How to skip shot?

[Meillo]

Hoi,

what are the essentials to achieve big skips, i.e. ones that are able to skip into baskets.

Using a wid-rim overstable disc is what I heard everywhere, but what about throwing technique? Nose up or nose down? Probably with hyzer, but big or low? ...

Besides the shot that skips at the end of the flight during the fade to the left, I also care for the short skip shot straight at the basket (flightwise much like an air-bounce but with floor contact).

I'd like to have some fun practicing such shots, but want to have some clues before I start experimenting.

 

[slowplastic]

Overstable, and reasonably fast/wide rim. Something like the typical speed 9 OS driver like Firebird class is a good start. If you get to the super fast speed 14's with sharp rims then they can dig in sometimes, a little bit blunter nose is slightly more forgiving to always skip. That being said those OS speed 14's skip like mad when they do.

Number 1 is the disc needs to be going fast enough when it contacts the ground that it wants to fly at least as far as you're hoping it to skip to. Say that there's a corner 100' out and you want to then skip 30' left. You need to put at least 150' of power into the shot and throw it AT the ground 100' out with a slight hyzer. You need that extra speed so that the extra 50'+ it would have flown if you threw it a normal height will turn into a nasty flare left.

Throw nose down, with a touch of hyzer. You want the hyzer side of the wing, so left side RHBH, to just barely touch the ground. Like 10 degrees hyzer is what I aim for. Nose down so the disc powers forward, the left side just contacts, then it will flare left real hard.

If you want a straight skip I feel that you need pretty hard packed ground, and a bit of a straighter disc, still fast, and still contact with a touch of hyzer. For example if I want a straight skip I will throw a Thunderbird or something in that stability range instead of a Firebird and the Thunderbird will push more forward after that overpowered ground contact. This is for an early in flight trick shot though, they will still drift left or right but they won't flare as extreme to the side like a Firebird will. On really hard pack ground you can throw a nose up putter/mid backhand into the ground early and it will skip straight up in a floaty way, this is not a shot I am good at but I've seen it done many times. Best done off sidewalks or very hard dirt.

Remember you want to MEET the ground at the contact point with way more power than it takes to get to that spot, you don't want to throw it into the ground. And a touch of hyzer angle really helps make sure you don't dig in nose down and stop. You'll get the hardest flares if you throw a truly OS disc, and it contacts the ground when the HSS is making it bank into the fade rather than LSS. If it hits the ground with the HSS banking/angling the disc you'll get massive kicks to the side. That's also why the hyzer angle helps, since it makes the disc really want to fade even sooner rather than prolonging a flat flight until the disc slows. When in doubt go faster, more OS, and throw harder. Also stiffer discs tend to skip more, generally.

 

[zontar]

drought.

 

[RFrance]

For short skip shots to get around/under trees I throw blunt edge discs upside down. Putters or Zone/Harp work very well. They will skip probably farther than the flight and can turn about 60 degrees on the skip and bounce up at least band high on the basket. Just hook your thumb and throw like a regular RHBH.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

drought.

lulz

 

[ru4por]

slowplastic hits on most of the points. I generally pick a spot in the fairway that I want to hit for the skip. Making sure that spot is free of rocks, roots..... I power up, as stated below, the shot will require more power than is needed to get the shot there without a skip. Topography has an impact on skip. Skipping on an upslope with straighten out a skip. If you play in heavily wooded areas with low ceilings, skip shots can be a valuable shot.

 

[John M. Fretz]

Destroyers seem to skip really well

 

[notroman]

You're not going to get a skip if the disc isn't spinning. The more spin you have on a disc, the more action it will see when it hits the ground. If you get the disc too flat, it won't skip. If you get it too vertical, it will dig. To paraphrase what slowplastic said, shallow hyzer angle will result in a lower, longer skip. Sharp hyzer will result in a more vertical skip (as long as it's not so sharp that the disc just digs). Different discs have different skip characteristics - some skip more forward, some skip more sideways, etc.

This is all assuming flat ground. Once you add slope into the equation really cool stuff can happen. Reverse skips are the best (or the worst, if you're not expecting them).

 

[F. Howl]

For huge, rainbow flare skips:
-Get a Nuke OS. Max weight, in Z.
-Release it low, on any angle.

 

[Meillo]

Thanks for the great explanations. I feel well prepared for my experiments now.

The most important aspect to start with seems to be: Throw with more power than it needs to get there. That should be obvious, but I didn't realize it before. ;-)

 

[BogeyNoMore]

This is all assuming flat ground. Once you add slope into the equation really cool stuff can happen. Reverse skips are the best (or the worst, if you're not expecting them).

What do you mean by "reverse skips?"
Please elaborate.

 

[F. Howl]

What do you mean by "reverse skips?"
Please elaborate.

Never had a reverse skip (sometimes referred to as anti-skip) or a forward skip? Instead of it hooking in the direction of the hyzer, it goes the opposite way or straight forward.

 

[notroman]

What do you mean by "reverse skips?"
Please elaborate.

Never had a reverse skip (sometimes referred to as anti-skip) or a forward skip? Instead of it hooking in the direction of the hyzer, it goes the opposite way or straight forward.

Exactly. If you throw a shallow RHBH hyzer that lands on an uphill slope that drops from left to right you will usually get a skip that goes up and to the right, instead of the expected skip to the left. If the hyzer angle is steeper then it will still skip to the left. I live around and play mostly flat courses in the midwest, so I don't have full knowledge of the skip mechanics yet. Slowly learning as I go Maybe someone out west can give better insight.

 

[PBokor]

I think of skipping stones off water. Calm, flat water (flat terrain) permits predictable skip results. The stone or disc will do what basic physics dictates.

A bit of skip angle changes everything and always keeps me guessing.

 

[tampora]

How do you all feel about the 'nose down' suggestion? Unless we're using different terms, I would have said to 'throw slightly downward with nose up' for a skip quick after release, but less nose-up the further out you want the skip to happen

 

[d11rok]

Angle of incidence = angle of reflection.

That should pretty much do it

 

[slowplastic]

Angle of incidence = angle of reflection.

That should pretty much do it

There are a lot more variables than that when you are throwing a gyroscopic disc with lift at uneven terrain. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to throw shots from 100' away at the ground and have them skip chain high within 10-20'.

 

[d11rok]

Uneven terrain would itself be an angle, which gets taken into the equation ��

 

[ru4por]

How do you all feel about the 'nose down' suggestion? Unless we're using different terms, I would have said to 'throw slightly downward with nose up' for a skip quick after release, but less nose-up the further out you want the skip to happen

I still think the release is slightly nose down. But do agree that the amount of nose down would decrease as the distance increases.

 

[armiller]

The most important aspect to start with seems to be: Throw with more power than it needs to get there. That should be obvious, but I didn't realize it before. ;-)

The angle is everything. It needs to be going fast and yet hit the ground at the right angle. Just get out and throw them. When you start trying them on the course it changes everything. My personal favorite is still a Champ Firebird, but I sometimes get my Zone high enough to hit chains, and my beefy Z Nuke gets awesome flair skips. Even less overstable stuff like a Crank or Katana can get decent skips, but for the classic flair skip, go for the wide overstable stuff.