Getting back into the sport...

[the.penick]

I'm in need of advice - i stopped playing for a long time and am now getting back into dg; after getting back into things i'm throwing right around 300 at best with ~160g understable distance drivers - but i have a variety and am having trouble calibrating my drives and really just figuring out what i need to be throwing. i have a 150g valk that does pretty well for me and a leopard of the same weight that does pretty well; i've got a roadrunner @ ~165g that goes in the same sort of distance. The other variable here is the s-turn which i'm only getting on the lighter discs.

anyways, i know that's a lot but i'm just trying to improve distance and figure out what the heck i need to be throwing.

 

[armiller]

Best advice I can give: don't blame the disc. It looks like your discs aren't bad for a beginner. If anything, you might even try something a step up in "stability," maybe a Teebird (still not real high speed, but very straight before it fades, as opposed to being understable like a Leopard). Along those lines, what plastics are your valk and leo?

I'd recommend checking out the form section of DGCR for educational videos and drills. Don't give up easy. You won't be the first player who returned to disc golf to find that they still needed lots of work on form, or at least still had lots of room for improvement. I still don't get many of the drills over there, but they help get some of the concepts in building a powerful throw. (weight shift, open/closed hips, etc. and even grip)

Also, film your throw. If you want, you can post it for review on here. But more importantly, look at it yourself. A throw is a quick motion, so sometimes things can be out of sequence (e.g. releasing disc before planting foot, opening hips too early). You don't always feel those things until you see them on camera.

 

[mrtho]

You throw further than me (getting to about 250-275 max) but similar enough on performance. I'll share my bag which is mostly prodigy but will give what I think is close on Innova

Driver's
F5 168g this is my max distance and is ok for a decent Headwind think it is similar to a Valkirie

F7 168g old distance driver used for slight shorter shots don't wanna throw this the wind unless you are looking for an S turn in light wind.

F7 158g about the same distance as above but more of an S-turn don't throw at the wind EVER

The F7 is close to a Leopard and I have a 150 Leopard for turnover shots (I can't flick)

F3 172g (Tee bird?) Or F2 (Bit slower and more OS than the Tee-bird) For when throwing other discs in the wind would be a bad thing or when I need some fade.

Mids
M4 172g pretty close to a Mako3 (I have a Mako3 in 180g for a bulldozer) both are your basic laser beam.

I actually power down a F1 (comically overstable) for an OS mid but really I think a Rock would serve most people.

Then my putter and only you know what you like to putt with.

Really want an A1 (Wizard but more OS) for shorter Approaches or to replace my F1 on mid-range approaches but really that is the only holes I have in my bag.

 

[zontar]

Leopard is your friend

 

[the.penick]

Along those lines, what plastics are your valk and leo?

Both of those are star plastic.

 

[armiller]

Both of those are star plastic.

I think those are both good ones to work with. They can be kinda overstable in Star (or Champion), so just keep hitting trees and working on form. Keep working on getting a useful S-curve with the Leopard.

Another thing I forgot is, just keep practicing. On the one hand, there's the form stuff, and that's important. On the other hand, there's consistency. If you have 300' consistent, controlled distance, you'll do fine against lots of folks. Then you'll be confident on water shots, wooded lines, etc.

 

[slowplastic]

It's pretty common to be stuck 280-310' range with any and all drivers. This is a technique barrier, often from not having the elbow forward enough so you get the elbow/wrist sling thing happening with the disc. Often players have the arm pinned to their chest too much so the whole arm swings around their body slowly. Lots of other form factors too. But it's not going to be a disc choice to get you consistently over 300', it's a form thing...video, technique section, etc. The Valk and Roadrunner are great discs for you at this point, so keep on throwing those. Also make sure you are gripping the disc in a nose down orientation.

 

[armiller]

For the OP, I often feel like guys like HyzerUnibomber, sidewinder22, and slowplastic are speaking Greek when it comes to form. slowplastic is maybe the easiest for me to understand, likely because he has made this "form journey" more recently than the other guys.

... technique barrier, often from not having the elbow forward enough so you get the elbow/wrist sling thing happening with the disc. Often players have the arm pinned to their chest too much so the whole arm swings around their body slowly. Lots of other form factors too. ...

As always, good advice. Let me try to translate what this meant for me, or how it helped me practically. For me, the way I improved this a bit was by focusing on getting the disc to my right pec. (This helped me stop "hugging myself" as sidewinder22 often talks about and as slowplastic describes above.)

The thing about a disc golf drive is that it happens fast, or at least just a little bit too fast for you to think about each component of the throw. So you kind of have to work on each item at a time (e.g. X-step or even just 1-step, driving the hip, and swinging the disc), building each item into your motion, but probably only thinking about one of them while you're throwing. Yes, "slow is smooth," but you're still moving fast enough that the motions need to be muscle memory, not conscious choices.

On a side note, this is also why it's good to film yourself. You often focus on something (a lot of new throwers like to focus on reachback, for example), and it kind of feels okay, but when you watch your own video you'll see you're not doing what you think you're doing.

Personally, I still have tons of room for improvement. But at the same time, I've made some good strides so that I can consistently get a Teebird over 330' and can throw the occasional 400' backhand drive on a good golf line.

 

[Enforcerj027]

There is some great advice here already. You may want to consider actually using a slower speed mid to find your correct technique, the one that works for you. A Buzzz or Roc are great ways to get that extra distance by forcing your technique to better itself.
I started out with a dragon and immediately bought a DX destroyer because I liked the stamp. I thought it was pretty cool till I noticed guys throwing buzzzs twice as far as I was getting my big bad destroyer. After talking with them a bit they helped me with my technique and I picked up a buzzz of my own and realized just how much movement I was wasting basically trying to push my disc down the course instead of throwing it.
That's just my 2 cents. Welcome back to the game.