Pulling out a Star Teebird... Just north of 400'
Pulling out a Champ Valk... Just north of 400'
Pulling out a Star Sidewinder... Just north of 400'
Pulling out a DX Archangel... Just north of 400'
Pulling out a DX Wraith... Just north of 400'

You name it... I'm stuck at a plateau. All of the guys I know that throw for distance seem to be able to pull some bread-n-butter disc (Wraith, Surge, Teerex, Valk, whatever...) and just pop off an absolute bomb over all of their other discs, yet I can't seem to get any disc to fly further than the others, can't find anything...

Is there something that most players tend to do with their superhighspeeddistanceWHOABABYbomber discs that gets them mega distance? Is it a matter of needing more arm speed to realize the potential of those high speed flyers?

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y229/ChrisWoj/July%209%20-%20MidNats/IMG_1763.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y229/ChrisWoj/July%209%20-%20MidNats/IMG_0062.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y229/ChrisWoj/July%209%20-%20MidNats/IMG_0048.jpg

Here are three photos showing my form... I don't think anything is *majorly* off, y'know? So I can't figure out what I'm missing to really take advantage of all these new high speed drivers everyone else seems able to really put out huge distance with... arm speed? Power through the legs? Am I totally missing something thats wrong with my form?

last thing I can think of to say... I use a two finger grip for distance drives.

last thing I can think of to say... I use a two finger grip for distance drives.


What happens when you go with a 3 or 4 fingered grip? The disc must rip from your grip - and using more fingers might mean more power being transferred...maybe more spin, too.
.02

Pulling out a Star Teebird... Just north of 400'
Pulling out a Champ Valk... Just north of 400'
Pulling out a Star Sidewinder... Just north of 400'
Pulling out a DX Archangel... Just north of 400'
Pulling out a DX Wraith... Just north of 400'




Are all these discs the same weight? That might have something to do with it. There is no way a 175g Star Teebird is going to fly as far as a 175g DX Wraith if you are throwing them the same. I think you need to get away from that 2 fingered grip as well, it's probably hurting you on distance especially with the newer discs with large rims, ie. Wriath, Tee Rex, even a Beast or Starfire. Try a fan grip or a power grip instead.

I was in the same situation as you about 5 months ago. You look like you have the same problem I did. GET MORE WEIGHT FORWARD! Thats what BlakeT told me, now that I am getting more weight forward, my rotation has gotten more explosive and I am throwing, on average, 30-40 ft farther, with better accuracy. It also helped my midrange game alot. I can't throw Wraiths because my hands are too small, but I am pumping Teebirds well past 400ft, and Preds/Tsunamis to 450ft+ (as long as I get the nose down).

I would say 2 things:
1) I agree with donkey, a tad more weight moving forward, or momentum(?) during the whip through and finish.

I was going to say something else, but I have a question first-- Chris, what's your choice midrange, and how far do you throw it with max D?

Bend your knees.

Pulling out a Star Teebird... Just north of 400'
Pulling out a Champ Valk... Just north of 400'
Pulling out a Star Sidewinder... Just north of 400'
Pulling out a DX Archangel... Just north of 400'
Pulling out a DX Wraith... Just north of 400'




Are all these discs the same weight? That might have something to do with it. There is no way a 175g Star Teebird is going to fly as far as a 175g DX Wraith if you are throwing them the same. I think you need to get away from that 2 fingered grip as well, it's probably hurting you on distance especially with the newer discs with large rims, ie. Wriath, Tee Rex, even a Beast or Starfire. Try a fan grip or a power grip instead.


I actually throw very little max weight plastic... the Teebird weight of choice is 172g and the Wraith weight of choice is 169g...


-Chris.

I would say 2 things:
1) I agree with donkey, a tad more weight moving forward, or momentum(?) during the whip through and finish.

I was going to say something else, but I have a question first-- Chris, what's your choice midrange, and how far do you throw it with max D?


