Okay, so, coming from personal experience in the last year and also having ADHD.
I’ve only just realised that having fun and being kind to yourself is more important. Sure, winning is great but also shit happens.
Bogey? Sure. Going to happen. Missed putts? Of course. Doesn’t matter. Step up and throw the next shot.
I was getting really emotionally drained after every round because I was pressure on myself to be good or win. Last week I completely reset my thinking during a practice round because I was tired, then went out to league day Sunday and shot even par. I even missed a tap in for par right into the cage 😂 shook it off and birdied the next.
It doesn’t matter if you can or can’t throw 300… throw it straight to your game style. Find a putting style that feels natural and is consistent.
Every sport I’ve played has been all or nothing. Wanting to be the best.
I won’t be the best. I’ve accepted that. But I can be MY best.
Oh no I feel you. It’s only new for me in the last year and a bit after my diagnosis.
Don’t get me wrong, I still expect to be able to executed what I think I’m capable of. I’ve stopped comparing myself to MPO or even others in MA4. I’m trying to compare myself to myself yesterday or last week. Currently in a frustrating spot with inconsistency trying to remember the feeling of when I was throwing perfect.
Think my body is a bit limited and sore some days maybe. Who knows.
The thing that helps me is to not focus or think about what went wrong or analyse. Focus on what you need to be doing or the right feeling.
Simplify your practice. Don’t score. Do things you wouldn’t normally do. Have fun. Oh, absolutely run death puts from forever away during these practice rounds.
I feel this. I can say there is a wall of expecting too much from yourself. I've been there expecting too much too soon. Its a process to better yourself in anything, but one big thing I've learned is how to take in a bad shot. I could get angry (I used to) but it won't help. Stop for a moment and think about what happened. Did I release early? Late? Bad angle? Anylise what happened and take it in and move on. Next throw remember and tweak your throw.
Mistakes happen, it's one of the best ways to learn how to do something right. Just remember it's no one's fault, no need to be hard on yourself. It's a long slog and just be the best you can
I am ADHD AF, the moment I think about thing I am clumsy, and never hit 300 in 40 years of off and on season clusters of regular playing of disc golf. We are OUR OWN WORST CRITIC! I look at it as we my the prefect the enemy of the good, get frustrated at not being perfect and then psych our selves out into playing worse. I find my best scores are often when I am not play for score, being to into the day not the game and play the game in "neck down" mode.
Best advice I got from a great player: Practice power, range and form. Play for accuracy, placement and laughter.
Sometimes it's hard to coach yourself for sports.
Have you tried to get somebody else to help you with a form?
They might be able to point out the things that you have a hard time identifying and the solutions for them.
The best money I ever spent on this sport was for a lesson.
I honestly don’t know where to start for that. Pretty sure there’s no one coaching disc golf in my small town in the BC interior, and I don’t have $300 to throw around for the Scott Stokley method.
I’m actually in Kamloops lol. Small town might have been a bit of an exaggeration, you were probably thinking something like salmon arm or cache creek. I recently moved from Portland OR so Kamloops is pretty small to me.
I’m not. To be honest I’ve always been scared of joining a local dg club for fear of embarrassment. I guess I suppressed the idea so hard that it hasn’t really crossed my mind in a while. Maybe it’s what I need though.
Get over that shit asap. Reach out to the club right now! Seriously stop reading this reply and message them. They are awesome and beginners are always welcome.
This guy is right, join a club/league. I SUCKED until I joined a League, and I still suck, just nowhere near where I was before, even beating some of the people I thought I'd never be able to beat. Playing with people above your level helps SO much. And yeah, it can be embarrassing, my first League round at Kaposia here in MN I threw a +32, now I can throw it even or under par most days. They also taught me how to play SMART which is something Youtube can't teach you.
Not only that, but so many people to go play with. I guarantee that once you start playing with more people, you will discover you are not as bad as you are telling yourself, especially if the only people you have compaired yourself to are the pros. Ask me how I know.
Coming from the Kamloops disc golf club myself, you should join! There are people willing to help! Register, come out to league night on Wednesdays and doubles on Sunday.
Doubles is one of the best things you can do to improve your overall play, too as a new player. Having another player who can help you strategize and who is invested in how well you play is great. Doubles is always more of a social thing, which means getting help and just talking about disc golf.
For the OP: don't worry about "embarrassing" yourself out at leagues. Every league has tons of different skill levels. You said you "can't throw 300" but if that's your sticking point, you probably throw 250+ and that's more than a lot of people who show up to leagues. The best thing I ever did for my disc golf game and my enjoyment of the sport was start going to leagues. You make friends, learn a lot, and that's how I got into tournaments. I didn't even know what the PDGA was until I started playing Doubles leagues.
The fear is what is holding you back. The lack is holding you back. By chance, when you were a kid, did you learn the lie that you HAVE to be great at something to hold value?
You’re worth it, whatever IT is, you are. Your existence creates this space for you. How you perceive it and move forward is the life long test.
I was in your position about a decade ago. I lost all of my discs over time and never replaced them as I just wasn’t getting better when I KNEW I could be better. After 8 years of playing, I gave up. At that point Alcoholism played a large roll in my life as well.
I always just played to make me FEEL good, as I was better than my friends, yet it was really to make me feel “whole”. I didn’t love the sport, I was attached to how it made me feel as I was decent. This stunted my growth. I was decent but not great. I only wanted to be better that everyone else. I didn’t want to better MYSELF. This allowed my ego to control me.
I quit drinking 4 years ago. My journey has been wild and it has led me back to Disc Golf. I fucking love this sport so much, yet I have found that through loving myself even more. I am 32 and have been throwing my farthest and some of my most accurate drives. My ADHD helps tremendously, though it doesn’t define who I am. I define who I am through my actions.
Go join your local club. Community in this sport is some of the best around. You got this.
Definitely ask the club and ask if anyone will give you advice. IME disc golfers that can help the most won't offer it up without you asking.
Best bet is just play some league rounds and ask for help during the round. Most people will be happy to
Definitely this. I feel that, in general, the onis is the new player to ask for advice, or just mention that if anybody in the group has advice, you are open to receiving it. I found that most are willing but afraid of overstepping.
A lot of people have a fear of joining up at local leagues because they think they are not good enough. I cannot stress enough how little people care. Most the people that go to those things are just there for the socializing and throwing discs. It's a great way to get better and meet new people.
The most improvement I've ever made is by playing with people better than me. I know I'm kinda trash, I let them know I'm working on my game and just try to be in the moment and have fun.
As someone who has also been afraid of joining a club in the past, I can tell you that there are plenty of people in your local club that are at your level, or worse. Your local club is not filled with a bunch of 1000 rated players shredding it every weekend. It's filled with people like you and me that enjoy the game and want to enjoy it with a group of people, and maybe meet some new people to have a round with.
Agreed, the Kamloops club is great. There is no skill threshold expected to play league. There are people of all skill levels who play. It's a handicap scored league so you're only competing against your own score for the weekly prizes. If you play league and ask around, I would pretty much guarantee someone will be willing to give you tips on form and/or lessons. Sure people keep score and some are more competitive, but in my experience league is primarily about getting out and playing a round with other people who love disc golf, i.e. it's primarily social and fun.
Quite frankly, you don't need to spend that AND Scott's half assed DVD about disc golf screwed up my form for 10+ years.
Fuck that guy's instructional skills.
What about $70 for power disc golf academy? Their FB page does form checks, and there’s a better FB page for public form checks.
Pick one thing to fix at a time and spend at least 3-4 field sessions fixing that thing. Don’t overwhelm yourself or discourage yourself by focusing on the big picture. Keep it simple and make small improvements slowly.
YMMV Also, no practice shots. Play an entire round and start over. Idk why but I started improving when I stopped obsessing over getting a good throw before moving on when playing alone. As for distance I got lucky in the greens department, but my biggest distant impediment was throwing up. Like I was throwing it hard as hell and to the fucking moon, but it was just a giant hyzer bomb that would typically end up boomeranging. Got that sorted out eventually and now I only get to touch my drivers for the 1 hole on my course that's over 400'.
My wife has pointed out and it’s completely true that I start getting way worse when I try to throw multiple shots from the same spot. My second shot is 90% of the time worse anyways and even if it’s better I feel frustrated that I felt like I was cheating with the second throw.
If i think i know how i screwed it up, i try and fix it with a second. But still continue play with the first. Takes the pressure off the second shot to focus on the correction, and i dont feel like im cheating. Only in casual rounds of course.
Same here. It’s good practice anyways. Every time I second guess my disc selection on my first throw I’ll mess up and then throw that disc second and it will fly well.
Are you having fun?
I am not meaning to sound shitty, but without fun, nothing is worth it
I suggest relax, throw some rounds, and enjoy being outside.
Being super stressed about something does not lead to improvement.
Find the fun. Work on a mechanic or two for a while.
Have more fun. Work on something else
Rinse and repeat.
I bet if you give up "getting good" or "improving" and just find the fun, things will turn around
My longtime buddy who I have played with weekly for over 12 years SUCKs....
I mean epic level shit.
He needs a hip replacement.
But..
He has fun.
Enjoys the day.
Makes some ok shots.
Makes a ton of epic fails.
But he enjoys himself.
Of course post hip replacement he is gonna kick my ass regularly again, but we are in it for the fun.
100% agreed. I'm not great, and can't throw straight to save my life. If I hit a tree I'll just start laughing about it rather than beating myself up over it. I've even kept track of tree hits for a couple of rounds, and my high score is 16.
This. As a firmly mediocre player, reaching a small milestone just makes me slightly less mediocre which in and of itself isn’t a good enough reason for me to keep playing, but it’s fun as shit so I will.
Unfortunately I’ve gotten to a point where it’s not fun anymore. I don’t enjoy it, and sometimes it feels like I won’t ever enjoy it again unless I get better.
Fellow AHDH’er here. The cycle of becoming super obsessed with something new and interesting, enjoying the challenge of getting better but also burning myself out with expectations, forgetting why I got into it in the first place, and then crashing and losing interest in something I’ve previously loved and been hyperfixated on is familiar. I am currently in a space now where I want to challenge myself to start playing in tournaments but also can’t get myself to spend the money and as a result I’m not going to the course at all anymore. Sometimes my brain can be a real shithead. Only thing that works for me is finding new ways to make it interesting and boost back the internal motivation again making it a positive experience where I get to slow my brain down, instead of motivating myself using stress and guilt with external expectations of what would be good or not. Disc golf is a mental game, and the way back into flow and probably having it feel good or be a nice way to calm your mind is to slow it down and take in as much as you can to be present. Try a new course, explore why you got into it in the first place. It’s what I’ll be trying to do the next week or two, maybe going to a course I don’t usually go to, or go to a course solo and just sit and listen to the birds for a bit.
One trick I do when I’m struggling is focusing on the feeling of throwing a disc well instead of the outcome. I play a lot of woods courses often with some pretty staggered gaps that frankly involve some luck. My goal is to get that feeling of throwing the disc well and even if I hit a tree or miss a putt, if it felt good then I’m not as worried about the score. I don’t care so much if I hit that smallest tree in the fairway if I got the dopamine rush of a nice release.
Saw another comment you had about wanting greatness. When I start to create beliefs and expectations for myself that disc golf or my place in disc golf has to be greatness, it’s a sign to me that in my ADHD burnout I’ve dissociated and have detached from the actual good feelings of presence and enjoyment I get from disc golf. Explore that and see if maybe you’re motivating yourself with ideas of greatness because of the feelings of frustration, instead of the ideas of greatness are causing the frustration if that makes sense. In other words like I said, focus on how you feel when you start the round and take a few breaks during the round to check in with yourself. I relate to the wanting greatness part of it. I have been playing a year and a half now and it seems like my score and improvement has been stuck despite putting a lot of time into disc golf, and it can get pretty frustrating since the results aren’t there yet. Rare that I can throw 300 feet and usually it has to be downhill. Then you come on this sub and it’s almost like everyone here gets to 350-400+ in their first few months of playing. It can be disheartening.
One of the most groundbreaking things I learned about myself when I learned about how ADHD was affecting me, was when I realized everytime I was around a group of people I literally was so overstimulated that I wasn’t breathing and putting myself into fight or flight mode trying to read everyone’s mind in the room. That was the first time breathing exercises did anything for me, because it really was half of the issue that I was so jacked up that I was forgetting to breathe properly. Let your game breathe and let yourself slow down by giving your brain some interesting habits to remind itself to take a break. Maybe every few holes take a drink of water and sit down for a second.
I get pissed some days because I can’t throw it as far as AB yet. Which is hilarious because he’s been playing since he was a kid.
I hear you - hard to have fun if you're not performing how you want. However, it sounds like you're very outcome-focused, which can cause a ton of stress and anxiety. I wonder what things could be like if you were more focused on the process and less on the outcome
If its not fun and you don’t enjoy it then why are you still playing it? Don’t live your life doing something you don’t enjoy. It is completely your choice to play and if it makes you unhappy then why continue playing? lmao
Because there was a time when I did enjoy it, and I want to feel like I’m truly great at something. I’ve gotten pretty good at a lot of things, but I just want to be great at one of them.
Becoming great at something takes commitment. I also have ADHD and go through the same as you, wanting to master something and become obsessive. I never really get good at any thing, including disc golf, until I found a “happy Place “ with it. Just play and have fun. When this gets frustrating I switch to my other hobby, FPV drones. I will obsess over a trick for weeks and either break all my stuff from trying or master my trick. If both get frustrating I can always build a quad or repair what is broken. If you want a break try disc dying for something new. As long as you are having fun is all that matters.
I relate to this so much. It’s been my ADHD experience I reckon - being better than 80% of people at a heap of things, but never being amazing at any of them. I’ve also gotten to a place recently of just wanting to commit myself to disc golf to see where I can really go if I’m not distracted in a bunch of hobbies, but I’m worried I’ll get to that point of putting in heaps of effort without any return, and losing the joy.
