Grip Issue

[Mike C]

I've noticed a problem with my grip when throwing wide rimmed discs for backhand D. This only seems to happen with DD's and Quasars and not with olfs or anything slower.

I use a normal four finger power grip and when I am about to release the disc I feel my pinky and ring finger loosen and quit supporting the disc as well as I'd like. I know when the disc rips out of my hand it comes off the middle and index finger but it feels like my other two fingers are slipping off just before the rip happens.

Any advice?

[JR]

Each finger needs to get out of the way of the rim eventually or you'd never fly the disc but could wreck the fingers. The question is are you losing grip power and disc pivot distance and do the fingers leave the disc too early. It is normal that wider wings reduce leverage with the fingers and the straighter the fingers are the less squeezing power they have. Fingers don't have muscles but the forearm muscles do the job and you can train for more power in many ways.

Do the outer sections of the pinky and the ring finger overextend? Or are the two fingers just losing grip power? There could be several reasons like injuries and subconscious protection automatically loosening the grip (my bane among many). Can you push the pinky and the index finger deeper into the disc? Are you using the modified power grip because that would make it easier to keep the index finger on the rim longer with the discs for which your finger length is enough. Uncompromised wing width for me is a Leopard. You measure this from the middle section of the index finger. Naturally people can have disproportionate sections in the fingers so it's ahem a rule of thumb. You could also try to grip a little or a lot tighter earlier. If that fails how about starting with a fan with the problem fingers "trigger pulling" with those fingers into the rim when the elbow shop starts or a little later?