What is the most useful driving distance?

[Marmoset]

Most have already said this but accuracy is priority #1 in DG. I'd say the mental game is priority #2 then distance comes later... like #3 or lower.

I practice alot because I like having options when I'm on the teepad. Others have said it already but 350' with a mid is a great weapon to have in your arsenal. This also means you have 300'+ with your putter which is also a great weapon.

I used to say that I'd be happy when I became a 400' thrower. I have passed that... I'm probably hitting 420' on average with my Pro Destros. I feel very confident with my distance potential but I still want more. Now I'm aiming for 450' average. It's frustrating because out of the courses within 1 hour radius there are only 4 or 5 holes that I can really lay into my Destros. So the extra D isn't necessary but like I said earlier it opens up options.

Because of the extra distance I can take wider variety of lines, pick from a wider variety of LZs, use a wider variety discs, and appreciate the subtle difference between discs. So basically more D gives you more birdie opportunities. But if I don't stay on top of my accuracy then the extra D doesn't mean much. It just means I will waste more of my opportunities I worked so hard to create.

 

[Triflusal]

me want disc go far

me want disc go in basket

 

[Marmoset]

You really couldn't make a dumber statement.

All other things being equal? You mean like individual skill with finesse lines, flex shots, long controlled anny's, thumbers/tommys, spike hyzers, rollers, forehands, putting consistancy and accuracy...to name a few aspects of the game?

To suggest that Mr. X will beat someone on any given round because he can out distance them in an open field by 20 feet is ridiculous.

Yes. If absolutely every skill is at exactly the same level except one guy can throw 20 feet further... the extra 20' will win the statistical majority of the time. An extra 20 will turn a 40' tester into a 20' gimme.

A strong mental game and great accuracy go a loooong way towards overcoming a distance defecit. I like watching someone who maxes out at 300' whoop up on a 450'+ guy. These are the guys I can learn the most from.

The problem is that most 450' throwers are usually more "dedicated" to developing their DG skillset and probably spend tons of time practicing their putting and approaching as well as their D.

 

[deBebbler]

You still headed this way? I seem to remember you saying you might play a few of the local courses around here.

Yeah I am, but not until summer. I plan on getting there around the middle of the first full week of June. My last show is the 5th, and I probably wont get to my aunt's until Tuesday of that week. Don't worry, I will be lighting up your inbox soon enough.

......is it just me or does that sound a little dirty?

....don't answer that loki.

 

[Lewis]

It's easy to say...

Most have already said this but accuracy is priority #1 in DG. I'd say the mental game is priority #2 then distance comes later... like #3 or lower.

When you can follow up with...

I'm probably hitting 420' on average with my Pro Destros. I feel very confident with my distance potential but I still want more. Now I'm aiming for 450' average. It's frustrating because out of the courses within 1 hour radius there are only 4 or 5 holes that I can really lay into my Destros.

The Inquisitors of the Church of Putting can call me a heretic, But in my opinion, putting is about a third of the game, just like driving. I hate to pick on this one guy's post, since he actually didn't mention putting, but others earlier in the thread have made the predictable comments. Marmoset's post is just a convenient vehicle for me to get to my point.

This conversation about putting vs. driving or accuracy vs. distance is a subtle threadjack. The original question was not about driving's relative importance to the game, but about how long a driver you should be before more distance is irrelevant. Putting and accuracy shouldn't even enter the question.

 

[Lewis]

Yes. If absolutely every skill is at exactly the same level except one guy can throw 20 feet further... the extra 20' will win the statistical majority of the time. An extra 20 will turn a 40' tester into a 20' gimme.

Yes! Now if only I could throw with perfect accuracy every time. :wall:

 

[sloppydisc]

First of all i would say big distance without good control is useless. Second, the best driving distance is the one that either hits the chains for that hole, or leaves you with an easy putt.

 

[skurf]

Obviously, further is better unless of course you're playing a short hole. In the end it depends on the courses you play. If you're playing courses with a max of 350' distance, then a 450' throw is not going to be too useful.

 

[Triflusal]

Obviously, further is better unless of course you're playing a short hole. In the end it depends on the courses you play. If you're playing courses with a max of 350' distance, then a 450' throw is not going to be too useful.

if you can throw 450 with a driver, it makes the 350 throws a mid or a really slow fairway driver, which gives you more control

 

[garublador]

I don't think the OP really asked the right question. I also don't think the values in the poll will give any useful results for the question he wanted to ask. The answer to what he did ask was that throwing farther is always better.

The problems with the poll are that the type of disc used isn't specified and that there's only two options between 300' and 400' when there should be more like 4 options. Assuming we're talking about throwing fairway drivers (which I think makes the most sense) the options should probably be:

300'-320'
320'-350'
350'-380'
380'-400'
400'-420'
450'+

The answer to the question he wanted to ask was, stop worrying about throwing farther when you're done trying to learn to throw farther. At that point work on accuracy and consistency. How much work you put into it is really up to you. IMO, for most late teen to adult males, getting to one of the 350'+ categories it attainable with a little work. If you're willing to really spend the time to do it right you'll be pushing 400' without too much trouble. Again, that's with fairway drivers. However, my experience is that many people just aren't willing to put that work in. At that point it's just stopping whenever you don't want to work on it anymore.

What most find when learning technique is that fixing a technique issue will get you a jump in distance but you won't be able to perform the fix with 100% consistency. Your consistency will suffer until you commit the fix to muscle memory.