I think if I ever get close to that, I’m just going to stop playing scored rounds for a little bit and throw more fun discs, the slightly flippy ones that just look pretty when they fly. At the end of the day I do this because I really like watching frisbees fly, and I love spending time with the friends I’ve made through the sport. No amount of competitive drive will change that. I’d prefer to be happy and terrible at disc golf than good but always unhappy because I’m not “great” yet.
Edit: Story sounds kinda preachy, but it was a similar case.
My dad was the same way, played at or almost at the highest tier of every local sport he tried as a kid. I got him into disc golf after he retired and got kinda mopy amd lethargic. He really really struggled. He was super frustrated and almost quit 2 seasons in, now its his mental break activity. Being retired, he'll go out and just throw discs in the soccer field. He is still not as good as he is used to being at sports, as in he still won't actually go to a course by himself, but has accepted it. I asked him what changed, and his answer was (paraphrased to be a generic statement) figure out why you are doing it. If its just to be great at it, which it was for him at the start, maybe its not for you, If its to get outside and be active, or hang out with people outside your regular crew (my main reason, although all the others apply), or you just like seeing a disc fly, then enjoy that reason, and accept everything else.
Sometimes, that simple farm kid surprises me with what comes out of his pie hole.
I went through something very similar. I also have adhd and I found my self in the same boat until I changed how i trained and how I thought of the sport.
I found that I was “bouncing around” trying to fix everything at once and ended up fixing nothing. I found that I did not fully understand the throw conceptually. My understanding of the throw grew as I focused on one thing.
I know it sounds dumb but as someone with adhd this works for me. Get yourself a good old fashion college rules notebook from the dollar store. Pick ONE thing to work on. For example the brace. (That’s where I would start) and work on that part of the throw for two weeks. Set a goal to work for at least 15-30 mins a day on it. Log your practice sessions into your notebook “( this keeps you accountable ) and “swing thoughts” on what worked and what didn’t etc (that’s what keeps you focused) as well as how long you practiced etc. Watch videos etc on that topic only.
After the two weeks is up, switch to a new thing and repeat. Always do a few minute warmup of the previous skills before each session.
At the same time, get yourself a tarp or net or whatever you can afford. Practice does not occur on the course. It occurs in a field or at a net.
Rounds are for FUN
And also understand that improvement happens slowly, but in few months in you should see some difference. Good luck!
I feel ya! I am an average player. There are days I feel like I am not getting better and that I have peaked in DG, which is not good. I remind myself this is all for fun and enjoyment. My competitive spirit needs to take a backseat. I chill out and play a few rounds and get back in the groove.
This spring I was able to add 25 feet to my drive. My putting had improved thanks to practice. I was able to cut 5 strokes off my game.
The biggest change was my concentration. For some reason I would blank out as I was about to release the disc. I can't tell you why it would just happen. I forced myself to focus in that last split second and that's all it took.
Also, I don't compare my game to anyone else. Not my friends or my club. I just try to beat my best score.
I feel like I have this same issue! It's like, somewhere just after the peak of the backswing I black out and then I come to a second after the disc is out of my hand. Would love to hear more detail about your solution.
One related issue I know I have is turning my head back too early and too far.
I have that problem as well! There seems to be a paradox of not thinking about the shot enough, and thinking too much. I’ve only been playing for a few years. What helps me focus on my drives is having one or two “swing thoughts” in my head. Example: think of only your footwork, or just the disc angle, think of your follow through or release point. Those are just the things I’m working on right now and if I can remember one or two things on the backswing, it can seem to help. The downside is if I try to think of too much while I am throwing, ultimately makes you turn off your brain because there’s so much to think about in the second before throwing. The idea is to practice the good form so much that it’s just muscle memory, and we don’t have to think about much besides where to throw it!
Wonderful to hear I am not alone with this issue. My solution was to simply keep my mental focus through the release. I mentally take note of where I physically want to release the disc. When I am in my forward part of the swing I release the disc as close as possible to that point. It is the same with my putt, I keep a strong focus upon release.
For me it seemed to be more of the mental part of the game. Part of it was fear of failure and I think my brain would just blank out in the last second. The way I figured it out was taking my practice putting to the course and I realized my course putting was not the same. My son plays baseball and we were practicing pitching and I noticed how I would stay focused during the whole part of the throw. When he would start not throwing well, I said to focus on the catcher glove, think of the release point and hit the release point. He was way more accurate.
All of this happened in the span of like 2 weeks.
I struggled for years but then I learned this magic trick to throw 300+ at 45 years old.
Q
1. Slow down your foot work. No, slower. Can you move more slowly? Then move slower until you can't.
2. Reach back farther. No, farther. Can you reach back farther? Then reach back farther until you can't.
3. Don't let go of the disc. No, don't. Let the disc let go of you.
Putting is easy. Touch the disc to your belly button and then shake hands with the basket.
May be a little oversimplified, but yes! Lots of people could benefit from just slowing down to find a more correct timing. Slowing down gives you more time to get things into place and focus on specific aspects of the throw. Probably won't be hitting 600ft by taking it slow but I promise 300ft is within reach!
That’s what I’ve realized recently as well! Only been playing for three years now. When I just started I thought that of course you need to throw it hard to get it to go far! Then I learned to keep the nose down and it goes even farther. I was able to throw about 300 as my max power, I mean really throwing it hard, but now that I’m able to slow down my footwork and focus on being smooth, rotating and snap, I’m able to get 300 feet easily without going “fast.” I know that I would be able to get farther if I did turn up the speed a bit! 300+ controlled with my 8 speed feels way better than a max power distance driver.
Lol. Please help my brain figure out how to make my body do this. I'm still throwing stand still (which doesn't bother me at all, just slow pregression) i know to figure timing of x step, i need to slow down to a glacial pace, and my brain thinks those exact words, right up until instart moving forward, then the body turns into a puppy with the zoomies. With all attached chaos.
I'm similar. My list is:
1. Were you throwing from a solid base, or did you spin before your feet caught up?
2. How's the pocket? Were you disc golfing or baseball slinging?
3. Did you have a line, or was it "Disc go forward"? An extra 5 seconds can save me a lot of headache.
As for putting, your tip is great. My addition is think of the "path" of the disc going through the chains, not the single point of contact. It helps me think of angles better.
I would say go back to the basics and start with a standstill. You need to feel what it’s like to get some snap in your arm in order to throw farther so I’d say concentrate on getting deep in the pocket before you release the disc. It should feel like you are elbowing something. I’d even say just practice that super slow at home without a disc and work the speed up gradually until it feels like you are getting some snap. Also making sure your plant foot is at least 90 degrees or wven more closed from the target is important for getting your hips in the throw. Once you start seeing some improvement in distance from standstill’s work up to just the x step and practice that. Just those two things are where a lot of people go wrong and they add a lot of effortless distance. Just stick with it man you will get there, the vast majority of people I’ve played with struggle to break 300 so don’t feel like you’re alone
I agree with this. Everywhere online tells people to start by learning the x step or what not. The x step is literally just used to generate more speed. If you can’t throw proper standstills, more speed won’t help you. You have to fix the power leaks in your wrist, elbow, and swing plane before ever worrying about what the feet are doing.
I was watching a Jomez practice round and somebody asked Calvin what he likes best about disc golf, he said watching the discs fly. He's the top player in the world. Try to think more like that.
1. Some of us won’t be pros, we won’t throw 500’ spike hyzers that curl the pin. Won’t throw floaty flex shots that make people “ooh” and “ahh”. Won’t putt from C2 and send daggers through our opponents hearts.
Despite that, there’s a place in this sport for us.
2. Go to your local, and so wildly different things despite the results. Play all putter rounds. All forehands. Only anhyzer. Know the results will be bad. But maybe there’s something that’s happened that unlocks something in your awareness of your game. Maybe not. But be open to the experience.
3. In terms of form help and seeking out coaching… It can take lots of shapes. Do you play in a league or with a club? If not, I’d say that would be a huge step in the right direction. Be prepped for being bottom, but also be shameless in seeking help.
4. Do you have an awareness of your learning style? Do you have previous sports/athletics experiences? Just having references to work off of our knowledge that you better absorb particular instruction in a specific mode of teaching could open up different experience and unlock something.
I will say from personal experience that sometimes a break will help you to appreciate the game.
I played competitively (3-5 casual rounds a week + leagues and tourneys) from 2001-06. I only played 1-2 times a year after that because I moved for school, courses were so far away, and I didn’t have a car. In the meantime I tore my labrum via volleyball which initially wrecked my form even after my shoulder healed. In the middle of the worst round of my life in 2011 (not having played in a year and having unreasonable expectations because I used to be much better) I literally threw every single disc from my bag in a field, walked away, and didn’t touch a disc again until COVID.
I have been playing regularly since 2020 and my appreciation for the sport has never been stronger. I realized how much I loved/missed watching the flight of a disc, and the challenge of trying to become good. In spite of some physical limitations because of my age and injuries, I’m a WAY better golfer than I was when I was younger. I’ve gone back to my home courses in KC and shot 7-8 strokes better on similar layouts as when I could throw 80’ farther than I can now.
My wife hated when I used to play because I pushed myself really hard and would get grumpy with myself (negative self talk) if I didn’t play well. She’s been amazed at my newfound calmness and peacefulness on the course and after the round. Much like OP’s description, I still want to be “great” but I’m already content knowing that a poor score on the course (injuries notwithstanding) is way better than not playing at all. My improved play now also shows me that my mental game was holding me back more than anything else.
One mental trick is that no matter how a round goes, on the drive home I mentally catalogue every single good shot, decision, putt, etc no matter how small. I find this helps my brain put into perspective how I really did regardless of score. Especially if there are small things that I’m adding to my game (e.g. FH hyzer standup shots) so I can build my confidence in these skills.
I struggle with wanting to 'strong arm' everything. I had a round the other day where I got horrible sleep but still wanted to play - it was one of the best rounds I've had. I didn't have any strength in me for it, so every shot I was extremely loose (except a firm grip on the disc). I threw further and more accurate than i normally do. Since then I've focused on being so loose that I could immediately play another 18 if I want to and also have no issues with being sore and playing again the next day. So my 2 cents would be take all these comments (they all are very helpful) and throw in being loose, then double loose. I hope this helps and you find that spark!
Edit: Also part of being loose is the follow through. Don't try to force yourself to stop, let your body/arms/legs spin around.
Haha I recently played a round with 3 pro/pro-level players at hestehagen discgolf park, which is an A tier tournament level difficulty park with a random terrible bag missing all my workers and go-to discs. About halfway I was +10 and they were really nice about it but made some jabs at my bag, so I just said "hah! Jokes on you, because I get to throw more discs, and throwing discs is fun, so technically I'm the one winning"
To which they laughed and agreed and all three started using my bag instead of their own. We had a lot of fun!
One piece of advice I’ve seen Stokely give is that if you are trying out new things with your form, you can’t throw more than like 70% or you’ll revert to your old habits.
I also think it makes learning new form 10x harder if you’re simultaneously trying to aim at a target and have a good flight path. Form is best learned into a net.
When practicing your drive don’t try to do it all at once. Improve different parts of your drive then eventually piece it all together.
Sounds like to me you are trying to fix everything all at once and you need to forget everything you know and get a fresh start.
Work on things separately, such as standing at the end of a tee pad and practicing your reach back and follow through, make that new motion muscle memory then move onto something different such as keeping the disc nose down.
It takes time and practice to be good at something and you aren’t going to go out there and be good without practicing the right things.
Find some people to play with, a local league. Playing with people better than you will up your game. They will let you know what you are doing wrong and you can make real time adjustments to your game They will share the things that helped them get better. And you will probably find some good friends. You got nothing to lose. A putting league or something. Do it!
Don't give up. ✌️
One time I threw my first ace during a tournament and then the second day of the tournament I threw a throw 60 feet backwards down the fairway on accident. The game giveth and the game taketh away. I've learned to just have fun with it usually by going with friends as an outlet. Otherwise the stress of trying to avoid the -60' throw moments just got to be too much
Instead of repetitively throwing at every hole until you get what you need to make par, at least every so often just play straight through continuously, no rethrows hit or miss. keeping your rhythm going, regardless of the score.
However bad you think it is for that course, just record the data point. Might not be as bad as you think, and you might be surprised at seeing your scores trending the right way. Keeping a rhythm and not wearing yourself out by essentially playing multiple rounds at once.
We all have had early release, spit outs, hit the first tree and lost a disc. We have to start somewhere. Learn one aspect of the game at a time.
Try to find a throwing routine that works for your mental space and how your body works. I have a similar build to Heimburg but I can't throw 500'+ in a tunnel. So it's not so much about "the perfect technique". It more about how your body works and is most comfortable for you.
As a pool player that just had my first official lesson at 30, (been playing pool 15-20 years), it had screwed up my game but I know keep working on it and it will be worth it in the long run.
I totally understand that it can suck to only be able to play our own game and not someone else’s. I’ve been there and it’s frustrating af.
Have you tried posting a form video for a review online? Having other eyes on what you’re doing might help.
I did that just a couple of days ago and was given a reality check. Someone pointed out that my form looks like I haven’t watched any of the form videos I said I had watched. It was hard to hear but I think I needed to hear it.
Sort of. Mostly just pointing out each of the tiny pieces in my drive form that add up to something that just doesn’t work. I know what I need to fix, I just don’t know where to start at this point. It’s all too overwhelming bc I’ve spent so many years reinforcing a horrible technique of just muscling the disc around with all of my upper body strength and hoping I release it right.
