giving up on drives

[treethacker]

How do you deal with realizing that you will never have a good drive? My drives are about 230ft if I am real lucky and I have come to the conclusion that that is as far as they will ever be. I have tried everything from the silly "X" step to the goofy forehand and usually end up with sore ankles,knees,hips etc and a nice big helping of discouragement. What makes it worse is that I really love this game and want so bad to play really well but it just isn't there. Whatever "it" is for a good drive I don't have it and probably never will.
So my question goes out for those who are in my shoes...How do you deal with trying to play with others who's drives are 300ft or more and you know you ain't never gonna make that kinda distance.
I have been working on my putting to compensate for my God awful drives hoping that will help. My putting has become pretty good.
My question is for those whose drives suck. How did you finally come to terms with it and let it go?
And for those of you who can drive a quarter of a mile,great! But if those of us who can't drive it that far are on your team how about a little patience?
We love playing just as much as you.

 

[discflinger]

All I can say is to stick with the X- step and power grip until they feel second nature and wait for something to click.

 

[DannyM]

Well I really don't think my drives SUCK...but I'm NOT a long-arm thrower. Occaisonally I will put a 300' drive out there, but not consistantly. But yet I can still keep up with some of the better players. The trick is to have a good all-around game. Approaches and putts are JUST as important, approach shots can mean all the world to your game. Does that mean on giving up trying to better your drives?. Absolutely not. But going and working on your "short" game and making THAT your strength, is not a bad option. If you consistanly put your drives say 200' on a 300' hole. Practice where you usually land at and try and put it at the basket from there. As I said on another thread, if you can be precise, a lot of times you can be right with the long arm guys unless you play wide open ball golf type holes all day. What good does throwing 400' do you if the fairway is only a few feet wide and you can't control the disc???

 

[ptsawyer]

I can relate.

I have 2 friends that throw 330-360 off the tee. I throw about 220-240consistently, 280 if i SMASH one. However, they dont always beat me. Here is some advice.

1. Work on your drives to max out your potential. You need to go to a field, and throw drives for an hour or two. You can get 40-50 drives in, that is several rounds worth. Dont worry about being the longest driver, just make sure you are driving as far as YOU can. Try to spend equal time practicing and playing rounds.

2. Master the upshot and putting. I can consistently shoot under 60 at all but the longest courses, because my upshot game is very good. I rarely have to putt, because I can park my second shot under the basket very often. That is the biggest key to my low scores.

3. Excel at course management. All the distance in the world cant help if you make dumb choices on the course. Play tough holes to get 3, go for 2s on the easy ones. Make it a point to play safe, and try to never take a 5 on anything but the longest holes.

4. Have lots of shots in your bag. Be able to make the disc curve left, curve right, throw high hyzer shots, low tunnel shots, etc. The more options you have that you can do consistently, the more options you will have. Your goal on all but the shortest or longest holes should be to park it under the basket in 2 shots. If you can do that, you will fill you scorecard with lots of 3s (with an occasional 4 or 2) and you will be shooting in the 50s for 18 holes. There are a lot of disc golfers that cant shoot that.


Remember, its golf, not discus. Focus on accuracy 1st, then putting, then course management, then distance.

Here is a concrete example: My "home course" is Carter Park in Bowling Green, OH. The first hole is an open field dead flat, 375 feet. My drive is usually 240 feet (+-25 ft) but it is always very straight down the middle. My buddies throw around 300 (+- 60 ft) but they tend to miss more to the right or left. On the second shot, Very often I throw my trusty Shark and park it 2 feet from the pole. Often times, I am closest to the pin after 2 shots.

Distance will take strokes off your game, no question. But there are a lot of other ways to improve as well. Focus on maximizing your strengths as well as minimizing you weaknesses.

Good luck, hope that helps.