My midrange of choice is the flat DX Roc (the ones with the lil full color stamp in the middle that makes them super flat)... and I can get them to 300' with a good pull.

four things:

1) have you tried adjusting the line of your throw when trying to throw farther? a 500' throw looks VERY different from a 400' throw. a 430' throw looks very similar to a 400' throw... but beyond that, the lines really tend to change.

2) what kind of focus are you using when trying to go farther? aim and intent have a lot to do with pushing the disc out there longer. a good drill for this would be to find a baseball field with a ~400-410' fence and attempt to throw OVER the fence (generally requires a ~430+' throw).

3) unless you have extremely strong hands/fingers, your grip is likely sacrificing somewhere in the realm of 5-10% distance.

4) if 1, 2, and 3 are sound, then it is timing and power focus.

I agree with what Blake has to say 100%. The first thing that helped me get more distance was changing my grip to the 4 finger power grip. Second, I altered my lines (Thanks to Blake's article in Disc Golf Magazine), and started throwing higher with more under-stable discs. Oh, about two years ago I discovered a school by my house with a parking lot, soccer field, 7 foot fence in that order. I would stand at the edge of the parking lot and try to hit the fence 410' away. It took my a year before I threw over it, and now I stand a 100 feet back in the parking lot and can consistently hit it.

Earlier this summer I was tapping out at about 500' and desperately wanted to increase that. Similarly, I was throwing my tee-birds, orcs, wraiths, and tee-rexes about the same D. But since I have altered the height and stability of my discs, I was able to set my PR a few weeks ago at 537' with a Star Tee-Rex.

I haven't seen your full throw in motion, but this is what I can tell from the photo: your back foot seems to leave the ground early. The back foot allows the transference of back-up mass to be channeled into your throw (if you ever talk to a boxer they will tell you the back foot is critical for power punching) and I find the same to be true in Disc Golf.

Hope it helps,

Dion

Yes, listen to Dion! He threw a few over 500ft that weekend (measured with a laser range finder on flat land w. no wind).

Pulling out a Star Teebird... Just north of 400'
Pulling out a Champ Valk... Just north of 400'
Pulling out a Star Sidewinder... Just north of 400'
Pulling out a DX Archangel... Just north of 400'
Pulling out a DX Wraith... Just north of 400'




Are all these discs the same weight? That might have something to do with it. There is no way a 175g Star Teebird is going to fly as far as a 175g DX Wraith if you are throwing them the same. I think you need to get away from that 2 fingered grip as well, it's probably hurting you on distance especially with the newer discs with large rims, ie. Wriath, Tee Rex, even a Beast or Starfire. Try a fan grip or a power grip instead.



The farthest thrower I know throws with a modified two-finger pinch. :D

How far did that kid throw the Aerobee ?

Two things from your pictures. I hope this is still valid, but I think Climo talked about finishing with your palm pointing to the sky at the end of your throw. Your first picture shows the back of your hand to the sky. Not sure why, but it helps for me. Rotate your hand over at the end and you may see some more distance. Other thing is you really need to make sure you are getting back as far as you can on the "backstroke". If the hole is at 12 o'clock, you need your disc at 6 o'clock. Don't curl around your body. You lose speed because you have to uncoil and then get back to the line to the basket. Also, when I'm practicing, I think about punching the disc backwards towards 6 o'clock. This gets my shoulders turned and hips in the right position.
I also agree with the post about changing your lines, height and stability for longer throws. Some of the longest drives are the good ol' s-curve.
Good luck.
JT

Click, click, back, back.

O.k., if I was throwing 400 playing the courses you are playing with your rating, I'd be working on my accuracy, putting, and course management skills. You don't need to worry about 450 for another 50 ratings points or so. Distance clearly is not your main issue.

Change your grip to a four finger power grip...it's imperative to increasing distance. Also, the photos you posted don't so your "reach back"...how far are you going back. A simple way to increase distance is to increase shoulder turn....don't think about reaching back...think about turning your shoulders away from the target.

