1st time user. Veteran player.

[DirtyDiscJoe]

Hey guys/girls, my name is Joe. I have been snooping around the site and liked what I saw so much that I wanted to be a part of the community. This will be my 4th year playing but the previous 3 were just playing with friends to have fun. I started tweaking my terrible form late last season and saw drastic improvement in my drives. This year I have really gotten in to the sport and watched a lot of videos and read a lot of helpful info to hopefully sculpt me in to a better player. I'm still trying to catch up on all the technical terms so bear with me lol. I currently can throw a NUKE about 350' but would like to get that improved with everybody's help and insight. I look forward to getting to know every body and can't wait to improve my game. Happy discing!

[JR]

Hi and welcome. Generally so fast discs that fade as much as the Nuke does are not recommended to people throwing that far with the acceptance to shots that need a hard fade and skip. For learning better form straighter more controllable discs are the traditional recommendations. Things have changed in the equipment side of things to offer a non traditional way of learning to throw better. In the old days there were no fast discs that could be turned over and be kept turning right for control for left, straight and right turning throws at 350' power with Nukes. This has changed now and therefore there are a few long discs that at your power could fly even farther while showing you your form flaws and more importantly to short term scoring being easy enough to throw and manipulate for all kinds of flight lines. Possible discs that could perform better for you are as examples flatter drooping edge Kings, light Vulcans, Archons, many Blizzard discs out of fast fast fast discs. Out of slower discs you should love lighter Beasts and possible flatter light Flows and S TDs, and Surge SSs. With the TD and Beast fading the least and the notch faster Surge and Flow fading a hair more. A wild card that allows sure ability to be manipulated at your power would be River and even less power is probably needed for an FD. Although i haven't thrown that yet. Just ordered my first one a few hours ago

Don't hesitate to ask and if you can post a video of your throwing that will help in seeing what you could try to change for even better throws.

[DirtyDiscJoe]

Thanks for all the help ALREADY. I used to pick disc based on color and pretty designs, but since then I've become a little familiar with the Innova rating system and thats what I feel comfortable buying. But now with this info I can get some better discs for my game. I typically throw understable discs (-1 or -2) because I don't seem to have any luck with anything that is stable (e.g. I threw my brother's champion destroyer 2 days ago and sucked) I'ts supposed to be rainy here all week which won't stop me from playing but it means I won't be able to get a video until probably this weekend, but I will have one posted soon. Thanks again!

[DirtyDiscJoe]

And since we're on the topic, you mentioned a lighter weight disc. What do the different weights do and how drastic are the changes from weight to weight?

[JR]

That is an extremely interesting question this year and it along with HSS will change how people tackle shot planning and course management with bag building. Traditionally until a couple of months back lighter discs flew faster, glid more and turned more initially and often faded a hair less than their full weight counterparts. In 2009 a different option became available in ultra light uselessly fragile R Pro plastic in Boss. There was the option to throw far with some predictability but with a need to constantly buy new ones or selecting when to use durable discs.

Things changed big time with the introduction of the spanking new Blizzard plastic from Innova. At least in mild winds they act fairly alike with 20 grams heavier regular plastic counterparts. Blizzard is new but it isn't stupid fragile. R Pro in later blends in some putters and mids ain't useless btw. So far my longest disc has been a 163 ESP Nuke that interestingly is a few feet longer than a 161. I threw 139, 145, 150 and 155 R Pro Bosses in one session last fall against the Nukes and they were shorter. While about as fast with conceivably roughly similar drag the Bosses at lighter weights were shorter. While the Boss even in the more understable R Pro mold (different from regular plastic Boss mold) fades a hair more than the Nuke or the same i can't remember the momentum of the lighter Bosses set limits to the distance i got. Interestingly the 155 R Pro Boss was the longest of the Bosses. Dave McCormack of Gateway says that 166 is the longest weight in the discs. That statement is a few years old so with more gliding, faster discs that may go down a few grams possibly.

The intriguing part with the Blizzard plastics going down to super low weights comes for players that don't have enough power to throw regular plastic regular weight fast beefy discs. Since for the first time the lighter discs won't turn into rollers but are dependable and reliable even with some wind at so low weights that people with your power can control those discs, the distances and especially accurate repeatable distance should increase. What is the best disc and the weight depends on the speed and spin the thrower can generate. If i were you i would try at least the least fading variety of Blizzard discs at different weights to calibrate how much fade you get and how slow and straight a disc you need for control and which weight flies the farthest. If a low weight disc flies farther and/or fade less than the Nuke there should be a role for a disc like that in your bag. If the discs you try won't work they should be fairly easy to sell because Blizzards are spanking new and the hot shit right now. Katana has great distance potential Wraith fades less and is shorter and needs less power to fly on different flight lines.

The multiple flight line ideal from one disc is great for bag building and course management. When you don't carry dozens of discs it is easier to decide which disc to pick for any given shot. And not think if i had more tosses with this disc i would have known i couldn't make it do whatever and i should have picked the next disc into that direction.

[isobar]

You are almost exactly where I was when I joined this site. I played casual rounds with friends a few times a week and had done so for about 3 years. The thing that pushed me over the casual/serious hump was when I got out and played a round with a few pros. This was an eye-opener. Playing around with my friends we all were fairly even in talent and so we were never pushing each other. Well when my friend and I went and played some doubles and got beat by double digit strokes we realized we needed to get some advice. They were very friendly and helpful and gave some great advice on how to do some quick steps to improve our form. After this we went to a field and just focused on what they said and by watching each other throw were able to figure out a few more weaknesses in our form. It took me 3 years to break the 300' mark, and one year after that I was breaking 400-450.

So my best advice, is change up who you play with, find some people who are better and play a round with them. I have yet to run into a disc golfer who wasn't friendly and helpful if you ask for advice. I've helped many a beginner that I see on the course and never once have I stopped to think "I'm wasting my time." Ask around here for people in your area and meet up and play a round or two with them. I spent about a year on this site before I met up and played with people. I wish I had done it sooner because it transformed the way I looked at this game. I saw lines I never knew existed, saw them do throws I would have never tried and started trying out crazy things that turned into awesome shots.

So... too summarize
1. Play people who are better then you. Ask for advice and take it to heart then go do it. You can read all the articles you want but it's not going to make you better unless you get out and do it.
2. Don't neglect putting. I spent so much time getting my driving accuracy and control down, but I neglected my putting. Now I can get to within 50' of a hole, but I can't make a birdie putt to save my life.

[DirtyDiscJoe]

Thanks for all the great info guys. I will definitely put it to use, and isobar I too focus on driving and neglect putting a lot. I will be putting more effort in to putting. We have a practice basket at the tee pad of the 1st hole at my main course. Maybe I'll get acquainted.