Practice for distance

[Bolo058]

I'm new to disc golf. I've been playing for about a two months now. I am really struggling to get any distance out of my drives. On a good day with no wind I can throw my champion valkyrie about 200 ft. I know that a big part of the problem is getting my timing down and my lower body more involved. My question is how do you practice this. I don't have enough discs to be able to go to a field and practice without spending most of the time fetching my discs. I have tried practicing in my living room with a towel but without seeing the disc fly, I find that it is hard to tell if I made any mistakes in my mechanics. What can I do for practice on my distance until I can acquire enough discs to warrant going to a field and throwing. I wish there were driving ranges for disc golf. Playing rounds is fun but I'm not improving.

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[DarkAce1978]

From my experience getting better at disc golf is 10% equipment, 20% learning the right technique(for instance on these forums and youtube) and 70% tossing plastic. If you learm the right technique with the right equipment distance will come.

 

[da Crippler]

Hang a blanket up in a garage, basement, spare room, over a clothes line, and throw into that.

 

[DiscFifty]

After 3.5 years playing and tons of research.. I think it's vital to throw light understable discs at first so you learn to throw hyzer instead of throwing discs that are too overstable for you, causing you to torque, wrist roll, etc, to get that disc to flex, etc, etc. A champion valk might just be too much disc for what ever reason. Hell...I can throw a tern 350ft now but I still can't throw a champ valk out past 250. lol.. But I 100% agree regardless of disc, work on that form...over and over. Do the towel drill as often as possible, get a putter and just go out and throw it, level...straight...etc, etc. This game just takes some time, we all go through it. The only ones that seem to get immediate results are the baseball guys that come over to the sport and can bomb forehand right away, but even they struggle with learning the backhand. lol.. Put in the time...distance and form will follow.

 

[thirtydirtybirds]

It's been said before, but bears repeating. Play with only a putter, if you gotta add more discs a nice neutral to understable mid. Be careful not to fall in to the trap of thinking more discs makes you better.

I've been playing rounds with just a QMS and Aviar lately and have seen my scores drop, and distance improve. It helps you throw cleaner, and learn better course management.

There was a thread somewhere on here with a whole mess of drills to help with driving. Anyone got the link?

 

[Mocheez]

There was a thread somewhere on here with a whole mess of drills to help with driving. Anyone got the link?

It's a sticky in the technique subforum... http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/showthread.php?t=119328

 

[Smigles]

1: If you dont have enugh discs to practice and throw many shots in repetition.... Get more discs.

2: Film yourself in slowmotion. Nobody can be sure what you are doing right and wrong as long as we dont see it. Film yourself and compare to pros and what they do. Then make a list of things you wanna change in your drive, practice, practice, and then film yourself again and compare again. it's a neverending process of improvement. But without filming yoursself you'll never know how far you are.

And post the movies in the form critique forum.

 

[JOwens]

Putter rounds and if you must have a driver, do yourself a favor and buy an MVP Relay. Yes it's only 6 speed but I bet you can throw it as far or farther than your Valk. It is US without being flippy and because it is slow you can shape lines and learn to make it do what you want it to much easier as well as getting great distance.

 

[thirtydirtybirds]

1: If you dont have enugh discs to practice and throw many shots in repetition.... Get more discs.

This is the exact reason I have a whole bag of aviars. I try to add 5' a week. It doesn't seem like much, but it is. Much easier before you hit 250' than after for sure.

 

[clard]

Alternatively, get really good exercise by only throwing one or two discs back and forth across a field! I've been practicing with fewer discs lately, and I think it helps give a little room to breath and reset between throws rather than just machine gunning them one after the other.

 

[Muffinman]

Really concentrate on the mechanics of your hip torque and your windup/follow through. The timg of your x step And where your lead foot lands is very important. Tons of youtube tutorials

If youre not athletic or young enough to really whip into a backhand id say practice snappy low forehands

Edit- i brought my father out recently. Hes almost 60 and is losing athletisicm. He couldnt torque his hips into a backhand drive with any power. A slacked forehand flew twice as far as him trying his hardest backhand. Plus he has bad knees and id worry about his lead knee on backhand drives. Practice forehand and i bet ull throw twwice as far as backhand

 

[ILUVSMGS18]

How heavy is your Valk? I would suggest that you get a Pro Leopard around 165-170 grams as it will be more durable than DX but not as OS as a Star or Champ Leo will be. The Leopard is a great beginner disc and will be more US than your Valk. It will also have great glide as well as teaching you to throw with a bit of Hyzer. If we knew what discs that you had that would allow us to suggest a disc that you may already have that may teach you how to correctly drive better. Just because a disc has a higher speed number doesn't mean that it will fly further, it meams that it has to come out of your hand faster in order to fly how the numbers say that it will. I also second learning how to throw forehand as soon as possible as it may open up new lines and lower scores as well as possibly bringing more distance with it.

