frankgarcia
Apr 17 2010, 10:36 PM
I just finished two frustrating rounds of hitting trees while trying to play two long and technical courses with lots of holes through the woods with narrow tree-lined fairways. My drives were of two varieties: hit the first tree on the left or hit the first tree on the right.

What is the proper technique for executing a consistent flat, straight release?

dgdave
Apr 18 2010, 10:40 AM
practice

cstout
Apr 18 2010, 09:46 PM
disc down and throw softer

dgdave
Apr 18 2010, 10:09 PM
Sorry for the shirt respponse. Its a timing thing. You just learn by expierince.

John Keith
Apr 20 2010, 01:37 PM
yes, the best advice to improve my game was throwing and really learning the nose down flat release. it helps for any course and accuracy goes way up. For me i throw the Teebird moderate power nose down and very strait. i can rip the course up with strait lines. dont over power when hitting strait lines. trust the disc to fly the route. Nose angle is very important. nose angle is more important than power. (when throwing for strait lines)

John Keith
Apr 20 2010, 01:39 PM
and if you have a big run up for most drives, slow down. for a strait tehcnical release you dont need a big run up. slow down and use a controlled X step. let your arm and spin do the work. you'll be suprised will have far you can still throw. If your trying a quick run up with a controlled flat release you will get frustrated with in-accurate release points.

pterodactyl
Apr 20 2010, 02:44 PM
Try practicing on a field that has lines. This will give you a good idea on what your problems may be without hitting any trees. Just a suggestion that works for me.

JerryChesterson
Apr 20 2010, 03:11 PM
Just throw about 100 leopards a day ... you'll be throwing straight in no time.

vadiscgolf
Apr 22 2010, 10:55 PM
If your hitting trees off the tee often then try throwing mids or even putters, they're a lot easier to throw and keep straight sacrificing potential distance, for more accurate shots. And if you must throw a driver then throw under stable discs like a TL or sidewinder depending on whats better for you or the shot. If thrown right you can flip hyser them flat so they finish straight with little or no fade.

discette
Apr 23 2010, 10:46 AM
I just finished two frustrating rounds of hitting trees while trying to play two long and technical courses with lots of holes through the woods with narrow tree-lined fairways. My drives were of two varieties: hit the first tree on the left or hit the first tree on the right.

What is the proper technique for executing a consistent flat, straight release?

Could be a mental thing. Try to have a positive statement in your mind before you throw. Think about hitting the gap. Don't think about missing the tree.

For example: When you say to your self "Don't hit the tree!" the last words you hear are "...hit the tree!" Say "Hit the gap!" or "I can hit the gap." instead. This way you are thinking positively about the gap and not thinking about the tree.

LastBoyScout
Apr 23 2010, 01:45 PM
Could be a mental thing. Try to have a positive statement in your mind before you throw. Think about hitting the gap. Don't think about missing the tree.

For example: When you say to your self "Don't hit the tree!" the last words you hear are "...hit the tree!" Say "Hit the gap!" or "I can hit the gap." instead. This way you are thinking positively about the gap and not thinking about the tree.

However, dont get in the mindset that you cant have negative thoughts. If you get in the mindset that all thoughts must be positive, then you basically put yourself right back where you started as if you had the negative thought.

Avoiding "good" and "bad" labels eliminates this stress.

Most people assign "good" and "bad" labels to things in their lives�and tend to use the "bad" label three to ten times more often than the "good" label. When the "bad" label is assigned, people often feel the need to turn it into a positive situation. This event creates unnecessary stress by creating a need or expectation to remedy it.

Sometimes you can't make lemonade from lemons, or anything positive, out of a bad thoughts. Pressuring yourself to do so only exacerbates the situation.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/creativity-and-personal-mastery/201004/why-positive-thinking-is-bad-you

bcary93
Apr 23 2010, 09:57 PM
I don't think the Discette or anyone else was suggesting the idea of "good or bad" thoughts. If people judge everything as good or bad, there is little or nothing that anyone can do to help them - but that is another matter entirely.