The argument between distance and accuracy is a useless one. Of course a better player will win, but that's not the question. The question is whether or not gaining distance will be useful and the answer is always, "Yes." It only makes sense to compare similar players. Compare two players with the same consistency, putting, approaching and mental games but where one throws 400' and the other throws 300'. The who throws 400' will have a lot easier time being accurate at 300' than the one who throws 300' because they aren't maxing out. They're able to use discs, lines and technique changes that will increase their accuracy.

Here's a thread at DRG that addresses what I think the OP was actually asking about, even if it isn't in the way he wants:

https://www.dgcoursereview.com/dgr/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=21211

 

[Heathen]

The most useful distance is where you can throw it consistantly and accurately.

Doesn't matter if it's 400' or 150', wherever you can confidently park it is your PERFECT DISTANCE.

All the other crap stays on the practice field until you're good enough with it to do the same.

My 2 pieces of 8

 

[Smigles]

I see golf as a endles series of new things to learn. I will never give up improving my distance.

The further you throw, the easier you have it. It's that simple.

It's like putting. Once you master 25 feet, you dont stop there and say "this is my ideal distance". You start training 30 feet. Then 40 feet. Etc etc, you see where this is going.

Also, this :

The argument between distance and accuracy is a useless one. Of course a better player will win, but that's not the question. The question is whether or not gaining distance will be useful and the answer is always, "Yes." It only makes sense to compare similar players. Compare two players with the same consistency, putting, approaching and mental games but where one throws 400' and the other throws 300'. The who throws 400' will have a lot easier time being accurate at 300' than the one who throws 300' because they aren't maxing out. They're able to use discs, lines and technique changes that will increase their accuracy.

 

[t i m]

Accuracy is more important than distance. No question. I wish I had more of it.

The way I remind myself of this is to look at scores for a theoretical player who has "perfect accuracy." In the case of this example, imagine a player who can throw up to 250' with perfect accuracy and who hits 100% of putts inside 20'. This same player will never throw more than 250' and misses 100% of putts outside 20'. Take these 250/20 stats and the listed hole distances of your favorite course and see how this player would score.

I ran this player through Maple Hill (host to the Vibram Open) and Idlewild, playing both from the longs... this theoretical player scored a 58 on both courses, good enough to shoot 1028-rated golf at Maple Hill and 1056-rated golf at Idlewild.

I know that this theoretical player doesn't factor in throwing distances affect by elevation or putts affected by trees or bad stance, or roll aways, or bad kicks or wind or any of a host of other factors. However, I think it stresses a point: if any of us could drive 250' accurately and hit our 20' putts, we'd be consistently competing with the top pros.

The fact that I'd guess pretty much everyone here hits MOST of their 20' putts, probably a lot of putts up to 25-30' away, and most of us can drive 300-350' means that we've got all the distance we need to compete at a pro level -- what we lack is accuracy.

 

[BarkBuster]

I mostly just wanted to know if there was a certain benchmark that once you reached, and you reached with with consistency and accuracy, you would be able to compete on most courses. This is more of a short term question as I know that you should never stop practicing, but is there a distance that if you reach it you can stop obsessing over getting more distance and work on the other aspects of DG (putt/approach/different throwing styles/etc).

Also I made this thread at 7am(ish) on a Sunday morning at work and I apologize for its silliness.

EDIT: Interesting post t i m!

 

[Midnightbiker]

I can only throw up to 320ft, and that is fine with me. I prefer to have better short game than a long game.

 

[Smigles]

Distance and accuracy are not mutualy exclusive, something most of you obviously dont get. Having more distance even means that you have MORE accuracy on shorter throws because you dont have to go 100%.

It's not black and white, you can actualy have both.

Having distance is not bad.

 

[t i m]

Distance and accuracy are not mutually exclusive, something most of you obviously don't get. Having more distance even means that you have MORE accuracy on shorter throws because you dont have to go 100%.

It's not black and white, you can actually have both.

Having distance is not bad.

I agree and disagree with this. I find that the distance most players have trouble with is the tweener distance (whatever that is for them) where they have to use touch rather than power on a disc. Usually this tweener distance represents a comfort level gap between a putter and a mid or between a mid and a driver.

It can also represent a comfort level between throwing styles -- this is especially obvious for people when they are outside their comfort level for a putt, but don't know how to scale back their shot for an approach... 40-100' can be deadly for some players who just don't know what to do with themselves.

For others, it's that putter/mid approach gap of maybe 150-250' where they don't know whether to throw a putter or a mid, because they have to scale back their power at an uncomfortable degree for either disc.

 

[wolito]

All I want to get to is 375 feet of accurate drive. I don't care if I throw any farther than that because it is just not that useful after 400 feet on most courses, unless you play a lot of flat open courses of which I do not.

 

[jpacetime]

The question is what is the PERFECT range. Perfect range would be as far as the longest hole. A good range would be an average of what the top ten pro disc golfers, after all you have to be able to throw as far as them to be as good as them. But yes, if you can throw as far as them, you still have to putt. So 450'+, and perfect putting.

 

[Peterb]

If you can throw 400' accurately and have a great mid range and short game, then you should be out on PDGA tour. Sure most top pros can do this. What makes disc golf interesting are the technical shots. What kind of lines can you carve accurately? Can you get that 325 foot dogleg right and park it?

I'll take a 350 foot distance for most drives and a solid short game. You will finish under par on most courses out there (the occasional 450' roller helps!).