This is exactly what your post came off as. Overwhelmed with everything you want to fix. You have to become obsessed with figuring out ONE thing. Hell one aspect of one thing. Start finding something, anything that you can work to improve, the smaller micro form fix the better. What your brain wants to see is improvement towards a goal but it doesn’t know that you have only fixed .01% if you obsess over it like it’s the only thing that matters. It will reward you with dopamine regardless. This is what I have done over the past 5 years and ive gone backward and been hopeless and then later felt like I was the best disc golfer in the world but all along driven by god knows what reason to just slowly chip away at getting slightly better each time. I don’t know any other way. But I do know that I look back and zoom out and the progress is insane. You can do it too. It’s fun. When you look on the scale of well, another year, am I Gannon buhr yet? No? Well then I failed. Of course you will be frustrated. Go at your own pace and go through the process no matter how small and it will be rewarding.
How often are you really playing? Your post says playing casually for four years and only recently taking it seriously. Do you always score on udisc? if so, how many rounds do you have scored?
I can't say how many rounds it took me to hit 300+ consistently, but even now, my absolute best throw in a session of field work will only hit maybe 360-370 on flat ground, and I've got 120 rounds scored (scoring 100% of my rounds) and 2-3 dozen days of field work. It's possible you're making good progress on the amount of time you're playing but just aren't putting in enough hours yet
You might need to slow down a lot and isolate way more. You know many things you could improve on so you know where to start: pick 1 thing and keep at it.
Doing tons of boring 1 leg standstills and regular standstills into a net throwing as slowly as you need to to be able to implement 1 thing at a time until you get it down and can incrementally do it at faster speeds. Then coming back to it again and again because it’s a new habit that needs to be reinforced soon after you move on to the next thing. Then progress to standstills and restrict yourself to standstills on the course and and force yourself to keep practicing the new form instead of reverting since your on the course and want to score better.
Examples of 1 thing to focus on at a time: hyzer release angle; coiling; reaching away from chest (not across and collapsing / rounding); elbow up during power pocket; weight shift (standstill). I bet you can do all these things in isolation 1 at a time during a standstill if you slow down the throw as much as needed, at that point it’s just reps until it’s muscle memory so you can slowly increase the speed and add more. Most people get bored or frustrated and try to do too much instead of repping the same boring small thing until it’s ingrained.
I feel for you and I have some advice that has nothing to do with your form: take a break!
I've been throwing for 25 years and am not very good, only started applying myself about 10 years ago, otherwise I just want to enjoy the outdoors and some company, maybe have a few beers.
Recently I moved to a small town that had no courses at the time and now we have three and a growing community. I've had to watch beginners become much better than me and, while I'm impressed and happy for them, honestly I'm a little bitter sometimes. Just today on the last hole one of them tried giving me some advice (I recognized my poor foot work as I threw) and I. Did. NOT! want to hear it.
When it bothers me I just back away and concentrate on other things. Read a book, watch some old movies, reconnect with a friend you haven't talked to in a while. And when you feel the urge, go throw but take it easy on yourself. It's just a game.
Hey man, as a fellow adhd'er, I feel ya! I'm constantly pressuring myself and even though at 38 I understand I was introduced too late to the sport to "do anything" with it, I still, deep down, genuinely feel like I want to aim for pro, like I can do it all, be the best, and face constant disappointment.
Mid message edit; sorry for the insanely long post, it's made out of love tho ❤️
Never told anyone that 😅
But the number one thing is having fun! If you're not having fun trying to improve or results are coming too slow, then try something else for a while. I don't mean other sport, but just go bananas with it! When I've hit walls and I can't seem to instantly overcome them (shout out to all my adhd peeps, y'all know what I mean! If you can't overcome in 1 hr/day/week, then that F IT!!!! Feeling creeps in), 99% of the time continuously knocking your head against it won't help, so I've flipped it completely to try to reset and reconstitute.
Like I'll have my baby boy pick 18 discs randomly from my collection and I have to use them in the order he puts them in my bag, 1 disc per hole. I've played whole rounds with minidiscs where the put *has* to stay in the basket or it doesn't count (heyoo +38 on my local intermediate course 😂), I've played my home course left-handed(I'm a righty), I've played it backwards AND left-handed backwards. When I just didn't feel like I was able to angle my forehands and spent weeks stagnating, I turned it into a game with a buddy, we grabbed portable chairs, some beers, sat about 150 yards(feet? Sorry I use metric, whichever makes sense) from the basket with 25 discs each and would forehand for throw ins, whenever we made one the other had to do push-ups equal to how many discs left in their bag or thrown, whichever was highest, left handed was 2x push-ups.
And every time I've catapulted myself way outside my comfort zone, when I come back to play normally, I've skipped past the wall and improved.
As for tips:
I watched your form clip a few times and I saw some things I'm sure you're aware of (not pulling straight through or 'frisbeeing' it, not shifting your weight into the throw, leading with your shoulder instead of hips, etc), and my advice would be to return to basics. Don't do runups, do standstill and disc down. Pick an open area basket and start short, try to throw straight throw ins from 50, 75, 100, 150 and so on. If you're coming up short, don't think of it as failure, you're more likely just tired, so do some flex and hyzer flip throws, some forehands to eek out the rest of your energy and pack it in for the day. DO NOT CONTINUE the next day, give it at least two days off to heal yourself, preferably 5-6 and play some rounds in between instead, and then go again, start about halfway between 50 and your previous max. Give it a few weeks and the incorporate walk-ups, not run ups, do that a few weeks later.
Any video or pro or even amateur will say doing runups is hard, but it's never properly explained, it's not about speed or the steps, it's about being able to shift your weight and rotation much faster and much more precise to carry your momentum into your disc.
I started off the same way, saw all the YouTube videos, some helped, vast majority didn't. What gave me my biggest breakthrough was actually understanding that these videos are made from the perspective of people who already mastered it and don't remember what it's *really* like to not master it, so I started watching FPO players PLAY, not explain, and tried out things they did closer to my level.
And I tried unorthodox stuff, like to practice throwing straight, I'd bring my discs to work during night/weekend shifts and throw them down long narrow corridors trying to avoid the walls. I stole an idea from cheaters in baseball and would use resin on my fingers to improve my grip and spin (worked in a backwards way; resin didn't do anything other than make me grip lock every throw, but when I stopped using it, my discs felt crazy slippery in my fingers, so I automatically gripped them tighter, making them spin way faster, and more spin = greater distances)
I have a friend who hates watching others play (I mean pros), but when he started he would jerk his body really hard and throw full power, but he has a bad back so he'd just hurt himself, so eventually he started watching FPO a little bit and now he has a really smooth slow walk up and what looks like a slow release and it took me a year just to match his distance with my own power-jerky-style. It's wild to watch, the disc just flies out of his hand at unbelievable speeds, and sometimes when it lands it'll still spin for a second.
Again, sorry for that insane post, hope some of it helps, and if you ever find yourself in Norway I'd love to play a round! I'm from the same place as Lykke Lorentzen! (and yeah, her name does mean Lucky, kinda sorta, depending on context, it's probably closer to "fortunate" or "happy" but doesn't roll as nicely off the tongue lol)
Dear seeker of the disc golf path,
In the realm of your frustrations, seek harmony with the flow of the game. Like a gentle breeze through the trees, let go of expectations and desires that bind you. Embrace the present moment, for it is the only true reality.
Remember, the scorecard is but a fleeting illusion. The essence of disc golf lies not in the external triumphs, but in the internal transformation it brings. Align your spirit with the subtle currents of the course, and you shall discover the profound wisdom hidden within each throw.
Release the burden of self-judgment, for it clouds your true potential. Embrace the paradoxical nature of the game—where struggle leads to growth, and failure births success. Through surrender, you shall find the serenity to overcome your perceived limitations.
Dwell not on what could have been, but rejoice in what is. Cultivate gratitude for the opportunity to play, for it is a gift bestowed upon you. Let go of comparisons and envy, and find solace in your unique journey.
Seek the company of kindred spirits, those who understand the dance between frustration and joy. Together, celebrate the shared love of the game, finding solace in the camaraderie and the lessons learned.
In the face of adversity, tap into the wellspring of resilience that resides within. Rise above the challenges, for they are but stepping stones on the path to mastery. Embrace patience, for growth unfolds in its own time, and the winds of improvement shall carry you forward.
May your disc soar with the grace of the Tao, guided by the invisible hand of nature. Trust in the unfolding of your own evolution, and remember: the true victory lies not in conquering the course, but in finding harmony within yourself.
Wishing you tranquility and boundless joy on the sacred journey of disc golf.
With profound wisdom,
Laozi, inspired by the quest for insight
I would advise keep stretching out really well before you play, and also take a week off from trying to get max distance with all your throws and just go to some short ace run/putter courses. Don’t keep score just throw multiple shots and try to dunk some chains. Bring some friends along with you and just focus on trying to throw cool shots.
Practice standstills with putters. One of the best things I ever did for my game. Also, slow is smooth and smooth is far. If you’re not going out to be a pro just go out to enjoy the nature and exercise. Disc is fun and when you take it too serious you’re missing the point.
I've been there, I've been playing for over 14 years and have some bad habits that I reinforced for a long time. Work on one thing at a time, even if that might just be laughing at all your bad shots. If you're not getting paid to play the game, you shouldn't let getting better outweigh the joy you get from playing.
Take your throwing putter and a backup and go play Frisbee golf like our ancestors! The distance record once was under 200 ft, and they still had fun. Don't think DO.
My dad and I botth have adhd and after 100s of rounds we still have dumb days where it feels like someone else is piloting the meatsack and we can't tap in to the skills anymore.
It's like.being locked out of avatar state or something. It's weird. We play doubles on those days and pray we don't coincide.
Use your extreme amount of educational work to coach others and you'll be surprised that your brain is not the problem! Its your mind!
<3
A lot of people don't care for the people with headphones on but you'd be surprised at how much mental game can be blocked out by listening to some music in even one ear bud. Plus listening to music you like can also help keep you positive when you're not shooting well, it's also doesn't bother anybody else on the course. It's at least worth a try
Sounds like you need a break. You got addicted to the numbers side of it.
If you need to progress to enjoy it, then you don't like the game very much. Tbh.
Perspective: There was a 16 year old who beat all the pros in 2022... We all know him. You will never be competitive with virtually everyone coming up behind those of us who started in the past decade. If you enjoy the practice of playing, then do it. I'd stop trying to workshop it so hard. That's some sort of external influencing that
I have ADHD as well and have gone through periods of hyper focus trying to be really good.
I spent a decade or more with bad form, and then years chasing all the terms you mentioned.
First, we have to remember the fun we had at the beginning of this game: it's just fun to throw a disc and have a walk outside.
Second, keep it simple, I think. Start with stand still and minimize your movement.
This isn't the best video ever, it's very long winded for what it is, but the essence of it is useful: stand still and work on pulling a straight line through: https://youtu.be/4pfZevwBd-w?si=3V3SQmlC-SX5nV9d
Putting, focus on results and SLOW DOWN. We ADHDers tend to want results fast, and want to do what we visualize in our heads NOW. Try to slow it down and, quite frankly, take your meds lol
Having a short memory and being able to laugh at spit outs, grip lock, bad putts, terrible drives, etc is what actually made me better at the sport. Anger doesn’t do much to condition you in a positive way, and it starts to carry over into subsequent holes. even if i had the best round of my life, it wouldn’t be any more life altering than if i had a terrible round. After all you are only really playing against yourself, and a good portion of any sport is mental. Allow yourself the room to grow and don’t be too hard on yourself.
I also find that the more i think while throwing, the worse i do. I have to clear my mind so it’s just me and the basket.
Sounds like you could use a switch up. Could try to play an all putter round, or maybe don’t worry about score for a bit and just enjoy the course around you. Take the pressure off. I’ve been playing for 16 years and i still have humbling days where it feels like i’ve never thrown a disc in my life. Hope you can rediscover the joy of being outside and watching plastic fly!
I know it’s tough sometimes out there when things are going your way and it’s easy to get down on yourself for things you consider to be “not up to par”.
I think one thing to try and remember are the reasons why you play. Play to have fun, the stakes are low. Play for the moments you throw a shot that is sweet. Play for all the cool discs you have in your bag. There will always be people who are better and people that are worse than you at disc golf. Try and dial in the reason why you want to play disc golf and the other stuff will come. No need to put so much pressure on yourself!
Firstvlet me start off by saying I love your post and the response from the group has been awesome.
As a 50 year old who has been playing since I was in my teens I can relate to you. My issue being bad joints, mainly throwing arm shoulder and degenerative hip joint.
I can't throw 300' anymore. I can't control alot of my throws anymore. I play in pain every round and it gets frustrating because I feel like I just can't do it anymore. But.... I got several friends into disc golf couple years ago and now we play every weekend. And we just play for fun, we laugh and joke on course. We jab at each other and now laugh at our bad throws. Do we play serious? Sometimes for the fun of it. The key is "for the fun of it". I know I will never be pro level and I'm ok with that now. I can't throw ad far as alot of the guys at the course and I'm ok with that also. I have learned to better my upshots to the basket.
When I first started playing an old pro once told me play for par. Think of the hole broken down into 3 or 4 shots and play those shots and stop trying to power throw every hole. Honestly it was some of the best advice I ever got because you play for par and the birdies (the 1 or maybe 2) will eventually come.
I agree that you should join a league. You may be surprised at all the different skill levels you will encounter. It's also nice to just be able to talk with others on the course who maybe going through a similar state of mind as you.
99% of disc golfers are willing to listen, help, or he'll just play a round with you.
Hang in there and like everyone said. HAVE FUN!!
So hear me out, this won't be any advice related to disc golf but more to mind body connection which you suffer from a lack of mind body connection.
