My Education

[taman76]

I started playing this silly game 2 years ago, at the age of 58. Now at age 60 I have come to recognize I have learned a few things.

1. I will never throw a disc further than 175'.

2. Trees are not your friend.

3. Wearing boots is a must especially this time of year.

4. Never play without a bottle of water in the bag.

5. Disc purchasing is addicting.

6. It's ok to happy dance after making that nearly impossible putt. Even if somebody is watching.

7. I stink at this game

8. No matter what my game is like, I have a blast.

I am really glad I started this. I can't imagine having more fun for this little money.

 

[ru4por]

Trees ARE your friends. They should be talked to in a positive and friendly manner. They should be hugged and congratulated on their wonderful contributions to earth. It is your job to respect them and do all you can to avoid crashing silly round circle of plastic into them.

 

[ray1970]

I would argue with #1. 200' is easily achievable if you put in a little work. I've actually played with a couple of guys over 60 that could push over 300' so age isn't necessarily the determining factor for distance limitations.

#6 is worded all wrong. It's okay for a celebration dance even if nobody is watching.

 

[TiltedFlipCurves]

Trees ARE your friends. They should be talked to in a positive and friendly manner. They should be hugged and congratulated on their wonderful contributions to earth. It is your job to respect them and do all you can to avoid crashing silly round circle of plastic into them.

Oh, is *that* how you get them to kick my discs back into the fairway

 

[taman76]

I would argue with #1. 200' is easily achievable if you put in a little work.

I am not sure I can. I have put quite a bit of effort and I just can't get any further. I am ok with it. I just get to throw a few more times.

#6 is worded all wrong. It's okay for a celebration dance even if nobody is watching.

You haven't seen me dance.

 

[frasnow]

"A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have."

 

[ru4por]

Oh, is *that* how you get them to kick my discs back into the fairway

Heck yeah!! We have an agreement. I don't want to hit them and they don't want to be hit. If you watch closely, they even shift the tiniest bit, to avoid my attempts to strike them, on accident. I love those guys.

VIVA LA TREES!

 

[Brychanus]

I am really glad I started this. I can't imagine having more fun for this little money.

This thread made me

 

[PMantle]

Trees ARE your friends. They should be talked to in a positive and friendly manner. They should be hugged and congratulated on their wonderful contributions to earth. It is your job to respect them and do all you can to avoid crashing silly round circle of plastic into them.

I love trees. OTOH, the only good tree on a disc golf course is a dead tree.

 

[zontar]

These are all things I've learned. and honestly if you learn to throw 200' you can crush a lot of strong arms with your upshots and putts. distance is for fools.

 

[foxdawg10]

These are all things I've learned. and honestly if you learn to throw 200' you can crush a lot of strong arms with your upshots and putts. distance is for fools.

This is true on short wooded courses.

 

[wolfhaley]

This is true on short wooded courses.

I agree, the most fun courses are what I call them

 

[taman76]

Most courses around here are filled with trees. Which is how I end up always hitting one. So it doesn't bother me too much that I can't get past throwing 175 feet.

The downside is on baskets over 400' become very long and making par pretty impossible.

 

[Binky Yutz]

Greetings taman76,

Like you, I found this silly game late in life. I took it up at age 51 and after 9 years of playing regularly, I still do not throw 300' consistently, (nor am I likely too) although every now and then I crush one past 300'. You will get your discs out past 200' with small form adjustments.

A few things that helped me :

1. Watch lots of tutorial videos. Scott Stokely and Dave Feldberg have helped me a lot.
One of my problems was pivoting on the ball of my foot rather than my heel. Feldberg
suggested while doing my X Step, stay up on your toes. This forces you to pivot on your
heel, because if you don't, you will fall down. This one thing added 40 feet to my
throws. (Tutorials are like a Salad Bar, take what works for you and leave the rest).

2. SLOW DOWN. Do not rush your run up. You will hear a lot of folks saying: Slow is
SMOOTH and Smooth is LONG. It is all about how fast you get your disc from your
reach back to the point of release. The slower my run up, the farther I throw it.

3. Try lighter weight discs. I use a lot of Westside's VIP Air discs in more understable
molds. I also have a 149 gram G Star Mamba by Innova that I can hyzer flip out to
nearly 300' almost every time.

