Bonapane Grip Improves Drive

[swingman8]

Hello All,
Latelly I have been spending a lot of time at the practice field trying to improve my backhand drive, and have been getting very frustrated with it. I have read every arcticle in the Instructional section, and have been working on everything from the run up to strenthening my grip.
I have only been doing backhand since this spring, and I don't get to practice daily, but I have spent a significant of time trying to get more distance and control.
Before going almost exclusivelly to backhand I was able to consistantly drive around 310-320 with a forhand drive. But I wanted more then that and also wanted more control, so I went to backhand throwing.
Since going to backhand, I have not been able to consistantly throw over 290-300 on level ground with any disc other then a Sidewinder, and only to about 320 with that. When reading that most players should achieve 350 without much effort I got very discouraged.
So yesterday, after throwing about 40 or so shots I decided to try a modified Bonapane Grip. I did not have the picture to refer to so I just curled my forefinger above the rim and put my thumb across the flight plate. I pinched hard with the base of my thumb. In looking at the picture today, I now see that it was not a correct grip, neither v. 1 or 2.

So here are the results, my fist throw was a 165 Pro Wraith that I usually only get about 280' from. It went just over 365' on my first throw!
It flipped over and held a turnover line for the entire shot and did not really fade at all at the end. Normally the Wraith flies very high and then has a big fade at the end when I throw RHBH.

Of the next 11 discs, 4-5 made it over 300 and all the rest were right under 300. But the best part was they were all clustered in the same area, with only the Wraith and a badly thrown Beast more the 25 feet away. Also, all of the shots were very low and strait flying and did not stall out the way they normally do.

So now I am wondering why I could get the results with the Bonapane and not the power grip. I know the nose angle is more down with the Bonapane grip, and maybe I just was not getting the nose down enough with the power grip. This might be do to the fact that my wrist is not very flexible and has been hurt doing other activities.

Here is the question I am hoping to get answered. Am I loosing potential distance using the Bonapane grip over the power grip? And is it a very bad sign that I can get this much more distance by just changing the grip.
If both questions answer no, then I am going to stay with it for my long drives, as I seem to have a much greater control of the outcome.

As another side. I hav no problem throwing my Z Buzzz 280-300 with the power grip. If that tells you anything.

Thanks for any imput. Sorry about the long message.

[distantdg]

http://www.discgolfreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=761&start=0
Exact same question you are wondering answered here.

[Blake_T]

basically,

you probably weren't getting enough nose down using other grips, nor enough rip with your index finger using other grips.

you shouldn't NEED to use a bonapane grip to throw nose down. if that is the only way, then your form is lacking in other ways (likely not enough weight forward).

[coogs]

What does a bonapane grip look like? I've seen it mentioned a few times, but I'm having trouble visualizing the grip.

[Blake_T]

consult the grip article on the main site.