Nate Doss is a 3x world champ so I have no doubts he knows what he’s talking about however I feel this video and a lot of other videos from pros are a little more advanced and not really geared towards us Ams.
Reddit user Beef_Ball gave us some good pointers in this thread to go along with this video:
Here are my critical cues to a good form throw:
- Step — Run-up is a bad term. Can be a single step or a slow (like the video) approach, the speed only adds a little bit. The rotation is what really seals your throw. Stay shoulders level throughout your throw.
- Pull back — Put the disc behind you. Shoulder to shoulder is usually a solid line to follow. ** Keep the disc on a plane parallel to the ground.** This is the point that sets your rotation and where the disc starts makes a huge difference.
- Point — During your throw, release where you want the disc to go, push out and keep that disc level. Aiming towards the ground 5-10 degrees below the pin will help keep it straight and a line drive until you get a hang of it. Remember to move your hips around with your momentum, at this stage they should be pointing open to your target.
- Follow through — Level yo self. Think of a top and how the weight spins evenly without wobble. This is your goal. Non-plant foot continues around, throwing arm flings all the way around while staying level with the shoulders. The drive shown in this video shows an incredible follow through. Notice his arm and shoulders are not perfectly level (a little raised up), but he has the snap and disc choice to fight this. Raising up is a huge source of error in newer players.
Biggest mistakes.
- Looking up at your disc: Let it ride, twist through, then look. Stopping often leads to hard left turns due to planting your non-plant foot on the follow, or raising your throwing arm towards the sky. If you need to, look down to the right over your shoulder at the ground while you release.
- Running up too fast: I throw a 10 disc average of 310′ in a level field with a walk-up and a 280′ average from a one step. The one step throws are way lower and straight lined. Basically, you don’t need to go fast.
- Interruptions: its a swing not a punch. If you don’t follow through you aren’t going to improve.
This is some quality information that will really help people with their basics. The one point I want to add to Beef_Ball’s post is on the “pull-back” something that really helped me was not thinking of it as a pull back but rather turning my left shoulder out of the way (RHBH). It is a different way to think about the same thing.
I’d like to see more pros and teachers doing videos that show the do’s and don’ts of the throw.