The terms "Positive" and "Negative" do have non-judgemental objective meanings that some people use regularly and successfully. These terms can be used to describe the distinction between two mental states: Focus on the problem OR focus on the solution.

If a person tends to focus on the problem (i.e. the tree, avoiding the tree mind you, but the focus is still on the tree) they will tend to have experience the "problem" of the tree - you could also call this Negative thinking. A person who tends to focus on the solution (i.e. float it up the middle and land it right there) has a clear mental image of what s/he intends to do. You could call this Positive thinking.

The difference is that the Positive (solution oriented) thinker evaluates their situation and finds a way thru. A Negative (problem oriented) thinker evaluates the hazards present and seeks to avoid them. A solution thinker is focused on their own role in the situation and what to do. The problem thinker is focused on external forces and their potential effects.

So, the good "doctor" seems to fail to grasp, even in the most basic sense, the difference between objective, non-judgemental use of the term positive and negative as related to a persons mental approach to a situation - I guess a PhD ain't what it used to be.

To use the lemon metaphor - the doctor seems to see a problem if he has lemons. He will whine and complain and end up with rotten fruit. I totally understand why he would write a book to encourage others to wallow and suffer their lives in problem-oriented thinking. If you are the type of person who tries to make the best of a situation, then you'll end up with lemonade. This guy has written a book for profit - telling us that this is a bad thing - oops, sorry, he says "it may be harmful." Making lemonade, that is.

bcary93
Apr 23 2010, 10:15 PM
What is the proper technique for executing a consistent flat, straight release?

There's been loads of good suggestions. I would think that everything that's been written so far will get you where you want to go.

Sometimes the expectations about how a round SHOULD go get in the way of how the round IS going. While this can lead to several problems, the solution may be to adjust expectations. If I think I should be able to hit that very small gap on this 420 foot hole, turn right and bang my head on the basket picking up my disc then I'm expecting too much and will likely fall short.

I try to start by having a game plan that takes my skills into account. If I try to beat a course that has my number and the course wins, maybe next time I should try to just survive the course rather than beat it.

Also, practice throwing putters long(er).

tanner
Apr 27 2010, 11:06 AM
Throw a Mako and use your mind's eye.

pterodactyl
Apr 27 2010, 02:29 PM
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/creativity-and-personal-mastery/201004/why-positive-thinking-is-bad-you

I didn't think the article was any good either.

CHILWILL
May 19 2010, 12:40 PM
Using your minds eye to visualize where the plastic will fly if very helpful. See the route, be the route.

james_mccaine
May 19 2010, 02:35 PM
A propensity to shank shots probably has far more to do with poor physical fundamentals than with any mental ability or mindset.

JerryChesterson
May 19 2010, 03:03 PM
A propensity to shank shots probably has far more to do with poor physical fundamentals than with any mental ability or mindset.

If anyone knows about throwing it straight or keeping it in the fairway its the Legend, James McCaine!

In your mind you should always, 100% of the time be focusing on what you want to do, versus what you do not want to do. For example do not think about not hitting a tree, or not throwing it in the water. Doing so only increases your chances of hitting the tree or throwing it in the water. Instead focus on throwing it in the fairway. Too much detail to provide here about this is the case, but it has to do with the complex relationship between your subconscious and conscious parts of your brain.

gippy
May 23 2010, 11:27 AM
Your subconscious doesn't focus on the negative, just the positive. So you look down a fairway and tell yourself DON'T hit that tree or DON'T throw it short and end up in the water.
Your Brain dosen't hear the DON'T just the "Hit the Tree" "Throw it short and end up in the water" Thus resulting in bad shots. Tell yourself get past the tree in the middle or Clear the pond and land at spot "X" Seems to work for me

pterodactyl
May 25 2010, 05:43 PM
.
Your Brain dosen't hear the DON'T just the "Hit the Tree"

That's only if you have alzheimer's. Not kidding. If you are normal, your brain hears everything you think. That's why you have to eliminate negative self talk and accentuate the positive.

bcary93
May 25 2010, 08:31 PM
A propensity to shank shots probably has far more to do with poor physical fundamentals than with any mental ability or mindset.


