i'm going to drop my roller info, maybe it helps someone. i have about 8 years roller experience. roller is my main throw since i was getting pain in my shoulder doing backhands and then pain in my elbow doing forehands. now i drive with my roller, then up/putt with a forearm or backhand depending on the shot.
if you are wondering about what kinds of distance you can get with a roller, this week i did a nice roller that rolled about 20 feet past a 245ft flat-incline hole at firefighters. so i'd say easily 250ft consistently on flat, mowed grass. i also throw rollers on uphills and downhills (but not huge downhills, like ski hills).
rollers can be made to curve left, right or straight depending on the throw angle, spin, wind, stability and rim of the disc.
there are different roller throws!
normal roller:
for me, i use a two finger grip (fingers on inside rim, thumb on flight plate). the disc first lands about 14 feet in front of the tee. i try to make the disc land so that it does not bounce. a bouncing disc will lose distance and accuracy.
roller bounce:
if you launch your disc into the ground hard, you can get about a 30 ft long air bounce going that will continue bouncing into a standard roller, albeit with a distance penalty. good for bouncing over water/mud hazards. it requires a lot of spin, but works if you need to clear something.
long air roller:
the normal roller that i throw is a tomahawk thrown towards the ground at an angle that does not make the disc bounce. with a long air roller, you throw the tomahawk parallel or slightly angled away from the ground. this way you can get 50ft more of air before the disc hits the ground and starts rolling. if you need to cross a small body of water or other hazard. accuracy and distance are impacted by this throw.
arm technique?
you can do a full range windmill type throw, moving the whole arm, or go for the limited.
limited arm movement throw:
instead of moving your whole arm at the shoulder, lock your elbow to your waist and use forearm and wrist only. like a flick. with practice, you can attain a long distance and accuracy using very little movement.
i think i've gone into a mix of the two, where i move my arm like a karate chop or axe throw.
is there any way to tell if a disc will roll right or left or straight?
with my throw, i only have to adjust the angle of release to make the disc do my turning. angle left = disc goes left. angle right = disc goes right. you'll find the sweet spot of the angle and then quickly learn where to place the disc to make it roll where you want..
yeah but what about the final curve at the end of the roll?
take your discs to a well mowed field and test throw them. you can also bend your disc to make it curve more or less. i do this after the discs warp in my trunk.
wind?
yes, wind can affect rollers hard. there are two ways you can play with a breeze. throw into an angle with the wind and it will hard curve wherever the wind is going.
or throw with an angle slightly against the wind, and the wind will propel your disc way further along. e.g. wind blowing left, throw angled right.
discs?
generally i prefer to roll any driver disc with a medium to wide rim with a sharp edge. i think the more angled edge, vs a blunt edge like a putter, gives the disc less drag/friction as it rolls along the grass, making the disc roll further.
its possible that rolling a putter gives more accuracy, but since i've learned how to roll drivers so well, i dont need the accuracy boost. try it and see and use what works best for you.
currently using a discraft heat. but i also roll fine with a innova starfire or discraft pulse. honestly any disc is rollable, but i prefer drivers for distance.
plastic wise, i tend to stick to esp/z or pro/champ/star anything with a glossy finish. since we're fighting with grass, i figure a stickier / gummier surface would grip grass harder and slow down.
the glossy finish might cause slips and worse recoveries vs the matte discs, so do experiments yourself!
i've been sticking to 170g for wind. its been a while since i rolled a 150 or 130, i did not find them to be predictable at the time. i need to revisit them.
if you are wondering about what kinds of distance you can get with a roller, this week i did a nice roller that rolled about 20 feet past a 245ft flat-incline hole at firefighters. so i'd say easily 250ft consistently on flat, mowed grass. i also throw rollers on uphills and downhills (but not huge downhills, like ski hills).
rollers can be made to curve left, right or straight depending on the throw angle, spin, wind, stability and rim of the disc.
there are different roller throws!
normal roller:
for me, i use a two finger grip (fingers on inside rim, thumb on flight plate). the disc first lands about 14 feet in front of the tee. i try to make the disc land so that it does not bounce. a bouncing disc will lose distance and accuracy.
roller bounce:
if you launch your disc into the ground hard, you can get about a 30 ft long air bounce going that will continue bouncing into a standard roller, albeit with a distance penalty. good for bouncing over water/mud hazards. it requires a lot of spin, but works if you need to clear something.
long air roller:
the normal roller that i throw is a tomahawk thrown towards the ground at an angle that does not make the disc bounce. with a long air roller, you throw the tomahawk parallel or slightly angled away from the ground. this way you can get 50ft more of air before the disc hits the ground and starts rolling. if you need to cross a small body of water or other hazard. accuracy and distance are impacted by this throw.
arm technique?
you can do a full range windmill type throw, moving the whole arm, or go for the limited.
limited arm movement throw:
instead of moving your whole arm at the shoulder, lock your elbow to your waist and use forearm and wrist only. like a flick. with practice, you can attain a long distance and accuracy using very little movement.
i think i've gone into a mix of the two, where i move my arm like a karate chop or axe throw.
is there any way to tell if a disc will roll right or left or straight?
with my throw, i only have to adjust the angle of release to make the disc do my turning. angle left = disc goes left. angle right = disc goes right. you'll find the sweet spot of the angle and then quickly learn where to place the disc to make it roll where you want..
yeah but what about the final curve at the end of the roll?
take your discs to a well mowed field and test throw them. you can also bend your disc to make it curve more or less. i do this after the discs warp in my trunk.
wind?
yes, wind can affect rollers hard. there are two ways you can play with a breeze. throw into an angle with the wind and it will hard curve wherever the wind is going.
or throw with an angle slightly against the wind, and the wind will propel your disc way further along. e.g. wind blowing left, throw angled right.
discs?
generally i prefer to roll any driver disc with a medium to wide rim with a sharp edge. i think the more angled edge, vs a blunt edge like a putter, gives the disc less drag/friction as it rolls along the grass, making the disc roll further.
its possible that rolling a putter gives more accuracy, but since i've learned how to roll drivers so well, i dont need the accuracy boost. try it and see and use what works best for you.
currently using a discraft heat. but i also roll fine with a innova starfire or discraft pulse. honestly any disc is rollable, but i prefer drivers for distance.
plastic wise, i tend to stick to esp/z or pro/champ/star anything with a glossy finish. since we're fighting with grass, i figure a stickier / gummier surface would grip grass harder and slow down.
the glossy finish might cause slips and worse recoveries vs the matte discs, so do experiments yourself!
i've been sticking to 170g for wind. its been a while since i rolled a 150 or 130, i did not find them to be predictable at the time. i need to revisit them.
