I've been getting pretty frustrated with this. I can't seem to get it. Maybe once every 15 drives. I've been trying to follow the reach back driving method step-by-step. I know I still have some work to do on that because my mid-range drives (roc or Buzz) don't always go straight. Actually the go straight, just not always in the "straight" direction I want them to go.

Anyway. I'm driving with a Champion Valkrye (sp) 170 I think and recently an old Gazelle, which I thought would help. I'm doing my best to release the disc flat and keep the flight a line drive. I'm driving around 300, but the disc's basically go somewhat straight and then fade left at the end flight. I even tried driving with a Firebird, so that hopefully I would overcompensate so much that the other drivers might S-Turn for me.

I would love to go practice in a field, but there's too much snow in Maine and I'm sick of loosing disc's.

Any advice?

It sounds like you are trying to throw the disc straight. It's doing what it's supposed to. Try turning the Firebird to the right. Whatever is going left for you needs to go right first to get the "S". But it needs to have enough "left" to come out of the right turn. A simple way to see it is to throw the Firebird hard right, way up high. It'll come back.
You probably won'y get alot done until the snow goes, though. Don't want to lose them.

I've tried that with the Firebird. It seems to way way way up and to the right (it looks like a really really far drive). Then it falls off to the left and keeps falling.

Sometimes the Stingray I have with S-turn. But it's usually goes too far to the right before it comes back.

I play mostly in a very narrow tree populated (but long) course

You can get that s-curve one of two ways.

1) Throw something overstable, like a Firebird (insert Gateway/Discraft/Lightning's overstable disc), with anhyzer. Make sure to get the nose slightly up or else the disc will dive down and turn into a really unwanted roller.

2) Throw something stable/straight to slightly over stable. Roc/Buzz, Orc, Flash, Crush, Beast. And throw it hard! Out of these 6 discs, the Orc has the best S-curve to it. If thrown hard it will have a sweet s-curve that is really tight. The Beast has the same distance but with a much larger sweeping s-curve. However, if these discs are not thrown hard, they will go straight and fade hard to the left without any turn over at all.

Keep working on that reach back, I am trying to round up a video camera to better refine mine. But once you acheive that full arm speed that your body is capable of, you can throw those discs named above a good 400ft without effort. Remember to keep your throw smooth, if you try to muscle it or think to hard about it you can easily turn it into a 200ft worm burner.

When I throw an S shot i pull out and OVERSTABLE driver and aim it out to the left of my target and put some anhyzer on the disc when i release. So it looks like this \ when i let it go. Not that extreme but you get the idea. It starts out left of the target and starts to anhyzer past the target and out to the right then the overstablitiy of the disc kicks in and is Ss back to the center and finishes right on target. If you try and throw high your prolly getting the nose up with is causing the hard DIVE at the end of the flight. I also suggets waiting till the snow melts and then going to a field. You should go to the field with a buddy and throw back and for to eachother. That way you dont get as tired walking to get your discs and you get twice as many throws in the same amount of time you would if you were by yourself.

In responce to Steve's suggestion, getting the nose up in relation to the ground on an anhyzer drive is more touchy then a flat or hyzer release.

What Do You mean by more touchy?

If he is saying what i think he is saying then its means its really easy to release nose up when your throwing an anhyzer then it is when your throwing a hyzer or throwing a flat shot. Theres a fine line between releasing flat with anyhyzer and releasing nose up. You really have to practice to develope a good Anyhyzer shot.

keep in mind there are basically three types of s-curves that require three different types of throws. an anhyzer s-curve, a line-drive s-curve, and a hyzer flip s-curve.

i'm going to assume that the throw you are trying to perform is the line-drive s-curve. i've heard all of these throws called different things, but the one i am speaking of is taking a disc that is relatively stable for your power level, throwing it flat (+/- a few degrees), having it fly straight, gradually turn to the right, and fade back left at the end.

if this is the type of throw you are focusing on, there are two things that are probably going wrong if you are unable to achieve this type of flight.

