More Snap

[paulpriest]

So I had a question about technique and I thought I'd throw it on this forum since it didn't seem to fit in any particular category.

How can I improve the snap on my drives?

Background:

I like to drive with Innova plastic so lately I've been liking the dependability I can get with a nice 170-175 Star Destroyer.  I feel like I have fairly good technique in terms of footwork, balance, grip and follow-through.  I can throw it out to about 400 ft. (real distance, not course distance) fairly consistently.  I feel like the biggest factor that is holding back my distance from improving is a lack of snap on my drives.  Now, if I just do a standing drive without a normal run-up or x-step with a roadrunner I can get it out to about 325-350.  With the standing drive I can get a decent weight shift and snap...thus the fairly good distance from a standstill.  What I have been trouble working with is improving my snap with a fuller reach back and a run-up.

Do any of you guys out there with bigger arms/greater experience have any suggestions?

[Jon Brakel]

So I had a question about technique and I thought I'd throw it on this forum since it didn't seem to fit in any particular category.

How can I improve the snap on my drives?

Background:

I like to drive with Innova plastic so lately I've been liking the dependability I can get with a nice 170-175 Star Destroyer.  I feel like I have fairly good technique in terms of footwork, balance, grip and follow-through.  I can throw it out to about 400 ft. (real distance, not course distance) fairly consistently.  I feel like the biggest factor that is holding back my distance from improving is a lack of snap on my drives.  Now, if I just do a standing drive without a normal run-up or x-step with a roadrunner I can get it out to about 325-350.  With the standing drive I can get a decent weight shift and snap...thus the fairly good distance from a standstill.  What I have been trouble working with is improving my snap with a fuller reach back and a run-up.

Do any of you guys out there with bigger arms/greater experience have any suggestions?

Where do you play that you need more distance than 400 feet?

[Mukey]

Bruce said to me before that practicing putting can help since you're working the wrist/snap muscle groups

[roman]

I've been trying to overcome the same distance barrier myself. I have been spending a lot of time practicing to throw slower discs like the Buzz, Rocs, Aviars, Wizards far. I finally got the Buzz out to 400 feet last week. I can sort of tell what was different in the feel, but I have yet to reproduce the throw. Basically what it comes down to is what you think snap is. I always imagined it as a quick recoil of the wrist, sometimes you can even hear your fingers snap on the palm of your hand as the disc leaves your grip. Well, I was wrong. Good snap isn't something you hear. Also the speed of your wrist "snapping" has nothing to do with it. It's more of a combination of your forearm and your wrist movements. It's hard for me to explain, but it's more of a rotational movement of the wrist as you pull through with your forearm than a quick, jerky, snapping motion. It's almost as if when you begin your pull through and your forearm pulls forward across your chest (try not not let it swing too far) your wrist begins to open up on its own arch trying to get ahead of the forearm. If you time it right, your wrist will be completely open just as your forearm hits the point where you release the disc. This combined motion of the forearm and the wrist multiplies the speed of the disc and that's what creates the big snap. It feels as if some weird gravitational pull just sucked the disc right out of your hand.

I haven't been able to reproduce that 400' throw with the Buzz because I haven't really had time to get out there again, not because I couldn't do it I know that during regular play applying this new technique creates much cleaner looking drives. Drivers thrown on a hyzer line flip straight very easily and hold their line beautifully for the duration of the flight.

By the way, don't force the speed on your drives. A good release always feels smooth and fluid, nothing is rushed.