So what can you do when you throw a disc?

[Doofenshmirtz]

I was thinking a little about this today and came up with the following list of the things that I think a thrower can control as it relates to the movement of a golf disc after it is thrown:

1) Disc direction.
2) Disc travel speed (i.e., how fast it is thrown).
3) Disc spin rate.
4) Angle of attack (i.e., nose up/down in relation to item 1)
5) Hyzer/Anhyzer angle.
6) Orientation of the spin axis in relation to disc plane (i.e., whether it wobbles).

I propose that no matter what you do or how you think about what you are doing to the disc when you throw it, ultimately, these are the only things you can control about the state of the disc after it leaves your hand and that everything else is external to the throw like wind, disc shape, disc weight, etc. Is there anything I'm missing? Occasionaly I see descriptions of what people claim to be doing to the disc with a throw with no clear explanation of what they mean and want to ask which of the 6^ aspects they are talking about.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

I would agree with those, but I'd also add that while ultimately you do control spin, it's probably the thing you have the least conscious control over. The others seem far easier to influence.

 

[fritothedog]

I guess I would have to ask what else is there?

 

[garublador]

I would agree with those, but I'd also add that while ultimately you do control spin, it's probably the thing you have the least conscious control over. The others seem far easier to influence.

I'm not sure it's even possible to the point where it would matter on drives. Here's a post from Erin Hemmings, a record holding distance thrower.

https://www.dgcoursereview.com/dgr/forums/viewtopic.php?p=96140

He basically said that he couldn't really control the spin rate and that faster (as in really fast, >50mph) throws had slower spin rates. For sidearm he said he could control it to a point, but it wasn't that consistent or useful.

It is also possible to increase or decrease spin purposefully, although I found this to be impractical and awkward. A disc with extra spin does seem to resist
low speed fade better than a disc with less spin. Strangely, when I tried to spin the hell out of a disc it would sometimes show less rpm's than a normal throw?!

I agree it's possible and useful with shorter approach shots, though.

It's also a small point, but number 4 should be in relation to both 1 and 5. A "flat" hyzer thrown to the right RHBH is nose up, while an anhyzer thrown "flat" out to the right is nose down.

 

[Sir Puttsalot]

For a complete list, I'd add disc counter/clockwise spin.

Might be splitting hairs, but disc trajectory. Ie, I will throw a tomahawk around 1:00, but will vary the release point for a higher/lower trajectory for a fade left or fade forward...at least that's what I think I am thinking...

 

[curveball4]

I usually curse heavily when I throw a disc

 

[BogeyNoMore]

^ 1) That happens immediately after release, and thus has no impact on the flight.
2) You have no control of that whatsoever - throw disc --> curse. It's a natural law... you can't fight it.

 

[Siege]

Additions

I would add grip, arm slot, and how high/low you throw the disc. Of course you can consider body rotation and foot work or stand-still as well, but it may fall under some of your other items.

 

[Phenn]

Should "nice-ing" be added? It has freaky control over the disc that someone ELSE has thrown.

 

[BirdieMachine]

You for sure can control spin, more so on softer shots/putts.

 

[bobmcnelly]

How about early and late release.

 

[fritothedog]

Yeah, I was thinking about release point, I think that is tied up in "disc direction" though.

 

[tom12003]

For rollers, you can usually try to control the landing spot which will effect the results.

 

[Doofenshmirtz]

I would add grip, arm slot, and how high/low you throw the disc. Of course you can consider body rotation and foot work or stand-still as well, but it may fall under some of your other items.

But these things don't describe the motion of the disc after you throw it. All these things only cause some variation in the 6 categories mentioned.

 

[Doofenshmirtz]

It's also a small point, but number 4 should be in relation to both 1 and 5. A "flat" hyzer thrown to the right RHBH is nose up, while an anhyzer thrown "flat" out to the right is nose down.

My thinking was that the angle of the plane of the disc in relation to its direction of travel defined angle of attack irrespective of the hyzer/anhyzer angle.

 

[Doofenshmirtz]

For a complete list, I'd add disc counter/clockwise spin.[/QUOTE}

Yep. Make that 7 categories or aspects of the discs flight.

Might be splitting hairs, but disc trajectory. Ie, I will throw a tomahawk around 1:00, but will vary the release point for a higher/lower trajectory for a fade left or fade forward...at least that's what I think I am thinking...

I would call that the direction of travel under number 1. You can split that into side to side or up/down descriptions of the launch angle, but it's still just what direction you thow it. Just my thoughts.

 

[garublador]

My thinking was that the angle of the plane of the disc in relation to its direction of travel defined angle of attack irrespective of the hyzer/anhyzer angle.

I suppose it depends on how you define all of that stuff. Either way I see what you're getting at, I totally agree with you, but expect an uphill battle. Many people find it to be a major paradigm shift to go from thinking about what their body and disc are doing as one whole thing to splitting it up in to what their body is going and what the disc is doing as separate things.

 

[Doofenshmirtz]

I suppose it depends on how you define all of that stuff. Either way I see what you're getting at, I totally agree with you, but expect an uphill battle. Many people find it to be a major paradigm shift to go from thinking about what their body and disc are doing as one whole thing to splitting it up in to what their body is going and what the disc is doing as separate things.

And I'm not trying to take away from people who describe the affect on the disc flight by release point, wrist roll, and other descriptions of what their body is doing, but I guess, as a newer player throwing tips and descriptions generally only make sense to me when the specific technique or method is described in terms of what affect it has on the nose angle, hyzer angle, spin rate, disc speed, etc.

As an example, I was reading another thread about a guy who discovered that when he rolled his wrist a little, he got a bit of a late turn. After asking a question about how the wrist roll affected the flight characteristics, I think he indicated that he was getting a little more nose-down angle on the disc, but I'm really not sure because we were basically talking in different languages about what was causing the disc to have the late turn. Anyway, I was hoping to maybe put a common frame of reference out there to help decipher how a throwing tip is supposed to translate into the controllable aspects of a discs flight.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

I suppose it depends on how you define all of that stuff. Either way I see what you're getting at, I totally agree with you, but expect an uphill battle. Many people find it to be a major paradigm shift to go from thinking about what their body and disc are doing as one whole thing to splitting it up in to what their body is going and what the disc is doing as separate things.

Agreed, most people don't seem to separate the two (as evidenced in some of these posts). In reality, what your body is doing is simply the mechanics leading up to the values those 7 parameters will have upon release, but I can't think of any more "measurables" that affect the shot itself.

 

[DiscChainBasket18]

6) Grip strength
7) compensation for wind/rain/etc.
8) number of fingers on the rim/flight plate