New players

[Secret_Squirrel]

Hello. My wife and I just started disc golf about 2 weeks ago. We have only played 2 rounds and done a couple evenings of practicing but I have concerns about her keeping interest in the sport. My concern is her throwing which is generally horrible. She gets almost no distance, maybe 75' on a good drive. I can see these problems, stiff, no follow through, using all arm. I give her encouragement when she gets a disc to fly a good flight pattern even though it doesn't go far because it shows her that she can do it somewhat correctly at times. My problem is trying to help her fix all the problems. She says that she cannot think about all this at one time. Is there anything I should have her concentrate on first, then work on something else? I don't want her to get discouraged due to not seeing improvement. Oh, I switched her from a 150 leopard to a 138 Mamba yesterday and I think she does best with the Mamba in terms on how the disc flies.

As for myself, I can maybe do 175' on a RHBH my best has been about 210' with a forehand. My forehand drives generally go straight but my backhands fade to the left really bad at the end and take a good straight drive way off to the left. I know my technique is off on my RHBH and I'm sure I have technique issues with my forehand but for now my forehand is a much better throw. I will be trying to take some video and posting to get some pointers to help me out, but in the meantime is there something that anyone can tell me, to take a nasty fade out at the end of my backhand? I have tried various discs and they all do about the same. I am pretty confident that I'm releasing the disc level as for the most part it is flying straight and then starts to fade hard, but I have been known to be wrong. Here are the discs I have tried.

150 leopard
168 Valk - best for my backhand
170 Krait
170 Groove - my best forehand driver atm
160ish Beast
138 Mamba

I know that most those disc aren't classified as beginner discs but they all do about the same thing on my backhand. Where I really see difference is my forehand. At the moment my Valk is my best driver for backhand and the groove is my best forehand by far. The Valk more times then not will turn over and become a roller. I just bought the Krait yesterday for the forehand only but really haven't been able to really test it.

I have been searching around the internet for tutorials on throwing, but really haven't found any really good ones to help us out. Anyone have some go to videos that they could point out?

Thanks.

 

[Asian Style]

When I first start teaching someone new this is what I do.

1. I let them use a mid-range like a Buzzz SS or a Shark because they are easier to throw than a driver in the beginning. Nose angle isn't as important.

2. I try and focus on one thing and have them concentrate on that before I add more things to the mix. Here's kind of a check list I do. I don't introduce these all at once, I pick whichever I think will help them most and let them concentrate on that until they are comfortable with it that they can focus on something else.

* Make sure they are gripping properly. Most people hold the disc like they would a dinner plate. This is a bad habit to form so you might as well get them used to holding a driving grip.

* Make sure they are lining their shoulder up with the basket. In the beginning they need some point of reference before they figure out how closed or open they need to be so I set them up neutral and adjust them as we progress.

* I explain throwing level is important for distance and accuracy and I tell them to imagine throwing at the ground 50 feet in front of them. It's usually easier to correct someone throwing too low than it is if they are throwing too high.

* I reinforce wrist down, ulnar deviation. I find that a lot of new players will start wrist down but at the very end of the throw when they are snapping their wrist, they break the wrist and roll it over. Emphasize the wrist needs to stay down the whole time.

* I focus on follow through next, most new players will stop themselves and not follow through. I think either because they aren't used to the motion or they want to make it "fly straight" so they stop their arm motion in front of them.

* I use analogies to help them get a hit to increase their distance. I tell them to imagine their is a midget in front of them and they want to elbow him in the face (elbow forward through the pull) and then backhand (wrist snap) because he said something about yo momma. The visual tends to help most I think.

* The best tip I have to increase your power is quick hips. The quicker your hips move (weight transfer and pivot), the more power you are going to add to the throw. This is more technical than it sounds but look up will schusterick's driving video and hogan power drill and you will get a picture of what the hips need to be doing. Speed = power

There are lots of other things I do depending on where the person is at in the learning but that's generally what I do for brand new players.

 

[fritothedog]

Drop the long range drivers and pick up some mids. This applies to both of you. The Leopard is about as high a speed as a beginner should use. I used a Leopard when I first really started playing for years before getting a "Distance" driver and have always kept one in my bag.

My wife throws much better forehand than backhand so your wife may want to try that if she hasn't already.

Hope this all works out for you. Welcome to the sport.

