This is crazy!

I have been playing discgolf off-and-on for about the last 4 years or so. Kudos to you guys who are throwing 350-400+ feet! I've never been able to get anywhere near that and didn't even think it was possible on a regular basis. I guess I'm just not that "into it." Anyway, this is a nice site, but I wouldn't want to meet any of you guys on the course for a few rounds!!

I was in the same boat as you until about six months ago. I started throwing on football fields a couple times a week and reading articles on discgolfreview.com. I was never close to the correct technique to get distance. Now when I play against friends I used to equal years ago, I whup their *****. Not a huge arm now by any means, but I can hit 330 consistently and hit 360 once forehand. Hopefully 400 next year. It does take some commitment though.

[cbdiscpimp]

Sure you would because then we could teach you to throw 350 to 400 feet. I throw my midranges 350- 380 and i get my crystal challenger out to about 320 on a regular basis.

You should start playing tournaments man its the best way to get better and there is a division for EVERYONE

Trust me if you want to learn how to throw 350 and over you can because Bruce Brackel can even throw over 350 now

going to a field far far away from baskets and throwing shots, make up a target, make up trees so you don't damage the disc. "play tournaments to get better?" only if you have $$$ to throw away at the same time. the first example is free!!!! you do the math

[cbdiscpimp]

But there is nothing that can prepare you for Competition in a Tournament. NOTHING. Its take A LONG TIME to figure out how to play TOURNAMENT GOLF. You cant get good at playing tournament unless you play in tournaments. I agree that practicing in a field is great but nothing can prepare you for the pressure or tournament play like tournament play. I played 30+ tournaments this year and didnt even start to play well in them till WORLDS. It took months and months of tournaments to finally figure out how to handle the pressure and compete under it.

So i say if you have the money to play tournaments that the best way to get better. During the week go to a field every day and practice maybe 1 or 2 shots that you need to work on. Throw 300 or more of each shot untill you feel like you can replicate it on the course then move on to another shot you want to work on.

I have been playing discgolf off-and-on for about the last 4 years or so. Kudos to you guys who are throwing 350-400+ feet! I've never been able to get anywhere near that and didn't even think it was possible on a regular basis. I guess I'm just not that "into it." Anyway, this is a nice site, but I wouldn't want to meet any of you guys on the course for a few rounds!!

Hey I was in your position about a year ago when I stumbled onto this site. I was amazed by the huge distances, but now I can throw huge distances. This is a great resourse!

Ah, no thanks! I have no interest in playing tournaments, or throwing 300 discs everyday. I guess that's the difference between me and the 350'+ throwers!

Heh, ya. I myself would love to throw 300 discs a day, but first I'd have to spend some money so that I have more than 5 discs, say like...20 more at least. Takes some time to throw 5 discs 300ft and walk to them, then repeating that 60 times. Mmmm, I look forward to the day I have 25 discs. Make some money over winter and buy away once it stops raining in the spring. That'll be my plan.

[Lyle O Ross]

You don't have to throw 300 discs a day. You do have to read, learn and practice. Don't get me wrong, 300 throws a day would be great but you can still make a great improvement by practicing judiciously and reading. See the Blake T stuff and the compilation of stuff by Lowe that was posted by Dave Dunipace. You'll be shocked at what you can do with just a little practice.

I only play 3 or 4 tournaments a year. You don't need to play tourneys to have fun.

Ah, no thanks! I have no interest in playing tournaments, or throwing 300 discs everyday. I guess that's the difference between me and the 350'+ throwers!

I've only been playing since April, work full time, my home course is relatively short and I'm throwing in the 350' range already. Just going out and throwing hundreds and hundreds of throws only helps if you know what to practice. If you read all of the articles and especally pay attention to the "Technique Repair" section and consiously (sp?) pay attention to improving your technique on every throw you'll be popping out those 300'-350' drives in no time, even if you only get to a field to throw once a week for half an hour and play a round every other day (3-4 rounds a week). Even with less practice than that you can improve, you just have to know what to pay attention to when you play and make the effort to improve.

"See the Blake T stuff and the compilation of stuff by Lowe that was posted by Dave Dunipace."

Do you have links for these resources? Doing a search at this forum brought up zilch, though that could be my searching skills.

[dm4]

You can go here to Blakes site. There are some good links, including the one he was talking about (Dave D.'s distance thread).

Start by going to "Disc Golf Resources". Then click on "Instructional Articles". Have fun!

If you want to get longer off the tee. The key is technique. Im 5'8 and i can throw it 450-500 feet and i dont really practice ever. I just have really good technique and i dont try to throw it hard. To many people try to throw to hard and you cant have good technique when you do that. Slow it down and try throwing it on a anhyzer to get more distance and try to work up from there. Practice is great but if you practice wrong there is no point. Get your Technique down and you will go far.

You can go here to Blakes site.

Thanks for the link!

