Girls throwing, and Ashley rambles about sidearms

[ashley]

I'm struggling to find the right discs for my wife. She wants to play but she gets frustrated very quickly and very easily. I feel like I need to find a set of 3 (max) discs and let her just play with them and nothing but them. Course wise we have it made, here in Rock Hill all of the elementary and middle schools have small 9 hole courses thanks to the EDGE program. I've bought her several discs but none of them seem to work out well. I fight over mold/plastic but most importantly weight. She seems to like the Buzzz and she has 2, a FLX and a D both around 168 or 169. She has a 150 DX Leopard but when we were first going out the wind was a little rough on it. She winds arent that bad around here now but she's not throwing it much. As you can probably tell I want her to be able to enjoy playing with me, but I'm struggling getting her off to a good start. She does enjoy going out but quickly gets frustrated when things don't go well. I know you've recommended some drivers already but what about mids and putters... what weights are good and such because I really don't know.

I always like the 150 valkyrie, it just glides forever. As far as mids, the cobra was the first one I fell in love with, mine is pretty close to max weight. Mids I tend to like heavier. I haven't had the arm to appreciate the roc until recently. Until I had some decent arm speed it was pretty overstable for me. Honestly though, until she is driving farther, you will find that she is throwing drivers more than mids. I have what I consider my off the tee drivers, the 163 Valk and the 169 Roadrunner, then my leopard and teebird are my approach drivers. By the time I have thrown both, I am usually within range with a rhyno. The viking and cyclone are also discs that I used a lot to approach with when I was newer.

You have to realize that a lot of the time, after a drive, she may still be 150-200 feet out depending on the hole. I felt a lot more comfortable throwing a driver than trying to push a mid out there.

How far is she driving right now, and what type of courses are you taking her to? Then I can give you more specific advice.

[Crosseyed0811]

Distances I suck at putting numbers to. Even when people ask for me I struggle to tell them anything. The courses are fairly short and open. They are on school campuses and designed for elementary school and middle school kids. Don't know if putting links like this is illegal but these are the courses she's played most:

http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.ph ... 88&mode=hi
http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.ph ... 62&mode=hi
http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.ph ... 87&mode=hi
http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.ph ... 86&mode=hi
http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=681&mode=hi

That last one being a pretty wooded course, the rest are pretty open with maybe one little here or there you have to go around. She's basically drove the basket at Fewell park on hole one and such so she's throwing over 100 ft, but I don't know how exact I could get past that.

So you're saying as opposed to what we normally think is good starting for a guy (a mid and a putter) a better start for her would be a driver and a putter? What weights do you tend to go for with putters?

[ashley]

I can only speak for me but it took me a long time to learn how to throw a mid well. My cobra is a 176. My Rhyno is a 175 and my Aviar is a 174. If she is only driving 100-150 it could be quite frustrating for her to throw mids too much.

Take her out to a field and let her throw everything you have. Some of my favorite discs were given to me by advanced and open guys who had discs that have become too flippy for them. I can throw almost any mid around 200' these days, but I can throw my leopard really well anywhere from 150-280, so a lot of the times, I chose to throw it rather than trying to push my mids out farther than I feel comfortable.

Drivers-160 tl, leopard, cheetah, roadrunner, sidewinder 150 teebird, valkyrie, eagle-l
Mids- 170's cobra, shark, buzz
Putters- I would get her a light and heavy, same disc. The light should float longer, but the heavy will be better with wind

It is a lot harder to find some of these discs in lighter weights, but it will be well worth the trouble. If she can't get a mid out past 100 feet, she is just going to get frustrated if she is trying to approach with one. The best lesson I learned along the way was that my game was going to be a lot different than any guy out there throwing. I stopped trying to throw what they were throwing and just threw what I knew would get there for me.

I don't want to say that learning to throw a mid isn't important. I just don't think that she is to the point where she is going to be going very far with them. Sounds like the buzz is good for her, let her keep working with that. If you get her another mid, make sure it's something understable that feels good in the hand. If she can't grip it well, she won't be able to throw it well.

[Crosseyed0811]

Yeah, grip has been her biggest issue. I take her to disc shops and just hand her discs and say how does that one feel? So far she doesn't like Aviars, or many other putters for that matter. She seems to be okay with the Lat 64 Pure I recently picked up, so I may be trying to find her one of those somewhere along the line. Thanks so much Ashley! I'm sure I'll have more questions later! Glad you're here helping us dumb guys out

Edit: to clarify your weights in the drivers, all the drivers after "160" get in the 160's and the ones after 150 get a 150 class? Also they don't seem to have anything from innova lower than 164 outside of the 150 class discs. So getting 2 164 dx cheetahs would be a good start?

