I've been obsessed with disc golf form for the last 10 years or so. It's really cool to see a more scientific approach being slowly applied to form study, and also hilarious to see this on hackernews (my two worlds never seem to mix). My critical reaction to this piece is that it does not seem to mention how the positions affect nose angle, which is critical to getting discs to fly correctly; professionals are able to manipulate these angles to have their shots behave differently depending on the circumstances (e.g. land flat and soft, stall out, or turn and dive). The best courses have trees mixed in such a way that you need to manipulate the drive to e.g. turn right at 280ft, turn left at 330ft, etc. But more pointedly a disc thrown nose up, despite having a high velocity, will not fly as far as one with a neutral or (slightly) nose down angle.[1]
Some other related context: A good amateur will throw the disc around 300-350ft. Good pros these days are able to break 600ft, despite many of them not appearing athletic or strong. This has led to a natural obsession with "form"
Sucking at something is the first step at being kinda good at something.
You're way out throwing my three year old, about as good as my max throw, and behind a number of my friends. I still show up at the course when my friends go and have a good time. It goes a little farther every time I go.
Some other related context: A good amateur will throw the disc around 300-350ft. Good pros these days are able to break 600ft, despite many of them not appearing athletic or strong. This has led to a natural obsession with "form"
[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HQt_kIk3-U [2]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr3DjX3HbNM