4. Disc buying is addictive. That being said, try lots of different molds, keep what works for
you and put the others on a shelf and try them again in a year. As you improve, molds
you might not have thrown that well may start to work for you. Over 9 years I have
accumulated hundreds of discs and I go back and try them again, if they still don't work,
they go back on the shelf for next time.

5. Use the "Ooooh" factor. When you pick up a new disc for the very first time and it feels
good in your hand and you say "Ooooh", that is a good sign that it may work for you.
My G Star Mamba is a perfect example of the "Ooooh" factor. I knew the moment I
touched it, it was going to be tasty, and it was and is. I know this sounds dumb, but it
works for me.

6. Accuracy beats distance, almost every time. On wide open courses with bomber holes,
this is not necessarily true, but on wooded courses it is most definitely true.

7. Take all advice (including mine) with a grain of salt. Not everything will work for you.
Try everything and keep what works and leave the rest. (Salad Bar theory)

8. Have fun and don't give up. The more you throw, the more you will improve. I am not
one that does any "fieldwork", my round is my "fieldwork". I hate picking up all those
discs, I would much rather just play.

9. Final advice, don't take Mulligans, keep an accurate score. That way you will see if you
are making progress. Saying you shot 2 under when you took 5 mulligans is not being
true to yourself.

Good luck and HAVE FUN. He who has the most FUN wins!

 

[taman76]

Like you, I found this silly game late in life. I took it up at age 51 and after 9 years of playing regularly, I still do not throw 300' consistently, (nor am I likely too) although every now and then I crush one past 300'. You will get your discs out past 200' with small form adjustments.

A few things that helped me :

1. I have watched countless videos including some from Scott. I have to admit some have helped me others not.

2. I don't really do a run up, or walk up. Most of my throws are without a step. I find taking those steps destroys my accuracy.

3. One of my best disc is a Innova Leapard that is 148g. I do like the lighter weight.

4. Buying disc is just an addiction. Not that one is much better than another to me.

5. Again that Leapard feels best to me.

6. I try to use accuracy to only be thwarted by trees. however, I will say, when I don't hit trees I seem to benefit from that.

7. No advice is bad advice

8. Just yesterday I took a bag of disc on a soccer field and threw them to get an idea which ones go best for me. Oddly enough, pretty much no matter what disc I threw, the distance and accuracy was pretty much the same. A couple might have showed to be slightly better. and we are talking inches, not feet. Included in this test were my putters. not one of those would go much beyond 80'. So I can say for a fact I can get more out of midrange discs than putters. Like twice as far.

9. Never take mulligans. I might still throw a second disc but I always play and count the first shot. The second disc is just for learning purposes.

I have yet to play a tournament. Most fall during times I have other things going. That and I hate to frustrate those who might take it more seriously than I.

I will be out with my brother tomorrow who is playing his 2nd time. I think he is getting hooked as well. As far as I am concerned that is a win.

 

[ru4por]

Greetings taman76,

Like you, I found this silly game late in life. I took it up at age 51 and after 9 years of playing regularly, I still do not throw 300' consistently, (nor am I likely too) although every now and then I crush one past 300'. You will get your discs out past 200' with small form adjustments.

A few things that helped me :

1. Watch lots of tutorial videos. Scott Stokely and Dave Feldberg have helped me a lot.
One of my problems was pivoting on the ball of my foot rather than my heel. Feldberg
suggested while doing my X Step, stay up on your toes. This forces you to pivot on your
heel, because if you don't, you will fall down. This one thing added 40 feet to my
throws. (Tutorials are like a Salad Bar, take what works for you and leave the rest).

2. SLOW DOWN. Do not rush your run up. You will hear a lot of folks saying: Slow is
SMOOTH and Smooth is LONG. It is all about how fast you get your disc from your
reach back to the point of release. The slower my run up, the farther I throw it.

3. Try lighter weight discs. I use a lot of Westside's VIP Air discs in more understable
molds. I also have a 149 gram G Star Mamba by Innova that I can hyzer flip out to
nearly 300' almost every time.

4. Disc buying is addictive. That being said, try lots of different molds, keep what works for
you and put the others on a shelf and try them again in a year. As you improve, molds
you might not have thrown that well may start to work for you. Over 9 years I have
accumulated hundreds of discs and I go back and try them again, if they still don't work,
they go back on the shelf for next time.

