I've been working on my grip (power grip) for awhile now. I looked at Blake's grip article and talked to some people about it. I think it seems pretty good, but one thing thats happening, that shouldn't be, is my index fingerpad feels alot of friction at the rip, or "slide" since friction means its sliding and not ripping properly. After throwing many drives, my finger is fine, but the pad is definitely raw at the end, and a callous is forming on the left side of the finger, right next to the pad. I am pretty sure my grip is pretty strong when throwing, and my grip positioning seems to be on the money.

Maybe my index finger isn't wrapping around teh rim enough and putting pressure on the inside of the rim enough? Because when I grip the disc, the part of my finger pad that is raw, is the part of the finger pad that seems to be applying the most pressure to the disc going into my hand. But that part of the fingerpad is right at the bottom of the inside of the rim. So maybe the bottom of the rim is sliding along that part of my finger and it could be remedied by trying to grip the inside of the disc higher?
Another idea, is maybe my rip timing is off? Like I'm releasing the disc too late.
The first idea seems the most likely, can anyone comfirm if that is the problem.

It's hard for me to analyze what the problem may be from drive to drive, adjusting my grip, because once it feels the friction once, its a little sore, and its hard to tell that next time that I throw it if there is more friction, or if the finger is just sore from being raw and gripping the rim tight.

Welcome to the PDGA board!

It sounds like you are just in the callous-building process. It's just something you have to get through. If that doesn't seem like it, try changing the position of your index finger. If that still doesn't help you may want to switch grips completely.

It sounds like you are just in the callous-building process. It's just something you have to get through.



Exactly... I developed some very painful blisters on parts of fingers because they had never really seen friction before. Now I don't even feel it when I release plastic. I think everyone has to get those callouses where they are needed.

I am typing with that EXACT callous right now. I use a 4 finger power grip but i rest the pad of my index finger on the rim and it doesnt get all the way tucked under to the flight plate. My finger did the same thing yours is doing. After about a month of throwing that way you wont even realize it anymore. The pad on the finger is the last one to come off the disc with that grip so it gets the most friction applied to it. Your not doing anything wrong with the grip your skin is just getting used to the friction. You can either start taping it and never develop a callous or you can just take the little bit of pain for a month and never have to worry about it again. I suggest just taking the pain and gettin the callous. Tape is for sissys and will mess with your release.

So keep at it and youll be fine.

Welcome to the board too

In DG, we get calluses the old fashioned way...we earn them! /msgboard/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

In DG, we get calluses the old fashioned way...we earn them! /msgboard/images/graemlins/smirk.gif



There is a new way to get them?

2 hours of video-gaming will have me cryin'! :D

You just need different callouses... I have both types. :cool:

just remember not to chew or bite, or rip the callouses off. I ripped one off during a throw, and it bled for a while.

I threw so hard one time my arm flew off with the disc. I think I needed more of a calous.

I have heard of a guy who threw so hard he pulled a muscle in his behind :eek:

I know I should resist but I can't... Is rip friction related to pulp fiction, just curious?

lyle, rip friction can also be a reference for underware, ware and tear

You can also determine the amount of friction by listening to the note that is played when releasing. I call this the tuning process.

Well i've gone out a few times, and finally today I wasn't really getting the same friction. I wouldn't mind getting a callous at all, but if there isn't supposed to be friction, I don't want friction. I'm not sure what I was doing differently with my grip, might have been keeping it too tight before the snap before, and I also changed my grip so that I'd grap the disc with my index finger, before I lay the rim in my palm, and put the base of my thumb on top. I definitely will know callouses are ok there, if I ever form a big one.

I've recently started throwing the Illusion, a wide rimmed disc. Before that, I was throwing roc's and Sabres. After a dozen throws with the Illusion, my fingers were HOT and a little sore, because they weren't used to the huge rim. I'll get used to it, but it's just something you have to get through.

Keeping your disc edges sanded down helps to keep the friction to a minimum.

Keeping your disc edges sanded down helps to keep the friction to a minimum.



Isn't sanding discs illegal?

C. Players may not make post-production modification of discs which alter their original flight characteristics. This rule does not forbid inevitable wear and tear from usage during play <font color="red">or the moderate sanding of discs to smooth molding imperfections or scrape marks.</font> Discs excessively sanded or painted with a material of detectable thickness are illegal. See sections 802.01 D, E and F.





Nope.

Speaking of rip friction...do you guys ever notice little "whorls" worn into the top of the flight plate from where your thumb rips off? My friend pointed this out to me last week on his own discs. It made a lot of sense because I had always wondered why those little circular scratches were even on my discs I only use for field practice.

C. Players may not make post-production modification of discs which alter their original flight characteristics. This rule does not forbid inevitable wear and tear from usage during play <font color="red">or the moderate sanding of discs to smooth molding imperfections or scrape marks.</font> Discs excessively sanded or painted with a material of detectable thickness are illegal. See sections 802.01 D, E and F.





Nope.



That says you can sand off imperfections. Can you do it just to do it or do you just say there was an imperfection?

