I believe it is fairly easy for most people to keep nose down on line drives (less than 3-4meters in height), but it is an ENTIRELY different matter to keep nose down on throws that apex at more than 12 meters and up

Getting the nose down is the most difficult thing for me to learn in general. Throwing high and nose down is double tough.

My questions:

1. Are there any changes to grip geometry except the obvious "bend your wrist down" that facilitates even more nose down.
2. are there any changes to the hit geometry that facilitates more nose down?
3. Are there any signs from watching the disc flight that you have the nose down, or conversely nose up?

Fight your natural tendancy to throw flat.
Overpronounce your nose down thru your entire motion prior to release. I learned by placing my throwing hand above my throwing shoulder thru my motions. It looks silly , feels silly, but the disc comes out nose down. Start with something stable . If you can throw a predator/ firebird nose down on a big anhyzer and have a nice s-curve, you are doing all right. Start small, big will come with time .

Fight your natural tendancy to throw flat.
Overpronounce your nose down thru your entire motion prior to release. I learned by placing my throwing hand above my throwing shoulder thru my motions.



Could you explain this further, please?

Maybe I'm missing something here but it's pretty simple. I use the same grip I do for whatever throw I'm facing and tilt the disc with the nose lower than the back edge. I use pretty much the same pull motion - I throw it in the direction I want it to go. I have no problem throwing it straight, heiser or anheiser with the front edge down. I do that when I want to keep air from getting under and raising the disc during the flight.

When do you consciously try not to throw nose down?

When do you consciously try not to throw nose down?



If you throw every shot nose down, you are missing a lot of shots.

I throw putters nose up. I throw Rocs down wind nose up. Nose up ensures a fade.

I never even knew about nos angles until this last year. When I was playing in my youth, nose down was bad. The discs would not take a lot of nose down.

The wider the rim, the more nose sensitive...and likely, the more RPMs needed.

throwing the nose down isn't always the shot your are looking for. It is definately the way that you want to throw for throwing distance shots and most shots, but what if you want to throw out a stalled out air bounce like on a 225 foot late dogleg left(for righties)?? You couldn't pull of that shot except by using overstable discs or throwing something less stable and popping the nose up and air bouncing the shot.

I do agree that learning to throw nose down is essential to disc golf and many people that never learn to do this probably end up very frustrated when their learning curve fades out and they plateaued at a distance they didn't want.

-Scott Lewis

I do agree that learning to throw nose down is essential to disc golf and many people that never learn to do this probably end up very frustrated when their learning curve fades out and they plateaued at a distance they didn't want.



That's me...

I can do all the other stuff.

To me, learning to throw nose down equates to easier throws on faster discs for the same distance.,,or more distance if really snapped.

I more concerned about distance without effort more than busting 500' drives.

although nose angle is dependant on your angle of release and your wrist movement I Try to remember to get a good lean forward and a clean follow through.. this usually helps me to keep the disc lower and it seems to hold a line much better that way.
I experimented with the timing of my lean and I figured out when it will hurt my throw and when leaning forward will help it..
Just find when you need to get a good lean and that should help to throw with less effort.

-Scott Lewis

I try to throw nose down but I get a stiff neck

I try to throw nose down but I get a stiff neck



Same as #$*&$! up?

although nose angle is dependant on your angle of release and your wrist movement I Try to remember to get a good lean forward and a clean follow through.. this usually helps me to keep the disc lower and it seems to hold a line much better that way.



Throwing nose down is in relation to the angle of the trajectory of the throw, not to the ground. So, in other words, you can throw nose down orientation on an upward line, or vice versa.

You can throw nose up straight at the ground and create an air bounce.

You can throw nose down 80' in the air and set distance records.

Leaning forward a lot helps to get the line of the throw lower, bust not necessarily the nose.

Fight your natural tendancy to throw flat.
Overpronounce your nose down thru your entire motion prior to release. I learned by placing my throwing hand above my throwing shoulder thru my motions.



I've wondered this for some time--
A friend and fellow Dger of mine throws farther than me. A good 50' farther. When he reaches back, he reaches so that the disc is above his shoulder, and throws with a descending motion. I reach back lower, just about halfway up my torso, and I throw with an ascending motion. We both release at shoulder level. I wonder if a person generates more power by starting high?

When I first started playing I had to use the descending motion just to get the disc to fly flat at all. Over the years my motion has gradually migrated to a definite ascending motion (esp for hyzers).

Another interesting aspect is how you follow through. I have a habit of following through with my arm on a plane that is parallel to the ground, and as hard as I try, it is difficult for me to vary that part of my throw. Even when I pull back low to try and throw a big hyzer I have a very hard time following through high.

Fortunatelly I am left handed and I have to throw way more turnovers anyway. :D

I wonder if a person generates more power by starting high?


no. I've done this since i started playing and i've always had trouble with distance. Just started going through my entire motion lower in the last couple of months because i was noticing that almost no pros start high like that and I'm throwing significantly farther with the low motion. I could just be weird, though.

plus starting high makes it really hard to throw high, because you don't really have anywhere to go from up high like that except lower.

great thread! anyone have more comments to add?

throwing nose down has always been difficult for this reformed air-bounce frisbee thrower...

I've thought about this a lot,but to no avail, since my throw is still pretty nose up. One thing I've noticed is that my "hit" occurs pretty late in the swing (closer to target than the body). This is a point where it is physically difficult to pull through the hit very well for various biomechanical reasons.

Anyways, I think a weaker pull through the hit makes it difficult to release nose down, even if you had done everything properly prior to that point. I haven't made a lot of progress, but concentrating on an earlier hit where I am still able to pull through does help get the nose down.

Just a thought.

disclaimer. I routinely go through a lot of these thoughts. ;)

Bonopane grip solved the problem for me to keep the nose down on power drives. Works well when teaching beginners also. I would give you the link to show the grip on the Innova page but the grip link is broken.

Blake has some great grip pictures on his site: discgolfreview.com (http://discgolfreview.com/resources/articles/gripittoripit.shtml#pictures)

Bonopane grip solved the problem for me to keep the nose down on power drives. Works well when teaching beginners also. I would give you the link to show the grip on the Innova page but the grip link is broken.



The link works fine for me: Bonopane grip (http://www.innovadiscs.com/tips/davesgripsmain.html#specialty)

The link is broken in the Q&A on grips. Click on the word 'here' at the top of this page:

http://www.innovadiscs.com/faq/index.html#Throw1

Bonopane grip solved the problem for me to keep the nose down on power drives. Works well when teaching beginners also. I would give you the link to show the grip on the Innova page but the grip link is broken.



i use a modified FU* grip for everything, and like the control it offers, but maybe i better experiment with other grips for pure D.
thanks for the tip.

*aka: Birdie Grip:
http://www.innovadiscs.com/tips/images/grips/thumbs/P1010048.jpg
This is an accuracy power grip. Three finger pads are pressed against the inside wall of the rim. The middle finger opposes the thumb pad on the flight plate. This grip is not quite as powerful as the Four-Finger Power Grip, but it gives the thrower a greater feel for the disc and provides additional accuracy.

thanks to Discette for the link to: Grips Used for Disc Golf article by: Dave Dunipace (http://www.innovadiscs.com/tips/davesgripsmain.html#specialty)

Dave -- if you're reading this -- would the modified FU / Birdie grip which i brought with me from Ultimate probably incline me to have more trouble getting the nose down?