hello all.
Ive been playing DG for a few months so far and I couldnt get over 250' drives.
Until yesterday, a friend and I were playing and saw a very shrimpy guy tossing 450+ drives. We were in awe. We approached him and he kindly offered to let us join him. Of course, I accepted and he started showing me some tips.
The grip he showed me was very close to this one. The Fork Grip
http://www.discgolfreview.com/resources/images/forkgrip01.jpg
The one crazy thing about it is that he told me not to let the edge of the disc touch my hand. I was supposed to just hold it in my fingers and grip it very tight.
I did as he said. He helped me a bit with my x-step and I was driving 400' downwind and 325'+ upwind. I am just so amazed by this.
Any comments on this grip?

Looks to me like a slightly modified power grip. I have my index finger on the bottom edge of the disc instead of in the rim.

The only concern that I find in the description is the fact that the hand does not touch alot of the disc, except for where the fingers pinch. I know a guy in Mississippi who uses a two finger pinch sidearm. He can crush the disc 400-420ft, however he has little control on the disc, he never truly knows where it will be going. He does not play many long holes so he does not need that much power all the time, which increases the likelyhood of losing control. I am curious to whether or not your hand comes into full contact with the disc while in mid throw. I know on my midrange shots off the tee box, using a Roc/Wasp/Buzzz, I start off with a control grip (peace sign) but mid throw my grip changes to a power grip. If I start with a power grip I tend to grip lock the disc and throw it too far right.

But regardless, keep doing what ever works for you. I will not doubt your distance since I was able to reach 400ft after 6 months, however in the last six months the learning curve has flattened out a bit where now I am only throwing 450ft in pure distance throws.

Hey Dark,

Not to sound sceptical, but I seriously doubt that a change in grip moved you from just over 250 feet to 400 feet unless your previous grip was seriously deficient (always a possibility). Any version of the power grip is usually sufficient to get good distance with proper technique. A more pausible explanation is that your grip change resulted in a throwing technique change that involved other factors. I have tried numerous grips and have had differing success (none that resulted in a 150 foot difference). For me a tight yet relaxed grip that really clamps down at the hit (aka Dave Dunipace's suggestions) works the best. Whether or not the disc touches my palm seems to make no difference other than I can't acheive as tight a grip unless I pull the disc into my palm.

You should also check your distance. Any time one sees a real improvement in their distance there is a tendancy to think it is farther than it really is. Unless you acturately measured it or were on a marked feild you can never be sure.

The one crazy thing about it is that he told me not to let the edge of the disc touch my hand. I was supposed to just hold it in my fingers and grip it very tight.



First of all, don't ignore that the x-step was also improved. Secondly, it seems like this grip really emphasizes the disc ripping off the index finger. Its possible dark's grip was not doing that at all before, and having decent technique, with a tremendous improvement to that fundamental part of grip, and maybe learning to get power from other muscles than just the arm with a better x-step seems like it could have added alot of D.

With my old x step I would put my second step in front rather than behind me. Him fixing this helped me alot. But the grip he showed me really makes me feel the rip when i throw.
My palm doesnt touch the disc at all throughout the swing. Is there any way to improve this grip?

yeah that just looks like a modified power grip to me.
I throw with my fingers oriented in the same way, but i extend my thumb out more(not out meaning towards the middle of the disc, but out more) for a more open thum position(discgolfreview.com has an article on that)
keeping the pink off the disc seems to work for a lot of people.. especially those with longer fingers. I also don't use my pinky, but might go back to a regular powergrip to see if i can get out of my slump.

"I Suck" Scott

With my old x step I would put my second step in front rather than behind me.


Getting your hips more involved is likely your major 'key' here... Without enough disc~speed >>> not as much rip~age.
.02

With my old x step I would put my second step in front rather than behind me.



stepping in front = very little hip rotation + prevents you from turning your upper body away.

stepping behind probably added ~45 degrees of upper body rotation (although this does not necessarily mean you are utilizing your hips fully).

Yea. Im really hopin for some better weather this weekend. Ill be out all weekend if its over 32.

Yeah I've seen/used that kind of grip before... I find (and don't ask me why) discs tend to fly more understable with that grip.

It's more of a pinch (like throwing an aerobie) than a disc golf grip, I think it might lend to more to that "tendon bounce" thingy Dave D. talks about. maybe you get more rotation, I know alot of newer players who use it for anhyzers, and long S-curve bombs. But yeah, for some reason it does turn and burn into the wind, good tailwind grip though... maybe I should give it a shot again... hmmm

I started using that grip about a week ago and it's helped me some. I'm a new player so I've been experimenting with different things. I've been having a problem of either not pinching tight enough or pinching too tight and pulling my disk way to the right.
This makes me keep it straighter, but I do have to watch because I will have too much anhyzer sometimes. I just keep working with the power grip and this grip, as both will serve a purpose.
With certain disks I've picked up about 10-20 ft on my shot. I think the reason why is that I'm forced to concentrate on my pinch more with only 1 finger on the rim. When I have all 4, I just have a tendency to loosen my grip. :mad:

Isn't this the fork grip that ken climo uses? A big advantage I see to this grip is that when I'm using a power grip, sometimes I'll havea problem with the disc ripping off my middle finger instead of my index finger. This grip makes sure the middle finger is out of the way in that respect.