 

[Asian Style]

Some discs are meant to fade. Generally speaking if you want a disc to go fairly straight and end straight, you need a neutral to understable disc and you need to have enough snap (spin) to keep it on it's line. So the two things you can do to help eliminate unwanted fade is:

1. Use an understable, slower or lighter disc.

2. Generate more snap to keep it on line. There are lots of videos for snap out there. For me personally if I want more "snap", I focus on snapping my wrist through the hit and pinching the disc through the hit. Before the hit I try and stay nice and relaxed. Some people would probably call what I do "torquing" the disc but snap is kind of elusive and that's how I manage it.

 

[DiscChainBasket18]

It's an addicting game!

If she sticks too it & is willing to take a couple hints from somebody who is more experienced she will get hooked! It works every time!

 

[markallan0]

IMO, the best instructional video on driving is the one recently posted by Disc Nation featuring Jay Reading. Here's a link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IT7aABWEKw

There is a metric ton (probably two) of information out there on how to throw. I've been playing for 3 months now and I went through some similar experiences. Very interested in learning, but not sure where to start. Wife that loved to play but wasn't have much success. Etc.

The best advice is to not get in your head about it. If you try to do everything perfect right away, you will be trying to get your body to do hundreds of things within a half second. Maybe some people out there are capable of that (I know some), but I'm not. Take it slow, try to have fun.

#1: Fix your grip. This is something you can do from home. You can also get this squared away before you throw each time you step to the tee before you start trying to coordinate your body. Here is a great article on grip: https://www.dgcoursereview.com/dgr/resources/articles/gripittoripit.shtml

#2: Relax. My wife and I both had a lot of problems with tensing up or trying to hard. We both really wanted to step on the tee box and crush the drive out of the park. The problem with this was it lead us both to trying to use a lot of arm strength to power the disc. This also meant I could easily out throw her and in similar distances as you mentioned (200' vs 75'). Don't tense up, relax.

#3. Sling vs Throw. I don't have an athletic background, so if this isn't an issue for you feel free to ignore. But when I read some common disc golf terms, chiefly throw and pull, I had a hard time not applying those verbs to my arms. I wanted to throw with my arm. I was pulling the disc with my arm. I think a more accurate term is sling. You're slinging the disc. And while the disc is technically being "pulled", the more accurate description of the action is your relaxed arm is being pulled by your core while the disc is along for the ride.

#4: Simple things. Keep the disc close to your body and try to capture the feeling of pivoting your hips around your front heel. Don't worry about xstepping (you can throw quite far without it). Don't worry about having a giant exaggerated reach back. Just get the feeling of your weight transfer from back to front pivoting around your heel. Will Schusterick has another great instructional video on driving. About halfway through, he has some great stuff on this weight transfer thing I'm talking about: www.youtube.com/watch?v=30cUNsWOYSI

That's it. Don't worry about too much else. You should be able to throw over 300' with just this. Your wife maybe not quite as far, but that's just how it is.

For you, I would try to stick with throwing drivers in the speed 6 range. DX Gazelle's are great. I bought a stack that weighed around 169g and spent hours on a soccer field.

For my wife, I bought her a Diamond made by Latitude 64 in Opto plastic. It's a very understable disc. If I throw it, it turns all the way over and hits the ground rolling. But it was very helpful for my wife to have some early success. Easy distance that kept her happy on the course while she was learning.

Good luck and stick with it!

 

[Dan Ensor]

Pulling through on a straight line seems to be the biggest thing holding back the beginners I play with.

 

[ParishL31]

Another huge thing to remember is work on technique and making things smooth before worrying about power. You'll get much more accurate and longer shots by having a smooth shot instead of just cranking it as hard as you can. It's easy to get into the mind set of just trying to throw it as hard as you can especially on a longer hole, but a couple of straight shorter shots on the fairway are much better than a longer shot that goes way out into the middle of nowhere.

 

[Secret_Squirrel]

Thanks for all the tips guys. Been crazy busy at work but wanted to take a second to thank everyone so far.

 

[Kenny53691]

All of my advice has already been posted, but definitely drop all of high speed drivers because if you have a noodle are, they will all fly pretty much the same way.

 

[Secret_Squirrel]

I wasnt able to throw a lot tonight but I did try a mix of drivers and mid range, and the mid range discs had a better feel of being ripped out of my hand on my backhand and flew really nice. The shark was the best feel followed by my wolf and the kite wasnt bad. My throws tonight where only about 20' from my furthered foehand throw.

