Help with Overstable plastic

[MasterP97]

Just a little background....

I started playing disc golf last May '09 and had no teacher or someone to point me in the correct direction. This usually spells disaster for the noob and it did for me. I started out throwing whatever I thought looked cool or sounded awesome. I bought drivers I wasn't capable of throwing yet and learned bad habits.

After educating myself through the interwebz I've learned the error of my ways. I then retooled my game and tried to unlearn my bad habits. Now I predominantly throw Gazelles, Teebirds, Comets, and putters. I ended up buying 5-10 of these discs to throw over and over in a field shaping lines. I feel like I have a good grasp on these discs and that my form has improved. I can throw a Comet ~330+ and a Gazelles ~380+ with several over 400'. I figured after getting consistent with these discs I'd be able to graduate to the faster discs and throw them well....wrong. I need help or someone to explain to me what changed. I guess videos of me throwing would help you help me...I should be posting some stuff on Youtube soon for you all to see.

I figured that I'm not the only person who has faced this issue before and I wanted some input from those that have had experience with this dilemma.

 

[Star Shark]

Faster discs are much more nose angle sensitive than the discs you're throwing. This is the only issue I can think of you having. If you're getting gazelles 380-400 you've got plenty of speed and snap, so it has to be nose angle.

 

[jubuttib]

What exactly happens when you throw faster overstable discs now?

 

[MasterP97]

I get some serious hyzer action going on. Sometimes I can't tell if I'm releasing with the same hyzer angle that I do with my Comets and Gazelles.

Thinking about it now, I might be throwing them a tad high or my weight isn't over the disc upon release. I've noticed that the Gazelles and Comets are a lot more forgiving when it come to things like this. I've gotten used to throwing these two discs a lot higher to give them room to fly for distance. Maybe I'll just have to throw the same overstable discs to get used to them, I just don't want to lose my touch for the Comet and Gazelle by doing this.

 

[bcsst26]

What discs are you throwing? If you are releasing hyzer or throwing them like a comet then I would expect them to hyzer out. Have you tried to throw them flat or anhyzer? What happens then?

 

[Ricker112]

You may be trying to "over throw" the discs. I've noticed that when I switch to a faster disc I have the tendency to try and grip hard and throw hard which in turn tenses (sp?) the muscles in my shoulder. I correct this by griping the disc and hanging my arm by my side and shaking it until it's loose. Then throw. Just my 2 cents.

 

[MasterP97]

I think that I've gotten so used to throwing understable plastic that I forgot how to throw something more stable. I've been playing with some discs that are more stable than those in my bag and have had better results.

 

[Monocacy]

Sounds like you are figuring it out. I am working through a similar issue (with less distance), and the problem is usually some combination of nose angle, weight forward, and excessive hyzer. Are you throwing fast, overstable discs (Boss, Destroyer, etc.) or slow overstable discs (Banshee, Whippet, etc.)?

 

[craftsman]

Are you sure you're throwing that far?

 

[MasterP97]

I'm sure that I'm throwing that far as I've measured using a football field and a fairly expensive range finder my dad uses for hunting. Just Monday I figured out something in my threw that instantly added distance and I've been throwing stable/overstable plastic just fine. I just needed to go out and throw them again and get my groove back.

I was only throwing understable to slightly stable plastic for so long I just forgot how to throw overstable plastic. To be truthful, I never threw overstable plastic correctly as I always torqued them over. I think my muscle memory just took over from throwing Gazelles and Comets and I was throwing much more stable plastic with the same hyzer angle instead of releasing at a more parallel plane with the ground. Anyway, things are good and looking up and I appreciate all your input on the topic.

Cheers!

 

[krik72]

I think there is a big transition from throwing hyzer flip flat nose down with a nice slow disc to starting to release on a much flatter hyzer or flat release and still keeping the nice nose down flight path. Glad it worked out for you!

 

[MasterP97]

That was the trick and the hard time I was having...going from understable hyzer-flip to stable and releasing flat while keeping the nose down.