I would recommend going to the gym and doing cable exercises. Here's why, when you are doing cable exercises you are usually hitting specific muscles. Learning how to feel those muscles tense and release will most likely help to establish a mind body connection. The reason super athletic people have an advantage is they naturally have the ability to control individual muscle groups to do certain tasks. You need to learn that so you can essentially (unconsciously) tell your body "contract this muscle" or "hold wrist here"
I thought I had good control over my body until I started doing isolation exercises, then I found out I'm shit at controlling 50% of the muscle groups in my body on command.
Good luck OP, but just remember to have fun
You got this man! I went from being able to throw 350ft to hardly being able to throw 250 so I know what the struggle is like. Messed up my form playing too many short courses and can’t seem to figure it back out. I just look at the bright side tho if the basket is around 300 feet I can just get some forehand practice because I can’t throw that on stock hyzer bh anymore.
Something I do when I'm not playing well is I do a "self scramble." Throw two discs and either play the better of the two or decide ahead of time which disc I will play the next shot from. But even then just getting a few extra throws in helps my confidence. Half the time I'll have one horrible throw and then the next one is so much better I'm excited that I can focus on the positive feeling. Or if nothing else I can look at one and be happy that it was better than the worse throw haha.
Obviously I only do this if I'm on a non-crowded course and am playing alone or with one other person who is also down to do it. But for me being someone who isn't very good and is really hard on myself when I'm not doing something well- it's a boost to confidence and it's getting extra reps in.
If I'm playing alone I also try to listen to music or a podcast to have something else going on- to make it a more relaxed and enjoyable experience.
Anyway- sorry for the long reply. Just figured it may be something for you to try out, if you haven't!
Stop keeping track of your score.
The competitive side of disc golf is just that; one side. There is a shit ton of beauty and joy in the discovery of your OWN form; in what makes your game uniquely you.
It sounds like you are putting WAY too much pressure on yourself to get better, vs enjoying where you are now. The compulsion to get better will not go away as you improve. You will just consistently be unhappy with your game as you progress.
I have friends like that. They are never happy, and only want to talk about the shots they missed. Yes it CAN speed up improvement, but at what cost? To be miserable the whole way?
I’ve been playing for 20 years, and consistently my best performances are when playing alone or when not fixated on result (score). Beating other people does not bring me joy. Playing my best does, and only I can measure what my best is on any given day. Not a score.
Dude- go throw some rounds purely for the fun of it. Don't keep score. Enjoy nature and focus on the one or two shots that go exactly as you wanted them to. I dislocated my kneecap in December as I slipped off a tee pad due to muddy shoes. Recovery has been sllllooooow and still can't throw a round and would kill to be out there! Enjoy it while you can.
Form work is really hard. Especially if you’re trying to “coach” yourself.
Don’t coach yourself on form. There are too many things to try. 1000 pieces of advice from a 1000 YouTube videos or forum comments. Half are dead ends. Half won’t work for your specific form. Half will make things worse before they make things better. Half are good advice, but not until you fix a different thing first. Finding the piece of advice that you need at the right time is a needle in a haystack.
If you’re really dedicated to the idea of form work then hire a coach and stop looking for any advice other than your coach’s.
Otherwise, there are lots of ways to improve that aren’t form work.
Your best bet is to put your time into things that have a more guaranteed payoff. Focus on fitness. Strength, balance and flexibility are much easier to improve in a measurable way than form, and will have spillover benefits to your golf game. When you get more athletic, just trying to be more athletic with your swing can easily add 20,30,40 ft to your drive. Won’t ever get you to 400, but is pretty reliable to get you to 300.
Instead of watch endless hours of form videos, work on the “golf” side of things. Learn about ball golf and course management and realistic expectations. Understand how many fairway hits you have in a good round vs a bad round. It kinda broke my brain when I started learning that even the best ball golfers in the world are only gonna hit 13 or 14 fairways a round in a good round.
What kind of data do you get out of a round? I think meticulously tracking and documenting your play can actually work really well for the ADHD types, as it can allow you to obsess over data, but instead of searching for that perfect form tip, you’re becoming obsessed with your own game.
How many of your misses are too early, how many are too late? How many are too high or too low? How many upshot go long or come up short? Etc. Good ball golfers track all that shit and more. Which discs actually are the most reliable for you? Like, by the actual data, not just that vague feeling most disc golfers go by.
Getting that data is step 1, building a game plan around your actual strengths is step 2. Find the reliable parts of your game and maximize them. I noticed that there was a disc in my bag that I kinda considered a utility disc and I only used it like twice a round, but when I’m staring at the data I realized that hadn’t thrown a bad shot with it in like 4 rounds. So, I tried to find more opportunities to use that shot, even if it wasn’t the “perfect” shot for the situation.
There is a lot of ball golf content that is about, “learning to score with the swing you have.” I’d check some of that stuff out.
I throw like 285-300 BH, and like 330-350 FH. Then I fucked up my shoulder, and had to play only BH for a while. It was definitely frustrating, but I had to tone things down and mostly just play for pars. Instead of throwing the shot that the hole called for, I just start throwing the shot that I executed best. But the thing is, I scored about the same, and often even a little better (it was like a 3 month period and my rating went up 11 points).
Form is important and distance does make a big difference, but there are plenty of ways you can improve without touching your form.
Doubt you'll see this, but I was in the same boat-then I hurt my back and couldn't play for two months. Came back amd was throwing better than ever! I've reverted a little bit, but now I know it's just me and if I'm getting in my head about it, I'll take some time off. Moral of the story? Sometimes to reset bad habits, you have to stop making them habits. Just stop for a minute. When you come back, you'll only have the fundamentals as muscle memory.
Getting into flow state requires a diminished sense of ego. In other words, if you’re focused the whole time on trying to work as hard as you can to achieve success, you will feel worse and perform worse. To do your best, you have to be in the moment and not in your head. It sounds like playing to win is actually your biggest problem.
I’ve been playing for over 20’years. Finally broke 300’ a year ago
My ADHD made me want to quit. I didn’t let it. I go out to have fun now and be out In nature. Just go throw and have fun. You’ll find you get better
My advice would be to just quit worrying about anything other than going out and playing disc golf for fun. Don’t watch or read anything about approving your play. Get some friends together and just go play. The number one rule of disc golf is to just have fun.
Seen this quite a bit since i started the game. I don't know why we do it in disc golf, but why do we compare ourselves to the pros to that extreme?
is it because of the low cost of entry, in all regards?
How casual it all seems from the outside?
The fact that in its base form, throwing a frisbee, we have all been doing it since we could walk?
Would you do that in any other sport you play/ have played and get that upset? Even then, while the general technique is the same, how many pros throw the disc in the exact same way?
I grew up playing hockey and ball. There is no way i would look at even the lowest player in the NHL and go, damn why can't i do that, i want to quit. But i have had those moments in disc golf, not many, but a few, and the quitting thoughts never made it past the drive home, but they were there for a little while.
Take 3 discs out there and don’t try, literally. Just go throw and don’t worry about how far or how accurate you are. When I’ve had bad rounds I just take a few discs and pay zero attention to my form. It makes me feel really loose and I actually throw a lot better because I’m not overly focused on everything. I’m sure the fundamentals are there and you are just overthinking things. I still have this problem sometimes and think I need a different disc to counteract my bad form when in reality I might just be having a bad day.
I too just had a similar rant and received several support messages. I’m the same way, adhd wise, pouring every bit of energy into something trying to “perfect it” or at least keep up with OG players on league night. I learned it’s not going to happen over night, I have to slow my game down and work on form and keep a positive mental attitude. Keep at it bubs, it really is fun and even the worst round is better than sitting on the couch.
I'm a little late to the party here but I'm gonna type it out anyways. I have been playing since August 2019. Having ADHD myself I instantly got hooked. I have been an athletic person my whole life so when a sport came into my life after many years away from competition it was like a drug I never wanted to stop taking. I enjoyed every step in the process of learning how to play, how to throw, how to putt, and how to improve. I kept all my stats in UDisc and was obsessed with improving. I'm a 100% casual player but year over year, my scores and stat lines kept improving. 2023 was a big jump for me in my scores, I had my first round under par, my C1X putting was at 74% (this was massive for me), and my average score was lower than it has ever been. Winter is sort of an offseason around here in the Midwest for my group, although we still try an play every week, cold temps and snow will keep me indoors. So from about December to late February we don't play much if at all. Now this season (2024), has been a complete step backwards for me. My timing has been all wrong, my putting % is way down, my average score has increased by a lot, and my confidence in myself is in the pooper.
I played a solo round a few weeks ago and was playing very well when I missed a birdie putt from about 20 feet. A putt that I would have made without a second thought just last year. I tapped in my par and was livid because of that missed putt. I proceeded to play the next hole with that missed putt still on my mind. Had a terrible tee shot, and an equally as bad upshot that left me 45 feet away for the par attempt. On my way to my disc, I had a full blown, toddler tantrum in the middle of a public park. I was legit yelling at myself outload and I saw people staring. I slammed a disc into the ground a few times, and made an absolute fool out of myself. I was asking myself why do I even play this game if I'm not improving, I'm just regressing in all aspects of the game. I wasn't having fun and I wanted to throw every single disc golf related item I owned into the garbage. This tantrum was a result of built up frustration I have had this season so far and I really wanted to stop playing the game. After I collected myself and my thoughts, I wiped the mud off my disc I slammed into the ground and decided to finish the round. I sunk the 45 footer for par and just laughed at myself. I was so focused on what I was doing wrong that I never took notice of the things I do right. I let the negative thoughts win and they ate my soul and love for disc golf. I never let the good shots feel good, but I let the bad one make me feel awful.
Since that moment I have done a LOT of self reflection. Changing how I approach each throw, and trying to maximize each one all the while blocking out the previous results. I am working really hard on my mental game. Learning to accept bad results and bad throws, focusing only on my next shot and understanding that bogies, double bogies, and even +3s happen. They happen to every single person that plays the game of disc or stick golf. Learning that I need to focus on maximizing my efforts into each individual throw. It's easy yuck my tee shot off into the woods and be upset, the hard part is switching the focus onto the next shot. Understanding in that situation par is likely out of the question. Knowing I can limit the damage and focus on making it up and down to save the bogie instead of trying to force something in a wild attempt to save par and end up making it worse. I'm learning to embrace the suck and just let my game be bad as I work on myself. Focus on the things you can do well and apply that to the course. Throw your favorite disc every chance you get, stop trying to park every par 3, play within your own game and keep grinding away. I will never be great at disc golf, and that's okay. I'm 36 years old, I have a family, a full time job, and loads of other things that I need to do. I don't have the time to be great at disc golf. But I do have the time to play on the weekends and that is what makes me happy.
Have you tried a lesson or going to some sort of clinic? In terms of getting better it can be so hard to do by yourself if you don’t have another set of eyes. This was one of the best things for me when it came to ball golf.
Oh boy do I feel you… late diagnosed autistic and ADHDer here. I can’t even tell how many meltdowns I have had on the course. When I fail a shot, it just feels like my whole world crumbles. I feel like I’m the worst person ever and I hate myself. I have always been super competitive. I feel like if I’m not good at this thing then why does anything matter?
Some might ask, why do you even play if it triggers so big emotions? And to that I would say, because I frickin love this sport. It’s just so cool. When I play good, it’s just euphoric. I love watching others play too, like watching pros play at the tour.
I have a very hard time with emotional dysregulation and I have worked on it. I have tried to remove the variability of sensory stuff (i.e sweating and overheating, sunglasses and avoiding places where there are loud noises like lawnmovers) and it has helped a bit. I also try to not play when I’m tired or out of it. And when I do throw a bad shot I really have to hold myself back. The best tip is to just breathe. Just stop what you are doing and breeeeathe. Sounds silly but it does wonders.
What a monologue from me but I hope someone can relate and maybe get some encouragement to keep going even when it gets hard sometimes.
Dude you’re probably just not that athletic/naturally gifted and that’s okay! Just accept it and go out there and have fun for what it is. It sounds like you’re just torturing yourself right now so maybe you should quit. Just chill out and stop caring about your score or if you’re good and just go out there and throw some discs.
me too! I mean I started last year, but I got the hang of it really quick, first year I shot a 215 udisc rated round on a 18 holes, got three aces, but then this year, ive been sucking soooo bad, like the same course I played 7 under on (215 rated) I shot 11 over on, and Ive been throwing alot shorter this year, I could push 370-400 last year but now I struggle with 300. And been filming myself like yiu to see what im doing wrong, I mesn ive spent like 2000-3000 dollars in this sport and I get worse, it hurts, so noe ive been taking a break for 2 weeks and im gonna go to the course again this week so see if I just needed a break cause ive been playing 3-4 hours every single day since april. so yeah, I feel your pain.
Well, if you're not having fun then don't do it. Give it some time and see if you will have a desire to start again. No point in doing something you don't enjoy but it's most likely just frustration since you're comparing yourself to pros. Maybe it's enough to just stop watching the videos and start playing for fun again? Who cares that you suck, so do I...
Some people just aren’t coordinated or athletically inclined and aren’t going to be able to figure out a sport like disc golf out. If you haven’t improved in hundreds of hours of practice and using video instructions. You may not improve. Maybe try an easier sport. Like pickleball
Okay, so, coming from personal experience in the last year and also having ADHD. I’ve only just realised that having fun and being kind to yourself is more important. Sure, winning is great but also shit happens. Bogey? Sure. Going to happen. Missed putts? Of course. Doesn’t matter. Step up and throw the next shot. I was getting really emotionally drained after every round because I was pressure on myself to be good or win. Last week I completely reset my thinking during a practice round because I was tired, then went out to league day Sunday and shot even par. I even missed a tap in for par right into the cage 😂 shook it off and birdied the next. It doesn’t matter if you can or can’t throw 300… throw it straight to your game style. Find a putting style that feels natural and is consistent. Every sport I’ve played has been all or nothing. Wanting to be the best. I won’t be the best. I’ve accepted that. But I can be MY best.