1) you aren't getting the disc nose down.
2) the discs you are throwing are a bit too overstable for you to make them turn (or are too overstable for the amount of nose-down you are getting) without torquing them over.

you can force a disc to turn by wrolling your wrist over entering the follow through, but i don't recommend this as it breeds nasty long-run habits.

my advice is this:
discs turn naturally when thrown nose down and "enough" power/speed. to develop this naturally and with good fundamentals, i suggest stepping down a driver or two until your technique develops and builds more power to where you can turn the newer drivers naturally.

discs like a cheetah, raven, voyager, etc. have quite low cruise speeds and generally give a nice, smooth s for players with power in the 250-310' range without the need for torque over.

I mean i think my advice is good but listen to Blake T hes knows whats up. His site has me alot and it has also helped many many other golfers that frequent this message board. His advice is always good to listen to and expierement with.

one should NEVER try to learn throwing techniques from the message board.

go outside and throw some plastic.
the more you do, the more you will learn.

Man you need to get off your high horse and come back down to earth. Sucks that guys like us had to learn to throw on our own but I wish i had a place like this to ask questions when i was first starting out. You just gave the worst advice on this thread. Just go outside and throw some disc. Youll become alot better if you do. NOT FREAKIN TRUE. You have to have something to practice. You have to know what your doing wrong and work on it. I can go throw 400 drives a day but if i dont know what im working on or how to do it then all im going to get out of that is a sore arm.

Dont listen to this guy man. Ask questions get answers and then go practice the techniques people have desrcibed and you will find one that you like. Once you do that work on perfecting that technique untill your consistent and confident in it. Then try and learn a new one.

one should NEVER try to learn throwing techniques from the message board.

go outside and throw some plastic.
the more you do, the more you will learn.



Believe me...I would be out there if I could. There's too much snow. I've lost half a dozen disc's in the past month. I can't afford it.

Thanks for the tips Blake. I am trying the flat S-turn. I'll try to keep the nose down and see if it helps.

Sounds like you are on the right track. To dump my discs into anny I use the same style. Reach back and yank! Arch your back a little and walla!

Which course do you play in maine?

spin spin spin!!!

I mostly play at Enman field becuase it's closest. I've played at Dragan Field twice. Also played at Hapana (or however it's spelled) in Trenton.

You around Maine?

You around Maine?


Yes, Augusta.They just put in a new course here that is a lot like Brunswick.Its got some long holes longest being 777'

one should NEVER try to learn throwing techniques from the message board.

go outside and throw some plastic.
the more you do, the more you will learn.



Of course you should always consider the source of information you are recieving. Trying to find a local pro is often your best bet. I am blessed enough to be friends with a 20 time world champion (GUTS, DDC, MTA, Freestyle, Disc Golf, Accuracy, etc), so I learned alot from him, plus we have three other pros rated over 980 in our city that I play regularly with. One of them even broke top 20 at USDGC this past year. Being able to play with people better then you is your best opportunity to get better.

I s-curve a Firebird a lot. The path obviously is an anhyzer release, so that it flattens as it curves left to right, then fades back to left.

Two things I need to do to succeed:

1) The reach-back needs to be up near the shoulder (vs. the waist). This will help you release with more of an anhyzer angle, and there's less chance that your throwing motion will be towards the sky!

2) Follow through. And don't let up until you let go of the disc. Almost imagine that it's chained to your arm and it pulls your hand towards your target. Really rip through and extend your hand out so it points where you want to throw.

BTW, I'm in NH - I've heard that Freddy's new course out in Augusta is comparable to Warwick. Can't wait to check it out.

Well...I havn't had much of a chance to work on my drive (snow)

I'm pretty sure my problem is generating speed through my pull through and release.

I still don't really feel any snap off my release finger, but I havn't had a chance to go to a field.

