My adventures in measuring distance (and other musings)

[autocrosscrx]

Disclaimer: There are a million how do I throw for more distance posts. I know where those go. This isn't that.

At some point in my disc golf journey, I decided that I wanted to know how far that I threw. I was already doing field work at times. So I broke out the uDisc app and started measuring some of my longer throws when doing field work and when throwing on some of the longer more open holes that I regularly play. I found that I was consistently measuring 260 to 300 on the soccer fields and 280 to 320 on the longer holes that I play. So I throw about 280. Right?

I'd go play with friends. They'd say things like I throw 300 max or I throw 250 max. And for the most part, my results would align with that. Even though we'd sometimes end up way short on holes that we "should" reach.

At some point in the last year, I bought a rangefinder, the Apex piece off Infinite Discs. It was fun to play with, but I found it difficult to get repeatable results. I'd throw a shot on a soccer field, pull up uDisc, walk out to my shot, uDisc would read 280, then I'd use the rangefinder to measure the distance to my stuff. And I'd bring up something like 226 feet, then click the button and after a few clicks start getting 280.

I sort of lost interest in that and really started working on my all around game - placement shots, putting, incorporating more forehands, pitching out when necessary, playing for the straight shot that gives you a 20 foot putt instead of trying to park everything, etc.

I decide that I really want to work on distance this offseason. I go out Sunday to get my baseline distances and basically get the results that I describe before. About a 270 something average on uDisc and rangefinder results that sometimes match that number and sometimes are considerably less.

I had a $10 gift card that was about to expire, so I go buy a measuring wheel yesterday from Harbor Freight. I take it out to my practice spot. It is wet and getting dark, but I just wanted to confirm what I was throwing yesterday. I walk it out with the wheel and it measures about 220 to 230 feet. What?!?!?!?!?! I get 270'ish with uDisc. I have my discs, so I throw some shots. I'd already made my first form change and was getting more distance than the day before. Measured out to about 285 on uDisc and 236 to 240 with the wheel.

So my goal just got a lot tougher.

 

[TurnedOver]

UDisc and other GPS devices are only accurate within 16 feet and often less than that. Trees and clouds will alter the results.

Trust the wheel.

Learn to "walk off" distance. I can cover 100 feet in about 35 normal walking steps.

 

[Rastnav]

If you really want to know your distances, go out into the field before you throw and measure out 200, 225, 250, etc. on the line you are trying to hit. Drop a marker at each interval. Don't measure just your longest throws. Get a sense of what you throw most of the time.

For me, I find that my longest throws are almost always pulled way, way right (late release compared to my target line). I'm not sure why that is, but it's nearly always true. Point being, the longest throws don't reliably tell you all that much about your actual distance.

 

[autocrosscrx]

If you really want to know your distances, go out into the field before you throw and measure out 200, 225, 250, etc. on the line you are trying to hit. Drop a marker at each interval. Don't measure just your longest throws. Get a sense of what you throw most of the time.

For me, I find that my longest throws are almost always pulled way, way right (late release compared to my target line). I'm not sure why that is, but it's nearly always true. Point being, the longest throws don't reliably tell you all that much about your actual distance.

Problem with the first point is that I'm constantly moving. Even though we have a space of 4 soccer fields, I pretty much can't get in more than about 5 throws before someone magically appears 200 feet in front of me to let their toddler wearing all white roll around in the mud.

I usually throw 5 to 8 at a time, throw out the outliers, and measure straight ahead.

 

[dmoore1998]

If you really want to know your distances, go out into the field before you throw and measure out 200, 225, 250, etc. on the line you are trying to hit. Drop a marker at each interval. Don't measure just your longest throws. Get a sense of what you throw most of the time.

For me, I find that my longest throws are almost always pulled way, way right (late release compared to my target line). I'm not sure why that is, but it's nearly always true. Point being, the longest throws don't reliably tell you all that much about your actual distance.

Late release because you've got a stronger pinch on the disc? Which causes more rotation on it during the release which sends it flying further? At least that's what happens to me when I work on keeping my grip tighter, a little too tight and it goes way right but sails forever.

 

[dmoore1998]

Problem with the first point is that I'm constantly moving. Even though we have a space of 4 soccer fields, I pretty much can't get in more than about 5 throws before someone magically appears 200 feet in front of me to let their toddler wearing all white roll around in the mud.

