Is there a quick and easy way to learn to throw a roller

[ShaZaun]

I am somewhat a beginner to disc golf. My drives range from 220 to 300 feet pretty consistantly. I've entered my first tourney and some of the holes are very long (450 to 700 feet). I heard that if I learned to throw a roller it should get me some extra distance. I've been practicing some of the stuff I find on the internet but with no real results. If I don't get it down I'll just play my norm game ( read to that on a diff forum...love this sight );). Any help will be put to good use.

[Hamilton]

if you anhyzer a really understable disc (monarch, roadrunner, etc) you should be able to get it to turn up and land on it's edge and roll...

[RustyP]

Rolling can get you some extra distance, but if you don't have the time to work out the kinks in your rollers, I'd stick with what you know. Depending on how the hole is laid out, a poorly-thrown roller can get you into more trouble than coming up short with an air-shot.

Personally, I like to throw understable discs with anhyzer (like mentioned above) for my rollers, but you can roll almost any disc...you just have to get out in a field and test them to find the right combination of anhyzer angle + power it takes to get each particular disc to roll well. A few things that helped me out when I was learning rollers was to lean your body back a little and to adjust your grip so that the edge of the disc is sitting closer to the base of your fingers (as opposed to sitting in the crease of your palm). It'll also help to focus on following-through after your drive...this should help you maintain your anhyzer angle longer. These are things that have worked for me, but the best advice I could give anyone is to just grab some discs and hit the practice field.

[edrift101]

I got a great tip for this last weekend.

"Try to snap your wrist towards the ground a bit, right before the release of the disc."

[DiscChainBasket18]

..find your lightest most beat up disc & throw it hard. It should flip & roll like a mad dog!

[Ryan P.]

if you're having trouble throwing a roller, I think one thing might help you get started. Instead of trying to roll with an understable driver, why don't you go get an understable mid-range, such as Innova's Stingray or Discraft's Stratus. These are both good, high-turning discs that will flip easier than most drivers. Also, changing your form might help out. if you make your release point higher, that will usually force you to throw the disc with the wign a little higher. The roller throw is similar to an anhyzer throw, but you want to find the disc that flips over too much and becomes a roller.

If you have anyway to film yourself and post it on here or youtube, that would help others see what you're doing and what you might need to correct.

[ERicJ]

A few things that helped me out when I was learning rollers was to lean your body back a little...
This advice was also given to me and helps. Just to clarify: make sure your upper body is leaning back when you release the disc, not just on the approach.

ERic

[DiscChainBasket18]

How many rollers do I throw in a game? Hmmmmm, None! They are too unpredictable. Rollers have their place but rarely for long drives. Keep throwing straight 200-300' drives. Work on your technique & they will be 300-400' & so on. Disc Golf Rules!!

[sidewinding]

My drives range from 220 to 300 feet pretty consistantly.

Is this a triple oxymoron?

Honestly if you can't thow over 300' you probably don't have the technique to put the kind of power on a disc to turn it over enough for it to roll. Try the Scott Stokely distance secrets DVD. It will give you some good basic techniques and you will almost imediately start turning over your understable discs.

[Fore]

I assume you have seen the Innova throw charts, but if you havn't here is the link http://www.innovadiscs.com/downloads/Backhandrollerchart.pdf. For learning purposes I would use a Stingray or a beat Stratus like stated.

[Geoffro]

I also use a Stingray for rollers, though I agree that if you are throwing <300ft, you should stick with your drive and just keep going at it in the air. As noted, rollers are unpredictable and difficult to throw with consistent positive results. When do I throw rollers? When I out in an open field practicing throwing rollers. Very rarely on the course.

[sidewinder22]

I use my beat up DX Cheetah forehand for rollers. Throw it flat and it rolls straight and left. Throw it slightly annie and it rolls straight and right. I only use rollers as a last resort.

[Pitch]

How many rollers do I throw in a game? Hmmmmm, None! They are too unpredictable. Rollers have their place but rarely for long drives. Keep throwing straight 200-300' drives. Work on your technique & they will be 300-400' & so on. Disc Golf Rules!!