Edit 2: You say you throw 175 Rhynos? My wife picked up my Hydra one day and got the best rip I've ever seen her get with it. She likes the grip better than any other putter she's tried I think. I got her to try a FEW more times and she didn't quite hit it again, but I didn't keep pushing her with that disc because I thought it would be too heavy and overstable for her. Maybe that's not the case? I'll give her mine again next time we go out and let her use it for a whole round. Might get her a 160 ish Leo and let her have a go with those this week and see how things fare.

[Frank Delicious]

I am also guessing that most of the women you are teaching have long fingernails, at least compared to any of the guys you teach. That will cause the disc to slip early a lot of the time.

My wife had this problem for a while now and now throws almost everything with a modified fan grip. I can't find video but there is one of a lot of DC pros showing off their grips in a RV or bus and MJ shows off a fan grip he uses for pretty much everything, that is pretty much the grip the wife uses.

[MDP]

[jenb]

I have always had a solid approach game, but the biggest thing that help me overcome this was working on my putting. Once I felt more confident farther and farther out, I didn't stress so much about putting my approach directly under the basket.

I'm the world's worst putter and I would like some tips for improving. I have 3 baskets and bunches of classic aviars I practice with, but I can't seem to get better than 50% at 15-20 feet. I even spent two weeks at one point sinking 100 putts per day from 15 feet, but that didn't really help in the long run. What worked for you?

[JR]

I'm not a woman, but i just came back from showing putting to people mostly new to the game. Most threw for the first time. Including women. One of whom sank a 40 footer.

The advice i gave was keep a loose arm muscle wise, stay relaxed, aim along the center line of the disc straight at the pole, put the arm motion with the center of the disc on the line from the spine to the pole and pull the disc back to close to the chest and without pause throw in a straight line forward with the weight change punching forward fast. Weight change is bending the left knee and partially sitting by leaning back with the bum and raising the right ball of the foot into air then pushing hard with the left leg and raising the left leg to air behind you while moving to the right ball of the foot. For some i told to straighten the bend in the leg to torso area from the partially sitting down position by pushing the pelvis at the basket. Once people got how to use which muscles and how loose laser lines produced varying, but nice results for most. It is faster to learn than pitch putting, because people don't need to know discs to about 20' and adjusting aim sideways and up and down. In fact people trained with very different putters ranging from Rhynos to Darts holding many different putters in the off hand. Not a good idea normally. The results did not vary a lot at all with disc changes from one extreme to the other at distances up to about 20'. I think i only gave one mental advice and it was don't think of anything.

in the putting competition people had 3 tries from 10' and if they made the putt, move about 3' back with another 3 tries up to 43'. I think the longest made putt in this format for a lady was 22'. She had never putted before.

[ashley]

I have always had a solid approach game, but the biggest thing that help me overcome this was working on my putting. Once I felt more confident farther and farther out, I didn't stress so much about putting my approach directly under the basket.

I'm the world's worst putter and I would like some tips for improving. I have 3 baskets and bunches of classic aviars I practice with, but I can't seem to get better than 50% at 15-20 feet. I even spent two weeks at one point sinking 100 putts per day from 15 feet, but that didn't really help in the long run. What worked for you?

First, remember practice makes permanent, so you want to do something that is going to make you better. Rather than throw a lot of putts, make them count. Start at 10 feet or 8 feet even. Something that you are making almost every time. Now practice hitting the same spot every time. Bring the disc out from the middle, say your belly button, and focus on hitting the same chain. Watch your wrist to make sure you aren't rolling it outwards, and stay relaxed. Once you are making everything at that point, step back one more step. Repeat, make sure you are focusing on each one as though it was a tournament. Line it up, stay relaxed. If you can't consistently hit the same spot, it is going to really show the farther away you get.

Putting is largely a confidence game, and you need to practice to build your confidence. Don't practice from x distance because someone else is. Start where you are confident, hit the same spot every time. Once you are consistent from there work away from the basket. It might take you two weeks to get to 15 feet, but you should be making a lot more than 50% by the time you get there.

[ashley]

Yeah, grip has been her biggest issue. I take her to disc shops and just hand her discs and say how does that one feel? So far she doesn't like Aviars, or many other putters for that matter. She seems to be okay with the Lat 64 Pure I recently picked up, so I may be trying to find her one of those somewhere along the line. Thanks so much Ashley! I'm sure I'll have more questions later! Glad you're here helping us dumb guys out

Edit: to clarify your weights in the drivers, all the drivers after "160" get in the 160's and the ones after 150 get a 150 class? Also they don't seem to have anything from innova lower than 164 outside of the 150 class discs. So getting 2 164 dx cheetahs would be a good start?