 

[Texconsinite]

Something will click

I dont know how or when, but if you focus on perfecting one piece of your drive, somethign will eventually click. I used to have no backhand, but now i just focus on one thing, the speed at the moment of release. X step, all that other stuff, im not there yet, I dont even try to do it, but I know someday I will be there, and Ill incorporate it. Now, i drive almost 300 with my backhand. just be patient, and dont try to force it, and eventually, something will just click. It may add 15 ft to your drive, it may add 50.

You dotn have to drive 400+ ft to be good. The top pro in the UK, I believe his first name is Dell, doesnt drvie very far, but is super-accurate. He gets first in every tournament on the island. Thread those gaps, and park it. Distance isnt everything, so until and if it happens, work on accuracy and consistency. Have fun!!

 

[magictenor1]

Acurracy is more important than distance on most courses. I don't throw very long but I usually know where my disc will end up. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. I would not give up on getting longer but I would not let it consume me and I would work on getting better in all phases of your game.

 

[jgentry]

As mentioned above, driving is not everything. I've played with a couple people that only throw around 300ft that consistently outscore me. But, if you are only throwing 220-250 something is wrong with your technique. Pretty much anyone that is heathly can throw 350 with the proper technique no matter how strong or weak you are. You mentioned you tried silly X steps and such. The X step is a vitale part of gaining distance along with grip, spin, release, and follow through. No one simply grabs a disc and can instantly do an X step and bomb in 500ft. You have to spend hours working on each part of the throwing motion.

You need to learn the X step and watch pro players from there run up to the follow through and try to mimic there techniques. If you are having trouble with one part find a good player and ask them to help you. Most are more then willing to help you out. But you have to put in the practice to learn every part of a drive.

 

[JR Stengele]

It is all about the second shot!

 

[nosajeel99]

It is all about the second shot!

My friends and I used to say, "It's all about recovery." which I think falls in this category. I think being able to put your second shot close to the basket from anywhere is a better asset than throwing one 300+'. Throwing farther may help sometimes, but not all the time. Accuracy is something you need all the time.

 

[RustyP]

Maybe this isnt' the reply you're looking for, but you should try hooking up with a pro from your area, or at least the best driver in your area, and have him or her watch you drive and analyze it. OR, take some footage of your drive and post it on the DiscGolfReview.com Video Critique Forum. I can personally say that the knowledge of Blake T and others at DiscGolfReview helped my game a TON!

 

[iDisc]

some of my longest drives have been effortless. my max drive is around 300' but i have put some 350 ft drives out there that everything just clicked with little or no effort.

i adjusted my x-step and practiced it with my drives so i took roughly the same distance in my steps each time. i also seem to get more distance with faster discs. some people get max distance with speed 9ish discs but i get the max distance with speed 11s and 12s,

 

[gcoghill]

I can tell you that I used to be in your shoes a few months ago. I have been playing casually for 6 years and got a bit more serious in the past two. I always thought I was "decent" (with nothing to really gauge myself).

I met some players this year that were new to the sport, and I mean 2 months new. I played some rounds with each of them and they were consistently out-driving me. It was really frustrating, believe me. My accuracy and my putting was better than them, but I was just blown away that someone who never used these types of discs before could out-throw my drives.

Anyways, I made it a point to make some changes, and these forums helped out a lot. I was like you, throwing in the 200-250 ft range for the most part. I discovered that I was using a mid-range grip on the disc (the "Fan Grip"). I had heard about the "Power Grip" before but it seemed so alien that I never tried it. In fact I couldn't imagine how you could actually throw a disc, holding it in that fashion.

Well, as other posts here have mentioned doing, I went out and spent a whole day practicing the Power Grip. To my surprise, in about 45 mins. I understood it. I wasn't great at it, but I knew what was supposed to happen. I have stuck with it since, and saw my drives immediately jump to 275 - 325 ft. (more towards the lower end).

