It feels natural immediately and gives good grip. The down side is that it is difficult to remove when the round is over. Then my local store started carrying a different brand of Paper Tape. This stuff is all right but feels more plasticy, a bit more slippery, and needs a few minutes of using it to break in. But the up side is it comes off easy after the round.

So I searched out a source for the 3M tape which I preferred. But I had some of the other stuff around so I started using both. The more slippery stuff as a base and the papery stuff as the outer layer. My new approach has the immediate good grip and then comes off easily at the end.

The total thickness of tape on my finger is now greater but has not bothered me. Actually in wet conditions the tape slowly absorbs water and the more tape there is the less often I need to replace it.

[JHern]

Mark, I've just learned that I'm left-eye dominant, but I'm right-handed. I think this is important, especially for putting, but I haven't figured out how to use the knowledge to my benefit.

[victorb]

Last night I just learned how to tuck my pinky against the inner rim of a disc to make a proper fork grip. I don't know why I even tried it, but it worked. I always threw with a modified fan grip for my midranges and putters, but when I did that it felt very natural and it seemed like my power and accuracy went up.

[BradC]

Mark, I've just learned that I'm left-eye dominant, but I'm right-handed. I think this is important, especially for putting, but I haven't figured out how to use the knowledge to my benefit.

I am as well, and I can't see it making a difference. Shooting, yes. Putting, no.

You're not aligning anything up visually when putting, rather you are using binocular vision to pick a reference point, and letting your brain figure out the bio-mechanics to get there.

[JHern]

Mark, I've just learned that I'm left-eye dominant, but I'm right-handed. I think this is important, especially for putting, but I haven't figured out how to use the knowledge to my benefit.

I am as well, and I can't see it making a difference. Shooting, yes. Putting, no.

You're not aligning anything up visually when putting, rather you are using binocular vision to pick a reference point, and letting your brain figure out the bio-mechanics to get there.

Not sure I agree. See, for example, http://puttingzone.com/MyTips/deadeye.html

I have a persistent problem of missing right, and I think it is because my stance and alignment are set for right eye dominance rather than left eye. If you look at the parallax (dual image) of your hand and disc while focusing on the basket further in the distance, and try to aim with your right eye, it means using the left ot the two images. But your brain will make an auto-correction for the left eye if you are indeed left eye dominant. I think this causes my wrist to involuntarily open further than it should, making me miss right (aligned instead where the left eye-dominant parallax would open straight).

This is difficult to explain in words, so I took my camera out into my rainy backyard to try and illustrate this better...



When your eyes are focused on the basket, there are actually dual images presented to your brain from everything in the foreground. It looks like a mess if you include all the data, which is why your brain automatically filters one of them out, and you have a tendency to use just one of your eyes as the dominant perspective to sort everything out in the foreground.

The above are 2 combined images showing what my binocular vision sees when I line up my putt with my right eye. There is a near field image on the left and the right, corresponding to right eye and left eye, respectively. This alignment/stance would work great if I were right eye dominant. But since I'm left eye dominant, my brain is used to working with the near field image on the right, instead of the one on the left. My unconscious tendency then causes me to miss to the right (toward the red charcoal grill), instead of going right at the pole.

[JHern]

Update: I've been putting around in the rain with my right eye closed, and I am no longer missing left/right at all!

[Disc Golf Live]

Too bad it doesn't rain more often.

[allsport1313]

Update: I've been putting around in the rain with my right eye closed, and I am no longer missing left/right at all!

If it gives your putting a boost of confidence then that is all well and good. But really, there is no practicality in pretending that you are using the wrong eye to aim. You have used those eyes all day as a set for what 20, 30, 40 years? Your brain has long since figured out how to produce a reliable image that is a summation of what both eyes see. Not to mention, your brain has been compensating for your weaker eye your entire life. I know exactly what you are trying to say, I just know that our unconscious brain absolutely dwarfs the conscious, especially with things we shouldn't even be actively engaged in, like seeing.

[Agricolae]

Mark, I've just learned that I'm left-eye dominant, but I'm right-handed. I think this is important, especially for putting, but I haven't figured out how to use the knowledge to my benefit.

I'm left-eyed, right-handed, also. This can be a problem when trying to line up two objects with one in the near foreground and one in the distance, AND, while keeping both eyes open. For instance, shooting a rifle with iron sights. The dominant eye wants to do the work and the left eye is not aligned with stock, barrel, and front sight for a right-handed shooter.

For putting, I find that binocular vision - depth perception - is a definite advantage. Also, learning to keep (both) my eyes fixed on the chains and NOT look down at my disc gave significant improvements to my putting.

[discspeed]

My favorite winter golf accessory by far was my synthetic down North Face vest. It's not bulky in the least, and as Mark mentioned in an earlier post, it's nice because it ends right at the waist. It also has a drawstring at the waist that kind of pulls everything in (and keeps out drafts). I would then use some thin under layers and a light performance fleece with the over it and it worked great. For hats I found this "turtle head" thing that combines a fleece neckwarmer with a neoprene hood to go over your ears and head that still allows you to wear a baseball cap. When it was really cold I used a thin ear ring that fit under my hat as well.

Looks like I may be moving back to MI next year, so I'm already getting my mind back into winter golf mode (even though where I'm at now it will be 80 degrees today).

[chainsmoker]

My favorite winter golf accessory by far was my synthetic down North Face vest. It's not bulky in the least, and as Mark mentioned in an earlier post, it's nice because it ends right at the waist. It also has a drawstring at the waist that kind of pulls everything in (and keeps out drafts). I would then use some thin under layers and a light performance fleece with the over it and it worked great.

I've started wearing an LL Bean fleece vest this year and it's been working great. If the temps are in the upper to mid 30's I'm wearing a long sleeve dry fit under a regular long sleeve t shirt and covering both of them with the fleece vest. If It gets down into the lower 30's I'm substituting a regular sweatshirt for the long sleeve t-shirt. I have good mobility and I keep warm

[BradC]

Mark, I've just learned that I'm left-eye dominant, but I'm right-handed. I think this is important, especially for putting, but I haven't figured out how to use the knowledge to my benefit.

I'm left-eyed, right-handed, also. This can be a problem when trying to line up two objects with one in the near foreground and one in the distance, AND, while keeping both eyes open. For instance, shooting a rifle with iron sights. The dominant eye wants to do the work and the left eye is not aligned with stock, barrel, and front sight for a right-handed shooter.

For putting, I find that binocular vision - depth perception - is a definite advantage. Also, learning to keep (both) my eyes fixed on the chains and NOT look down at my disc gave significant improvements to my putting.

This is what I was saying as well, but opposite cross-dominance.

I don't "line" the disc up at all. I get into an athletic stance, which as a righty putter, ends up similar to a slightly bladed lower body stance for a left-hander shooter, with the upper body squared to the target. Pick a link focus with both eyes open, let the brain sort it out.