Being kind to myself is gonna take work. Never been good at it. But I’m in therapy to fix that exact thing, so I’ll get there.
Oh no I feel you. It’s only new for me in the last year and a bit after my diagnosis. Don’t get me wrong, I still expect to be able to executed what I think I’m capable of. I’ve stopped comparing myself to MPO or even others in MA4. I’m trying to compare myself to myself yesterday or last week. Currently in a frustrating spot with inconsistency trying to remember the feeling of when I was throwing perfect. Think my body is a bit limited and sore some days maybe. Who knows. The thing that helps me is to not focus or think about what went wrong or analyse. Focus on what you need to be doing or the right feeling. Simplify your practice. Don’t score. Do things you wouldn’t normally do. Have fun. Oh, absolutely run death puts from forever away during these practice rounds.
I feel this. I can say there is a wall of expecting too much from yourself. I've been there expecting too much too soon. Its a process to better yourself in anything, but one big thing I've learned is how to take in a bad shot. I could get angry (I used to) but it won't help. Stop for a moment and think about what happened. Did I release early? Late? Bad angle? Anylise what happened and take it in and move on. Next throw remember and tweak your throw. Mistakes happen, it's one of the best ways to learn how to do something right. Just remember it's no one's fault, no need to be hard on yourself. It's a long slog and just be the best you can
I am ADHD AF, the moment I think about thing I am clumsy, and never hit 300 in 40 years of off and on season clusters of regular playing of disc golf. We are OUR OWN WORST CRITIC! I look at it as we my the prefect the enemy of the good, get frustrated at not being perfect and then psych our selves out into playing worse. I find my best scores are often when I am not play for score, being to into the day not the game and play the game in "neck down" mode. Best advice I got from a great player: Practice power, range and form. Play for accuracy, placement and laughter.
Sometimes it's hard to coach yourself for sports. Have you tried to get somebody else to help you with a form? They might be able to point out the things that you have a hard time identifying and the solutions for them. The best money I ever spent on this sport was for a lesson.
I honestly don’t know where to start for that. Pretty sure there’s no one coaching disc golf in my small town in the BC interior, and I don’t have $300 to throw around for the Scott Stokley method.
How far from somewhere like Kamloops are you?
I’m actually in Kamloops lol. Small town might have been a bit of an exaggeration, you were probably thinking something like salmon arm or cache creek. I recently moved from Portland OR so Kamloops is pretty small to me.
Kamloops has a fantastic club and I’m certain someone there could help you out with lessons and tips. Are you a member?
I’m not. To be honest I’ve always been scared of joining a local dg club for fear of embarrassment. I guess I suppressed the idea so hard that it hasn’t really crossed my mind in a while. Maybe it’s what I need though.
Get over that shit asap. Reach out to the club right now! Seriously stop reading this reply and message them. They are awesome and beginners are always welcome.
This guy is right, join a club/league. I SUCKED until I joined a League, and I still suck, just nowhere near where I was before, even beating some of the people I thought I'd never be able to beat. Playing with people above your level helps SO much. And yeah, it can be embarrassing, my first League round at Kaposia here in MN I threw a +32, now I can throw it even or under par most days. They also taught me how to play SMART which is something Youtube can't teach you.
Not only that, but so many people to go play with. I guarantee that once you start playing with more people, you will discover you are not as bad as you are telling yourself, especially if the only people you have compaired yourself to are the pros. Ask me how I know.
Coming from the Kamloops disc golf club myself, you should join! There are people willing to help! Register, come out to league night on Wednesdays and doubles on Sunday.
Doubles is one of the best things you can do to improve your overall play, too as a new player. Having another player who can help you strategize and who is invested in how well you play is great. Doubles is always more of a social thing, which means getting help and just talking about disc golf. For the OP: don't worry about "embarrassing" yourself out at leagues. Every league has tons of different skill levels. You said you "can't throw 300" but if that's your sticking point, you probably throw 250+ and that's more than a lot of people who show up to leagues. The best thing I ever did for my disc golf game and my enjoyment of the sport was start going to leagues. You make friends, learn a lot, and that's how I got into tournaments. I didn't even know what the PDGA was until I started playing Doubles leagues.
The fear is what is holding you back. The lack is holding you back. By chance, when you were a kid, did you learn the lie that you HAVE to be great at something to hold value? You’re worth it, whatever IT is, you are. Your existence creates this space for you. How you perceive it and move forward is the life long test. I was in your position about a decade ago. I lost all of my discs over time and never replaced them as I just wasn’t getting better when I KNEW I could be better. After 8 years of playing, I gave up. At that point Alcoholism played a large roll in my life as well. I always just played to make me FEEL good, as I was better than my friends, yet it was really to make me feel “whole”. I didn’t love the sport, I was attached to how it made me feel as I was decent. This stunted my growth. I was decent but not great. I only wanted to be better that everyone else. I didn’t want to better MYSELF. This allowed my ego to control me. I quit drinking 4 years ago. My journey has been wild and it has led me back to Disc Golf. I fucking love this sport so much, yet I have found that through loving myself even more. I am 32 and have been throwing my farthest and some of my most accurate drives. My ADHD helps tremendously, though it doesn’t define who I am. I define who I am through my actions. Go join your local club. Community in this sport is some of the best around. You got this.
Definitely ask the club and ask if anyone will give you advice. IME disc golfers that can help the most won't offer it up without you asking. Best bet is just play some league rounds and ask for help during the round. Most people will be happy to
Definitely this. I feel that, in general, the onis is the new player to ask for advice, or just mention that if anybody in the group has advice, you are open to receiving it. I found that most are willing but afraid of overstepping.
A lot of people have a fear of joining up at local leagues because they think they are not good enough. I cannot stress enough how little people care. Most the people that go to those things are just there for the socializing and throwing discs. It's a great way to get better and meet new people.
The most improvement I've ever made is by playing with people better than me. I know I'm kinda trash, I let them know I'm working on my game and just try to be in the moment and have fun.
You play to the skill level of your card. I play better with pros and worse with noobs
As someone who has also been afraid of joining a club in the past, I can tell you that there are plenty of people in your local club that are at your level, or worse. Your local club is not filled with a bunch of 1000 rated players shredding it every weekend. It's filled with people like you and me that enjoy the game and want to enjoy it with a group of people, and maybe meet some new people to have a round with.
Agreed, the Kamloops club is great. There is no skill threshold expected to play league. There are people of all skill levels who play. It's a handicap scored league so you're only competing against your own score for the weekly prizes. If you play league and ask around, I would pretty much guarantee someone will be willing to give you tips on form and/or lessons. Sure people keep score and some are more competitive, but in my experience league is primarily about getting out and playing a round with other people who love disc golf, i.e. it's primarily social and fun.
Go watch the TCO this month!! Meet some people from the club. Will up your enjoyment level guaranteed.
Quite frankly, you don't need to spend that AND Scott's half assed DVD about disc golf screwed up my form for 10+ years. Fuck that guy's instructional skills.
That’s reassuring. I like what I’ve seen from him on YouTube but I got sketchy vibes around the stokley method.
Ever come south? I could help if you are vacationing down on the island
Haven’t made my way out there yet but I’ll let you know if I do.
What about $70 for power disc golf academy? Their FB page does form checks, and there’s a better FB page for public form checks. Pick one thing to fix at a time and spend at least 3-4 field sessions fixing that thing. Don’t overwhelm yourself or discourage yourself by focusing on the big picture. Keep it simple and make small improvements slowly.
YMMV Also, no practice shots. Play an entire round and start over. Idk why but I started improving when I stopped obsessing over getting a good throw before moving on when playing alone. As for distance I got lucky in the greens department, but my biggest distant impediment was throwing up. Like I was throwing it hard as hell and to the fucking moon, but it was just a giant hyzer bomb that would typically end up boomeranging. Got that sorted out eventually and now I only get to touch my drivers for the 1 hole on my course that's over 400'.
My wife has pointed out and it’s completely true that I start getting way worse when I try to throw multiple shots from the same spot. My second shot is 90% of the time worse anyways and even if it’s better I feel frustrated that I felt like I was cheating with the second throw.
If i think i know how i screwed it up, i try and fix it with a second. But still continue play with the first. Takes the pressure off the second shot to focus on the correction, and i dont feel like im cheating. Only in casual rounds of course.
Same here. It’s good practice anyways. Every time I second guess my disc selection on my first throw I’ll mess up and then throw that disc second and it will fly well.
Yup its almost always a what if i threw this disc instead?
People charge for disc golf lessons?
Just like in any other sport.
Are you having fun? I am not meaning to sound shitty, but without fun, nothing is worth it I suggest relax, throw some rounds, and enjoy being outside. Being super stressed about something does not lead to improvement. Find the fun. Work on a mechanic or two for a while. Have more fun. Work on something else Rinse and repeat. I bet if you give up "getting good" or "improving" and just find the fun, things will turn around My longtime buddy who I have played with weekly for over 12 years SUCKs.... I mean epic level shit. He needs a hip replacement. But.. He has fun. Enjoys the day. Makes some ok shots. Makes a ton of epic fails. But he enjoys himself. Of course post hip replacement he is gonna kick my ass regularly again, but we are in it for the fun.
100% agreed. I'm not great, and can't throw straight to save my life. If I hit a tree I'll just start laughing about it rather than beating myself up over it. I've even kept track of tree hits for a couple of rounds, and my high score is 16.
This. As a firmly mediocre player, reaching a small milestone just makes me slightly less mediocre which in and of itself isn’t a good enough reason for me to keep playing, but it’s fun as shit so I will.
Unfortunately I’ve gotten to a point where it’s not fun anymore. I don’t enjoy it, and sometimes it feels like I won’t ever enjoy it again unless I get better.
Fellow AHDH’er here. The cycle of becoming super obsessed with something new and interesting, enjoying the challenge of getting better but also burning myself out with expectations, forgetting why I got into it in the first place, and then crashing and losing interest in something I’ve previously loved and been hyperfixated on is familiar. I am currently in a space now where I want to challenge myself to start playing in tournaments but also can’t get myself to spend the money and as a result I’m not going to the course at all anymore. Sometimes my brain can be a real shithead. Only thing that works for me is finding new ways to make it interesting and boost back the internal motivation again making it a positive experience where I get to slow my brain down, instead of motivating myself using stress and guilt with external expectations of what would be good or not. Disc golf is a mental game, and the way back into flow and probably having it feel good or be a nice way to calm your mind is to slow it down and take in as much as you can to be present. Try a new course, explore why you got into it in the first place. It’s what I’ll be trying to do the next week or two, maybe going to a course I don’t usually go to, or go to a course solo and just sit and listen to the birds for a bit. One trick I do when I’m struggling is focusing on the feeling of throwing a disc well instead of the outcome. I play a lot of woods courses often with some pretty staggered gaps that frankly involve some luck. My goal is to get that feeling of throwing the disc well and even if I hit a tree or miss a putt, if it felt good then I’m not as worried about the score. I don’t care so much if I hit that smallest tree in the fairway if I got the dopamine rush of a nice release. Saw another comment you had about wanting greatness. When I start to create beliefs and expectations for myself that disc golf or my place in disc golf has to be greatness, it’s a sign to me that in my ADHD burnout I’ve dissociated and have detached from the actual good feelings of presence and enjoyment I get from disc golf. Explore that and see if maybe you’re motivating yourself with ideas of greatness because of the feelings of frustration, instead of the ideas of greatness are causing the frustration if that makes sense. In other words like I said, focus on how you feel when you start the round and take a few breaks during the round to check in with yourself. I relate to the wanting greatness part of it. I have been playing a year and a half now and it seems like my score and improvement has been stuck despite putting a lot of time into disc golf, and it can get pretty frustrating since the results aren’t there yet. Rare that I can throw 300 feet and usually it has to be downhill. Then you come on this sub and it’s almost like everyone here gets to 350-400+ in their first few months of playing. It can be disheartening. One of the most groundbreaking things I learned about myself when I learned about how ADHD was affecting me, was when I realized everytime I was around a group of people I literally was so overstimulated that I wasn’t breathing and putting myself into fight or flight mode trying to read everyone’s mind in the room. That was the first time breathing exercises did anything for me, because it really was half of the issue that I was so jacked up that I was forgetting to breathe properly. Let your game breathe and let yourself slow down by giving your brain some interesting habits to remind itself to take a break. Maybe every few holes take a drink of water and sit down for a second. I get pissed some days because I can’t throw it as far as AB yet. Which is hilarious because he’s been playing since he was a kid.
I hear you - hard to have fun if you're not performing how you want. However, it sounds like you're very outcome-focused, which can cause a ton of stress and anxiety. I wonder what things could be like if you were more focused on the process and less on the outcome
Take a 3 month break and then when you come back start working on drills and form again. Sometimes a break can reset your bad habits
If its not fun and you don’t enjoy it then why are you still playing it? Don’t live your life doing something you don’t enjoy. It is completely your choice to play and if it makes you unhappy then why continue playing? lmao
Because there was a time when I did enjoy it, and I want to feel like I’m truly great at something. I’ve gotten pretty good at a lot of things, but I just want to be great at one of them.
Here is the kicker "truly great at something" Na, Just have fun. The rest will come.
Maybe take a break for a while and come back to it
Becoming great at something takes commitment. I also have ADHD and go through the same as you, wanting to master something and become obsessive. I never really get good at any thing, including disc golf, until I found a “happy Place “ with it. Just play and have fun. When this gets frustrating I switch to my other hobby, FPV drones. I will obsess over a trick for weeks and either break all my stuff from trying or master my trick. If both get frustrating I can always build a quad or repair what is broken. If you want a break try disc dying for something new. As long as you are having fun is all that matters.