I usually throw 5 to 8 at a time, throw out the outliers, and measure straight ahead.

Is it actually a soccer field, or just equivalent space to 4 fields? Specifically, are there physical markers you can use to gauge distance after measuring them off once? For example, each post in this chain link fence is X feet apart? From this spot I typically throw to this sidewalk intersection is X feet, but from this alternate spot it's Y feet? You don't have to get exact with each throw, but if you're throwing about 250, having a spot you know is reliably 250 could tell you if you're slightly over or under. Just wheel off a few different landmarks from a few spots you tend to throw.

 

[Agricolae]

UDisc and other GPS devices are only accurate within 16 feet and often less than that. Trees and clouds will alter the results.

Trust the wheel.

Learn to "walk off" distance. I can cover 100 feet in about 35 normal walking steps.

TurnedOver has it. Spend a little time and learn to walk off distance. It doesn't take much practice to become surprisingly accurate (only 'surprising' if you're new to it).

1) Find a dead-nuts accurate distance - a 300 foot football field works great because it is a reasonably long distance in the order-of-magnitude that you'll be throwing and because it is flat and free of obstructions. You want to learn your average step/pace distance.

2) Walk the distance at a comfortable, repeatable pace. Count your steps and record how many it took. Easy math - distance divided by steps equals distance per step.

3) Do this several times to get an average and gain trust in your comfortable walking pace. Recalibrate from time to time.

4) Memorize useful distances so you don't have to stand in the field doing mental math. How many steps per 100 feet? Steps per 25 feet? Steps per 33 feet?

With practice, you'll learn to adjust your *comfortable pace* to account for rough terrain, jumping across a creek, stepping over a log, uphill, downhill, etc. You'll not achieve the precision and accuracy of a total station but you will beat the heck out of your gps and measuring wheel over disc golf distances (1's to 100's of feet). Best of all, your measuring device is always with you - just walk and count.

From TurnOver's post, you'll see that he's covering 2.86 feet per step. I am 36 steps per 100 feet, 2.78 feet per step, with a casual walking pace. Unless you're really tall, really short, you'll probably be very close to those numbers.

 

[Rastnav]

Problem with the first point is that I'm constantly moving. Even though we have a space of 4 soccer fields, I pretty much can't get in more than about 5 throws before someone magically appears 200 feet in front of me to let their toddler wearing all white roll around in the mud.

I usually throw 5 to 8 at a time, throw out the outliers, and measure straight ahead.

Ah, well that's unfortunate. I imagine that makes using video more challenging (at least mentally). Although, I'd highly encourage it. My practice routine really changed for the better when (at sw22s suggestion) I changed to reviewing myself after every ~3 throws. You even have those breaks kinda built in.

If you have any municipal baseball/softball fields nearby, throwing corner to corner in the outfield makes for good practice (especially for us shorter arms). Then you don't have the toddler problem. We have 3 fields in the same park as one of our courses, which makes for good practice areas. YMMV depending on when you are practicing, and field use, of course.

If you can go the ball field route, being in the left field corner is better than right field (for a righty). You can easily lose yanks over the fence if you are in right field, but early releases don't tend to have that issue as much (in left field).

 

[Rastnav]

On the subject of walking distances off, one thing I found is that I tended to reflexively try and walk of distances every single time I went to collect discs. I'd also be trying to triangulate my path to the discs so that I could tell normal distance and max distance.

Even when I started using a Bushnell (which I already had for ball golf), I'd still do it each time.

I found this was detrimental to my mindset when doing practice. Instead of just noting about where/how far my discs were going, I'd end up tending towards over throwing everything. Instead of thinking about form, I was be pulled back to thinking about distance. Just a thought.

 

[Moose33]

I used to throw on a football field a lot and that gave me 375 of super easily measurable distance. The hard thing was when I started throwing them over the back fence.

Udisc since it runs on gps is somewhat accurate if you set up your starting and end points honestly and the overhead shot has reference points that are still in place. Which makes it harder in many open fields.

The field I throw on the most has a road on either side with 450 ft of grass in the middle, do I know if I threw it from road to road it was a decent shot.