Edit 2: You say you throw 175 Rhynos? My wife picked up my Hydra one day and got the best rip I've ever seen her get with it. She likes the grip better than any other putter she's tried I think. I got her to try a FEW more times and she didn't quite hit it again, but I didn't keep pushing her with that disc because I thought it would be too heavy and overstable for her. Maybe that's not the case? I'll give her mine again next time we go out and let her use it for a whole round. Might get her a 160 ish Leo and let her have a go with those this week and see how things fare.

Yes, the first group the lower in the 160's you can find the better. A 164 cheetah should do nicely. Occasionally you can find a 161,162 or 163 out there, they are hard to find, but are worth the search. I love, love, love my 163 valk.

I have been throwing my 175 Rhyno for years. I throw an Aviar a lot these days, but still use my rhyno as my go to approach shot between 50-150 almost every time.

You said she didn't like the 150 leopard, right? She might like a 160 a lot better. I have never really thrown a 150 leopard more than a handful of times, but my 166 leopard is my go to fairway driver.

For drivers, I picked discs that do well at lower power requirements, the reason I went 150 on the teebird and eagle l is that they should still fly quit stable for her. The valk if you can get her to try it, should give her more glide and distance than anything she's probably ever thrown. I don't throw my 150 valk nearly as much as I used to, but it was the disc that showed me that girls can throw really far. I just feel like the combination of the glide and weight are good for a woman to really get it out far.

Also, almost all of my plastic I buy online. It is really rare that I can find a disc in the weight I want in a store near me.

[Crosseyed0811]

She LIKED the 150 leo, but when she was throwing it, it was the windy season around here so it didn't work out well. Would the Cheetah or Leopard be better from the start?

Also as to getting the plastic in the right weight, I have the luxury of being able to pick up discs from the Innova Warehouse here in Rock Hill, so I can get pretty much anything Innova I ever care to want.

[ashley]

She LIKED the 150 leo, but when she was throwing it, it was the windy season around here so it didn't work out well. Would the Cheetah or Leopard be better from the start?

Also as to getting the plastic in the right weight, I have the luxury of being able to pick up discs from the Innova Warehouse here in Rock Hill, so I can get pretty much anything Innova I ever care to want.

Oh I am so jealous here. Probably the cheetah, if I had to pick one or the other. How about you pick me up a pink star tl then, 162-164 would be awesome. I got my second ace with a star tl back in 2006, after owning the disc for about 4 months, and I was so sad. Sometimes I think about unretiring it, but I know I'd be mad at myself if I lost it.

[Crosseyed0811]

She LIKED the 150 leo, but when she was throwing it, it was the windy season around here so it didn't work out well. Would the Cheetah or Leopard be better from the start?

Also as to getting the plastic in the right weight, I have the luxury of being able to pick up discs from the Innova Warehouse here in Rock Hill, so I can get pretty much anything Innova I ever care to want.

Oh I am so jealous here. Probably the cheetah, if I had to pick one or the other. How about you pick me up a pink star tl then, 162-164 would be awesome. I got my second ace with a star tl back in 2006, after owning the disc for about 4 months, and I was so sad. Sometimes I think about unretiring it, but I know I'd be mad at myself if I lost it.

Discgolfunited.com is where I actually place the order, but they all come straight from the warehouse. And being in Rock Hill I just tell them I'll pick it up and they refund my shipping cost. If you order from there, put comments on the order and they will go out of their way to get you the disc you really want. You can put a comment like "Contact me via phone/email before packaging this disc" or whatever you may want to say... You may could even just find an email for them and ask about what's in stock before ordering. You would think you're bothering them but I've actually had them chase me out to my car to make sure the disc they gave me was what I really wanted.

http://www.discgolfunited.com/Store/product.cfm?prod_id=1073205196&prod_cat_id=85

I only see the weights listed down to 166 there, but that's not always an accurate reflection of what's in the warehouse.

[ashley]

I found a 162 star tl, not pink but it'll do. Also, I will be ordering a 166 cyclone and a 177 buzz. Can't wait to give them a throw.

[Crosseyed0811]

I have 2 Leo's at 162 ordered, they didnt have cheetah's lower than 165. I KNOW she likes the Leo grip and such and the weight seems a little more important to me on two molds this close, so I'll go with these first and make the change if needed.

Glad you found your TL! And thanks again for all your help. No worries though, I'll be back for more