Why am I not getting better ?

K

Kevin the grey

Joined
Aug 26, 2005
Messages
4,106
I just don,t get sticks often enough . Its discouraging and it takes a lot to discourage me . I have been doing this off and on for years . I am a fair amount better than when I started . I just seem to have hit a very long roadblock .
 
focus, you will eventully learn to feel if it will stick as it leaves your hand, then whne you can make your body match up to that feeling with patient practice you will be able to intientioally make a throw or make about 50 % without being intentional about it.
 
Bambooleaf I understand where you are coming from . I have thrown enough to know that something needs to change .

Ohoisin , I guess I am getting about 50% sticks at 10-11 paces . It just doesn,t seem to me that a 50% success rate is indicative of the right way to go . Especially when there is no improvement . I agree with focus and I have been preoccupied lately . I just feel there might be something more .

Someone told me to get better knives . I just don,t want to blame it on the tools . After all its just a pointy thing flipping through the air . If it was launched by a machine it would stick everytime .
 
Sounds like a training plateau.

Here is the bad news: it's easy to get discouraged, and now is the time to keep practicing.

Here is the good news: plateaus are extremely frustrating, but they are a critical and necessary part of the learning process:

Plateaus are when you are mastering the technique.

Your brain is recording everything at this phase. You throw, you miss. The brain learns why. You unconsciously experiment with a slight variation on grip-- you miss. Your brain rejects that one. You try a modification, unknowingly, to your stance. That one misses, too--your brain dismisses that. You try a variation on release--this one sticks. Your brain will now experiment with this. So now you may start missing again.

Basically, your body is working with the brain to experiment with as many minute variations as it can think of--until you start sticking the blade repeatedly with a high success rate, from a variety of positions, angles, etc.

And then it's on to the next plateau: you feel great, and then suddenly... you start missing again and again and again.

I know these plateaus are frustrating, and seem to last forever. But they are essential to learning a physical motion.
 
Watchful thats a hard one . O:K: I,ll stick at it . Its not like I was gonna quit anyway . It does help to hear that there may be hope .
 
Watchful thanks that expands on what i was trying to say with focus and feeling it.
 
Don't quit on me Kevin!!!! Quick, give him CPR and mouth to mouth! :D


Its weird because actually visualising it in my head sometimes does help. Not sure but recently, i got better without knowing why.

But Ralph's technique (RT) didn't go far. Only those conventional rotating methods did.

Sometimes even without intentionally aiming at one spot, and i just stared blankly at the board, my knives just stick there. And recently, my groupings and acurracy improved alot.

But still, the real cause of my improvment is unknown. Weird:confused:
 
But still, the real cause of my improvment is unknown. Weird
Quote ATOMSPHERE .

Well we know the improvement wasn,t due to your spelling . L:O:L
Thats for the mouth to mouth suggestion . L:O:L
Actually ? if it was Nancy from the knife throwing game she might have a chance . L:O:L
 
Actually gents ? I tend to throw a lot of different knives , weights and anything else with a point . I usually throw everything but the kitchen sink for variety .

I may try just using one set for a while . I just got some small Gil Hibbens and have a couple more bigger ones on the way .
 
Stick with a single type at your 100% range and then push it a little bit. Using multiple types of instruments in single sessions can hamper things. It is good to be able to throw different objects in a row, but one of the better ways to master this is one object at a time.

One of my instructors (at a distance) told me that I should practice with the lighter objects first in a session, and then move on to the bigger ones. Instead of mixing them together. So i tend to throw for an hour or so with one type of projectile before I put in an hour with another type and so on. It has improved my game a lot.

I put in about 3 hours a week minimum on throwing.
 
I put in about 3 hours a week minimum on throwing.
Quote : Bamboo .

I would throw for three hours a week too but I don,t want to cut back .L:O:L

Actually Bamboo thats great . If I can set up something so I don,t disturb the neighbors I will practice indoors this winter .

Thats good advice on the throwing from lighter to heavier . I will put a little more discipline into my routine and see what results I get .
 
Kevin discipline is the key and that goes hand in hand with consitency, for a recent example. I was hired as a maintenance technician where I work, that is what I do (did), I am good at what I do, or so says my super. Last night I was asked to help out and do some production work (arrgh!), but I did the first hour sucked bad because I didn't have a "system", the second hour I developed a system (til one of the other guys messed me up, by "helping"), anyway for the next three hours using my system, I became very consistent and was filling 2 boxes a minute as opposed to one box every three minutes, as before.
A lot of folks disagree with the idea of a routine, but when you do the same basic thing day in and day out, you get good at it, the same goes for throwing pointed objects, you develop a system that works for you, and do the same thing again and again you may have to make minor adjustments from time to time, but in general the system works. For a new pointy thing you are throwing you will have to build a system and stick to it, til you get good at it, then keep practicing with the old and new object in some sort of rotation, before you know it you will be getting two sticks with one throw, LOL. that is my 2 cents worth.
 
Funny thing is ? With traditional archery I do the exact opposite . To improve I will shoot while walking , vary distances constantly and change pictures on target often .

It may be I am just on another part of the learning curve with throwing . This winter I will try to find mini throwers that won,t hurt my dartboard . Darts doesn,t do it as there has to be rotation in the throw . Maybe I,ll set up something with needles or nails for blades . (gotta protect my dartboard)
 
I think that quality knives are the key with good weight and balance. I have thrown knives since I was a kid I would just throw what ever I was carring sometimes it would stick most of the time not. I bought some customs a couple of yrs ago and noticed a huge improvment sticking 9 out 10 trys..
Also your stance and concentration are big part I too can tell as it is leaving my hand if it will stick or not.
brad
 
Do you gents think a balanced knife really makes a difference ? I,ve never had one . I seemed to throw just about everything the same from a dagger to a crowbar .
 
A balanced knife--with a good throwing form--should make things easier, but is by no means required.

I can stick very unbalanced things fairly readily. Sometimes, sigh, more readily.
 
Could be you are flicking the wrist? I find myself doing that sometimes, and it screws up the throw. Subconcious thing, really.

If I focus on the feel of the throw and not twisting my wrist, I get more sticks.

I prefer longer and heavier blades, which throw better and stick harder, and I am less apt to flick my wrist when throwing them. anything 12" OAL or longer is my preference.
 
It may be true that I am flicking my wrist . I sometimes do that even with heavier throws . I am usually aware that I do it after a while . I,ll let myself relax for a while and check out my form .
 
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