The handheld rangefinders seem to vary a lot, and it almost has worked best in my limited eted experience if someone stands in one location and the a person stands by the disc and they hit the person.

 

[autocrosscrx]

TurnedOver has it. Spend a little time and learn to walk off distance. It doesn't take much practice to become surprisingly accurate (only 'surprising' if you're new to it).

1) Find a dead-nuts accurate distance - a 300 foot football field works great because it is a reasonably long distance in the order-of-magnitude that you'll be throwing and because it is flat and free of obstructions. You want to learn your average step/pace distance.

2) Walk the distance at a comfortable, repeatable pace. Count your steps and record how many it took. Easy math - distance divided by steps equals distance per step.

3) Do this several times to get an average and gain trust in your comfortable walking pace. Recalibrate from time to time.

4) Memorize useful distances so you don't have to stand in the field doing mental math. How many steps per 100 feet? Steps per 25 feet? Steps per 33 feet?

With practice, you'll learn to adjust your *comfortable pace* to account for rough terrain, jumping across a creek, stepping over a log, uphill, downhill, etc. You'll not achieve the precision and accuracy of a total station but you will beat the heck out of your gps and measuring wheel over disc golf distances (1's to 100's of feet). Best of all, your measuring device is always with you - just walk and count.

From TurnOver's post, you'll see that he's covering 2.86 feet per step. I am 36 steps per 100 feet, 2.78 feet per step, with a casual walking pace. Unless you're really tall, really short, you'll probably be very close to those numbers.

I appreciate the sentiment, but all that seems like more than I want to invest.

I warm up, I work on what I want to work on, record some shots, then throw a set or 2 of shots and walk it out with the wheel. I don't need or want to pace out everything. Just get in some throws, then get out.

 

[autocrosscrx]

The handheld rangefinders seem to vary a lot, and it almost has worked best in my limited eted experience if someone stands in one location and the a person stands by the disc and they hit the person.

Yeah. They seem to work pretty good when it comes to stepping up to a tee and measuring to the basket. Or a tree in the fairway. Not so much for measuring shots by myself.

 

[Doofenshmirtz]

Use and trust the rangefinder. But, in order to get an accurate reading, make a portable target, like a "Men Working" or "Yard Sale" sign, that you can use to measure the distance. Place it at the front end of your "tee box" and when you get to your disc, stand in front of it, facing your target and use the rangefinder to measure back to it. This should be more accurate than the wheel. Any GPS based app can tend to be off at each end by whatever the margin for error is base on number of satellites, etc.

 

[nothinbuttree]

I had a $10 gift card that was about to expire, so I go buy a measuring wheel yesterday from Harbor Freight. I take it out to my practice spot. It is wet and getting dark, but I just wanted to confirm what I was throwing yesterday. I walk it out with the wheel and it measures about 220 to 230 feet. What?!?!?!?!?! I get 270'ish with uDisc. I have my discs, so I throw some shots. I'd already made my first form change and was getting more distance than the day before. Measured out to about 285 on uDisc and 236 to 240 with the wheel.

So my goal just got a lot tougher.

I'm an appraiser and used a wheel for quite a while. They tend to only be accurate on hard surfaces like concrete--sidewalks, driveways, etc. Grass/fields are bumpy, and you cannot guarantee solid contact all the time. Sometimes the wheel spins extra and sometimes it doesn't spin at all. It is quite accurate on concrete though.

My best two methods for measuring distance have been:
1) football field with yard markers (local HS football field usually available)
2) Stepping off by paces--I have a very repeatable exactly 3' pace.

 

[BillFleming]

GPS devices depend on satellites, the more satellites and the better the signal from them, the more accurate the GPS is. I once had a Garmin GPS device (before smart phones) that would show me the number of satellites connected and their signal strength. uDisc will show you the accuracy on the screen - that will be the +/- number and you have to calculate that in at both ends of your measurement. Let's say accuracy is +/- 15 at both ends. At the start, you could be between +15 and - 15 from where uDisc shows you are standing, then when you get to the end point, you can be between +15 or - 15. So, if uDisc shows your disc went 200 feet, it could be anywhere from 170 to 230 feet in reality.

Rangefinders.....only as accurate as you can aim and hold them. Any movement on your part and the rangefinder might detect a different object/spot on the ground. I found this out using one for ball golf....sometimes it would pick up the flag on the pole and sometimes a tree/bush behind the pole.