This is funny.I can roll with just as much accuracy as an air shot.
Take your money with it too LOL.
Seriously,This IS a must know shot.There are some shots where nothing else makes sense to me.
And I can roll on some holes much farther than if I were to air.
Rollers RULE.
Beat up Stingray short,Roadrunner Mid,Sidewinder Long

[Fore]

Here is a vid with Climo and Greg about rollers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18h0H2MIVjg&NR=1

[solomon.trenton]

ive found that the roadrunner (preferbly star or champ plastic) is the best roller and adds like 50` to your drive.

[valkyriefb11]

Here is a vid with Climo and Greg about rollers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18h0H2MIVjg&NR=1

Thanks for the video ... It was fun just watching Ken throw, but it helped me with my technique a bit

[Fore]

Thanks for the video ... It was fun just watching Ken throw, but it helped me with my technique a bit


No problem. That series has a few more floating around out there about other topics.

[NatiBuckeye]

Does anyone have any advice or better vids on how to throw a FH roller? I do believe this is a perfectly usable shot, I think most people just give up on it.

[Neophyte]

I tried throwing rollers for a while and then decided to focus on my air shots. The rollers just seemed to unpredictable...maybe that is just how I was throwing them. I can certainly see them being helpful in the right circumstance but for me they are a last resort.

[billnchristy]

I have accidently thrown some killer rollers. One with a #2 Roller, a huuuuge disc. One with a #3 Driver.

[solomon.trenton]

the face of the disc is where it will hook to, try using a roadrunner. im sure you could find videos of rollers on you tube.

[t i m]

Does anyone have any advice or better vids on how to throw a FH roller? I do believe this is a perfectly usable shot, I think most people just give up on it.

I love the forehand roller, but it takes a lot of power to use it for a drive off the box... I use forehand rollers with heavy Firebirds (any plastic), and have good results... usually distance of ~350', though a perfect line can go over 400'. I don't use it for extra distance, but on courses with clean ground and lots of trees or low branches, it is a great way to get foreward distance and take a possible 2 or easy 3 on a hole that could otherwise easily become a 4.

When you do the math, a disc is about 8" across, so to cleanly miss a skinny little 2" wide tree with an airshot requires that you miss a space 18" wide (8+8+2=18")... with a roller, your disc is ~1" wide, so to cleanly miss a 2" tree only requires that you miss a space 4" wide (1+1+2=4"). So when you are looking at a bunch of trees off the box, I'd say a roller roughly triples your odds of getting down the fairway clean...

To throw a forehand roller requires very little open space left or right. You really only need 50-100' of clean air in front of you with probably 10' minimum of vertical clearance. Take your overstable approach driver (firebird/predator/spirit) and throw it hard towards the ground, aiming it to land 80-100' in front of you. You'll have to experiment with the angle of landing. Ideally, I'd guess you'll need it to be leaning about 10-20 degrees to the right, but depending on the disc and how hard you throw it, it might need to be more than that.

The angle is where you have to experiment with your disc and your personal release power. At max power, with a max-weight firebird, I aim for the disc to hit the ground with as much as 25 or 30-degrees of angle on it. The power causes it to slowly straighten up and finish out roughly straight in front of where I started.

If your disc flips up and rolls left early, then have your disc hit leaning a little more to the right. If your disc rolls right and never finishes up straight, then start your disc leaning a little more left. This part takes practice and varies tremendously from disc to disc.

If you don't have a lot of power, then try something less stable. I've also had great results with slower fairway drivers like Teebirds...

Good luck with the throw, and let me know if you have questions.

[NatiBuckeye]

Awesome response. Im going to start out with my champ t-bird and then something reall overstable. Ill let you know

[NatiBuckeye]

Ok so in my first attempts at really developing this skill i have been using a 175 champ tbird. when thrown at about 60% of max it cuts a pretty hard FH anny and when hits pops up dead straight rolls but cuts hard towards the face?

My guess was i need a more stable disc? Would you agree?

[XxInnovaxX]

roll it like a bowling ball





JK....roadrunners are a good choice, thats what i use. they work quite well after theyre broke in

[NatiBuckeye]

Im talking about a FH roller so i would think a RR would be way too under stable.

