New player saying hello and questions

[ASD Dad]

Hello all. Just joined after lurking and also wanted to say hello. A ton of great info here!

I am in my mid 40's and just started playing a couple months ago but have the bug bad! My father in law actually talked me into trying it out after he tried while he was away on a camping trip. It helps that we have a really nice course ten minutes from our homes (Tyger River in Duncan, SC) and several others within a half hour. I also have a nice 2 acre yard where I measured out distances to throw in for practice. I even bought a cheap portable basket to practice putts! I've only played a full course 4 times and partial course outings (9 holes or so) about 4 more times.

For discs I started off stupid with a Star Destroyer as my only disc... Why? Well I never read up on anything and I figured fast = better. I couldnt throw it at all obviously. Went back after reading and bought the Innova Starter Kit. Much better! Most courses around me are heavily wooded and I started to really beat up my discs so I have added some since then.

The main discs I try and throw now:
Putters - 2 DX Aviars and just got a C-line P3 throwing putter
Mids - DX Shark, KC Roc, Buzzz
Drivers - 2 DX Leopards, Avenger SS, C-Line FD

So here is where I start asking questions. First, I do not X-Step yet. I am strictly working on upper body form. Been watching vids and reading a lot and I am sort of OCD so I've been working over and over on my reach back, weight transfer onto front leg and follow through along with disc angles. If I do any footwork I just lift my front leg up on reach back and plant it on my throw.

My issue is consistent distance and disc shots. I can throw my Aviars a very consistent 150-175 feet and keep a nice tight group. My mids only go 20 feet farther if that on most shots. If I get a crank on my Buzzz a little more I can go about 50 feet farther. I am not consistent at all with the Roc if throwing harder and the Sharks can be hit or miss but better than the Roc. I am guessing it is a form and speed issue. If I crank on my Aviar and it does not start flipping on me I can also get those to about the same distance as the Buzzz again...

The drivers are where it changes. I have one beat up DX Leopard that I can throw dead straight about 200-225 almost every time IF I throw it nice and easy. If I try and get some distance from it it flips right on me every time including accidentally throwing some nice rollers from it! My new DX Leopard is way more consistent and I can get what I think is a hyzer flip out of it and it will go 200-250 depending on power. If I over throw it sort of just fades right. The Avenger SS is my farthest flyer but will still fade far right if I start it off flat with a hard throw. On a good throw I can get it to 250 consistently with again what I believe is a hyzer flip (I start off with a slight hyzer and it gets up flat on it's own). The new FD acts by far the most overstable and it only goes 200-ish and fades left no matter what I do. If I start it on an anny it still comes back left but I get a nice looking S shape shot.

So is all this normal? Any suggestions other than keep at it? I am OK with distances for now and know I should avoid drivers but I figured if they are flying farther and going somewhat where I want I can use them.

My last question was grip. The power grip just feels really weird to me unless the rim is really wide. The Destroyer feels the best in hand with a power grip. I am 6'2" and have long fingers so I dont know if that is part of it. I normally throw all discs with a fan or modified fan.

Overall I am having a ton of fun and even bring my 9 and 7 yr old boys out.

 

[Aim For The Chains]

Welcome!

Id say really just keep at it. Maybe work in a "step" for some bigger D shots once you get comfortable with throwing from a standstill.

Your discs are fine. Experiment with angles and shots etc. Even throw a putter or mid where you might normally try a driver (downhill for example) and vise versa using low skip approach driver shots blah blah blah...

Dont make it "work" and understand it takes a lot of throwing to really become decent. You cant expect to improve too much and often comes in waves.

Good luck!

 

[Binky Yutz]

So is all this normal? Any suggestions other than keep at it?

My last question was grip. The power grip just feels really weird to me unless the rim is really wide. The Destroyer feels the best in hand with a power grip. I am 6'2" and have long fingers so I dont know if that is part of it. I normally throw all discs with a fan or modified fan.

Overall I am having a ton of fun and even bring my 9 and 7 yr old boys out.