Measuring wheel, probably the most accurate...but depends on which one you buy....more expensive....probably more accurate.

Stride....this isn't very accurate as our strides can differ depending on what we are walking on and if it slopes. But, we may not have uDisc up, or a rangefinder, or a measuring wheel. But we always have our stride. There are many ways to determine your stride length....look it up online.

For practice, I like to use American football fields. There are already lines marking distances, but better yet, there are hashmarks that give me a straight line to throw over and I can see where my disc fades/turns and how far off the line the disc lands. Only issue is that I'm limited to 300 foot throws...but since that is my max...it doesn't matter.

 

[autocrosscrx]

I'm an appraiser and used a wheel for quite a while. They tend to only be accurate on hard surfaces like concrete--sidewalks, driveways, etc. Grass/fields are bumpy, and you cannot guarantee solid contact all the time. Sometimes the wheel spins extra and sometimes it doesn't spin at all. It is quite accurate on concrete though.

My best two methods for measuring distance have been:
1) football field with yard markers (local HS football field usually available)
2) Stepping off by paces--I have a very repeatable exactly 3' pace.

I had that thought about the wheel. It seems repeatable. I'd go out and back twice (just learning/testing the tool) and would get within a foot each time. I don't seem to have a very reliable pace. I counted my paces doing the same thing and vary by 4 or 5 paces. Plus I hate counting paces.

 

[jjmiller]

Laser rangefinders have been accurate to +/- a yard for probably 20 years now. I have a really old and inexpensive Brunton model and a slightly less old and much more expensive Leica that have never given me any problems- provided I'm not trying to bounce the laser off something impossibly small to hit or flat ground. And heck, sometimes they even work bouncing the laser off of the ground if there's a little slope.

The better the target for the laser, the easier they are to use. A disc golf backpack left where you threw from usually works pretty well.

 

[nothinbuttree]

Only issue is that I'm limited to 300 foot throws...but since that is my max...it doesn't matter.

You have both end zones too--adds another 60', they are exactly 30 feet deep each. My son needs that. Like you, I mostly don't.

 

[ChrisWoj]

TurnedOver has it. Spend a little time and learn to walk off distance. It doesn't take much practice to become surprisingly accurate (only 'surprising' if you're new to it).

1) Find a dead-nuts accurate distance - a 300 foot football field works great because it is a reasonably long distance in the order-of-magnitude that you'll be throwing and because it is flat and free of obstructions. You want to learn your average step/pace distance.

2) Walk the distance at a comfortable, repeatable pace. Count your steps and record how many it took. Easy math - distance divided by steps equals distance per step.

3) Do this several times to get an average and gain trust in your comfortable walking pace. Recalibrate from time to time.

4) Memorize useful distances so you don't have to stand in the field doing mental math. How many steps per 100 feet? Steps per 25 feet? Steps per 33 feet?

With practice, you'll learn to adjust your *comfortable pace* to account for rough terrain, jumping across a creek, stepping over a log, uphill, downhill, etc. You'll not achieve the precision and accuracy of a total station but you will beat the heck out of your gps and measuring wheel over disc golf distances (1's to 100's of feet). Best of all, your measuring device is always with you - just walk and count.

From TurnOver's post, you'll see that he's covering 2.86 feet per step. I am 36 steps per 100 feet, 2.78 feet per step, with a casual walking pace. Unless you're really tall, really short, you'll probably be very close to those numbers.

A tip I'd add to this - focus on the feel in your hips with each step. Pace the 100 feet when you're both not-warmed-up physically and after a bunch of holes worth of walking around. That way you calibrate the feel of walking with the appropriate stride length consistently.

Also a good rule of thumb to piggyback on his point regarding uphill/downhill: remember that uphill strides that feel right will inevitably wind up a little short (so more steps per 100 ft) and downhill will be the opposite - unless you accommodate.

 

[gammaxgoblin]

UDisc and other GPS devices are only accurate within 16 feet and often less than that. Trees and clouds will alter the results.

Trust the wheel.

Learn to "walk off" distance. I can cover 100 feet in about 35 normal walking steps.

I pace off 200' at 75 paces...almost the same