Hey guys and girls,
I am new to the sport ( 3-4 months now) and have been doing a lot of reading on it. I have seen people talking about throwing a roller and getting 300-400+ft with it. I have tried and I may have gotten 200 a time or two. Can someone please tell me the proper technique to throw a roller. I put my thunb inside the rim, index finger on top of disc and chunk it overhand about 40-50 ft high and out. Mine goes up, turns over right, fades back left and hits the ground at a dead stop. What am I doing wrong ? Thanks for any help you an give.

if you're accurate with that, that's a pretty decent thumber shot.

I've always thrown a very understable disc(4 year old beat stratus, or something similar) on an annehyzer line with a little bit of air under it. If I throw hard, it'll flip all the way over to vertical and land on edge and roll. RHBH puts clockwise rotation on a disc, if looking at the top. Understable discs want to turn right, or turn over. If you release an understable disc on an annehyzer line, it'll turn virtical and dive into the ground, landing on the edge that means the rotation your snap puts on it is rolling down the fairway. The idea of a distance roller is finding a disc that you can get to fly pretty far in the air before it catches an edge. The more understable or beat the disc is, the faster it'll turn over, so the less annehyzer you'll need to put on it. The reason I say a little bit of air under it is, you want the disc to moving forward at a speed close to the tangential velocity of the edge of the disc(think, the speed the very outer edge of the disc is spinning at). Also, more time in the air means less time you have to contend with the unpredictable earth under it.

http://www.discgolfreview.com/resources/articles/throwingrollers.shtml

Visit: Backhand roller at Innovadiscs.com (http://www.innovadiscs.com/downloads/Backhandrollerchart.pdf)

This PDF illustrates the basic back hand roller technique by Dave Dunipace.

http://www.discgolfreview.com/resources/articles/throwingrollers.shtml



I read this guys instructions on throwing a roller and his suggestions for discs to use. But what if you dont have a beat up distance driver yet? I've only been playing 5 months but I'd like to start to learn the roller shot, what if any new disc could I buy that is instantly ready for Rolling? I do have a D Cyclone that I supposed I could purposly beat up, what method should I use to beat it up?

TIA
-Dennis

pick up something understable such as a stratus or LS, the stratus was my roller when i was starting out, and i still pull it out every once in a while. I've had a polaris LS and a discraft XS which both also worked great for rolling, however both of those are lost in different creeks now :(

If you have only been playing 5 months I suggest you just stick with the basic Hyzer Anhyzer straight forehand and backhand shots untill you perfect those. I have been playing tournament for 2 years now and only just this year did I start throwing rollers and I dont really throw them all that often.

I know some pros that NEVER throw rollers. I suggets learning everything else and then developing trick shots. Its very hard to progress when your trying to learn a million things at once.

Here is some advice I wish I would have recieved when I started.

Get a basket and putt atleast 100 putts a day from 20-30 ft. Putting is the most important thing in this game and if you cant do that then nothing else is worth learning.

But if you must learn a roller pick up a Stratus an Express a Sidewinder or a Cobra.

I'm really not trying to move too quickly but just wanted to have an idea how to do it. More or less something to mess around with when I'm playing alone throwing a couple drives per hole etc. I've also started messing around with throwing sidearm/forehand just to know that if it's needed I'll have it in my bag.

Thanks for the advice, I already do have a skillshot that I take outside 2-3 times a week. I can already tell how much that has improved my putting and my confidence when I'm standing over a 20'er for par. Also with my putting practice I've practiced stradle putts, and occasionally throw the overhead spinner putt, there again just in case it's ever called on.

Now when I'm playing league or in a tourney I stick to the things I can already do, drive my Teebird pretty straight, approach with my Roc, and putt inside my comfort zone 20'.

:D
-Dennis

if you can throw over 300', you can throw a controlled roller with most stable drivers. for max d rolling you will likely want something that was once stable but now isn't.

if you can throw over 300', you can throw a controlled roller with most stable drivers. for max d rolling you will likely want something that was once stable but now isn't.