[Blarg]

Or go here: Dunipace Distance Secrets

There is no replacement for technique, but one thing that really helped me throw longer was buying a 150 class disc. Not only do lighter discs fly farther, when they're that light they magnify any problems in your technique and really gave me a much better feel for a proper throw. When I found this site about 6 months ago I was just pushing 300'. Now I can throw over 350' in open fields. And, I only drive on weekends. I putt everyday though.

The key is just having fun, but I've found this site to be a great help in improving my game.

Thanks to all the disc golfers and their love for the game!

[Blarg]

involuntary pruner:
I've been saying the same thing about 150g discs in here
for about a year.
The first discs I ever bought, at the advice of the 'pro' in the shop in Santa Cruz, on my first day playing ever were all over 170g. Driver, mid-range and putter. All I could do with them was get big hyzer curves that went nowhere. I bought several more different models of heavy discs, again advised by a pro at a different shop and had similarly disappointing results for months.
Then I heard about 150 class discs. I asked the pro at one of my locals what they were good for. He said, "Well, they glide more than the heavier discs and in general will fly further."
WHAT!?! Why the f**k didn't somebody tell me this earlier?
I bought some 150 discs and suddenly leapt up the learning curve. I'd heard more experienced players complaining about discs 'turning over,' or 'becoming rollers,' etc. and had no idea what they meant. After using 150 discs for a while, all of the above became clear.
They are not great in high winds, but I would recommend them strongly (and have) to any beginners.

[Boneman]

I'm considering trying the 150 discs to improve my D. What are the differences between the three Discraft models that are available ... And are the Discraft discs the best 150 class discs to throw for D?

Blarg, just curious, what 150 class discs did you start out with? which gave you the most success. thanks. i'm starting to think that my inability to throw much further than 200 is partially due to physical weakness (spent 3+ years partially disabled, 2 more years the recovering continues).

I only drive on weekends. I putt everyday though.

hmmm.. that's pretty good advice. i tend to practice drives once every several days, but often wind up straining something, meanwhile my driving ability doesn't change much, and it's hard to convert driving on a field to driving in a wooded course.

My only 150 class is a dx Valkrye by Innova, at this point it is beat up enough that it is very understable, but when I bought it is was overstable. I found that I couldn't force it to go far, I had to finesse it. That means a good snap, but not as much energy as I was used to using. Not only did I get a much better feel for a proper snap/release, I calmed the rest of my body down and now when I drive with my 170-174 gram drivers, I have a much smoother stroke. I will be buying some more 150 class in the future just because on calm days and wide fairways, I can add at least 50' to my normal drive.

The most important part was reading and understanding Blake T's articles in disc golf review, and then using the lighter discs to "feel" the technique.

that makes sense. proper snap/release is definitely what has been eluding me. i visualize it, and then when i go out to the field, it doesn't work, and i get frustrated and try to muscle out some long drives, and wind up wearing myself out. bad pattern to fall into, i know i need to stop. my new mantra will be "Technique first, accuracy second, power third".

(yay red sox!)

Not only did I get a much better feel for a proper snap/release, I calmed the rest of my body down and now when I drive with my 170-174 gram drivers, I have a much smoother stroke.

I've recently had the same experience, but instead of using 150g class drivers, I was learning how to throw midrange discs correctly. I had been throwing a Proline (Champion) Gremlin for midrange shots and, as it turns out, it doesn't take a lot of finesse to throw one of those and keep it on a stable flightpath. Once I started trying to throw Rocs, MRVs and Aurora MSs I realized just how lacking my technique was. Now that I'm stretching those discs out to 275+ I've been finding that my drives have been going farther, too, probably because of the added smoothness and small improvements in technique that I needed to throw the slower discs.

[Blarg]

Mad Cow:

My first 150 class disc was a dx Beast, but I got a 150 candy (JK) Valkyrie not too long after. The Beast immediately became my longest disc by quite a bit, as my other discs at the time were all around 170g and did nothing but hyzer. I know now that much of that was my bad technique, but the 150 Beast still went further. Once it got a little beat up, I was finally able to throw the amazing hyzer-flip straight ahead drive. Sadly, it evolved into a turnover disc and I no longer carry it.
The candy Valkyries take longer to beat up, but they are inherently more understable than a Beast, so I was able to flatten them out more easily than the Beast and soon learned to throw them dead straight at about waist height, and was able to get longer higher helixes.
I still use 150 Valks a lot. For me, they are a great finesse disk and I can turn them left or right or throw a helix at any height when my body and brain are working properly.

I know that all discs have a maximum legal weight, but do discs also have a minimum legal weight? I wondered about that for the 150 class. I guess it doesn't matter if a person doesn't attempt to enter tournaments with the disc, but I was just curious about the "letter of the law."

I don't believe there is a minimum. I have a 121-gm Speed Demon that is a kick. A disc this light is so easy to griplock on -- it does not develop as much energy to rip out of your grip, so you can wind up tossing it way to the right. At this weight, however, the insane overstability of the normal-weight Speed Demons does not become a factor. It does not take much physical effort to throw it far, but it does take a lot of concentration -- it simply feels so much lighter than any other disc, including a 150-gm disc. Even my 153-gm SD was a wildly overstable disc, but the 121 is a nice flyer.

