It is no secret that Disc Golf has reached the heights of immense popularity in all age groups. People are pursuing it as a sport to compete in tournaments, while some are enjoying it in peer groups. For the past decade, more and more people are showing interest in learning the rules and gameplay of disc golf. Players are giving star performances every day by competing in tournaments, winning exciting prizes, and setting new records for the coming generations.
People who play disc golf for fun are not much interested in learning the exercises to build skills. However, you, on the other hand, are here to know these exercises, which makes us guess that you’re very much motivated to level up your game.
Even if you are here to learn disc golf skills to improve your game and put pressure on your mates, you are welcome. We will discuss some of the most simplistic, and easy exercises to help you improve your endurance, agility, and power to upgrade your game.
Muscle Groups Used in Disc Golf
Before we move on to exercises, it’s important to know the muscles you are going to work on through the exercises. The main active muscles used in the gameplay are the arm, shoulder, trunk muscles or core, and leg muscles.
Although the muscles and muscle groups adjacent to these main muscles also assist in the overall movements, training them is more important. Every individual muscle plays a role in delivering the shot into the basket.
Arm muscles are the main protagonists after shoulder muscles, they control the accuracy of the throw by controlling the trajectory of the disc. Shoulder muscles generate the power to allow movement on the arm.
Core strength is important to play disc golf, as they control the locomotion and balance of the body. A strong core allows agility and aids the leg muscles in changing positions, controlling the twisting movements, and shifting body weight in the stance to the swing phase.
Disc golf is a mind game, but is physically straining, and without proper strength and training of your muscles, you cannot ace it.
Muscle Stretching for Warm-Up
Warm-up before exercising, practicing, or playing the game is significantly important as it helps to loosen the joints and prepare them for the exertion. Playing directly without stretching the muscles for warm-up leads to tendon and ligament strains and sprains.
Muscles get fatigued to a level where the muscle fibers are prone to tears. Hence, warm-up is an important practice before doing any exertional activity to avoid injuries. Warm-up stretches are divided into two groups; dynamic stretches and static stretches.
Before performing disc golf exercises, you can perform the following stretches to prepare muscles and joints for the strenuous workout.
Dynamic Stretches
- Neck Circles
- Arm Circles
- Lunges
- High Knees
- Butt Kickers
Static Stretches
- Overhead shoulder and Tricep stretch
- Wrist extension stretches
- Neck stretch
- Hamstring stretch
- Hip/Leg flexion stretch
All of the above stretches are ideal to start your disc golf exercise program.
Moving on to exercises to improve your disc golf play, we have divided the exercise programs according to the results you want to achieve. We will discuss, power, agility, and endurance exercises;
Endurance Training
Endurance training helps you improve your circulatory, respiratory, and cardiovascular systems giving you overall fitness. These exercises help you train your lungs and heart to build stamina to play for longer periods without fatigue.
Running
Running for at least 30 minutes two to three times a week is recommended for endurance training. Start with a fast walk, progress to jogging, and then finally to running for 30 minutes.
Cycling
Cycling is another way of building your stamina for your game. Start with a slow speed, and then finally progress to a fast pace for about 30 minutes twice or thrice a week.
Circuit Training
Circuit training includes a set of exercises creating a circuit, repeated two or three times a week to build endurance. These exercises include jumping jacks, push-ups, lunges, squats, and swimming.
The intensity is divided into the number of repetitions, and time. You either increase the no. of times you repeat these exercises daily or increase the time daily. Once your muscles have trained well you can add up on both increasing the intensity slowly and progressively.
Agility Training
Next comes agility training; agility holds great significance in playing disc golf as it requires precision, speed, stability, and most important of all balance.
Agility allows you to accelerate and effectively break your momentum, and reacceleration if required without giving it too much thinking and time. Agility training enhances your cognitive and perceptual abilities in the most tactile situations and changing scenarios.
Agility training and agility exercises target the three main components of agility; cognitive processing, physical strength, and the biomechanics of your body. Biomechanics is the technical skill you need to perform a certain task with speed.
Plyometric Agility Drill
A Plyometric agility drill is a set of complex exercises to improve dexterity, speed, performance, power, and coordination, and that is all you need to level up your disc golf game.
- Start by placing 2 feet width-apart hurdles, and start jumping with one and both feet.
- Your stance should be standing straight with feet shoulder-width apart.
- Start jumping upward and forward, clearing all the hurdles you placed.
- On clearing each hurdle, jump again without taking a break.
- Perform it several times for both left and right feet or both feet simultaneously.
Ladder Drill
Ladder drills are plyometric exercises targeting a different set of exercises using a ladder to jump on. These exercises include lateral shuffles, high-knee jumps, and quick steps. Perform these exercises several times with quick repetitions in between. You can increase the intensity by increasing the speed and no. of repetitions.
Cone Drills
Cone drills are another commonly used plyometric exercise in agility training. Cones are set up, and different exercises are performed. Sprints are performed in different ways including; the figure of eight, zig-zag, backward, and forward.
Again, the intensity of the exercises is increased, by increasing the speed. Several repetitions are required to successfully build agility in the body.
Power Training
Strength training holds immense significance in disc golf, as the players need to throw the disc with strength without compromising accuracy. Too much power can make your disc fly past the target, and too little strength used to take the shot can leave it way behind the basket.
Usually, novice players use too little power to throw the disc and therefore, cannot score a shot. So power training with accuracy is important for disc golf players.
Medicine Ball Throws
Medicine balls are easily available in the market, you can use them for your power training, as disc golf is all about throwing at the target to score.
Start the exercise by holding the medicine ball at your shoulder, or chest level. Shift your body weight onto one leg by taking a step forward, and throw the ball with all your strength. Increase the intensity of the exercise by increasing the weight of the medicine ball and throwing them as far as possible.
Resistance Band Pulls
Resistance body pulls target your upper limb, by strengthening your shoulder, arm, and upper body muscles. Start the exercise by attaching your resistance band to a fixed pole, and pulling it towards your chest from the other end.
Perform this exercise using all your might several times. Gradually increase the intensity of the exercise by using a more resistant band and by adding repetitions.
Plyometric Jumps
In disc golf, the lower limb is as important as the upper limb. While a strong upper limb takes the shot with power, leg and trunk strength gives you a boost of power. Athletes use plyometric jumps to build explosive power and leg strength.
Start the exercise by placing your feet shoulder-width apart, jumping as high as you can, softly landing on the ground, and immediately jumping again. Timing matters a lot in plyometric exercises. The time between two jumps must be as little as possible.
The intensity of the exercise can be increased by increasing no. of repetitions and by jumping higher.
Over to You!
Disc golf might look easy, but is a complex game that requires both agility and strength to ace the game. People who are training for competitions and tournaments should incorporate strengthening, agility, and endurance exercises in their routines.
It is seen that plyometric exercises play a vital role in building stamina, agility, and strength training for disc golf players. Consistent practice, proper warm-ups, and regular training exercises can level up your game like no other.
Following the training program, you can easily achieve agility and endurance in your muscle groups, improving your gameplay, and giving you more confidence while competing in the game. Incorporate these exercises, and earn the title of the top-notch disc golf putter!