I can get it out past 300' with Teebird, Orc's, and Flash. Blake you basically know what my bag consists of what do you think I should practice rolling with?

Beat DX Valks should be easy to come buy. I did a pole awhile back and the Valk won it hands down. Ive also seen pro's roll em. Go to Blakes and innova's site showes a nice step by step diagram that showes rolling form. using the throw from the ear technique works good for a Sidewinder but you have to get it on the ground a bit faster that a beat valk (best distance rollers are ones that get some air FIRST- like about 100 or more feet) and then land on the ground at about a 45�. Try in field with no shule around first. Its kind of easy to do if you can shank a drive by trying an anny and then getting griplock (holding on a bit to long) Im good at that!

First off, if you haven't read Blake's articles, read them, they are excellent. Regarding disc selection, just use the most understable disc you have. If you don't have one and you don't play tournaments then you can factor one yourself. The more plastic that is removed from the bottom edge of the disc, the more it will become understable. I have taken a new stingray and just rubbed it on a smooth concrete teepad and created my own "factored" stingray; however the disc is not legal for tournment play once you alter it yourself. But for your own fun you should try it on an old disc and see what happens. It should make throwing rollers MUCH easier.

I can get it out past 300' with Teebird, Orc's, and Flash. Blake you basically know what my bag consists of what do you think I should practice rolling with?



try rolling everything you have and see what you can and what you can't?

here is a video of kid roc throwing a controlled roller.

I can get it out past 300' with Teebird, Orc's, and Flash. Blake you basically know what my bag consists of what do you think I should practice rolling with?



try rolling everything you have and see what you can and what you can't?

here is a video of kid roc throwing a controlled roller.



I dont see the vid....I would like to though! How much do you think the texture or the ground/grass effects a roller? I dont see how a roller could ever be accurate. It's like the ground has more control then the thrower.

hrm, my link didn't go through:
http://www.discgolfreview.com/resources/analysis/dannyreeves2.shtml

the texture affects rollers a lot, but basically, if the ground sucks, you generally don't try to throw a roller.

if you have enough zip on it, it will roll over a lot of obstacles and terrain and i actually find controlled rollers to be very accurate since you are nearly facing forward when the disc leaves.

While messing around during a casual round today I tried throwing a thumber roller (to get it to go up hill and curve right{RH} but instead it landed on the flightplate and skipped all the way up the hill /msgboard/images/graemlins/smirk.gif I tried it twice, thinking maybe I just put too much angle on it, but it happened both times with a beat up DX Roc, should I have chosen a more overstable disc? The hole is only a little over 200, but it's a steep hill for a North-West Ohioan

Thumber rollers need overstable discs. Too understable and it turns almost immeadeately.
I assume you are talking new school and not old school. Like a thumber throw at the ground, right?
You need to come uncomfortably over your head and land it with a "left turn" angle (RH). Lean over to your left. I usually use an FX to get a little straight before the turn.

What's the advantage of this throw over a BH with a 'normal' grip? I've seen a Ram BH'ed close-to 500'!! :eek:

The reason I was trying a low thumber roller versus a backhand or "traditional" thumber is because the tee is on flat ground, and then it goes up a hill almost immediately with a very low ceiling.

Sorry, is it that you want to face the basket? I'm sure you have a reason for doing it that way...it just seems awkward...is it?

It is rather awkward, the basket is hidden behind some trees, at the top of the hill and to the right, I have put a bh roller up there before, but that feels even more awkward because there's no room for flight. Below is the only picture online, but it's a few months old and from about halfway up the fairway, I will take another tomorrow that does it more justice. http://mysite.verizon.net/resohppf/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/hbhole9.jpg

Thumber rollers are weird to try and understand. Try throwing a BH roller with a stable mid and put it on the ground within 10-15 feet! Just lean way back. I started with this type of roller and my D or Photon Wasps get to about 300 on a very controllable line.

