How I explain disc-flight to Noobs

[KDDEBOER]

Originally Posted by ZAMson

Just a slice of my trademarked and patented set of analogies, fine-tuned over several years in the DN pro shop...

Would you put race car tires on a bicycle to make it go faster? No... those tires are made to handle intense, rarely-found, upper-range extraordinary power. If you put pedal power behind those tires, you'll go slower with greater effort than if you used the appropriate tires. Tires match the engine/fuel, they don't provide it. This big fat rim is the same thing as a race car tire... it won't help you any unless you've got the engine and fuel, meaning technique and power.

Tell them this, then let them try throwing a few different speeds of neutral discs. They'll have a better grasp on cruising speed and discing down (although without the depth of theory or vocabulary) than a lot of more experienced players.

[who-dat]

Originally Posted by mashnut

This one sounds a little odd to me, I'm guessing by flat you mean not throwing way up in the air but using the word flat makes it sound like you're saying throw different lines while still releasing the disc without any anhyzer or hyzer angle. To do that, you have to impart off axis torque, something that's difficult enough to avoid for new players as it is.

I think he's referring to bending at the hips/waist to throw hyzer/anhyzer shots as opposed to changing the wrist angle/position.

[BionicRib]

I personally just keep throwing information at them in hopes that they will take something out of it

"If you throw enough @#$% on the wall some of it will stick".......right?

I also love talking to newer players about the game and I know that sometimes I talk their ears off more than they can understand/bare to hear. I don't try to scare them, I just put myself in their shoes and try to show them things that I never knew about when I was a new player. (to save them headaches of figuring it out on their own)

We were all new at one time........don't ever forget that.

[cubeofsoup]

Originally Posted by garublador

That may be true, and it's probably a decent simplification for what you're trying to accomplish, but I don't think that's a great way to think about discs over the long run. I prefer to think of each disc having a range of speeds in which it will act "as intended" or "as flight charts indicate." Some discs will need to be over powered or under powered compared to what flight charts indicate to fly straight.

To build on this...there are plenty of discs out there that are not designed for a straight line at all. Take a look at any flight-line-charts out there. How many discs have a straight flight? Most are some degree of S curve. Thrown flat, many discs are designed, and will do, something other than a straight line. There is a reason a straight, flat shot is one of the harder things in DG. I wonder how many people would claim they have an easier time throwing a 300ft straight shot versus a 300ft hyzer. Newer players need to be reminded that a dead-nuts straight shot is not the norm. Fade is to be expected on most shots and should be embraced as something to anticipate and learn to control early on.

[Rockwell]

Originally Posted by mashnut

This one sounds a little odd to me, I'm guessing by flat you mean not throwing way up in the air but using the word flat makes it sound like you're saying throw different lines while still releasing the disc without any anhyzer or hyzer angle. To do that, you have to impart off axis torque, something that's difficult enough to avoid for new players as it is.

No, I actually mean throwing it flat (anhyser and hyser are in the next lesson). It is basically reitterating the fact that the amount of spin and speed I put on this can make it go either direction. And to be able to do that on purpose is a good thing. It is also showing them that a neutral disc can be made to do most things, and that they don't have to pull out a firebird or stingray to do that.

And yes, the anhyser and hyser lesson would stress keeping your backbone perpendicular to your arm...not just wrist.

[Rockwell]

Originally Posted by cubeofsoup

Newer players need to be reminded that a dead-nuts straight shot is not the norm. Fade is to be expected on most shots and should be embraced as something to anticipate and learn to control early on.

Yes, but I would rather teach someone to be able to throw straight early on, because playing a hyzer is often just a temporary fix for new players. Which is why you'll often see them putting on a big hyzer line - "if my disc goes left, I'll just play it off to the right". That won't work on all courses and holes, and it doesn't answer their basic question of "why doesn't my disc go straight?"

But I get your basic sentiment and agree.

[Rockwell]

Originally Posted by garublador

That may be true, and it's probably a decent simplification for what you're trying to accomplish, but I don't think that's a great way to think about discs over the long run. I prefer to think of each disc having a range of speeds in which it will act "as intended" or "as flight charts indicate." Some discs will need to be over powered or under powered compared to what flight charts indicate to fly straight.

It is an oversimplification, yes, but at it's core it's teaching them to control thier discs and make them do what they want them to, not just what a flight chart tells me it does. Sometimes this means overpowering or underpowering, or throwing high/low/extreme angle/ect. It's getting them to think of a golf disc like an ultimate disc.