If you're a new player struggling to get consistent distance out of your throws, then we're here to help!
As a new player myself just a few years ago, I understand your frustrations of trying to keep up with the more experienced players around you.
They're more accurate, they putt better, they have more discs, but especially when.........
they get more distance out of their putters than you do your drivers!
When you're out playing your next round or at your next practice session, here are 5 tips to help you learn
How To Throw Discs Farther!
These tips are in no specific order but will all aid you in your quest to squeeze more feet out of both your backhand and forehand throws.
Let's get started!
1. Try Different Discs
For tip number 1, I want you try as many different discs as you can whether it's what's in your bag or what you can borrow from a friend.
As a beginner, discs that are
Slower
Less Stable, and
Lighter
Will likely give you better results in terms of not just distance, but also accuracy.
The problem I see with many new players is that they try and throw discs that quite frankly, they're just not ready for.
For example, discs with a high speed rating and ones that are overstable will fade way too quickly for an inexperienced player with not much arm strength, causing distance to be sacrificed.
Because of this, some will suggest you avoid distance drivers all together at first and just stick with control/fairway drivers.
For increased distance, beginners should look for discs that are a bit slower, and stable to understable. If you must use an overstable disc, the less overstable the better.
Reason being, lack of speed with an overstable disc will make that disc fade quicker than you can imagine.
Lighter discs will also be preferred until arm strength improves as power is needed to throw them.
If you feel you need different discs to help you improve your distance, you can shop the top rated understable and stable drivers at Infinite Discs by clicking on the pictures below.
Keep in mind that control drivers will be better than distance drivers for beginners in terms of distance and accuracy. Remember this when purchasing!
If you're looking for specific discs that are good for beginners to throw far, consider these popular options!
Just simply click on any of the discs names or pictures to check them out at infinitediscs.com!
Flight Ratings: 8, 6, -3, 1
Flight Ratings: 9, 4, -2, 2
Flight Ratings: 9, 6, -3, 1
Flight Ratings: 9, 6, -3, 1
Flight Ratings: 8, 6, -2, 1
2. Work On Your Release Angle
A common mistake I see from new players (myself included), is throwing a backhand throw with too much hyzer on it, rather than flat.
Meaning for a right handed thrower, the right side of the disc is higher than the left side of the disc. The opposite holds true for a right-hander throwing a forehand throw.
Couple this scenario with a player throwing a disc that is too overstable, and it makes for a very short flight pattern with a high, arcing fade to the left.
An exception to this would be throwing an understable disc on a hyzer line allowing it to flip up to flat, glide far, and fade back to the left. This is known as a hyzer flip and is used by more experienced players to maximize distance but may be difficult for newer players to properly throw.
As you gain experience, you can begin trying different release angles and seeing how much hyzer/anhyzer you can get away with without compromising distance.
Depending on the shot, you may not lose much distance or accuracy by not using a flat release on your throw. These are typically known as flex shots and include throwing overstable discs on anhyzer lines and understable discs on hyzer lines.
All that being said:
For beginners in most scenarios, ensuring that you have a flat release angle will help the disc fly like it's designed and maximize your distance.
You can read about release angle in our article,
3. Don't Throw Too High
Keeping in line with improving your release angle to throw as flat as possible, you also don't want to release the disc too high.
This was probably the most difficult part of the throwing motion for me to improve on when first learning how to proficiently throw backhand.
I would pull the disc back straight across my chest, but as I pulled through, I would release way over shoulder height, with my front shoulder pointing upward rather than level.
Like having too much hyzer on a disc, releasing it too high will also make the disc fade too much too fast and ultimately, cause you to lose distance.
As you practice, make sure you keep your shoulders as level as possible when you release with that flat angle!
4. Do Not Round!
When you release the disc flat, and keep your shoulders level, perhaps nothing in your form will prevent achieving maximal distance more than.........rounding.
What is rounding?
Rounding occurs during the portion of the throw when the player is drawing the disc back across their chest in preparation to throw.
When throwing back hand with proper form, drawing the disc back as far as you can with a straight arm maximizes power. When done properly, the draw back should look like this:
Notice the straight arm without over rotation of the player's torso and upper body
Rounding however, is when instead of keeping the arm straight, the player has their arm bent, and tries to achieve more power by rounding their back and increasing torque of their upper body, which effectively kills their power.
In action, it looks like this, and it looks ugly:
Bent arm, shoulders starting to turn, back rounding out, two hands on the disc? Don't do this!
Rounding will shorten your maximum possible distance for several reasons.
First, by having the arm bent, you're shortening the distance and time you have to use to accelerate your arm speed. Imagine a baseball pitcher trying to throw as hard as he can.
Is he going to achieve more speed by reaching back as far as he can, or only half way? Same concept here.
With less speed you will achieve less whip upon release and therefore, generate less spin on the disc,.
This also changes the discs effectiveness to do what it is designed to do.
Rounding not only puts your body in a positional disadvantage, but it is also going to cause you to more likely release the disc at an unfavorable angle and height and with less consistency, as discussed earlier.
Bottom line, try to improve your form as much as possible and limit how much you round!
5. Use Your Whole Body!
Piggy backing off of number 4 is players who don't put all of their body into the throw.
Often times when I see players struggling to achieve max distance, they're trying to increase arm speed but neglect their hips and legs.
In rounding, you lose distance by putting yourself in a mechanical disadvantage when you shorten your reach back. When you don't properly use your legs you are doing the same thing.
It's difficult to increase arm speed when you're already throwing as hard as you can. So concentrate in engaging the hips and legs as much as possible to assist your arm and upper body.
This means getting the hips through quickly and with force.
It also means truly driving off your back leg and getting separation between your drive leg and plant leg. When done properly, it should be difficult for you to not fall forward after releasing the disc.
Watch videos of professional disc golfers compared to your own technique and you'll probably see the difference in how much power they are able to generate by driving off their back leg for max distance throws.
Practice! Practice! Practice!
Like anything in life, consistent practice will make you a better disc golf player, and here is how!
By practicing and playing regularly, you will begin to see gains in your arm strength as well as your core and other throwing muscles.
As your arm strength improves, you will be able to use discs with greater speed and glide that help you achieve the distances that you desire.
Practice allows you to fine tune your technique and find flaws that may be limiting you in achieving more distance.
With practice you will also learn what discs and types of discs in your bag allow you to throw the farthest in all situations and helps you shop for new discs with characteristics you know you throw far.
Referring back to numbers 2, and 3, the only way these areas improve is by repeated practice.
You will begin to notice that as your release angle and release height improves, those drive distances will start to improve as well.
Proper form is also ever crucial to being a great disc golf player. Once you begin to perfect it with practice, you will start to see that the speed of everything you do, such as your approach/X-step, will get faster and faster, and those throws in turn go further and further.
At your next practice session, experiment with everything you got! Change release angles, try release heights, try anything and see how it works.
Does it make you better? Does it make you worse?
Practice is the time and place to test all this stuff out and see what works for you in making you a better player, not when you're in a tournament and things are down to the wire!
And there you have it! Hopefully the next time you're are out, you can try out one of these tips and throw those discs farther than you ever have before!
Are you a beginner looking for some disc recommendations? Then click on the picture below to check out the top rated beginner discs at Infinitediscs.com!
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