Change your grip to a four finger power grip...it's imperative to increasing distance. Also, the photos you posted don't so your "reach back"...how far are you going back. A simple way to increase distance is to increase shoulder turn....don't think about reaching back...think about turning your shoulders away from the target.


I didn't realize this thread was still alive... wow... and as for what you said, jon, I actually started doing this earlier this month and it really made a difference. I've noticed my accurate distance (on a low straight line with a slight hyzerflip barely over to anhyzer before fading) has jumped out to 415 feet, and in an open field throwing long s-curves I can pull almost 445ish.

Ah, and Bruce... look not at my rating, but the rating of my rounds played since the start of the summer. Although I am still marred by the occasional inconsistent round, I've been playing semi-consistently at a 945-965 level all summer. I'm not the thrower you saw at TADGA events in the winter (if you saw me at all! lol... where've you been!? TADGA misses the Brakels! We've had a solid women's division all summer Kelsey could check out!!!)

Pulling out a Star Teebird... Just north of 400'
Pulling out a Champ Valk... Just north of 400'
Pulling out a Star Sidewinder... Just north of 400'
Pulling out a DX Archangel... Just north of 400'
Pulling out a DX Wraith... Just north of 400'

You name it... I'm stuck at a plateau. All of the guys I know that throw for distance seem to be able to pull some bread-n-butter disc (Wraith, Surge, Teerex, Valk, whatever...) and just pop off an absolute bomb over all of their other discs, yet I can't seem to get any disc to fly further than the others, can't find anything...

Is there something that most players tend to do with their superhighspeeddistanceWHOABABYbomber discs that gets them mega distance? Is it a matter of needing more arm speed to realize the potential of those high speed flyers?

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y229/ChrisWoj/July%209%20-%20MidNats/IMG_1763.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y229/ChrisWoj/July%209%20-%20MidNats/IMG_0062.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y229/ChrisWoj/July%209%20-%20MidNats/IMG_0048.jpg

Here are three photos showing my form... I don't think anything is *majorly* off, y'know? So I can't figure out what I'm missing to really take advantage of all these new high speed drivers everyone else seems able to really put out huge distance with... arm speed? Power through the legs? Am I totally missing something thats wrong with my form?

last thing I can think of to say... I use a two finger grip for distance drives.



I'm sure this has already been mentioned, but 2 fingers just isnt going to cut it for distance.

Get an inferno and I gaurantee it will be your longest flying disc or Ill give you your money back!

I did not mean that in a bad way. I just meant that once you have 400 feet, everything else is much more important than 50 more feet. 50 more feet might cost you as many throws as it saves you, if you are in the lake 50 feet past the basket you could barely reach before, but accuracy and putting will always improve your score.

We've been helping with running a tournament series in Illinois, so on off-weekends sometimes we play a tournament but we also like to play family golf, cut the lawn, make jam, etc.

I did not mean that in a bad way. I just meant that once you have 400 feet, everything else is much more important than 50 more feet. 50 more feet might cost you as many throws as it saves you, if you are in the lake 50 feet past the basket you could barely reach before, but accuracy and putting will always improve your score.

We've been helping with running a tournament series in Illinois, so on off-weekends sometimes we play a tournament but we also like to play family golf, cut the lawn, make jam, etc.


See, after playing long courses in Wisconsin I've learned that being able to throw 450 means being able to place shots far more accurately at 400. Holes of 405 and 410 that used to require me throwing it as hard as I possibly could and risk shanking miserably now require an accurate line drive shot.

The increase in distance has made me more accurate over shorter distances, turning 370 foot shots from my max accurate distance into expected deuces.

Plus you're assuming I don't spend over an hour a day on my putting... Believe me, if I were having trouble with my putting lately I'd be asking about that :) I'll be here asking about that once I decide I'm ready to try mastering jump putts from 75-100 feet.