Greetings and welcome,

I have only been playing for about 5 years and I didn't start until I hit 50. You are doing quite well, in my opinion. So to answer your question, YES, seems about normal. You will only get more proficient over time.... keep trying different things, find what works for you, and use it...I recently switched to a two finger grip on my drives, and added 40 feet or so to my throws..

The main thing is to HAVE FUN, even and especially if, you are throwing badly (sometimes that is not so easy to do!).

Play as many different courses as you can, this will broaden your range of throws. You being in the Carolinas, playing a lot of courses should not be a problem.

Remember.....SLOW = SMOOTH; SMOOTH = LONG

Welcome!

 

[ThrowBot]

Welcome to the forums! Glad to hear that you are enjoying the sport and having fun with your family.

Disc selection looks solid. If you ever find that you have trouble with everything turning right into a headwind, a Teebird might fight it better. However, if you feel like you can cover the left fading shots with your FD, there's nothing wrong with that setup.

Distances look about right for your experience level.

So here is where I start asking questions. First, I do not X-Step yet. I am strictly working on upper body form. Been watching vids and reading a lot and I am sort of OCD so I've been working over and over on my reach back, weight transfer onto front leg and follow through along with disc angles. If I do any footwork I just lift my front leg up on reach back and plant it on my throw.

Those seem like the right things to be focusing on. I'm sure you've already read plenty about arm mechanics and snap, but these are the things I focus on: from the reach back, lead the throw with your elbow. Pull the disc through close to your right pec while your hand is wrapped around the far side of the disc.

To reiterate what Binky said above: always try to throw smoothly. Throwing "harder" feels like the way to throw farther, but it's often counterproductive.

 

[thirtydirtybirds]

Welcome aboard! All seems pretty normal to start out. I'm not a form expert at all and probably throw shorter backhand than a lot of folks here, but I find if I try to crush it, I don't. If I just relax, don't think so much about it, and throw smooth, I can get some pretty great throws. Slow is smooth, smooth is far.

 

[air show]

I have been playing off and on for about 20 years. It sounds like your going through all the early learning stages of the game. One regret I have was not practicing the sidearm early in my career. Being able to use the backhand or forehand for different shots is a wonderful thing. If I would have practiced the forehand with the backhand from the start I believe I would be a much better player today. Best of luck and may the chains be with you.

 

[ASD Dad]

Thanks for the welcome! I hope to play at least one round on this 3 day weekend with my boy and father in law. We want to try a new, shorter course out. My kid can get frustrated quickly on longer holes. He's throwing a blank second mid we picked up that is super light, I think it is 130 grams. All I know is that it's blizzard plastic. He likes it and can throw it OK, just pretty short.

I've been wanting to try out different brands and plastics so bought a new batch to hopefully grow into and play around with. As I said, this is addicting!

I asked a shop for suggestions and read reviews and added in:
C Line P3
Elite Z Buzzz OS
C Line MD3
Elite Z Heat
Elite Z Stalker
Prodigy PA4 400

Hoped I can grow into those drivers after I get consistent and happy with the FD. Not sure if the MD3 and Buzzz OS were a good choice right now but I got a deal on those. The PA4 and P3 I wanted for throwing putters since I have several shorter 9 hole courses around.

For now the drivers other than the Leopard and FD will stay at home.

 

[dreadlock86]

i haven't thrown an FD but you might try the stalker instead. i've always found those to be less stable than claimed and you might get better results than the FD.

getting your upper body set makes sense but maybe don't wait too long to incorporate the x-step. a single x-step is not difficult and really shouldn't take anything away from what your upper body is doing. but you will get pretty quick results and more to my point, it will totally change how you think about aiming. you'll need to face away from the target during reach back (which is weird to get used to at first) and you will find yourself throwing on a further right trajectory than you will expect.

i know some people who have shied away from the x-step because they felt like they couldn't aim anymore. or they take steps (but not x's) but don't turn away and then weird stuff happens.


another thing to consider is nose angle. getting the nose angle down will allow you to throw higher lines that still penetrate forward and don't immediately hyzer out.