Depending on your level of athleticism when you started playing disc golf, you may have jumped straight to using an x-step or perhaps you fine-tuned your skills while using a standstill shot. If the latter rings true for you, but you’re ready to start integrating some more movement into your drives, how do you make the transition?
Often times adding extra footwork can over complicate your mental process and where you once had success with a standstill throw, your x-step isn’t quite on the same level. We’ve asked Danny Lindahl to break down some key tips to consider:
Make sure your first few steps are smaller rather than trying to cover a lot of ground on the tee pad
Keeping your feet sideways up until your reach back will help keep your body in proper alignment
Don’t reach back prematurely - your side should be in line with your target until you start to completely rotate your upper body
Take your time learning the x-step and don’t expect that you’ll get maximum distance with it right away. As we’ve all heard time and time again, a huge element in making this movement successful has to do with timing, so the more you practice the easier it will come to you. If you’d like to see Danny demonstrate the best ways to execute the x-step, check out his video here.
There's no doubt that to excel in disc golf you have to put in the work. Different people take different approaches, where for some, field work and putting practice takes priority over hitting the course. Some like to play a wide range of courses to develop all of their skills, and still, other players prefer to hone their shots on one course over and over again.
However you choose to practice, there's no wrong way to do it. Sometimes we tend to think that the pros are so skilled that they don't need to log hours of time on the course outside of tournament play, but we have the documentation to prove just the opposite!
Watching the pros practice might provide some insight into your own game - perhaps they focus on a specific shot that you tend to ignore, or maybe their sense of focus is different than yours. Take a look at some of our pros preparing for the 2018 season and see what you can start implementing into your own routine!