[XxInnovaxX]

Ok so in my first attempts at really developing this skill i have been using a 175 champ tbird. when thrown at about 60% of max it cuts a pretty hard FH anny and when hits pops up dead straight rolls but cuts hard towards the face?

My guess was i need a more stable disc? Would you agree?

are you putting you finger inside the rim?

try putting your thumb on the inside, thrown kind of like a thumber with the disc at a 45 as your disc is always going to hit, pop up and straighten out and then roll towards the face.

[ChronoDisc]

i choose the no go on the rollers. with practice technique and a little strength training comes lots of distance. rollers are too unpredictable for me. i always roll them into the trees or across the road.... or into a river...... or some stupid crap like that. i can outdrive my rollers by a good 75 feet so i basically have no use for them.

[Neophyte]

I agree with ChronoDisc for the most part. There are just too many variables with rollers to use them as a go to shot.

[NatiBuckeye]

ok... but im trying to learn them. Im a teacher and kids love them even if they only go 10 ft.

[Joey]

Flipping an under-stable disc is a good option for a roller; however, I have had some success throwing a forehand roller using an over-stable disc. Just take an over-stable disc like the Whippet and plunk it down on its edge about 40ft in front of you and watch it roll. This only works on dry, solid ground with short grass. I used this shot once in a tournament and it rolled right under the basket. Rollers are fun because it's like rolling the dice. You never know what's going to happen and that's what disc golf is all about. Fun, right?

[XxInnovaxX]

Flipping an under-stable disc is a good option for a roller; however, I have had some success throwing a forehand roller using an over-stable disc. Just take an over-stable disc like the Whippet and plunk it down on its edge about 40ft in front of you and watch it roll. This only works on dry, solid ground with short grass. I used this shot once in a tournament and it rolled right under the basket. Rollers are fun because it's like rolling the dice. You never know what's going to happen and that's what disc golf is all about. Fun, right?

CORRECT!! "rolling the dice".....good analogy

[discjon]

Just do what I do! Take an extremely beat DX Leopard, throw it as hard as you can towards the ground, and pray to the disc golf gods.

Never had much success with that...

[NatiBuckeye]

Well i have been throwing a FH roller with a champ Tbird and Star Orc with decent success. There are a couple very tricky holes in my area that start out left to right then go hard right to left. I throw a straight forehand layup then flick a roller up the hill for a very good three.

I wouldnt do this on a straight hole and i dont think many players would. However right to left uphill is a pretty nice roller shot especially if your courses are like mine and have alot of trees.

This discussion has helped alot even though most people are just expressing their dislike for rollers.

[Fore]

During a recent field session I spent some time throwing overhand rollers with my champ Banshee. I was throwing with a slight angle and releasing a little above should height. The disc would line drive about twenty feet smack the ground and roll perfectly straight until it hit the fence eighty foot away. I plan on practicing it more and will focus more on remembering the little details. I have already encountered a few times where this would have come in handy but havn't invested enough time to own it.

[Craton]

A beat up SL is the way to go, being that it gives you a little more room to stretch out the big distance before the roll, as opposed to using a discraft Stratus, or Innova Wolf/Stingray.

As for quick and easy ways, if you don't have time to work on it, just tilt the entire world 90 degrees, so that the "ground" is now on your right, as opposed to below you, and throw something understable. This should help you a ton.

[ShaZaun]

Wow cool thanks for the info..... I'll be practicing those later......

[80playedin10states]

go super stable for forehand rollers...

[MikeR]

My best drives are 350ish on flat ground with no wind, but I've thrown an Eclipse 450' as an air to ground roller (flew about 175-200' before hitting the ground and rolling). It's crucial that you are throwing on a well groomed course - no point in throwing rollers on anything but. I find the control to be fine for a reasonably open area with the only uncertianty being just how far it's going to go. Straight to ground rollers either BH or FH are good for specialty situations, but not for distance.

Now when I roll for distance (not often on courses around here - usually just for fun to see how far I can go out on the practice field), I knife the disc pretty hard and don't make it fly like a disc, just huck it with tons of snap (TONS OF SNAP!) because that will give it it's rotational velocity, obviously the main driving force of a roller.