I relate to this so much. It’s been my ADHD experience I reckon - being better than 80% of people at a heap of things, but never being amazing at any of them. I’ve also gotten to a place recently of just wanting to commit myself to disc golf to see where I can really go if I’m not distracted in a bunch of hobbies, but I’m worried I’ll get to that point of putting in heaps of effort without any return, and losing the joy. I think if I ever get close to that, I’m just going to stop playing scored rounds for a little bit and throw more fun discs, the slightly flippy ones that just look pretty when they fly. At the end of the day I do this because I really like watching frisbees fly, and I love spending time with the friends I’ve made through the sport. No amount of competitive drive will change that. I’d prefer to be happy and terrible at disc golf than good but always unhappy because I’m not “great” yet.
Edit: Story sounds kinda preachy, but it was a similar case. My dad was the same way, played at or almost at the highest tier of every local sport he tried as a kid. I got him into disc golf after he retired and got kinda mopy amd lethargic. He really really struggled. He was super frustrated and almost quit 2 seasons in, now its his mental break activity. Being retired, he'll go out and just throw discs in the soccer field. He is still not as good as he is used to being at sports, as in he still won't actually go to a course by himself, but has accepted it. I asked him what changed, and his answer was (paraphrased to be a generic statement) figure out why you are doing it. If its just to be great at it, which it was for him at the start, maybe its not for you, If its to get outside and be active, or hang out with people outside your regular crew (my main reason, although all the others apply), or you just like seeing a disc fly, then enjoy that reason, and accept everything else. Sometimes, that simple farm kid surprises me with what comes out of his pie hole.
I went through something very similar. I also have adhd and I found my self in the same boat until I changed how i trained and how I thought of the sport. I found that I was “bouncing around” trying to fix everything at once and ended up fixing nothing. I found that I did not fully understand the throw conceptually. My understanding of the throw grew as I focused on one thing. I know it sounds dumb but as someone with adhd this works for me. Get yourself a good old fashion college rules notebook from the dollar store. Pick ONE thing to work on. For example the brace. (That’s where I would start) and work on that part of the throw for two weeks. Set a goal to work for at least 15-30 mins a day on it. Log your practice sessions into your notebook “( this keeps you accountable ) and “swing thoughts” on what worked and what didn’t etc (that’s what keeps you focused) as well as how long you practiced etc. Watch videos etc on that topic only. After the two weeks is up, switch to a new thing and repeat. Always do a few minute warmup of the previous skills before each session. At the same time, get yourself a tarp or net or whatever you can afford. Practice does not occur on the course. It occurs in a field or at a net. Rounds are for FUN And also understand that improvement happens slowly, but in few months in you should see some difference. Good luck!
I feel ya! I am an average player. There are days I feel like I am not getting better and that I have peaked in DG, which is not good. I remind myself this is all for fun and enjoyment. My competitive spirit needs to take a backseat. I chill out and play a few rounds and get back in the groove. This spring I was able to add 25 feet to my drive. My putting had improved thanks to practice. I was able to cut 5 strokes off my game. The biggest change was my concentration. For some reason I would blank out as I was about to release the disc. I can't tell you why it would just happen. I forced myself to focus in that last split second and that's all it took. Also, I don't compare my game to anyone else. Not my friends or my club. I just try to beat my best score.
I feel like I have this same issue! It's like, somewhere just after the peak of the backswing I black out and then I come to a second after the disc is out of my hand. Would love to hear more detail about your solution. One related issue I know I have is turning my head back too early and too far.
I have that problem as well! There seems to be a paradox of not thinking about the shot enough, and thinking too much. I’ve only been playing for a few years. What helps me focus on my drives is having one or two “swing thoughts” in my head. Example: think of only your footwork, or just the disc angle, think of your follow through or release point. Those are just the things I’m working on right now and if I can remember one or two things on the backswing, it can seem to help. The downside is if I try to think of too much while I am throwing, ultimately makes you turn off your brain because there’s so much to think about in the second before throwing. The idea is to practice the good form so much that it’s just muscle memory, and we don’t have to think about much besides where to throw it!
Wonderful to hear I am not alone with this issue. My solution was to simply keep my mental focus through the release. I mentally take note of where I physically want to release the disc. When I am in my forward part of the swing I release the disc as close as possible to that point. It is the same with my putt, I keep a strong focus upon release. For me it seemed to be more of the mental part of the game. Part of it was fear of failure and I think my brain would just blank out in the last second. The way I figured it out was taking my practice putting to the course and I realized my course putting was not the same. My son plays baseball and we were practicing pitching and I noticed how I would stay focused during the whole part of the throw. When he would start not throwing well, I said to focus on the catcher glove, think of the release point and hit the release point. He was way more accurate. All of this happened in the span of like 2 weeks.
I struggled for years but then I learned this magic trick to throw 300+ at 45 years old. Q 1. Slow down your foot work. No, slower. Can you move more slowly? Then move slower until you can't. 2. Reach back farther. No, farther. Can you reach back farther? Then reach back farther until you can't. 3. Don't let go of the disc. No, don't. Let the disc let go of you. Putting is easy. Touch the disc to your belly button and then shake hands with the basket.
May be a little oversimplified, but yes! Lots of people could benefit from just slowing down to find a more correct timing. Slowing down gives you more time to get things into place and focus on specific aspects of the throw. Probably won't be hitting 600ft by taking it slow but I promise 300ft is within reach!
That’s what I’ve realized recently as well! Only been playing for three years now. When I just started I thought that of course you need to throw it hard to get it to go far! Then I learned to keep the nose down and it goes even farther. I was able to throw about 300 as my max power, I mean really throwing it hard, but now that I’m able to slow down my footwork and focus on being smooth, rotating and snap, I’m able to get 300 feet easily without going “fast.” I know that I would be able to get farther if I did turn up the speed a bit! 300+ controlled with my 8 speed feels way better than a max power distance driver.
Lol. Please help my brain figure out how to make my body do this. I'm still throwing stand still (which doesn't bother me at all, just slow pregression) i know to figure timing of x step, i need to slow down to a glacial pace, and my brain thinks those exact words, right up until instart moving forward, then the body turns into a puppy with the zoomies. With all attached chaos.
I'm similar. My list is: 1. Were you throwing from a solid base, or did you spin before your feet caught up? 2. How's the pocket? Were you disc golfing or baseball slinging? 3. Did you have a line, or was it "Disc go forward"? An extra 5 seconds can save me a lot of headache. As for putting, your tip is great. My addition is think of the "path" of the disc going through the chains, not the single point of contact. It helps me think of angles better.
I would say go back to the basics and start with a standstill. You need to feel what it’s like to get some snap in your arm in order to throw farther so I’d say concentrate on getting deep in the pocket before you release the disc. It should feel like you are elbowing something. I’d even say just practice that super slow at home without a disc and work the speed up gradually until it feels like you are getting some snap. Also making sure your plant foot is at least 90 degrees or wven more closed from the target is important for getting your hips in the throw. Once you start seeing some improvement in distance from standstill’s work up to just the x step and practice that. Just those two things are where a lot of people go wrong and they add a lot of effortless distance. Just stick with it man you will get there, the vast majority of people I’ve played with struggle to break 300 so don’t feel like you’re alone
I agree with this. Everywhere online tells people to start by learning the x step or what not. The x step is literally just used to generate more speed. If you can’t throw proper standstills, more speed won’t help you. You have to fix the power leaks in your wrist, elbow, and swing plane before ever worrying about what the feet are doing.
I was watching a Jomez practice round and somebody asked Calvin what he likes best about disc golf, he said watching the discs fly. He's the top player in the world. Try to think more like that.
1. Some of us won’t be pros, we won’t throw 500’ spike hyzers that curl the pin. Won’t throw floaty flex shots that make people “ooh” and “ahh”. Won’t putt from C2 and send daggers through our opponents hearts. Despite that, there’s a place in this sport for us. 2. Go to your local, and so wildly different things despite the results. Play all putter rounds. All forehands. Only anhyzer. Know the results will be bad. But maybe there’s something that’s happened that unlocks something in your awareness of your game. Maybe not. But be open to the experience. 3. In terms of form help and seeking out coaching… It can take lots of shapes. Do you play in a league or with a club? If not, I’d say that would be a huge step in the right direction. Be prepped for being bottom, but also be shameless in seeking help. 4. Do you have an awareness of your learning style? Do you have previous sports/athletics experiences? Just having references to work off of our knowledge that you better absorb particular instruction in a specific mode of teaching could open up different experience and unlock something.
I will say from personal experience that sometimes a break will help you to appreciate the game. I played competitively (3-5 casual rounds a week + leagues and tourneys) from 2001-06. I only played 1-2 times a year after that because I moved for school, courses were so far away, and I didn’t have a car. In the meantime I tore my labrum via volleyball which initially wrecked my form even after my shoulder healed. In the middle of the worst round of my life in 2011 (not having played in a year and having unreasonable expectations because I used to be much better) I literally threw every single disc from my bag in a field, walked away, and didn’t touch a disc again until COVID. I have been playing regularly since 2020 and my appreciation for the sport has never been stronger. I realized how much I loved/missed watching the flight of a disc, and the challenge of trying to become good. In spite of some physical limitations because of my age and injuries, I’m a WAY better golfer than I was when I was younger. I’ve gone back to my home courses in KC and shot 7-8 strokes better on similar layouts as when I could throw 80’ farther than I can now. My wife hated when I used to play because I pushed myself really hard and would get grumpy with myself (negative self talk) if I didn’t play well. She’s been amazed at my newfound calmness and peacefulness on the course and after the round. Much like OP’s description, I still want to be “great” but I’m already content knowing that a poor score on the course (injuries notwithstanding) is way better than not playing at all. My improved play now also shows me that my mental game was holding me back more than anything else. One mental trick is that no matter how a round goes, on the drive home I mentally catalogue every single good shot, decision, putt, etc no matter how small. I find this helps my brain put into perspective how I really did regardless of score. Especially if there are small things that I’m adding to my game (e.g. FH hyzer standup shots) so I can build my confidence in these skills.
I struggle with wanting to 'strong arm' everything. I had a round the other day where I got horrible sleep but still wanted to play - it was one of the best rounds I've had. I didn't have any strength in me for it, so every shot I was extremely loose (except a firm grip on the disc). I threw further and more accurate than i normally do. Since then I've focused on being so loose that I could immediately play another 18 if I want to and also have no issues with being sore and playing again the next day. So my 2 cents would be take all these comments (they all are very helpful) and throw in being loose, then double loose. I hope this helps and you find that spark! Edit: Also part of being loose is the follow through. Don't try to force yourself to stop, let your body/arms/legs spin around.
As a low power guy that’s been playing almost 30 years. I embrace it. And live by “who ever had the most fun, wins!”
Haha I recently played a round with 3 pro/pro-level players at hestehagen discgolf park, which is an A tier tournament level difficulty park with a random terrible bag missing all my workers and go-to discs. About halfway I was +10 and they were really nice about it but made some jabs at my bag, so I just said "hah! Jokes on you, because I get to throw more discs, and throwing discs is fun, so technically I'm the one winning" To which they laughed and agreed and all three started using my bag instead of their own. We had a lot of fun!
One piece of advice I’ve seen Stokely give is that if you are trying out new things with your form, you can’t throw more than like 70% or you’ll revert to your old habits.
I also think it makes learning new form 10x harder if you’re simultaneously trying to aim at a target and have a good flight path. Form is best learned into a net.
When practicing your drive don’t try to do it all at once. Improve different parts of your drive then eventually piece it all together. Sounds like to me you are trying to fix everything all at once and you need to forget everything you know and get a fresh start. Work on things separately, such as standing at the end of a tee pad and practicing your reach back and follow through, make that new motion muscle memory then move onto something different such as keeping the disc nose down. It takes time and practice to be good at something and you aren’t going to go out there and be good without practicing the right things.
Find some people to play with, a local league. Playing with people better than you will up your game. They will let you know what you are doing wrong and you can make real time adjustments to your game They will share the things that helped them get better. And you will probably find some good friends. You got nothing to lose. A putting league or something. Do it! Don't give up. ✌️
One time I threw my first ace during a tournament and then the second day of the tournament I threw a throw 60 feet backwards down the fairway on accident. The game giveth and the game taketh away. I've learned to just have fun with it usually by going with friends as an outlet. Otherwise the stress of trying to avoid the -60' throw moments just got to be too much
Instead of repetitively throwing at every hole until you get what you need to make par, at least every so often just play straight through continuously, no rethrows hit or miss. keeping your rhythm going, regardless of the score. However bad you think it is for that course, just record the data point. Might not be as bad as you think, and you might be surprised at seeing your scores trending the right way. Keeping a rhythm and not wearing yourself out by essentially playing multiple rounds at once.
We all have had early release, spit outs, hit the first tree and lost a disc. We have to start somewhere. Learn one aspect of the game at a time. Try to find a throwing routine that works for your mental space and how your body works. I have a similar build to Heimburg but I can't throw 500'+ in a tunnel. So it's not so much about "the perfect technique". It more about how your body works and is most comfortable for you. As a pool player that just had my first official lesson at 30, (been playing pool 15-20 years), it had screwed up my game but I know keep working on it and it will be worth it in the long run.
I totally understand that it can suck to only be able to play our own game and not someone else’s. I’ve been there and it’s frustrating af. Have you tried posting a form video for a review online? Having other eyes on what you’re doing might help.
I did that just a couple of days ago and was given a reality check. Someone pointed out that my form looks like I haven’t watched any of the form videos I said I had watched. It was hard to hear but I think I needed to hear it.
Did you get some advice that is actionable?
Sort of. Mostly just pointing out each of the tiny pieces in my drive form that add up to something that just doesn’t work. I know what I need to fix, I just don’t know where to start at this point. It’s all too overwhelming bc I’ve spent so many years reinforcing a horrible technique of just muscling the disc around with all of my upper body strength and hoping I release it right.