BTW, what makes this disc feel even more weird than just its low mass is that the SD has such a wide rim -- to have such a beefy rim at such a light weight leads to some real cognitive dissonance.

[hazard]

Kudos on using the phrase "cognitive dissonance."

I think the lightest drivers I've ever used were around the 158 range except for one beat up 150 class Cheetah that was really a blessing to my arm during the first Great Eight I played. Bought it from my partner for a dollar and a fried chicken sandwich. It was the first driver I ever turned over, I think.

[Lyle O Ross]

The secret of throwing distance is an elusive one and the solution of buying light discs is not the best one. Here is why. Disc golf is about control not distance. Yes, you do ultimately need distance on today's longer courses, but I've seen enough players who limit out at 300 ft whip up on longer throwers to know that if the extra distance comes with less acuracy, it doesn't mean squat. The problem with going down the light weight disc path is that ultimately it's a dead end. You will get some temporary relief but you won't get real answers. Again, this is because for the distance gained you lose acuracy.

It took me two years to figure out proper throwing technique and I am just now really getting some distance. The first year was all about going from 230 feet to 280 feet and last year I went from 300 ft to 330 ft average with an ability to occassionally pop one 360 to 390 ft. But in all honesty, I only started throwing with "correct" technique about 2-3 months ago. That isn't to say I didn't improve my technique and do things right, it means that it didn't all come together until very recently.

The real secret, as you know, is getting a good rip and disc weight does not affect that. In fact, because you have an apparent gain when you throw light discs, many beginners move away from developing good fundamentals in the glory of the moment. That's why no one comes out and tells you to use lighter discs. Again, all the good throwers have found there is no long term gain in that approach.

My impression, and experience, is that most new players don't understand that what fundamentally results in long distance is torque. All the advice by Blake and Dave is to help you put better torque on the disc. I like a different analogy. I like to think about it like playing baseball. When I throw a ball I lead with my elbow. I do this because once my elbow gets out in front of me I can whip my forearm over the top and get a lot of power. I don't start really getting power until that forearm begins to whip. Your backhand throw is the same. Everything up to the point where you begin to unwind the forearm is setup. I actually do it very relaxed, about 30 to 40% effort. Once I get my elbow out in front (closer to the basket than the rest of my body) I start my power stroke pulling with my body, shoulder and forearm with all my strength. I can actually feel the disc and it's realtionship to my grip and my body in such a way that I know what is the best movement through the throw to impart more spin on the disc. I like to call the part of the throw the power band. Again, in that part of the throw I can make subtle adjustments to my arm movement that maximize the torque on the throw. In all honesty, I don't always feel that power band. The more I practice and focus on it the easier it is.


Until you can acheive that feel in the power band you are still in the early learning phase. Whenever I hear someone scrambling around for new discs and magic cures I know they haven't gotten to this point yet. The only way to get there is by reading, emulating, and practicing.

All of this is not new, when you read Dave Dunipace's stuff you will see he describes it in the same way (guess where I got my definition... )

BTW - I suspect that good players never griplock because their throwing technique is correct. That is, proper technique will not allow you to griplock no matter how hard you hold onto the disc. It's not about learning touch, it's about a motion through the throw that always results in the disc ripping out at the hit point.

I think the two best things a new thrower can do is: a) get a midrange and throw it and b) take easy throws.

a) You can't get good distance with a midrange unless you throw it correctly, period. If you throw it incorrectly the midrange will turn over every time. If you have to throw anhyzer to get it to go your still not doing it right. I can throw an MRV or a Cobra 300 ft every time and I am short and not very strong.

b) Throwing easy means just that. When you look at the videos and the young bucks they all seem to wind up all this power and hork it into the disc. It is deceptive. Start out looking at Ken Jarvis throw. He does this little hop step and unwinds. Looks easy but the disc goes 400 ft or more. You can tell when he whips that there is a lot of speed there and that is the key, speed not power. I'm pretty convinced that even the guys like Rico who look like they are nothing but pure bundled energy are relaxed and not working at it until they get to that whip. (Theo Pozzy has a web link that has videos of both these guys) I think of it as the 95% rule. The first 95% of my throw is relaxed and easy. Only that last bit before the hit is fast and powerful. The obvious thing here is that the energy you expend will be much less. Also, you will get a huge jump in clean acurate distance.

Well, good luck in your search for distance, but remember, distance isn't important if it isn't useful.

Here Here. Well said.

[slo]

The real secret, as you know, is getting a good rip and disc weight does not affect that.

Lyle, I can tell you put a lot of time and care in your posts, but...it seems you are saying EVERYONE can rip a 175 gm disc, IF they have the proper technique...are you?

'Cuz, it seems to me, that the 'ideal' weight is going to vary...a lot...from person to person. 'Frinstance: Major League ballplayers use different bat weights to their advantage. Li'l Crusher and Scott Stokely using the same weight? Wouldn't everyone have a unique weight to 'tune' their delivery? What am I missing?