What I also discovered (after purchasing a LOT of discs since then) was that the discs will also play a part. Most of the drivers I use right now are either neutral or slightly overstable. These are drivers right above the midrange/approach discs, nothing at the top end. The top end discs require too much power which I currently do not have.

In the past I never understood why the stable long-range drivers still turned hard left; once I got the Power Grip down, it made sense. the PG puts so much more spin on the disc that you need the left-pull to balance it out. I used to throw those drivers with the Fan Grip, and they just veered hard left on me.

Also, try lighter discs as well. I picked up a Surge 150 driver (much less overstable than the full-weight Surge discs) and it has become "the disc" for me. Less power needed and has lots of glide, it's already adding a few extra feet to my drive in the week since I snagged it.

Believe me, I thought I was stuck at 215, just like you. Maybe it's not the Power Grip, but there's something in your technique that needs changed. Perhaps the discs as well, maybe you can mention what you're throwing and we can help out.

And the same snap from the Power Grip can be applied to a sidearm throw as well.

 

[gcoghill]

The Mastery Curve

On a side note, I just finished read the book Mastery by George Leonard. He's an author and Akido martial arts instructor.

One of the first things he discusses in the book is how learning a new skill has this pattern:

Relatively brief spurts of progress followed by a slight decline to a plateau somewhat higher in most cases than that which proceeded it.

I found this fascinating when I first heard this (before reading the book) because it seemed to be so true when I thought about it, whether it was learning the guitar, teaching myself new graphics software or improving my disc golf game. Just knowing about this pattern can prepare you for the fact that if you do improve your skills, you can expect a slight decline and then stasis for quite some time until the next spurt.

You may be in a 'plateau phase' right now, and perhaps don't even realize you had a recent breakthough in your game in the recent past.

The book has some other good stuff in it, but the above concept just in itself is enough.

 

[mike_riewer]

Its all about the second shot...Nuff said

 

[dangitboy]

It is all about the second shot!

Yeah!.....The PUTT for BIRDIE!!

 

[dangitboy]

My friends and I used to say, "It's all about recovery." which I think falls in this category. I think being able to put your second shot close to the basket from anywhere is a better asset than throwing one 300+'. Throwing farther may help sometimes, but not all the time. Accuracy is something you need all the time.

Is this is what the am players say to each other? If you are always recovering an errant shot then you need to get in a field and work on your timing.

Screw those birdies.....GIVE ME A PAR!!!

 

[DirtyMittenDG]

some people just cant throw very far, ive been playing for about 5 years and I can only throw around 350 on a PERFECT throw. Practice your mid-range, play some heavily wooded courses where you dont have to throw down a 500ft. open fairway, master threading the needle, then take your power throwing friends to a tech course and watch them cry about every tree, lol, thats what I did!! I personally dont even find open courses fun, if I want to throw a disc as far as I can I'll go to a random field and bomb some discs, wooded courses add extra challenges like deciding what path to take or what tree is where, instead of just hoping your discus throw will go as planned! Plus ace opportunities are never a bad thing

 

[brokenfixed]

Maybe Im alone here but I like sucking at this game. I think it'd be boring if I could throw each hole in 2 shots. I love ending up in the bushes throwing from no mans land. And I think that if I was throwing 300' consistantly every single time....the throws would be meaningless. Dont get me wrong, I love progression and I think its pointless to do something for 10 years and have nothing to show for it.

If it was easy then it would be NO FUN!

The bigger problem here is your insecurity around better players. Youre not playing for THEM youre playing for yourself. Be content with who you are. You can quit your job and spend everyday practicing....eat, sleep, and shit disc golf...lift weights, run on a treadmill, be all you can be, and be THE BEST PLAYER IN YOUR TOWN!!!





its just a game dude...haha

 

[Donovan]

1 quick point to make here:

An approach shot from 100 ft is a whole lot easier than from 200 ft.

I would love to add 100 ft to my drive to make this so!

 

[Camgolfer]

Ptsawyer has some great advice I will use next time I am out playing!