5. Use the "Ooooh" factor. When you pick up a new disc for the very first time and it feels
good in your hand and you say "Ooooh", that is a good sign that it may work for you.
My G Star Mamba is a perfect example of the "Ooooh" factor. I knew the moment I
touched it, it was going to be tasty, and it was and is. I know this sounds dumb, but it
works for me.

6. Accuracy beats distance, almost every time. On wide open courses with bomber holes,
this is not necessarily true, but on wooded courses it is most definitely true.

7. Take all advice (including mine) with a grain of salt. Not everything will work for you.
Try everything and keep what works and leave the rest. (Salad Bar theory)

8. Have fun and don't give up. The more you throw, the more you will improve. I am not
one that does any "fieldwork", my round is my "fieldwork". I hate picking up all those
discs, I would much rather just play.

9. Final advice, don't take Mulligans, keep an accurate score. That way you will see if you
are making progress. Saying you shot 2 under when you took 5 mulligans is not being
true to yourself.

Good luck and HAVE FUN. He who has the most FUN wins!

Hey, I am looking for some VIP Air Kings...................

 

[Binky Yutz]

Hey, I am looking for some VIP Air Kings...................

Yeah, me too! I bag 2, one flippy, one not so much. I have 1 back up on the shelf. I also bag a Tournament King that is almost impossible to turnover (at least for me, even in a headwind). Air Hatchets are available, but who knows for how long?

Air King and Northman's are very hard to come by these days....unless you want to spend $45 on eBay. I regularly check in on Dynamic Discs and Marshall Street to see if they have restocked.

 

[ru4por]

Yeah, me too! I bag 2, one flippy, one not so much. I have 1 back up on the shelf. I also bag a Tournament King that is almost impossible to turnover (at least for me, even in a headwind). Air Hatchets are available, but who knows for how long?

Air King and Northman's are very hard to come by these days....unless you want to spend $45 on eBay. I regularly check in on Dynamic Discs and Marshall Street to see if they have restocked.

:hfive: It is my primary old man driver. I have a couple back ups, but being my primary driver, it is also my most oft lost disc. They are bombers, for me. Thanks for the reply. If I find any, I will give you a shout.

I also use a full weight King, but like you, it is a more stable alternative.

 

[Binky Yutz]

2. I don't really do a run up, or walk up. Most of my throws are without a step. I find taking those steps destroys my accuracy.



I have yet to play a tournament. Most fall during times I have other things going. That and I hate to frustrate those who might take it more seriously than I.

I will be out with my brother tomorrow who is playing his 2nd time. I think he is getting hooked as well. As far as I am concerned that is a win.

Since you use a stationary throw, I would recommend trying to engage your hips more. Just as in a ball golf swing, the power is generated from turning your hips. As with any changes to your form, it usually gets worse before it gets better. For example, when I started doing my x step on my toes and pivoting on my heel, my accuracy suffered for about a week, but once I got comfortable with it, my accuracy came back. Don't get me wrong I still shank quite a few shots, both early and late releases.

I rarely play in tournaments, once there is money or swag on the line it takes all the fun out of the game for me. Tournaments are generally played at a very slow pace, the few I have played in took 3 hours or longer per round. Also, you never know who your card mates will be, so there may very well be a clash of characters on any given card.

Good luck to you and your brother on his 2nd time out. One good thing about this game is you can only get better; it is very unlikely the longer you throw the worse you will get. Keep at it, it took me nearly a year of throwing twice a week or more before I felt like I was in control of my shots. Again, I don't go out and practice, I just play..... A LOT!

 

[Central Scrutinizer]

Hey, I am looking for some VIP Air Kings...................

I won a VIP Air King on a long putt at league. Thought "Pffft" when I saw it, rarely throw anything above speed 10. Then I threw a forehand with it. No pain, full throw like I used to! It quickly made my bag and for two glorious weeks was my best RHFH Disc, until my well-meaning son was tossing it back to me in our warmup area at Robert Morris Park and accidentally threw it into the pond there. Nope, it does not float, and there is a mute swan there that looks particularly menacing.

Found out when I got home that there were none available. One of my personal rules is to not get attached to Discs that are hard to find, so I've moved on. Loved that thing, though!