Q: How can throw metrics help improve my game? 

Hey Friends, Teammates & Mentors,

Some of us have spent decades honing our craft and wringing out every drop of improvement, so it might be natural to wonder what new insights can come from technology. With the data we have available today, I’d like to share some of the insights I’ve observed on my throws. 

When I was a sophomore at Cornell my forehand was brutally bad. I remember warming up at Sectionals with my captain on a moderately windy day and barely completing a single throw to him upwind. He patiently coached me to release the disc with more inside-out angle and to snap my wrist more. From that moment onward I spent hours honing my forehand. Fast forward 20 years to today, and my forehand is far better but it seems I may have neglected developing my backhand. Looking at this chart (below) you can see my forehand (dark blue) has both more spin than my backhand on average and has a considerably smaller range of values. Based on the data, it is not surprising that my forehand is my preferred throw.

Clearly I don’t get as much spin on my backhand as I do on my forehand, but is that relevant? How do I compare to other throwers? 

Let’s compare my forehand to the forehand throws of everyone that has thrown our sensor;

Glancing at the data it’s evident my backhand does indeed lag in both average spin and consistency. While we don’t have enough data yet to do a one-to-one comparison with players that have played as long as I have, it’s clear I have room for improvement. 

A quick google search leads you to many tips on YouTube and Reddit to help improve your throws. Tips specific for backhands include using power grip, over exaggerating cocking your wrist during wind-up, following through with your palm down to name a few. You can bet I’ll be trying all of these between now and Master’s Nationals. But, what YouTube and Reddit can’t provide is feedback to tell you if you are progressing and by how much. Stay tuned for future messages to hear how we at Disc Sense hope to improve the process of improving your throws and help you SEE your progress.

If you’re interested in hearing more about our project please sign up for our email updates via the linked survey to OPT IN for future communication. 

Thanks & Happy Hucking,

Luke & Devin