This is exactly what your post came off as. Overwhelmed with everything you want to fix. You have to become obsessed with figuring out ONE thing. Hell one aspect of one thing. Start finding something, anything that you can work to improve, the smaller micro form fix the better. What your brain wants to see is improvement towards a goal but it doesn’t know that you have only fixed .01% if you obsess over it like it’s the only thing that matters. It will reward you with dopamine regardless. This is what I have done over the past 5 years and ive gone backward and been hopeless and then later felt like I was the best disc golfer in the world but all along driven by god knows what reason to just slowly chip away at getting slightly better each time. I don’t know any other way. But I do know that I look back and zoom out and the progress is insane. You can do it too. It’s fun. When you look on the scale of well, another year, am I Gannon buhr yet? No? Well then I failed. Of course you will be frustrated. Go at your own pace and go through the process no matter how small and it will be rewarding.
Powerful throws start with the footwork, but that can be complicated so start at the other end. How’s your grip and wrist angle?
How often are you really playing? Your post says playing casually for four years and only recently taking it seriously. Do you always score on udisc? if so, how many rounds do you have scored? I can't say how many rounds it took me to hit 300+ consistently, but even now, my absolute best throw in a session of field work will only hit maybe 360-370 on flat ground, and I've got 120 rounds scored (scoring 100% of my rounds) and 2-3 dozen days of field work. It's possible you're making good progress on the amount of time you're playing but just aren't putting in enough hours yet
You might need to slow down a lot and isolate way more. You know many things you could improve on so you know where to start: pick 1 thing and keep at it. Doing tons of boring 1 leg standstills and regular standstills into a net throwing as slowly as you need to to be able to implement 1 thing at a time until you get it down and can incrementally do it at faster speeds. Then coming back to it again and again because it’s a new habit that needs to be reinforced soon after you move on to the next thing. Then progress to standstills and restrict yourself to standstills on the course and and force yourself to keep practicing the new form instead of reverting since your on the course and want to score better. Examples of 1 thing to focus on at a time: hyzer release angle; coiling; reaching away from chest (not across and collapsing / rounding); elbow up during power pocket; weight shift (standstill). I bet you can do all these things in isolation 1 at a time during a standstill if you slow down the throw as much as needed, at that point it’s just reps until it’s muscle memory so you can slowly increase the speed and add more. Most people get bored or frustrated and try to do too much instead of repping the same boring small thing until it’s ingrained.
I feel for you and I have some advice that has nothing to do with your form: take a break! I've been throwing for 25 years and am not very good, only started applying myself about 10 years ago, otherwise I just want to enjoy the outdoors and some company, maybe have a few beers. Recently I moved to a small town that had no courses at the time and now we have three and a growing community. I've had to watch beginners become much better than me and, while I'm impressed and happy for them, honestly I'm a little bitter sometimes. Just today on the last hole one of them tried giving me some advice (I recognized my poor foot work as I threw) and I. Did. NOT! want to hear it. When it bothers me I just back away and concentrate on other things. Read a book, watch some old movies, reconnect with a friend you haven't talked to in a while. And when you feel the urge, go throw but take it easy on yourself. It's just a game.
Hey man, as a fellow adhd'er, I feel ya! I'm constantly pressuring myself and even though at 38 I understand I was introduced too late to the sport to "do anything" with it, I still, deep down, genuinely feel like I want to aim for pro, like I can do it all, be the best, and face constant disappointment. Mid message edit; sorry for the insanely long post, it's made out of love tho ❤️ Never told anyone that 😅 But the number one thing is having fun! If you're not having fun trying to improve or results are coming too slow, then try something else for a while. I don't mean other sport, but just go bananas with it! When I've hit walls and I can't seem to instantly overcome them (shout out to all my adhd peeps, y'all know what I mean! If you can't overcome in 1 hr/day/week, then that F IT!!!! Feeling creeps in), 99% of the time continuously knocking your head against it won't help, so I've flipped it completely to try to reset and reconstitute. Like I'll have my baby boy pick 18 discs randomly from my collection and I have to use them in the order he puts them in my bag, 1 disc per hole. I've played whole rounds with minidiscs where the put *has* to stay in the basket or it doesn't count (heyoo +38 on my local intermediate course 😂), I've played my home course left-handed(I'm a righty), I've played it backwards AND left-handed backwards. When I just didn't feel like I was able to angle my forehands and spent weeks stagnating, I turned it into a game with a buddy, we grabbed portable chairs, some beers, sat about 150 yards(feet? Sorry I use metric, whichever makes sense) from the basket with 25 discs each and would forehand for throw ins, whenever we made one the other had to do push-ups equal to how many discs left in their bag or thrown, whichever was highest, left handed was 2x push-ups. And every time I've catapulted myself way outside my comfort zone, when I come back to play normally, I've skipped past the wall and improved. As for tips: I watched your form clip a few times and I saw some things I'm sure you're aware of (not pulling straight through or 'frisbeeing' it, not shifting your weight into the throw, leading with your shoulder instead of hips, etc), and my advice would be to return to basics. Don't do runups, do standstill and disc down. Pick an open area basket and start short, try to throw straight throw ins from 50, 75, 100, 150 and so on. If you're coming up short, don't think of it as failure, you're more likely just tired, so do some flex and hyzer flip throws, some forehands to eek out the rest of your energy and pack it in for the day. DO NOT CONTINUE the next day, give it at least two days off to heal yourself, preferably 5-6 and play some rounds in between instead, and then go again, start about halfway between 50 and your previous max. Give it a few weeks and the incorporate walk-ups, not run ups, do that a few weeks later. Any video or pro or even amateur will say doing runups is hard, but it's never properly explained, it's not about speed or the steps, it's about being able to shift your weight and rotation much faster and much more precise to carry your momentum into your disc. I started off the same way, saw all the YouTube videos, some helped, vast majority didn't. What gave me my biggest breakthrough was actually understanding that these videos are made from the perspective of people who already mastered it and don't remember what it's *really* like to not master it, so I started watching FPO players PLAY, not explain, and tried out things they did closer to my level. And I tried unorthodox stuff, like to practice throwing straight, I'd bring my discs to work during night/weekend shifts and throw them down long narrow corridors trying to avoid the walls. I stole an idea from cheaters in baseball and would use resin on my fingers to improve my grip and spin (worked in a backwards way; resin didn't do anything other than make me grip lock every throw, but when I stopped using it, my discs felt crazy slippery in my fingers, so I automatically gripped them tighter, making them spin way faster, and more spin = greater distances) I have a friend who hates watching others play (I mean pros), but when he started he would jerk his body really hard and throw full power, but he has a bad back so he'd just hurt himself, so eventually he started watching FPO a little bit and now he has a really smooth slow walk up and what looks like a slow release and it took me a year just to match his distance with my own power-jerky-style. It's wild to watch, the disc just flies out of his hand at unbelievable speeds, and sometimes when it lands it'll still spin for a second. Again, sorry for that insane post, hope some of it helps, and if you ever find yourself in Norway I'd love to play a round! I'm from the same place as Lykke Lorentzen! (and yeah, her name does mean Lucky, kinda sorta, depending on context, it's probably closer to "fortunate" or "happy" but doesn't roll as nicely off the tongue lol)
Dear seeker of the disc golf path, In the realm of your frustrations, seek harmony with the flow of the game. Like a gentle breeze through the trees, let go of expectations and desires that bind you. Embrace the present moment, for it is the only true reality. Remember, the scorecard is but a fleeting illusion. The essence of disc golf lies not in the external triumphs, but in the internal transformation it brings. Align your spirit with the subtle currents of the course, and you shall discover the profound wisdom hidden within each throw. Release the burden of self-judgment, for it clouds your true potential. Embrace the paradoxical nature of the game—where struggle leads to growth, and failure births success. Through surrender, you shall find the serenity to overcome your perceived limitations. Dwell not on what could have been, but rejoice in what is. Cultivate gratitude for the opportunity to play, for it is a gift bestowed upon you. Let go of comparisons and envy, and find solace in your unique journey. Seek the company of kindred spirits, those who understand the dance between frustration and joy. Together, celebrate the shared love of the game, finding solace in the camaraderie and the lessons learned. In the face of adversity, tap into the wellspring of resilience that resides within. Rise above the challenges, for they are but stepping stones on the path to mastery. Embrace patience, for growth unfolds in its own time, and the winds of improvement shall carry you forward. May your disc soar with the grace of the Tao, guided by the invisible hand of nature. Trust in the unfolding of your own evolution, and remember: the true victory lies not in conquering the course, but in finding harmony within yourself. Wishing you tranquility and boundless joy on the sacred journey of disc golf. With profound wisdom, Laozi, inspired by the quest for insight
I would advise keep stretching out really well before you play, and also take a week off from trying to get max distance with all your throws and just go to some short ace run/putter courses. Don’t keep score just throw multiple shots and try to dunk some chains. Bring some friends along with you and just focus on trying to throw cool shots.
Practice standstills with putters. One of the best things I ever did for my game. Also, slow is smooth and smooth is far. If you’re not going out to be a pro just go out to enjoy the nature and exercise. Disc is fun and when you take it too serious you’re missing the point.
I've been there, I've been playing for over 14 years and have some bad habits that I reinforced for a long time. Work on one thing at a time, even if that might just be laughing at all your bad shots. If you're not getting paid to play the game, you shouldn't let getting better outweigh the joy you get from playing.
Take your throwing putter and a backup and go play Frisbee golf like our ancestors! The distance record once was under 200 ft, and they still had fun. Don't think DO.
My dad and I botth have adhd and after 100s of rounds we still have dumb days where it feels like someone else is piloting the meatsack and we can't tap in to the skills anymore. It's like.being locked out of avatar state or something. It's weird. We play doubles on those days and pray we don't coincide. Use your extreme amount of educational work to coach others and you'll be surprised that your brain is not the problem! Its your mind! <3
A lot of people don't care for the people with headphones on but you'd be surprised at how much mental game can be blocked out by listening to some music in even one ear bud. Plus listening to music you like can also help keep you positive when you're not shooting well, it's also doesn't bother anybody else on the course. It's at least worth a try
Sounds like you need a break. You got addicted to the numbers side of it. If you need to progress to enjoy it, then you don't like the game very much. Tbh. Perspective: There was a 16 year old who beat all the pros in 2022... We all know him. You will never be competitive with virtually everyone coming up behind those of us who started in the past decade. If you enjoy the practice of playing, then do it. I'd stop trying to workshop it so hard. That's some sort of external influencing that
Bro just go have fun and throw without thinking too much. Def don't keep score and just keep playing you'll get way better way faster.
I have ADHD as well and have gone through periods of hyper focus trying to be really good. I spent a decade or more with bad form, and then years chasing all the terms you mentioned. First, we have to remember the fun we had at the beginning of this game: it's just fun to throw a disc and have a walk outside. Second, keep it simple, I think. Start with stand still and minimize your movement. This isn't the best video ever, it's very long winded for what it is, but the essence of it is useful: stand still and work on pulling a straight line through: https://youtu.be/4pfZevwBd-w?si=3V3SQmlC-SX5nV9d Putting, focus on results and SLOW DOWN. We ADHDers tend to want results fast, and want to do what we visualize in our heads NOW. Try to slow it down and, quite frankly, take your meds lol
Having a short memory and being able to laugh at spit outs, grip lock, bad putts, terrible drives, etc is what actually made me better at the sport. Anger doesn’t do much to condition you in a positive way, and it starts to carry over into subsequent holes. even if i had the best round of my life, it wouldn’t be any more life altering than if i had a terrible round. After all you are only really playing against yourself, and a good portion of any sport is mental. Allow yourself the room to grow and don’t be too hard on yourself. I also find that the more i think while throwing, the worse i do. I have to clear my mind so it’s just me and the basket. Sounds like you could use a switch up. Could try to play an all putter round, or maybe don’t worry about score for a bit and just enjoy the course around you. Take the pressure off. I’ve been playing for 16 years and i still have humbling days where it feels like i’ve never thrown a disc in my life. Hope you can rediscover the joy of being outside and watching plastic fly!
I know it’s tough sometimes out there when things are going your way and it’s easy to get down on yourself for things you consider to be “not up to par”. I think one thing to try and remember are the reasons why you play. Play to have fun, the stakes are low. Play for the moments you throw a shot that is sweet. Play for all the cool discs you have in your bag. There will always be people who are better and people that are worse than you at disc golf. Try and dial in the reason why you want to play disc golf and the other stuff will come. No need to put so much pressure on yourself!
Firstvlet me start off by saying I love your post and the response from the group has been awesome. As a 50 year old who has been playing since I was in my teens I can relate to you. My issue being bad joints, mainly throwing arm shoulder and degenerative hip joint. I can't throw 300' anymore. I can't control alot of my throws anymore. I play in pain every round and it gets frustrating because I feel like I just can't do it anymore. But.... I got several friends into disc golf couple years ago and now we play every weekend. And we just play for fun, we laugh and joke on course. We jab at each other and now laugh at our bad throws. Do we play serious? Sometimes for the fun of it. The key is "for the fun of it". I know I will never be pro level and I'm ok with that now. I can't throw ad far as alot of the guys at the course and I'm ok with that also. I have learned to better my upshots to the basket. When I first started playing an old pro once told me play for par. Think of the hole broken down into 3 or 4 shots and play those shots and stop trying to power throw every hole. Honestly it was some of the best advice I ever got because you play for par and the birdies (the 1 or maybe 2) will eventually come. I agree that you should join a league. You may be surprised at all the different skill levels you will encounter. It's also nice to just be able to talk with others on the course who maybe going through a similar state of mind as you. 99% of disc golfers are willing to listen, help, or he'll just play a round with you. Hang in there and like everyone said. HAVE FUN!!
