Get Out of Trouble Shots

[COLODISCR]

OP,
In order to gain accuracy with an overhand shot, aim and lead and throw with your elbow instead of your shoulder. And for goodness sake, don't throw with 100%.
Make it more like a tennis serve than a baseball throw.

Throw leading with your elbow at about 75% power to improve your accuracy.

Thanks! I'll definitely have to try putting a little less on it and make sure to keep an eye on my elbow when I go out to the course today.

 

[Pbmercil]

OP,
In order to gain accuracy with an overhand shot, aim and lead and throw with your elbow instead of your shoulder. And for goodness sake, don't throw with 100%.
Make it more like a tennis serve than a baseball throw.

Throw leading with your elbow at about 75% power to improve your accuracy.

I've always been told that leading with your elbow is a great way to blow your arm out. Not saying your wrong, but any sidearm or overhand shot where I try to lead with my elbow leads to severe pain in my elbow and shoulder.

 

[DiscJunkie]

I've always been told that leading with your elbow is a great way to blow your arm out. Not saying your wrong, but any sidearm or overhand shot where I try to lead with my elbow leads to severe pain in my elbow and shoulder.

Maybe this diagram shows what I mean. A good thumber has more in common with a tennis serve or a football toss than it does a baseball throw.
If you want accuracy, you have to lead with the elbow and dial down the power a bit.

Does this make more sense?

 

[Pbmercil]

Maybe this diagram shows what I mean. A good thumber has more in common with a tennis serve or a football toss than it does a baseball throw.
If you want accuracy, you have to lead with the elbow and dial down the power a bit.

Does this make more sense?

Yup 100%. Thanks for the clarification! Technical discussions in disc golf can get really hard, because two people can use dramatically different terminology to try and describe the same thing. The "don't lead with the elbow" advice was given to me to get across the same motion you're diagraming.

 

[araytx]

Here is a 2009 clinic video:

 

[mark996]

That 2009 vid opened my eyes to some shots I would have never really thought about doing that have come in handy over the past year. I was able to throw a small fh roller from a bush to curve all the way around right under the basket to help me get back on the lead card in a tournament. Everyone else on my card ended left where I did, and tried air shots with no success. I tossed a putter out and let it roll in to settle for a drop in par.

 

[Stardoggy]

Turbo putts are my newest "GoT" shot. Plus, they're fun to practice in the backyard.

One of my favorite shots is an uber flexy Star Firebird FH. That shot has saved me more strokes than I can count.

 

[Dan Ensor]

Every shot I throw, I throw both air and roller versions of. Rollers are my typical aggressive get out of trouble shot. They start more vertically, so they fit through different gaps better. They also stick to the line better after a tree kick.

 

[jfb3]

I slide my Star Aviar upside down out from under trees with branches that reach to the ground. Good for going from outside the circle/50 ft to right under the basket.

I can throw my Katana on an almost vertical high anny forehand roller to get out from behind obstacles and roll about 225-250. That has saved me a number of times.

 

[COLODISCR]

Thanks for posting the video araytx! Stardoggy any tips for the turbo putt that you've learned doing it? I can get some good ones but I'm horribly inconsistent with them when I do practice them.

 

[KniceZ]

Great video. At most of my local courses when you're in the rough there's too much underbrush to even think about rollers. Besides I have a hard time getting the angle right and it rolls the wrong way.

My shoulder doesn't like doing any type of overhand throws so I usually use my long legs to straddle out either to right with a FH or back-heal to the left with a BH. I've gotten pretty good at hitting small gaps.

 

[Stardoggy]

Thanks for posting the video araytx! Stardoggy any tips for the turbo putt that you've learned doing it? I can get some good ones but I'm horribly inconsistent with them when I do practice them.

The one thing I'd say, is to make sure you concentrate on the disc "rolling" off your fingers as you release. Once you get that, you can start working on disc angles, etc.

 

[Aim For The Chains]

The one thing I'd say, is to make sure you concentrate on the disc "rolling" off your fingers as you release. Once you get that, you can start working on disc angles, etc.

Yeah i still cant turbo putt really but once you get the feel for this like stsrdoggy mentions its much easier to figure out. For the longest time i was trying to throw them like a pizza dough toss or something lol.

 

[Mixed Bag Madness]

The one thing I'd say, is to make sure you concentrate on the disc "rolling" off your fingers as you release. Once you get that, you can start working on disc angles, etc.

John E McCray's video here has helped me immensely. Now I can actually turbo well enough to use them in a round.

 

[Stardoggy]

What John says. The only thing I do differently is how he moves the disc up and down his fingers to get it to do different angles. I just angle the disc.

 

[armiller]

The #1 think you obviously need is a usable FH, as FH requires so much less room to work with in tight spots than BH. Other than FH roller, which has been covered plenty, I find the pancake very useful (tomahawk that lands upside-down and slides). Also, I think it is well worth it to learn a turbo putt. Besides getting over obstacles, a turbo also can allow you to reach through tree branches or buses when they are right in your face. I would say my turbo putt saves me a stroke every 4 rounds or so.

I was thinking about starting a thread on how useful FH throws are for getting out of trouble. I'm not thinking SERIOUS trouble, just minor "stuck behind a bush" type of stuff. But for more serious trouble, it also helps that FH and OH throws seems to share a lot of mechanics.

Now is it just me, or are forehands totally better for getting around obstacles? I just feel like I'm able to stretch better, and it probably helps that I can release the disc farther from my core. Is this a real thing? Or did I just discover another deficiency of my backhand throw?

I've also been thinking about off-hand forehands. I'm remembering a shot from a round last week where I could easily have stepped out to the left using a LHFH even though my RHBH shot couldn't have got far enough to the left. Anyways, I double-bogeyed the hole because of two "in succession" tree hits. Next time, I'll remember to try a pathetic (but obstacle-avoiding) LHFH. How many people actually switch hands for these shots?