Basically if the disc is not smooth, you can sand it to make it smooth. You cannot sand to change the shape of the disc, remove beads, change angle of wing, etc.

i held off from replying on this one for a while as i'm still not quite sure how to articulate a good response.

the idea of rip vs. slip came up a lot in my exchanges with dave d. during my research for the grip article i wrote. basically, he said that there should be no pain due to friction during a clean and strong rip. i interpreted this as being because it's more the disc overpowering the last joint of the index finger and propelling itself out without a drag against the finger tip.

a grip i had been working with had "slide" issues. the disc didn't slide out early, but i would generally get intense friction, often to the point of pain and skin splitting/callous ripping on the rip point of my index finger. on a particularly strong throw i actually had plastic shavings from a dx disc come off on my finger tips... although this also bruised my finger tips and they burned for a good 10 minutes after the throw.

basically, the idea was that any burning/stinging caused by the dragging of the disc off the finger tip is indicative of a slide and not a max power "rip" that needs to occur for max d potential.

although i realize i could be interpreting this incorrectly. he did emphasize though, that pain in the finger tips = bad.

Whoa......So your telling me that I am not throwing Max d with my backhand? Every throw usually just slips out of my hand. I do not release the disc, It just zips out of my fingers. So your saying if I get the Rip down it will just whip out during the release and not slide out of the grip which also gives the snapping sound. I dont know if this is what your saying? Could you elaborate?

Don't ask me how I could read the grip and rip article at discgolfreview and been playing for months and still not have gotten a decent grip, but for some reason the right feel of the grip and rip eludes me. I have been working on snap and have seem to adopted a new grip that seems much better, the friction isn't really there. However, I still don't think that I'm getting the disc to rip out of my hand.

One thing I wanted to ask people, 'specailly Blake cause I know he has "short, stuby fingers" is...when you are pressing the disc rim into your palm with the tip of your index finger, is the rim of the disc pressing below, directly on, or above the underside of the index finger's knuckle, the joint in the index finger closest to the palm. Another way to phrase the question is, how many people's grip acutally has the rim of the disc going on the line from the center of the wrist to inbetween the base of the middle and the index finger? Does anyone have a grip where the line the rim of the disc is on goes from the middle of the wrist (or a little higher) to the center of the base of the index finger, or on the other side of the base of the index finger?

Am I obsessing way too much and that small a difference doesn't matter? Is there any other factors that contribute to having the disc rip out besides the orientation the hand grips the disc? Such as timing of when the disc leaves your hand or when you grip harder.

I just read the thread that was put up when Blake finished his grip article, that had a few things I hadn't read about the rip yet. I think my biggest problem is just not knowing what the rip and maybe the hit feels like. Is there a different scenerio to emulate it than the left hand pulling hte disc out of the right? Cause when I do that, it feels like i'm getting friction on my finger tip. Is it natural not to be able to feel the hit and rip well until you have a certain amount of power or finesse on your throws? like somewhere above 300ft?

Whoa......So your telling me that I am not throwing Max d with my backhand? Every throw usually just slips out of my hand. I do not release the disc, It just zips out of my fingers. So your saying if I get the Rip down it will just whip out during the release and not slide out of the grip which also gives the snapping sound. I dont know if this is what your saying? Could you elaborate?



the disc should come out cleanly with a powerful grip... that's the best way i can describe it. if it feels like it's tearing your finger tip off, that shouldn't be happening really. i still have some issues with this myself. basically, there will be some slide, but it will be like "it's sliding out even though i'm trying as hard as i can to keep it in." slips occur mainly when the grip is too loose at the rip point.

this gets fairly odd in some ways. most people i know say their grip feels stronger with wider rimmed discs (orc, beast, flash, crush, illusion, etc.) and prefer the feel to narrower discs (teebird, roc, etc.). however, the slide/slip problem with a lot of friction seems to only really happen with wider discs from my experiences (and the experiences with a few others i know). narrower rimmed discs allow for greater pressure to be applied against the wall of the rim into the seam or base of the thumb.

and just for the record, my fingers are short and narrow :P stubby isn't the right word.

Ya sorry, that was a misquote...no really sorry. I think my grip isn't horrible, so I'm just going to lay off the questions for a long while, and practice.

i have seen/heard/read that there is no correct grip to throwing farther but wanna see what most people are using for distance or even their main grip.

i use the conventional 5 finger power grip but wondering if i were to use 4 or even 3, would i get more distance? does anyone switch b/w grips for more distance with less fingers? or more fingers for more control? does more fingers mean less spin? or vice versa?


just wanna get some opinions before i try it myself.

Ive never seen a 5 finger power grip :confused:
I use the 4 Finger Power grip Index Finger on Rim Middle and ring on flight plate and pinky pressed into the rim.

I switch so a pretty severe fan grip for upshots and more control. Usually more fingers equals more power. I suggest staying with a 4 finger power grip :D

Just my opinion i could be wrong

The 5 finger power grip would be very difficult for most normal humans :D

If I have never gotten callous's from throwing does that mean I am not snapping hard enough?