Maybe not a perfect metaphor but - compare the physical act of throwing with a vehicle cruising down the road. The driver controls the car the same way the mind controls the muscles.

A car can't drive itself anymore than good or bad "physical fundamentals" can shank a drive on their own. The mind controls the muscles, but if it does so poorly, it can look like no one is driving. But, there is always somebody driving.

james_mccaine
May 26 2010, 04:50 PM
I'm not going to argue cause and effect or the yin/yang relationship between mental and physical, as it is off-point imo. My response was to the gist of the thread which is: how do I learn how to throw straighter.

Imagine two teachers, both at the top of their craft. One is what might be called a swing coach; you know, an expert in the proper mechanics of a disc golf swing. The other teacher focuses on the mental side, the be-the-disc, think-positive-thoughts type.

Now a hundred disc golfers arrive at each teacher's clinic. Which teacher would improve their students the most? That thinking motivated my initial reply. Obviously, I would pour my betting money in on the swing coach's students.

bcary93
May 27 2010, 12:29 AM
I'm not going to argue cause and effect or the yin/yang relationship between mental and physical, as it is off-point imo.

I wouldn't dream of entering an argument under those terms. I will say until the cows come home, however, that your muscles don't do anything that your brain doesn't tell them to do, period. There is plenty of practical advice provided on how to throw straight - - - but to blame the muscles for the problem is like blaming the car for driving down the road without a driver. The brain controls the throw. The body follows direction - there's nothing mystical or even mysterious about it.

A swing coach won't hook your muscles up to a machine - they're already hooked up to a machine - the swing coach will manipulate the student's brain using language and other tools of communication which will in turn attempt to improve control of the muscles and voila - bang it home.

davidbihl
May 27 2010, 06:50 AM
Hey man,
wherever your shoulders are pointing is where the disc is going to go, keep your shoulders pointing at the gap at the point of release, save yourself some trouble.

JerryChesterson
May 27 2010, 11:23 PM
I'm not going to argue cause and effect or the yin/yang relationship between mental and physical, as it is off-point imo. My response was to the gist of the thread which is: how do I learn how to throw straighter.

Imagine two teachers, both at the top of their craft. One is what might be called a swing coach; you know, an expert in the proper mechanics of a disc golf swing. The other teacher focuses on the mental side, the be-the-disc, think-positive-thoughts type.

Now a hundred disc golfers arrive at each teacher's clinic. Which teacher would improve their students the most? That thinking motivated my initial reply. Obviously, I would pour my betting money in on the swing coach's students.


Dr. Tom Davis (former University of Iowa Basketball coach) did a study. They took a baseline measurement of the number out of 100 free throws ou can make. One group practiced 100 free throws a day, another group practiced 100 free throws and then practiced making 100 free throws mentally, still a third group didn't practice. After some duration they baselined the participants again. The group that not only practiced 100 but also mentally practiced 100 by far out performed those that only practiced 100 free throws. Obviously both groups out performed the control.

gang4010
Jun 09 2010, 06:54 PM
Throw with your middle - open your center to the gap in front of you, this is how you throw straight.

If you continue to have difficulties - footwork is the most likely culprit. First slow down, if that doesn't work - shake it up - try changing your footwork - work on being comfortable and smooth before really fast and smooth. As you find that comfortable confident motion - your timing will improve and faster and faster discs will come under greater control.



Good luck dude.

BabyTBird
Jun 11 2010, 03:58 AM
Obviously, I would pour my betting money in on the swing coach's students.



James, I haven't seen any of that money.