The trick to an S curve is using a disc that has some overstability and throwing it hard enough and with enough spin for it to actually tilt to the right a bit. If you do it right, the disc will straighten out and then shoot dead straight and fade just a bit at the end. When you throw, make a conscious effort to put good spin on your drives. Sometimes you can throw too hard and just bury the disc in the ground. A great S curve disc is a crush, orc or flash.

Think of it this way- if you are "turning" a disc, that disc is going to 'turn' towards the right, even if you start it vertically on a huge hyzer. It won't turn vertical, unless it's a cheeath from 1988 that has two or three train wrecks to it's credit. Throw that same disc perfectly flat, and it will fly "straight" which is actually turning at every instant, only very very subtlely. You can't even tell. So now imagine utilizing that turn over to the anhyzer side of the disc. It's like putting a ball on a shelf. The higher shelf you hit, the further it will fall. You want to put a disc on as high a shelf as you can, with two caveats. One, don't put it any higher than you can and still see it moving forward about as fast as you can move ANY throw forward (that's nose "down" or forward) , and two, that you can achieve that same relative spin and turn with a high throw. Discs are INSTANTLY more overstable as you throw uphill, or up in the air. So let me modify that first caveat, you will need to throw a little harder, or something a little less overstable.

We're talking about the long high fighting s curve shot here, the one that goes 600 700 even 850 feet, if you're A Sandstrom that is. Ok, so for you, imagine throwing over your garage. If it's like mine you have a slope. Just like you would throw flat for a straight throw. You could throw past the door straight and flat, or you could throw along the incline of the roof, and get an S Shot. I'm assuming here that you need a imaginary aid and a visualization, it seems like you know what you should be doing, but can't quite feel it, especially in the snow. I feel ya.

OK, so try this, throw 10 cut rollers. Try to land everything you've got on it's right edge. When you learn a harder shot, the hard shot you were trying to do before becomes easier. Trust me. Turn everything you've got right into the ground. Now here's the trick, get it higher before it hits the ground. This will teach you to release over your shoulder up high where long S Shots come from. You'll bring it front and modify it over time, but that's a start!
Imagine throwing a roller over a church. Try it. No stained glass windows though. They're pricey. Trust me.

Just ask Strong Bad...

STRONG BAD: To begin, draw an S {draws an S on the paper.} for snake. Er, dragon. {simple music starts playing} Er, whatever. Next, we'll draw a more different S. {draws another S connected to the other} For the head, put a top mark on a long V. {draws a triangle on top of the S} Then you add some legs... {draws two beefy legs} draw on a couple of arms... and {draws two beefy arms, eyes, spikes, teeth and angry eyebrows.} whoa ...wait a minute. {music stops with a record scratch} I think I need to start over. Thing doesn't look natural. {draws a speech bubble coming from the dragon that says 'The S is for sucks', and pulls up a clean sheet of paper.} Okay, so starting again, the same way. S, more different S. {Music starts again} Close it up real good at the top for his head {makes an attached, open-mouth head}, and then, using consummate V's, give him teeth, spinities, and angry eyebrows. {draws all of what he mentioned, plus stick legs.} Then, you can add smoke or fire {draws both coming from the dragon's mouth}, or maybe some wings, if he's a.. wing-a-ling dragon. {Draws two wings on the dragon's back.} Let's put one of those beefy arms back on for good measure. {draws a single beefy arm on the back of the dragon} That looks really good. Comin' out of the back of his neck, there. Now he needs a name. How about, TROGDOR the BURNiNATOR. {writes it below the dragon} Oh yeah. Check out all his majesty. {draws rays of majesty coming from the dragon}

DiscGraham: SWEET!!!!!!!!!!

Homestarrunner.com RULES!

Strongbad's awesome, especially now that he got his lappy :D

Have you played the 20x6 game? Super hero action future bad translation strongbad!

Thanks for the tips

Strong Bad OWNS