the art of the roller

[Orygun saucer tosser]

Just starting to really learn and utilize backhand rollers. I had been fooling around with the idea for a couple seasons now and this summer it came together in a soccer field with a stack of of beat up dx stingrays and leopards. I want to know everything that is roller now i actually roll and look for roller lines now instead of air shot lines , absolutely game changing for me personally and now i can keep up with longer players and courses now. Flick rollers i'm loving the whippet for 200 footers and condor for shorter stuff.

So whats your roller story?
What do you use, old school discs or new fangled stuff?
Backhand , forehand, thumber, i wanna know some more.

 

[Alex.Kiras]

I also just started messing around with some roller shots. I've have a ton of success with my beat up star Katana. My biggest problem is letting them out to the left (RHBH) and chucking the disc into the ****. This problem will probably stop the more I throw them but regardless, the first time I pulled out this shot with my buddies they saw me release the disc and said what the hell was that, and then watched it roll 400 feet lol.

 

[JReynolds]

I throw a flat glow fb for fh rollers up to about 250. I throw a mamba, vulcan, or destroyer for bh rollers. It all depends on the line. The more understable the disc, the easier it is to get down, but the more lateral movement it will have. The mamba I have to get to the ground between 10-11 o'clock (\ about that angle). My destroyers take a lot more effort to get down, but I get them down and they roll straight a long ways. I also put them down near vertical, and they roll straight about 375

 

[Dan Ensor]

Lets see ...

Sky bh rollers: Avenger SS
Flat bh rollers: Nuke SS
Cut bh rollers: Force/Drone
Forehand rollers: Force/Condor (my beat to snot Flick some times)
Thumber rollers: Flick

I like the rollers. I'd say about 15% of my shots are rollers. Probably 40% are air shot bhs.

 

[JSurmann]

I've been using a Pro Vulcan for BH rollers lately. Super flippy so I can release on a hyzer with lots of snap and it will flip up to flat, keep turning over, hit the ground about 200-250' and rolls another 100' + if im lucky.

Of course, I only do this on the 900' hole at my local course because accuracy is way off for me.

Super fun to do though.

 

[Prodigium]

Not confident enough to use rollers off the tee in tourneys yet, but:
BH/FH Sky rollers: really beat Star Wraith
BH/FH Low ceiling: really beat DX Teebird
OH rollers: Star Monster, premium JOKERi for shorter ones. This is the most used roller of mine(means out of trouble from tricky stances ).

 

[Jouni]

Majority of the courses here in Finland are quite wooded as they are located in forest, skiing resorts etc, so I have thought that there not much point of learning a roller for those few holes that could be good for a roller shot. But some time ago I accidentally learned forehand roller which could be a handy shot for getting out of trouble etc. Should just start practicing the angles etc more.

 

[KGroff25]

Majority of the courses here in Finland are quite wooded as they are located in forest, skiing resorts etc, so I have thought that there not much point of learning a roller for those few holes that could be good for a roller shot. But some time ago I accidentally learned forehand roller which could be a handy shot for getting out of trouble etc. Should just start practicing the angles etc more.

Forehand rollers can be deadly in the woods. You can get them to turn at angles in tight fairways that are significantly harder to hit with a backhand hyzer. Plus, when there is a low ceiling or a fairway with several branches shooting into or close to the desired backhand flight path you can put down a forehand roller and have the disc roll under all the trouble in the air.

 

[Smigles]

I use shorter forehand rollers a lot to get around obstacles. But since i also started learning the forehand airshot, I use this shot more than backhand rollers. Specially since my BH rollers dont go further than my airshots.

 

[klittle08]

I use FAF Firebirds for thumber rollers as my Max D rollers and lighter FBs for shorter rollers. I can push my thumber rollers past 400' with the right ground conditions. It's also a great shot to have because I can generate 80% power from a standstill.

 

[wake911]

Firebird for short FH rollers, out of trouble.
Condor for mid-length rollers, mainly BH, but FH/Thumber as well
Vulcan for max distance rollers (rarely use)

I am INCREDIBLY inconsistent with there. Decent with Firebird ones, but they are normally under 50', so not as big a deal.

 

[Widdershins]

"ART" is exactly right.

Rollers are not a science they are an art. I don't know why this is. It's all about feel and touch.

 

[Orygun saucer tosser]

I find great pleasure in walking up to the tee with a 12 year old cracked rim circle stamp stingray and arcing that baby onto its right side on the left side of the fairway and watching it roll considerably further and end up in better position than a competitor who tried to flex over there big boy disc and unable to work the disc into submission. Its ok to think and throw out of box. What a great game we play.

 

[whentherainscome]

I had a little ego boost when playing a round with local MA1 and Open players. On a pretty open 550'+ hole I threw a huge sky roller with a beat Viking and outdrove/rolled everyone. It was parked at the old basket position, about 380'.

That was my first time trying to roll that Viking, I'd say it went well! I also roll a Roadrunner and Pro Leopard, and FH roll w/overstable discs - Drone, Firebird, those I throw right at the ground.

Anyone have tips for thumb rollers? I've seen 'em done (see: the recent Disc Golf Monthly) and my brain refuses to make sense of the motion when I see it done.

 

[DavidSauls]

I throw both.....for fun. In a field.

I can throw a backhand roller further than any drive, but I rarely play a hole where there's enough to be gained by it, to overcome the risk of it going awry. And a roller that goes awry can penetrate incredible distances into very serious trouble.

I'm more accurate with shorter forehand rollers, but mostly use them to get out of jams and bad lies.

I've played tournaments with a guy who throws a forehand roller everywhere imaginable, and even some unimaginable places. It's crazy. And intimidating, when the moment comes that I have to comtemplate throwing one myself.

 

[juju]

Fact, Roadrunner is best roller disc.

 

[Orygun saucer tosser]

more roller ramblin

I have had a hard time finding the sweet spot on trying to get a roadrunner on that perfect angle it seems to always end up cut rolling or i torque that sucker over to much and it goes to the right on an undesirable line. I wish that innova would make dx roadrunner because i find it easier to roll dx discs than non,probably in my head tho. I just need to get to that pratice field and do my thing i guess. I really am liking dx leopards for rollers that dont have the tendency to finish to far right. Last week i shot by far my best round at Milo Mciver throwing backhanded rollers from 19 of 27 holes i believe. That course used to scare me to play just for all the distance, but now that i got the roller working i am gettting personal bests out there and keeping up with the big arms i play with. 3 under on 27 at milo thanks roller

 

[General Scales]

I love rollers but we have so few places for them to be thrown where I'm at. I throw a lot of overhand rolls when I'm in trouble and backhand rollers when I need to crush one down the fairway.

I throw my Patriot a lot of backhand rollers (300-400 feet) and a beat 1st Run Force for long distance rollers (400 +). I can squeeze an overhand roller out to about 300 on a good day. I usually use my Trident for those type of shots.

 

[Orygun saucer tosser]

What exactly is an overhand roller? I keep thinking throwing a thumber but cant figure out the roll part, feel free to explain it sounds intriguing

 

[Orygun saucer tosser]

I also was thinking that a good dx version of the roadrunner would be the archangel does anyone have much experience rolling those discs?