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How to Practice Part I by Nick Anhyzer
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Everybody knows that to get better at something we've got to practice doing it. Improving takes time and there are no shortcuts. Every athlete and coach repeats it over and over. Disc golf is no different. But here's something they don't always mention.
Just going out and practicing might not make you any better.
Take regular golf as an example. Stand on the far left side of the driving range and look to your right. What do you see? A bunch of hacks who've been practicing for years but can't break 100 without an eraser and a few foot irons out of the woods. One guy is a little more upset than the rest of the hacks. You can tell he thinks that if he can scratch a check and pick up all the most expensive gear, he'll somehow find a way to avoid having to actually develop game. He's got the newest clubs. He's had lessons. He wears a shirt. He's the guy who shows up at the range with the intention of making his bad swing better, but all he does is figure out how to hit the ball despite his bad swing. Occasionally he'll shoot a good score but all he really did was perfect that bad swing to the point where he timed everything just so and bunted it around the course for a 92 which he carded as an 83. Don't be that guy. His problem is that he can't examine his own faults.
QUALITY NOT QUANTITY
You better believe that every top pro you see in a disc golf tournament has been playing for at least a couple of years. Check out their PDGA number and I bet it's lower than yours. Or maybe he's got insane natural ability AND he's learned to practice effectively, like a Cam Todd. Either way, nobody just wakes up one day knowing how to horque an overstable disc 500 feet down the fairway with accuracy. But despite their obvious advantage of time in the sport, the reason these top players have so much ability is more related to the quality of their practice than the quantity.
One issue that will always be stressed in these articles is that to really improve your game you've got to be willing to raise your level of awareness about what your body is doing when you throw. Don't just go out to a soccer field and gun it as far as you can until your arm falls off. The first key to practicing is to try to connect your mind to your muscles a little and don't be afraid to critique your own form. If you're playing with a partner, have him watch the way you throw backhands and ask yourself these questions while you're warming up with a putter or even an Ultimate Disc
Are you generating power from your big muscle groups like your legs, hips, and trunk?
Or are you throwing the disc with just your arm?
When you take the disc back are you turning your shoulders, allowing your relaxed arm to reach back?
Or are you stiff with your upper body and still facing the target on your takeback?
Are you loading up your weight on your back foot and then transferring it to your front foot before snapping the disc?
Or are you standing still or possibly even falling backwards while you throw?
After you release the disc does your throwing arm naturally follow through?
Or does it come to a stop in front of your face?
Are you in balance when you throw?
Or did you just turn your ankle before falling on your behind?
If you can honestly answer yes to the first question (hopefully no to the second) then you're on track. Stop by everythingdiscgolf.com next week for part 2 of this article. Next time you play disc golf, be sure to pick up a few pieces of trash off the course and bang a couple of fifty foot putts before you go home!
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Disc Golf (also known as "Frisbee Golf" and "Folf" or "Frolf" and even "Disk Golf") is played much like traditional golf. Players throw flying discs (golf discs or Frisbees®) from a tee area toward a Disc Golf Basket or Target. The object: complete the hole by putting your golf disc in the basket in the fewest number of throws. Formalized in the 1970s, disc golf is governed by the Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA). There are more than 1,750 disc golf courses worldwide, with over 1,400 in the USA. |
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