NEW to disc golf need recommendations and advice

[stainedglass82]

Hi im new to DG and been just playing with a friends set of disc for about 2 weeks now. I was wondering on advice for choosing my first set of discs . I am a small female with a strong forearm but I have very small wrist and hand , dont know if that matters? but can someone give me advice on grams and stuff and what disc would be good to start out with and then what to move up too from there etc etc . Im a bit lost. thanks

[MDP]

When my wife started playing she used a 150g Archangel as her main driver with some success. She's moved on to throwing a 166g Eagle now. A lighter Leopard might also be a good driver for you to start with. If you're having trouble controlling the drivers, a midrange disc like the Shark might help you develop (These are all Innova brand discs, since that's what I'm most familiar with, there are similar discs made by other companies).

Do you know what discs you've been using? How well have you done with them?

Lighter weight discs (under 170g) are probably going to be your best bet. They go farther with less effort and glide better. However, they are easier for the wind to push around so that should be noted.

Do you know anyone with a large collection of discs? The best thing to do would find someone who would let you throw some of their stuff for a while to see what kind of disc you're able to handle at the moment.

[JR]

Hi and welcome to the sport and this site. A small hand makes gripping and releasing cleanly difficult with tall or wide winged discs. Sidearming means that you generate less spin to speed which leads to less margin of error for avoiding the disc flipping over counterclockwise. Luckily sidearm gripping is easier with wider winged discs than backhand throws so that won't be as much of a limit for you than it would be for most. With that said in the long term it would be good to develop a backhand throw as well.

Not knowing how far you throw and how your current discs fly it is difficult to give the best possible disc advice. If you have trouble flipping the discs over there are three standard solutions. The first is to learn how to throw with pure form (a long topic and covered well in the stickied threads). Try to stay mellow until the last inches and only then snapping the wrist hard forward and maintaining the arm motion plane in the follow through helps a lot. As does releasing almost in front of you. The second is to try to ensure a clean release and grip adjustments, lower discs and a good late acceleration help there. The third is to take the double edged sword and get discs that are more high speed stable up to very overstable discs. That will mask form errors and buy a little margin of error that pales in comparison to clean form. Unfortunately very overstable discs won't stay straight and lose distance in fading early and hard. That won't be ameliorated easily because most very overstable discs need a lot of power both in speed and spin generating ability. Think more than 400' throws on flat ground no wind and still hooking hard in the fade. Even the putters although at a greatly reduced ranges compared to the fast discs.

My question is do you need discs for added distance or added safety margin against flipping over? And which discs do you have now and how far do you throw them and how often do they flip over unintentionally?

Thin disc examples are Putters: Understable Innova XD, overstable Latitude 64 Sinus AP, Prodiscus Jokeri (taller but not the worst offender) and high power requirement very meathooky Discraft D Zone. Mids: Z Buzzz and if the bead does not matter the less stable and less power hungry and less fading but ruthlessly form flaw revealing Discraft Comet (rude sensei if ever there was one). Drivers (not sure if you need them because i don't know how far you throw) Innova Champion Eagle, and the taller less fading and a little shorter Leopard from the same company. Eagle needs to be Champion plastic or it will be a different version that needs more power and fades harder. Leopard can work in any plastic but DX will beat into way less stable fast.

The lighter you go the less wind tolerance especially in gusts you have. Some discs are forgiving of form errors even in lighter weights at least to some extent. Going to 150 gram discs takes away wind tolerance so you'd do well to also get heavier discs. Lighter discs go farther in most cases.

I would start buying very conservatively because a disc does not make one a good thrower. A bad or unsuitable disc can seriously hamper your progress and worsen your score. You need to tailor your disc selection based on the courses and conditions you face. Wooded or rocky courses damage softer plastics quick. Winds need more overstable and heavier discs. Woods need straighter and less stable discs.

You need to learn to throw few discs well in every manner possible to establish a baseline. That helps to determine what kind of additional discs you should try next. I would recommend going with the old classics that have stood the test of time as often as possible. Unless you can't get a clean release out anything else than thin discs then you should go with those. The time tested classics should be named only with added information i've asked from you.