He does have a point. Once you have the additional distance, it opens up options in throwing holes you could barely reach before. Now that you aren't trying to get absolute max distance, you can burn off a little distance with a bigger higher hyzer line, or slide around that tree with a big sweeping S. An additional 50' max D makes a lot of difference on shots that used to be max D.

Chris-

I keep seeing your left arm dangling at your side and not actively involved in the throw. If you look at video of top players who can really throw far, their "off" arms are often much higher and almost "chasing" the disc as it leaves their throwing hands.

To me, this helps to bring your body through the throw more completely and allows the big muscles to do more work. It is this follow through that allows all the power you generate in the back part of your throw to be transferred to your disc in the throw.

Blake's site at www.discgolfreview.com (http://www.discgolfreview.com) has great little video clips of the top players' throwing for distance. Brinster, Climo, Micah Dorius and Feldberg are all great examples to look at.

-Dave

Thats odd because I've always heard that you were supposed to keep your off arm down and at your side when you throw, something about rotation speed?? I'm not sure the exact reasoning, but I started doing that because it was what I was always told to do.

It has been discussed that the off arm can interfere with quick rotation if it gets out away from the center of the turn. I don't have an opinion either way.

Some good players start with their off arm out, they bring it in as they are rotating, and extend it out after the throw. They use it like a skater uses her arms to spin and stop the spin.

Some good players start with their off arm out, they bring it in as they are rotating, and extend it out after the throw. They use it like a skater uses her arms to spin and stop the spin.



Agreeable. I was working on driving with a friend yesterday, and I realized that I throw my left shoulder forward and it swings around after release. I think it adds power. I start my run-up with a loose hanging left arm.

http://www.porey.com/MVI_0323.AVI
This video has me driving. I'm the third person throwing. This is the form that is presently getting me 400-415 feet accurate and is getting me 430-450 on all out hucks.

Suggestions?


EDIT: note, the disc used was a 171g, near new, Star Wraith.

Note: that movie is 58 MEGABYTES!!!!!

i would say come have your arm come tighter to your body and youll create more power

Blake's site at www.discgolfreview.com (http://www.discgolfreview.com) has great little video clips of the top players' throwing for distance. Brinster, Climo, Micah Dorius and Feldberg are all great examples to look at.




wow! Micah and distance in the same paragraph!

Gomez, Blake should take pictures of you, they don't have any Filipino footage. Plus you throw the biggest D in 6|9

wow! Micah and distance in the same paragraph!



DOH!! :eek:
:D

Note: that movie is 58 MEGABYTES!!!!!


Sorry, I forget some people don't have high speed ;) I felt the quality was necessary in order to see the flight path I got from that particular form, in addition to the form itself.

Gomez, Blake should take pictures of you, they don't have any Filipino footage. Plus you throw the biggest D in 6|9



I am Mexican.

Oh yeah, and I'm Chinese...不要是同性戀的。

i have been trying to get more acurate distance and switched from a 3 finger power grip to a 4 finger. also have been trying to extend my reach back. i find that i am pulling things right. any suggestions on what might help me adjust this while i work through it?

The fact that you are pulling right is probably due to your increased grip on the disc as well as your pulling back further. I would recommend practicing your motion as smoothly as possible at about half speed. Dont worry about the flight of the disc... at a slower speed, it will inevitably fade faster. Instead focus on release point and the angle of the disc at release and immediately after. Then after a few reps, slowly start increasing the amount of energy you put into your throws until you get to a full power throw. Again, focus on pulling smoothly all the while. Im sure that you'll find that your drives have straightened themselves out. Of course only weeks/months of practice will really get you to where you want to go.

Just speaking from my own limited experience! :p

-Brandon

I've found that standing just over a foot away from a wall (facing it) and practicing your pull through helps. The idea is to keep the disc the same distance away from the wall through the whole motion.