 

[U_NICED_ME]

Throw putters and mids over and over in field practice.

Copy the pros. Whatever they do you should be doing.

Side by side video analysis comparing your motion to pros.

 

[Putt for D'oh]

1: If you dont have enugh discs to practice and throw many shots in repetition.... Get more discs.

5 discs is a great number to throw for field practice. Putters are great for this as people have been suggesting and it's easy to grab a bunch of wizards or judges for about $50

To add on to the video part. Also get into the technique and strategy, and the form critique threads and just read all the advice to other people. Watch their videos and read the advice and see the drills. AND don't just watch the drills and think about them. Do the drills.

 

[runningDoc]

Alternatively, get really good exercise by only throwing one or two discs back and forth across a field! I've been practicing with fewer discs lately, and I think it helps give a little room to breath and reset between throws rather than just machine gunning them one after the other.

the weirdest thing happens when you throw back and forth between a friend (or multiple friends)....

you find out that you can throw disc like putters 300+ft so easy!

seriously I have a hard time throwing putters close to 300ft during a round (will go to a midrange/fairway/driver).

but when playing catch with friends? i can fling a Nova or aviar 300+ft and often right at my friend chest for an easy catch without much effort.

so playing long toss with putters and midranges, similar to baseball, is a great way to loosen up and practice throwing far.

 

[Nenja]

the weirdest thing happens when you throw back and forth between a friend (or multiple friends)....

you find out that you can throw disc like putters 300+ft so easy!

seriously I have a hard time throwing putters close to 300ft during a round (will go to a midrange/fairway/driver).

but when playing catch with friends? i can fling a Nova or aviar 300+ft and often right at my friend chest for an easy catch without much effort.

so playing long toss with putters and midranges, similar to baseball, is a great way to loosen up and practice throwing far.

Good advice!

What I've done when solo is that I do the course with several throws (discs). This gives me the chance to throw far and technical with each disc (be very aware to collect disks in the bush, very hard to find 2 throws later) and compare them. Most drives goes to ****town but it's still a throw where I focused on x-step and technique.

 

[Mike C]

I like doing that too. Sometimes I'll play the same course two or three times in a single solo round. Throw a few drives then play every lie. I like doing extra putts on every hole when I play solo for practice, figured why not throw some extra drives and ups as well.

 

[bnbanbury]

I think the field work that some have suggested is fine but it needs to have some focus to it, not just taking discs to the field and hoping that you will eventually add the distance you want. If you are throwing 200' there are going to be several things you need to correct in your form. Hit the technique section here and try to add things one at a time, focusing on your lower body and weight transfer 1st.

I spent a long time throwing and just assuming that I would keep getting better just by repetition. The actual result was that I really ingrained some bad habits that took a lot of specific field work to undo.

 

[waterdog44]

I had some baseball and softball earlier in life so I find a forearm more natural to try to get distance. I can throw over 300 feet on occasion forehand, but I also am struggling with the backhand. Watching youtube training, etc is going to help. I used to throw regular old Frisbees halfway decent backhand, but these golf discs are harder. I have been dropping the weight of my discs for back hand efforts to try to zing it out there harder. There are aerodynamic reasons also that lighter weight discs work for backhand better than forehand. One other thing I thought of trying soon is backhand training with heavy discs, then shooting the course with fairly light ones. You have to watch the wind of course. Someone mentioned age and knees coming into play which are in play for me too ! I wear elastic knee supports now most of the time, especially after hurting the left trying to chase down my orange Destroyer on a steep slick bank. I'm 60 and am trying to get used to letting a few more of those errant throws go and not worry about them in the big ditch. But then again I bought a disc retriever. Go figure. It's a fun sport with lots of stuff to think about. It's just plain fun to throw also! Good luck with the backhand!

 

[Dr.Smooth]

After 3.5 years playing and tons of research.. I think it's vital to throw light understable discs at first so you learn to throw hyzer instead of throwing discs that are too overstable for you, causing you to torque, wrist roll, etc, to get that disc to flex, etc, etc. A champion valk might just be too much disc for what ever reason. Hell...I can throw a tern 350ft now but I still can't throw a champ valk out past 250. lol.. But I 100% agree regardless of disc, work on that form...over and over. Do the towel drill as often as possible, get a putter and just go out and throw it, level...straight...etc, etc. This game just takes some time, we all go through it. The only ones that seem to get immediate results are the baseball guys that come over to the sport and can bomb forehand right away, but even they struggle with learning the backhand. lol.. Put in the time...distance and form will follow.

nice to hear a vote from a newbe about understable and light. i can add from many hours spent in a field throwing distance shots.. that I would eventually learn and relearn to do this...

a slow, smooth motion- you will be more accurate down the road..promise.