At 150 grams Innova Teebird and Discmania PD (Power Driver) are longer than full weight ones and are reasonably well mannered when thrown with form flaws. That are bound to happen because even the best mess up every now and then.

[stainedglass82]

thanks,
I have been using a mix of his disc's, lets see a 175g tee bird.161g champion valkarie , 168g orc, 175g aviar, 176g wolf, 165 cheetah. there just a bunch of his old ones lying around .. I throw the 165 cheetah and the valkyrie pretty descent. orc not too bad . I know alot deals with technique and time and the right disc but so far, I think my throws are around 130ft max and turn upward and come down left, me being right handed ...

[JR]

That sounds like classic new player form of throwing the disc front up and stalling out of the sky way early. At 130' with drivers you might surprise yourself with what you can do with a midrange disc or even putters. But first things first you just gotta get that nose up pop up and die right throw corrected before you know how far you can throw without more difficult form adjustments. I know i'm assuming but am i right in thinking that your throws go high and almost stop moving forward and crash right? If that is the case you can add a lot percentage wise by throwing lower. The tricks to that is the time and practice proven method of training for form on a field not on a course.

What you should check are is you wrist above resting position at the release? If so try to push the wrist down. It is more powerful if you can manage to time it late in the throw if muscle power is an issue. Are you leaning back when the disc leaves the fingers? That will point the upper body and the arm motion up to the sky. Correction is to push harder with the right leg and possibly even using the stomach muscles and the back muscles to moving the torso forward from the hip. Is your arm low at the reach back and higher in the release point? If it is that will raise the disc nicely. Correction is to try to maintain a constant height from the ground or if you are using a scooping arm motion snapping a little earlier when the arm ain't rising high yet.

130' ain't that much. There are women that sidearm over 300' when they take run up steps. There are women that throw putters way farther from standstill. Putters are the only class of discs that are designed to operate optimally to your distances. Every driver in the world will fade early and hard at that distance but you will gain distance when you eliminate throwing high. I'd like to know how much distance you gain after too high throws are eliminated because that will tell better which discs suit you.

There are different Aviars and one of them are thin enough for assured easy clean releases. I would suggest either a Latitude 64 Spike in Grip line plastic or Innova DX XD. At your power lighter discs will definitely fly farther but if winds are an issue both of those discs need a beefier helper. Often times people counter the wind by stepping up to the next longer class of discs. And that would be Discraft Z Buzzz at your current distance but it should be fine even after the high throws are eliminated. The Buzzz is certainly more forgiving of throwing form errors than the putters Spike and XD. Those putters are faster and longer than most putters.

Do you take steps in the throw? Adding those to stand still throws will make controlling the body and aiming more difficult but it also generates more power. Once the added complexity induced steps back are turned into two steps forward. Forgive the pun

Out of his discs the Cheetah is the closest match to your power and should be ok in time in flight. A used Cheetah is close enough to a Leopard which is one of the classics even though not the most acclaimed one. I would not buy a driver at this point and would stick to using the drivers you have already thrown but real form improvements come the fastest when you drive with putters and as you gain power also with mids. Sure you should test the deep end at times with drivers to make adopting them easier when you gain power (often a lot through form changes alone). But the emphasis should be with putters at this point in your learning curve. Learning to drive with putters will teach you the fastest and make the learning curve easier for drivers in every sense but one and that is the sensitivity of drivers to throwing with the front of the disc up. Putters tolerate it drivers don't.

[stainedglass82]

thansk this will help!

[JR]

Hope it will and please keep us posted about your field practice results and how the changes pan out on the courses. There is probably a lot more that can be tweaked for longer and more accurate throws. There are plenty of videos and form corrections and repeat videos with improved throwing form in the video critique section. Watching and reading those will help a lot and of course you can post your own video too.

[Smigles]

I'd start with a JK pro aviar, a X comet for midrange and some pro leopards for drivers. Focus on these till you are comfortable with them and till you can break 200 foot with your leopard.