my limited experience with bh rollers (just started in the past year) is that in order for me to make them roll forward, not just in a circle, that i need to put a lot of spin on them, in which case it would go way past this basket :confused:

i'm no roller guru, but this shot looks like a sidearm roller would work good. i find them easier to get on the ground early and with lots of spin = rolling distance. with backhand rollers i think it's harder to get them down on the ground quickly... so they need more space to fly before they hit. sidearm rollers are good when you don't have as much open air to work with... plus if thrown 'cut roller' style, they'll go to the right where this basket is in this picture.

normally i would forehand a roller up there, but the rough is very rough...I found out first hand why thorns and skin don't mix very well :D

Im not sure how...but I know that my roller has gone from 350 feet with a valkyrie to over 450 feet in one week with a sidewinder. 100 feet more just by changing my disc. I am blown away. I threw my 1st shot over 500 feet the other day. And thats after 10 years playing. Perhaps the bast roller disc EVER

Are you just now finding this out? :confused: I have been trying to tell people this for a while. I am the same, I used to roll an SE Valk. Switched to the sidewinder and other players were asking what I had changed to get soooooo much more distance...........simple.............I said Sidewinder.

A littley tricky to learn the proper angle of release but once you do this thing will go forever. I've even changed a few of the big arms over to them becuase they couldn't stand an old man like me rolling past them. :D

My roller has definately improved with the aide of a sidewinder...holes i was lucky to take threes are becoming consistent twos. cant wait to try the roadrunner...im guessing faster and more understable...the next 11 speed?

Beat up jk valk, pro-starfire, roc, z-mrv.. All great rhbh rollers for me depending on the wind. In the winter, my home course is very flat with high ceilings. I throw alot of rollers. Practice, practice, practice. Play a casual round and roll every hole as long as u don't have water!!! You will master it eventually. We play a game called "screw your buddy". This consists of everyone getting cards with differant types of throws. You can hand them out to someone on ur card anytime during the round. This is alot of fun and u can learn some new shots during the round.

This is a hilarious picture.
http://www.discgolfreview.com/resources/images/dreeves-rl-2.jpg

LMAO! http://www.discgolfreview.com/resources/videos/dreeves-rl.zip

d/l the video. That roller bombed. It went almost to those houses at the back of the pic. 550'ish.

was the soccer goal lookin thing some kind of mando?

throw a slightly beat maximizer hard and flat (don't try to flip it). Not only is it dead easy to roll but it's also consistently my longest and most accurate roller. The only disc I've ever rolled further was an s illusion. You definately need a bigger arm to roll illusions compared to the maximizer though.

Lots of spin on a flat playing field. Snow is not recommended... :cool:

Practice , Practice, Practice................. :D

First thing you have to do is get an understable disc(maybe light) and use it until it gets beat up enough to flip easy. I bought a used disc that, when I throw it, it flips like crazy. I could probably throw a hyzer shot and it would still flip over. ;)

I have been using the X-Avenger for a distance and turnover roller. It is fast and understable. I can throw it with just a little anhyzer as hard as I can and the speed forces it to flip over into a roller. I have seen some people try to release the disc at the angle it is going to roll at and this seems so odd. There is almost no way you can throw the disc as hard throwing like that so you can't get the distance you want.

The key to throwing a roller like that is really committing to the shot. If you let off on the power, it won't hit the correct angle and will cut roll.

How to throw a roller ???????????????

How to throw a roller ???????????????

pro boss makes a nice fast roller. just snap it really hard flat or slight anhyzer and it should flip right over

Secret of the Roller I intercepted from a gathering of top women golfers: tits up

Wow!!

i usually thought of the release angle of the body as sholders back, however tits up just sounds better.

I use a Light Pro Wraith for BH Rollers its broke in nice and tracks a long way right to left before it stands up and starts to go back right. I have gotten it out to 600'. Thumber rollers are tough to get them to do what you want. Keep with the BH Roller you will get better results. If the ground is too rough you need to air it out. Roadrunner/Sidewinder would be the best NEW disc as they both are understable from the start. If you want the roller to go straight you need to use understable. If you want it to cut left for you then use a more stable disc. I have good luck rolling a Beat in Teebird it tracks a long ways straight. But like someone said here throw your whole bag and see what works best then get multiples of that disc and practice it.