What I have noticed, is my forehand does not take near the effort to get the same distance as my backhand thow. However tonight my forehand was horrible for my release. Its to be expected though as i am new and really havent thrown a lot.

Thanks for all the help so far, especially on the mid range discs. That right there really gave me an idea on how a good throw should feel. Im.going to start studying more vids to get some better technique. Right now I am taking 1 step throws to take the approach out of the mix.

 

[Grinder12000]

What will be fun (at least it was for me) is when disc's start to have their own personality. For a while they will all seem pretty much the same. But once you get more consistency you start noticing personality in disc. It's awesome when they actually start to behave.

Forehand - my biggest learning curve on that one was slowing my arm speed, getting more snap and keep that palm pointing at the sky! High arm speed will give you that flutter when released. More snap with your wrist will get more more distance from glide and turning your wrist over will just get you in big trouble.

 

[HeavyCritters]

What will be fun (at least it was for me) is when disc's start to have their own personality. For a while they will all seem pretty much the same. But once you get more consistency you start noticing personality in disc. It's awesome when they actually start to behave.

Forehand - my biggest learning curve on that one was slowing my arm speed, getting more snap and keep that palm pointing at the sky! High arm speed will give you that flutter when released. More snap with your wrist will get more more distance from glide and turning your wrist over will just get you in big trouble.

I wish it would've only taken me months to figure this out (like you) instead of stubborn years...

We still need to play a round at Crystal Lake sometime.

 

[Stardoggy]

I'd be in for Crystal Lake, as well. I grew up in BD...so yes, I'm a Golden Beaver. About an hour drive, but I'd hit Waupun along the way to balance it out.

Funny story...I was a DJ at the (now torn down ) roller rink across the water from the DG course.

 

[simpletwist]

Drop the long range drivers and pick up some mids. This applies to both of you. The Leopard is about as high a speed as a beginner should use. I used a Leopard when I first really started playing for years before getting a "Distance" driver and have always kept one in my bag.

My wife throws much better forehand than backhand so your wife may want to try that if she hasn't already.

Hope this all works out for you. Welcome to the sport.

I still have a Leopard in my bag too. It was one of the first discs I bought, a 150g Champion Leopard, still carry one and I use it all the time. So does the wife.

I might have missed it, but does the wife play from shorter tees? If not then shame on the both of you.

Two weeks isn't very long so keep encouraging her, and see if she'll watch some videos. It might help you both.

Finally get her a Diamond. And don't forget to remind her that Diamonds are a girl's best friend.

 

[HeavyCritters]

I'd be in for Crystal Lake, as well. I grew up in BD...so yes, I'm a Golden Beaver. About an hour drive, but I'd hit Waupun along the way to balance it out.

Funny story...I was a DJ at the (now torn down ) roller rink across the water from the DG course.

We should do it up. I'd be willing to play both WARP and BD as well. This weekend looks bad, but maybe in August before the snow flies, LOL.

(You said Golden Beaver)

 

[Stardoggy]

I have a few softball tournaments taking up some weekends going forward, with the State tourney being this weekend. And Grateful Garcia Gathering next weekend in Black River Falls...which gives me an excuse to get over to Justin Trails. A full on dirty hippy weekend...yessss.

I'll hit ya up when I know of some free weekends.

 

[Grinder12000]

HeavyCritters & Stardoggy - Lets do it, but I have a freakish schedule with Art fairs and a LAST USS Indianoplis Reunion (father in law is one of the last living survivors). My next free weekend is the last week of August!

There is a 174g red DX T-bird 20 feet into the lake on 9, about even with that tree! Go for it!

Turned the palm over, got in trouble.

BTW - I shot Johnny Depp in BD!

 

[HeavyCritters]

Last weekend in August works for me.

I was supposed to be heading to the Apostle Islands this weekend (with a stop off in Highbridge), but had to bail due to other committments. :thmbdown:

 

[FlDeerman]

I'll throw out an idea to teach her how it's supposed to feel(I was showing my six year old grandson and it worked for him).I held onto a small towel and have him"crank"a lawn mower,about the third pull I told him to pull real hard and as he did I let go and he snapped the towel with a good follow through.Now he looks a little funny because before he throws he'll crank twice then throw.But for a six year old it works.