Help for a 50 year old noob

[mike3216]

Hello,
As stated above, I am a 50 year old rank beginner. I'm getting into it for some quality time with my teenage sons. I am moderately athletic, playing tennis regularly. I haven't played a round yet, but have thrown the discs around in a field a few time for practice. I have watched a few youtube videos, and I have been concentrating on getting the right grip, making a good turn, and getting a good weight transfer. I did a little research on discs, and ended up getting the basic three disc Innova Champion set on Amazon.
Now, my first issue. Yesterday, we were practicing drives, and I threw my putter into the mix just to see what would happen. It kind of shocked me. Out of 10 drives with the driver, 7 heavy fades, two that track way too high, and onestraight with good trajectory. Mid range disc marginally better, but not much. Putter, about half dead straight with good trajectory, and a couple of them were my longest drives of the day. Anyone who has some comments on what might be happening here is welcome to chime in.
And now a question: is there anything unique about disc golf shoes? I prefer not to have another $100 specialty shoe taking up closet space if I can avoid it.
Thanks
Mike

 

[ODRB]

Nothing unique about disc golf shoes. You'll be fine with regular sneakers. I prefer flatter soles (over raised heels like on a running shoe). And I play barefoot or in beat up old Tretorns plenty throughout the summer. You'll be fine in beat old tennis sneakers.

Now, the more important issue. What discs did you get, in what plastic and what weight?

It sounds to me like to are not generating enough power and/or snap to get your discs up to speed at release. Your putter sounds like it is getting up to speed. Sound like your mid is getting closer. But it is tough to say more than that without knowing what discs you are trying to throw and at what weights.

If you get that info out here, you will get lots of useful info (and some terrible advice). Guaranteed.

Welcome to the game Mike. And to DGCR.

 

[ODRB]

Is it Valkyrie, Panther, and Aviar in Champion (Clearish) plastic? 160-something weights?

 

[thrembo]

Yes. Discs have diferent speeds, the speed needed to make the disc fly as intended. If your best drives are with your putter, it sounds like your not getting enough speed to make the other discs fly right. Not to worry. Starting out with putters and stable to slightly understable mids is the way to go. I very seldom throw a driver, and play mostly with mids myself. The courses down here are mostly shorter and tight wooded, and I don't have IT to throw a Nuke 600'.

After that, its just practice, and learning how to throw correctly. I prefer Buzzz, Meteor etc. There's lots of discs to choose from though, and you have to try them and find out what you like.

I prefer something like a Nike Cross Training shoe myself for disc golfing, and some of the more rugged courses do require hiking boots imo.

 

[Johnson]

Or leopard shark aviar possibly... Welcome to the sport Mike and welcome to the forums! There's a wealth of info hiding within, most of my knowledge comes from here, it's a very helpful tool having thousands of disc golf geeks constantly arguing haha

 

[Nemmers]

Pick up a Star Mako or a DX Roc and have available your most comfortable set of sneakers or hiking boots and you'll be just fine.

Welcome aboard!

 

[simpletwist]

Never too old to start. I did at 54yo. Whatever comfortable outdoor shoes work depending on the terrain of the course.

If your starter set did not come with a Leopard, then I recommend replacing the driver (a Valkyrie I'd guess) with a 150g Champion Leopard. The Leopard is very forgiving of technique flaws and can go a long way. It was the first driver that I got any reasonable distance with. 7 years later I still keep one in my bag. I would stick with the mid and putter you already have.

Good luck and welcome.

 

[sisyphus]

Welcome Mike, from another guy who started playing the year he turned 50. Seems like only yesterday...

We're all tempted when we start, to assume higher speed discs will go further. Turns out it's not true at all. When these guys advise you to throw putters and mids, they're right. It seems like I've tried every disc out there at one time or another, but eventually learned to focus on 1) putting, 2), putting, 3) putter and midrange upshots, and lastly 4) trying to go for distance off the tee, but with more midranges and fairway drivers than high speed drivers.

If I were starting out all over again, I'd tell myself: Get a nice Discraft Comet, or another disc with similar flight ratings, your first year, keep on playing and getting the feel for the 'hit' at release until it goes out there and seems to glide forever. As you go, learn to release it at different angles and different power levels. Meanwhile keep having fun with the three disc set.

In the long run, you'll eventually only throw discs to fade when you want them to!

 

[ru4por]

Welcome geezer. I took up the game long ago, but am over 50. Keep working with those putters and midranges. Thrembo did a good job of explaining why. It is really about getting outside, putting in some activity close to exercise and having fun. I play in a good pair of Merrel hiking boots most of the time. Good luck and remember have fun, man.

 

[mike3216]

Now, the more important issue. What discs did you get, in what plastic and what weight?

