Improving Distance

[Fainaent]

I have a couple of questions on how I can improve my distance. I started playing about 2 months ago, but I only get to play once a week because of how far from a course I live. I'm a pretty weak arm player... I actually have problems with chronic fatigue, but I've found that the exercise really helps... I throw mainly 150g discs, and my driver is a leopard. Right now I max out around 300-320' with 20'-high line drives... I throw RHBH and I do a slow X-step. I've found that when I try to speed up my approach steps, the disc tends to rise quickly out of control and stall. What I want to do is learn a drive that takes more advantage of the disc's flight path. I read about the hyzer-flip and distance anhyzer on this site... which would you suggest for a new player? Also, what do I need to do(CG, upper body angle, etc). Thanks in advance for your help.

[Eric O]

The most useful thing I could say for being 2 months into learning is to focus on developing good mechanics rather than how far you can throw. Distance will take care of itself as your technique improves.

Also you don't need baskets to work on your drives. Any park or school in your neighborhood will do where there is enough open space. Football field is ideal if you really want an accurate distance guage, but imo it is more important to pay attention to how the disc travels through the air rather than how far it goes as this will tell you much more about your throwing mechanics.

[Fainaent]

Thanks for the quick reply.

A friend of mine and I used to go to the park and throw back and forth to each other, but he recently moved ...

I feel really good about my putting and midrange... not that I'm really good at them, but I can see myself improving each time I play... I just want to learn to let my leopard experience it's full flight-path... that's an s-curve, right? What could I do to start letting the disc carry better?

[Eric O]

Yeah a Leopard should S curve. If you get it to it's cruising speed it should flatten from a hyser and turn over, tracking to the right, before it slows down and gently fades out left. Leopards aren't known for having a lot of low speed fade, so if you have too high a ratio of arm velocity to rotational speed or roll your wrist over, there is a danger of the disc not pulling out of the right turn at all.

Describe in more detail the flight path you currently achieve. The 20ft high line drives... Are you releasing with hyser, anhyser angle or flat? How much if any does the disc turn right during the high speed portion of flight? How does the angle of the disc change relative to the ground during flight? How much fade are you experiencing? etc.

[Fainaent]

When I first got my leopard I would release it flat and it just flew straight. I've noticed 3 different things that happen when I drive with it now.
1-If I try to speed up my X-step and body rotation the disc usually climbs very quickly, stalls, and falls left

2-If I throw my leopard low it goes straight but slows and fades around 200-250'

3-This only happened to me once. I released hyzer and it flipped up to straight and started drifting right(must've been around 30-40'(i'm not that great at judging distance) and when it slowed down the fade left the disc drifting toward the basket. I only threw at 60%, yet the disc still went farther than I had ever driven on that particular hole. Correct me if I'm wrong, but is that a hyzer-flip? The problem is all the other times I tried to repeat it the disc either held the hyzer angle(even if it was just a few degrees), or it rose to 80' and stalled. I was thinking I might need to lean forward and toward the basket more for that kind of throw, but I'm not sure.

I'm trying to be descriptive, but I'm not used to talking in disc golf terms, so I hope this makes sense.

Thanks for the help.

[garublador]

When I first got my leopard I would release it flat and it just flew straight. I've noticed 3 different things that happen when I drive with it now.
1-If I try to speed up my X-step and body rotation the disc usually climbs very quickly, stalls, and falls left

That probably means you aren't getting your weight forward on the quicker x-step. The flight you're describing is a classic "nose up" release.

#3 you described is the type of throw you should strive for. It will take less effort than you think you need, but fly farther. It sounds like more things just came together on that one throw.

[Eric O]

what Garbulador said.

weight forward nose down weight forward

[Fainaent]

Weight forward, nose down, weight forward...

Is that kinda like the 3 rules of ball golf?(Keep your head down, keep your durned head down, keep your gosh-durned head down) Hehe, that's Utah-hick swearing, in case you've never heard it

[Eric O]

I suppose it is.


An aside on Leopards:
When I found DGR last year when first getting into disc golf, I remember asking Blake about a good driver mold to learn on. He suggested discs like Cheetahs and Gazelles rather than Leopards because they have low speed fade characteristics that are closer to mirroring most other drivers. I ignored his advice and used a Leopard on the basis that a hard left finish is what I wanted to eliminate in order to achieve straight throws. After having more experience I now understand exactly what Blake was talking about and I have come around to agreeing that Leopards are not the ideal driver to learn on for the very reason Blake had been pushing. Namely that low speed fade is a natural characteristic of disc flight and it is best to learn to use it to your advantage early on in development rather than having to adjust your throwing technique to accomodate it further down the road.

Anyway this is something most people probably realize but being the stubborn person that I am, I had to learn through my own experience instead of heeding the wisdom of others who came before me.

[Fainaent]

Thanks for the advice... that does make a lot of sense. I've thrown quite a few drives that started drifting right, but never did come back and ended in the trees.

I also have a question about different molds... would you suggest that I get the same discs at different stages of wear, or learn to throw(in a few months) some different discs? I already have a Roc, Aero, and Dragon.(and Leopard)

[Blake_T]

garu's analysis is likely correct.

as for picking molds with multiplies, i do condone that (with a moderate amount of specialization), but also to really choose those molds carefully.

at your stage in DG, you are best off probably with 4 molds:
control driver
overstable driver
stable midrange
stable putt & approach

[Fainaent]

Thanks for all of the helpful replies, and thanks for all the great articles on the site. The only problem is how addicting DG is... I find myself thinking about it all the time now. I even bought a basket so I can practice my putt/approach shots...

[swel304]

The only problem is how addicting DG is... I find myself thinking about it all the time now.

I know what you mean. I have at least one DG dream every night now! And a crappy round of DG is still better than an easy day at work. Time for someone to start a discaholics anonymous.