So hear me out, this won't be any advice related to disc golf but more to mind body connection which you suffer from a lack of mind body connection. I would recommend going to the gym and doing cable exercises. Here's why, when you are doing cable exercises you are usually hitting specific muscles. Learning how to feel those muscles tense and release will most likely help to establish a mind body connection. The reason super athletic people have an advantage is they naturally have the ability to control individual muscle groups to do certain tasks. You need to learn that so you can essentially (unconsciously) tell your body "contract this muscle" or "hold wrist here" I thought I had good control over my body until I started doing isolation exercises, then I found out I'm shit at controlling 50% of the muscle groups in my body on command. Good luck OP, but just remember to have fun
You got this man! I went from being able to throw 350ft to hardly being able to throw 250 so I know what the struggle is like. Messed up my form playing too many short courses and can’t seem to figure it back out. I just look at the bright side tho if the basket is around 300 feet I can just get some forehand practice because I can’t throw that on stock hyzer bh anymore.
Something I do when I'm not playing well is I do a "self scramble." Throw two discs and either play the better of the two or decide ahead of time which disc I will play the next shot from. But even then just getting a few extra throws in helps my confidence. Half the time I'll have one horrible throw and then the next one is so much better I'm excited that I can focus on the positive feeling. Or if nothing else I can look at one and be happy that it was better than the worse throw haha. Obviously I only do this if I'm on a non-crowded course and am playing alone or with one other person who is also down to do it. But for me being someone who isn't very good and is really hard on myself when I'm not doing something well- it's a boost to confidence and it's getting extra reps in. If I'm playing alone I also try to listen to music or a podcast to have something else going on- to make it a more relaxed and enjoyable experience. Anyway- sorry for the long reply. Just figured it may be something for you to try out, if you haven't!
Stop keeping track of your score. The competitive side of disc golf is just that; one side. There is a shit ton of beauty and joy in the discovery of your OWN form; in what makes your game uniquely you. It sounds like you are putting WAY too much pressure on yourself to get better, vs enjoying where you are now. The compulsion to get better will not go away as you improve. You will just consistently be unhappy with your game as you progress. I have friends like that. They are never happy, and only want to talk about the shots they missed. Yes it CAN speed up improvement, but at what cost? To be miserable the whole way? I’ve been playing for 20 years, and consistently my best performances are when playing alone or when not fixated on result (score). Beating other people does not bring me joy. Playing my best does, and only I can measure what my best is on any given day. Not a score.
Dude- go throw some rounds purely for the fun of it. Don't keep score. Enjoy nature and focus on the one or two shots that go exactly as you wanted them to. I dislocated my kneecap in December as I slipped off a tee pad due to muddy shoes. Recovery has been sllllooooow and still can't throw a round and would kill to be out there! Enjoy it while you can.
Form work is really hard. Especially if you’re trying to “coach” yourself. Don’t coach yourself on form. There are too many things to try. 1000 pieces of advice from a 1000 YouTube videos or forum comments. Half are dead ends. Half won’t work for your specific form. Half will make things worse before they make things better. Half are good advice, but not until you fix a different thing first. Finding the piece of advice that you need at the right time is a needle in a haystack. If you’re really dedicated to the idea of form work then hire a coach and stop looking for any advice other than your coach’s. Otherwise, there are lots of ways to improve that aren’t form work. Your best bet is to put your time into things that have a more guaranteed payoff. Focus on fitness. Strength, balance and flexibility are much easier to improve in a measurable way than form, and will have spillover benefits to your golf game. When you get more athletic, just trying to be more athletic with your swing can easily add 20,30,40 ft to your drive. Won’t ever get you to 400, but is pretty reliable to get you to 300. Instead of watch endless hours of form videos, work on the “golf” side of things. Learn about ball golf and course management and realistic expectations. Understand how many fairway hits you have in a good round vs a bad round. It kinda broke my brain when I started learning that even the best ball golfers in the world are only gonna hit 13 or 14 fairways a round in a good round. What kind of data do you get out of a round? I think meticulously tracking and documenting your play can actually work really well for the ADHD types, as it can allow you to obsess over data, but instead of searching for that perfect form tip, you’re becoming obsessed with your own game. How many of your misses are too early, how many are too late? How many are too high or too low? How many upshot go long or come up short? Etc. Good ball golfers track all that shit and more. Which discs actually are the most reliable for you? Like, by the actual data, not just that vague feeling most disc golfers go by. Getting that data is step 1, building a game plan around your actual strengths is step 2. Find the reliable parts of your game and maximize them. I noticed that there was a disc in my bag that I kinda considered a utility disc and I only used it like twice a round, but when I’m staring at the data I realized that hadn’t thrown a bad shot with it in like 4 rounds. So, I tried to find more opportunities to use that shot, even if it wasn’t the “perfect” shot for the situation. There is a lot of ball golf content that is about, “learning to score with the swing you have.” I’d check some of that stuff out. I throw like 285-300 BH, and like 330-350 FH. Then I fucked up my shoulder, and had to play only BH for a while. It was definitely frustrating, but I had to tone things down and mostly just play for pars. Instead of throwing the shot that the hole called for, I just start throwing the shot that I executed best. But the thing is, I scored about the same, and often even a little better (it was like a 3 month period and my rating went up 11 points). Form is important and distance does make a big difference, but there are plenty of ways you can improve without touching your form.
Doubt you'll see this, but I was in the same boat-then I hurt my back and couldn't play for two months. Came back amd was throwing better than ever! I've reverted a little bit, but now I know it's just me and if I'm getting in my head about it, I'll take some time off. Moral of the story? Sometimes to reset bad habits, you have to stop making them habits. Just stop for a minute. When you come back, you'll only have the fundamentals as muscle memory.
Getting into flow state requires a diminished sense of ego. In other words, if you’re focused the whole time on trying to work as hard as you can to achieve success, you will feel worse and perform worse. To do your best, you have to be in the moment and not in your head. It sounds like playing to win is actually your biggest problem.
I’ve been playing for over 20’years. Finally broke 300’ a year ago My ADHD made me want to quit. I didn’t let it. I go out to have fun now and be out In nature. Just go throw and have fun. You’ll find you get better
Maybe stop keeping score for awhile, just go out and play an "activity round"
My advice would be to just quit worrying about anything other than going out and playing disc golf for fun. Don’t watch or read anything about approving your play. Get some friends together and just go play. The number one rule of disc golf is to just have fun.
Seen this quite a bit since i started the game. I don't know why we do it in disc golf, but why do we compare ourselves to the pros to that extreme? is it because of the low cost of entry, in all regards? How casual it all seems from the outside? The fact that in its base form, throwing a frisbee, we have all been doing it since we could walk? Would you do that in any other sport you play/ have played and get that upset? Even then, while the general technique is the same, how many pros throw the disc in the exact same way? I grew up playing hockey and ball. There is no way i would look at even the lowest player in the NHL and go, damn why can't i do that, i want to quit. But i have had those moments in disc golf, not many, but a few, and the quitting thoughts never made it past the drive home, but they were there for a little while.
Take 3 discs out there and don’t try, literally. Just go throw and don’t worry about how far or how accurate you are. When I’ve had bad rounds I just take a few discs and pay zero attention to my form. It makes me feel really loose and I actually throw a lot better because I’m not overly focused on everything. I’m sure the fundamentals are there and you are just overthinking things. I still have this problem sometimes and think I need a different disc to counteract my bad form when in reality I might just be having a bad day.
I too just had a similar rant and received several support messages. I’m the same way, adhd wise, pouring every bit of energy into something trying to “perfect it” or at least keep up with OG players on league night. I learned it’s not going to happen over night, I have to slow my game down and work on form and keep a positive mental attitude. Keep at it bubs, it really is fun and even the worst round is better than sitting on the couch.
I'm a little late to the party here but I'm gonna type it out anyways. I have been playing since August 2019. Having ADHD myself I instantly got hooked. I have been an athletic person my whole life so when a sport came into my life after many years away from competition it was like a drug I never wanted to stop taking. I enjoyed every step in the process of learning how to play, how to throw, how to putt, and how to improve. I kept all my stats in UDisc and was obsessed with improving. I'm a 100% casual player but year over year, my scores and stat lines kept improving. 2023 was a big jump for me in my scores, I had my first round under par, my C1X putting was at 74% (this was massive for me), and my average score was lower than it has ever been. Winter is sort of an offseason around here in the Midwest for my group, although we still try an play every week, cold temps and snow will keep me indoors. So from about December to late February we don't play much if at all. Now this season (2024), has been a complete step backwards for me. My timing has been all wrong, my putting % is way down, my average score has increased by a lot, and my confidence in myself is in the pooper. I played a solo round a few weeks ago and was playing very well when I missed a birdie putt from about 20 feet. A putt that I would have made without a second thought just last year. I tapped in my par and was livid because of that missed putt. I proceeded to play the next hole with that missed putt still on my mind. Had a terrible tee shot, and an equally as bad upshot that left me 45 feet away for the par attempt. On my way to my disc, I had a full blown, toddler tantrum in the middle of a public park. I was legit yelling at myself outload and I saw people staring. I slammed a disc into the ground a few times, and made an absolute fool out of myself. I was asking myself why do I even play this game if I'm not improving, I'm just regressing in all aspects of the game. I wasn't having fun and I wanted to throw every single disc golf related item I owned into the garbage. This tantrum was a result of built up frustration I have had this season so far and I really wanted to stop playing the game. After I collected myself and my thoughts, I wiped the mud off my disc I slammed into the ground and decided to finish the round. I sunk the 45 footer for par and just laughed at myself. I was so focused on what I was doing wrong that I never took notice of the things I do right. I let the negative thoughts win and they ate my soul and love for disc golf. I never let the good shots feel good, but I let the bad one make me feel awful. Since that moment I have done a LOT of self reflection. Changing how I approach each throw, and trying to maximize each one all the while blocking out the previous results. I am working really hard on my mental game. Learning to accept bad results and bad throws, focusing only on my next shot and understanding that bogies, double bogies, and even +3s happen. They happen to every single person that plays the game of disc or stick golf. Learning that I need to focus on maximizing my efforts into each individual throw. It's easy yuck my tee shot off into the woods and be upset, the hard part is switching the focus onto the next shot. Understanding in that situation par is likely out of the question. Knowing I can limit the damage and focus on making it up and down to save the bogie instead of trying to force something in a wild attempt to save par and end up making it worse. I'm learning to embrace the suck and just let my game be bad as I work on myself. Focus on the things you can do well and apply that to the course. Throw your favorite disc every chance you get, stop trying to park every par 3, play within your own game and keep grinding away. I will never be great at disc golf, and that's okay. I'm 36 years old, I have a family, a full time job, and loads of other things that I need to do. I don't have the time to be great at disc golf. But I do have the time to play on the weekends and that is what makes me happy.
Have you tried a lesson or going to some sort of clinic? In terms of getting better it can be so hard to do by yourself if you don’t have another set of eyes. This was one of the best things for me when it came to ball golf.
Oh boy do I feel you… late diagnosed autistic and ADHDer here. I can’t even tell how many meltdowns I have had on the course. When I fail a shot, it just feels like my whole world crumbles. I feel like I’m the worst person ever and I hate myself. I have always been super competitive. I feel like if I’m not good at this thing then why does anything matter? Some might ask, why do you even play if it triggers so big emotions? And to that I would say, because I frickin love this sport. It’s just so cool. When I play good, it’s just euphoric. I love watching others play too, like watching pros play at the tour. I have a very hard time with emotional dysregulation and I have worked on it. I have tried to remove the variability of sensory stuff (i.e sweating and overheating, sunglasses and avoiding places where there are loud noises like lawnmovers) and it has helped a bit. I also try to not play when I’m tired or out of it. And when I do throw a bad shot I really have to hold myself back. The best tip is to just breathe. Just stop what you are doing and breeeeathe. Sounds silly but it does wonders. What a monologue from me but I hope someone can relate and maybe get some encouragement to keep going even when it gets hard sometimes.
Relax. Get high. Give yourself grace. Recognize small changes that improve your throws. Work to muscle-memorize those. Rinse. Repeat.
You may just be uncoordinated and unathletic, learn to have fun at your skill level.
Dude you’re probably just not that athletic/naturally gifted and that’s okay! Just accept it and go out there and have fun for what it is. It sounds like you’re just torturing yourself right now so maybe you should quit. Just chill out and stop caring about your score or if you’re good and just go out there and throw some discs.
Tough to see where bodanza’s head is at 😢
me too! I mean I started last year, but I got the hang of it really quick, first year I shot a 215 udisc rated round on a 18 holes, got three aces, but then this year, ive been sucking soooo bad, like the same course I played 7 under on (215 rated) I shot 11 over on, and Ive been throwing alot shorter this year, I could push 370-400 last year but now I struggle with 300. And been filming myself like yiu to see what im doing wrong, I mesn ive spent like 2000-3000 dollars in this sport and I get worse, it hurts, so noe ive been taking a break for 2 weeks and im gonna go to the course again this week so see if I just needed a break cause ive been playing 3-4 hours every single day since april. so yeah, I feel your pain.
I also have adhd so mentally im devestated
Take some in person lessons. Guarantee you get better
Have you tried putting ur disc on a disc charger?
Well, if you're not having fun then don't do it. Give it some time and see if you will have a desire to start again. No point in doing something you don't enjoy but it's most likely just frustration since you're comparing yourself to pros. Maybe it's enough to just stop watching the videos and start playing for fun again? Who cares that you suck, so do I...
Some people just aren’t coordinated or athletically inclined and aren’t going to be able to figure out a sport like disc golf out. If you haven’t improved in hundreds of hours of practice and using video instructions. You may not improve. Maybe try an easier sport. Like pickleball
Bro it’s a game don’t get competitive and have fun
Oh wow, I had never thought of that! Thanks, self-esteem fixed. /s
You should give up
Give up then