Driver is an Innova Champion Valkyrie 9 4 -2 2
Mid is a Champion Panther 5 4 -2 1
Putter is a Champion Aviar 2 3 0 1

 

[mike3216]

Wow! Lots of good replies. Thanks for making me feel welcome.

I'm definitely going to stay patient. Admittedly, I relish the idea of a 300 foot drive, but I know that technique will get me there and not brute force. At 6'4" and 250 lbs, I tend to lean toward the brute force approach. I'm learning to respect these little discs. To do it well is way more difficult than it looks.

 

[clard]

Driver is an Innova Champion Valkyrie 9 4 -2 2
Mid is a Champion Panther 5 4 -2 1
Putter is a Champion Aviar 2 3 0 1

These discs are good to start with. Focus on throwing the Aviar and Panther for now, and figure out how to throw them straight, left and right. Just focus on getting some time in throwing in the field, and you'll get the hang of it.

 

[mbntheman]

You mentioned that you play tennis....I play tennis regularly myself....I find the arm motion and wrist snap is similar between the two sports.....You'll pick up distance in NO time!!!! Have fun

 

[mike3216]

Should I try forehand throws at this point, or is that something for later?

 

[Geek13]

Also I didnt see if you mentioned if you throw forehand or backhand. Those are good starter discs and you have some good advice above so I wont add anything there other than welcome to DG and DGCR and keep throwing and dont give up. (from someone who sees 50 coming on fast)

 

[trifocal]

$20 bucks gets you a bottle of ibuprofen and a couple of those flexible refreezable ice packs.

 

[simpletwist]

Try both a FH & BH. Just like tennis you need both.

 

[Questatement]

Hi Mike and welcome to the sport. I too started at age 50, 3 years ago. There's alot to learn both in the head and in the body, especially muscle memory of proper form. Stick with it and it only gets more enjoyable as you progress in your skills and knowledge of the game. If you go to Joe's flight chart, it will tell you aprox how far each speed disc should go and if you wait to move up a speed until you are consistently getting 80-90% of that distance or better, you will progress much faster. It's fun to beat all those youngsters too!

Enjoy are stay at it.

 

[DiscFifty]

Welcome fellow Jurassic disc golfer. Long story short...go out and buy a 175g SS Wizard (putter) and take a few weeks and just throw that disc all over the place until you can throw it level, straight, no higher than 6-8ft, about 200ft+. That's the best advice someone will ever give you. Yep...same advice someone gave me.

 

[DiscJunkie]

Hello,
As stated above, I am a 50 year old rank beginner. I'm getting into it for some quality time with my teenage sons. I am moderately athletic, playing tennis regularly. I haven't played a round yet, but have thrown the discs around in a field a few time for practice. I have watched a few youtube videos, and I have been concentrating on getting the right grip, making a good turn, and getting a good weight transfer. I did a little research on discs, and ended up getting the basic three disc Innova Champion set on Amazon.
Now, my first issue. Yesterday, we were practicing drives, and I threw my putter into the mix just to see what would happen. It kind of shocked me. Out of 10 drives with the driver, 7 heavy fades, two that track way too high, and onestraight with good trajectory. Mid range disc marginally better, but not much. Putter, about half dead straight with good trajectory, and a couple of them were my longest drives of the day. Anyone who has some comments on what might be happening here is welcome to chime in.
And now a question: is there anything unique about disc golf shoes? I prefer not to have another $100 specialty shoe taking up closet space if I can avoid it.
Thanks
Mike

This all sounds very familiar.
I started DG just before my 50th birthday (almost 7 years ago) to spend more time with my college-age sons who were home for the summer. I am also tall and athletic (6'6", basketball), so let me give you the advice I wish I had then (not in any order):
1. Learn ForeHand and BackHand. Don't neglect either.
2. Technique, technique, technique. Learn technique first. DO NOT TRY TO MUSCLE THE DISC. COntinue to have fun playing, but get on these technique forums and send in some video, and do some field work.
3. Get instruction from a Pro, if possible. If not, refer to #2 above.
Really, the longer you wait to work on your form, the more ingrained your bad habits will get.
4. Putters only. You've already discovered that little tip in your practice so far. Putters don't need as much arm/technique to get up to a speed that will fly straight. Continue to work on these, even as your distance increases. Staying with putters will help you continue to develop your form, even as your distance increases, because putters are good at telling you that you're doing something wrong at higher arm speeds.
5. Practice putting. Best way to quickly lower your score. Dave Feldberg has some great videos on YouTube and look also for Cam Todd's and Paul McBeth's. Try a few different styles, and then pick one to practice and learn.

Last, nothing special about DG shoes, really. Wouldn't help me anyways, they don't make one in 15's that I have found.

Hope that helps. PM me amytime if I can be of any help whatsoever.