Okay folks - distance comes from disc speed; what's yours?

[armiller]

Call it what you will: ejection velocity, release speed, whatever. I just want to state the obvious: distance comes down to speed. We spend time working on form, and the objective, simply stated, is to increase the disc's speed when it leaves our hand. Of course you need to master the angles, reduce grip problems, and eliminate inconsistent "non-smoothness;" and of course different discs act differently... but if you ain't throwing FAST, you ain't throwing far.

How many DGCRers have measured their speed? What about the difference between forehand and backhand? I haven't thrown for a radar gun, but I'd bet my forehand release speed is faster than backhand, simply because it still consistently goes farther.

 

[sidewinder22]

DGCRers don't measure when you can calculate using the equation s=d/t in interwebz scale.

 

[PBokor]

How many DGCRers have measured their speed?

Hard for most of us to measure. If I assume the top MPOs throw at ~85 mph or 500' (my best guess at present) and 1 mph = ~7', than I throw at a blazing 40 mph.

 

[zj1002]

Try 65-75mph.

Souce: myself.

 

[Pbmercil]

I threw in the low 60's on Discmania's gun last fall. My arm was very very tired at the time, I'm sure it is higher when fresh, but I have no idea how much higher. I was a like a 420ish feet guy at the time, touching 450 on really good days.

 

[timothy42b]

I'm directionally challenged. I might be able to hit a soccer field, throwing at the long dimension. All bets are off if you want me to hit the short side.

But if you gave me an expensive radar gun, pretty sure I'd hit it and break it in the first 3 throws.

Years back I played a round of ball golf at Rheinblick. The starters booth was behind and to the right of the first tee, protected by two fences. I hit it. The official came out sputtering auf Deutsch. Apparently this had never happened in the history of the course.

 

[Doofenshmirtz]

Hard for most of us to measure. If I assume the top MPOs throw at ~85 mph or 500' (my best guess at present) and 1 mph = ~7', than I throw at a blazing 40 mph.

I'm betting that the relationship between throwing speed and distance doesn't work quite like this because of the increase in drag at higher speeds. For example, assuming no wind, a throw over level ground and the same mold, a disc thrown at 1 mph probably won't go 7'. A disc thrown at 100 mph probably won't travel 700 feet. Somewhere in the middle will be a disc whose distance traveled is exactly 7' for every 1 mph of release speed.

 

[Karl]

Call it what you will: ejection velocity, release speed, whatever. I just want to state the obvious: distance comes down to speed. We spend time working on form, and the objective, simply stated, is to increase the disc's speed when it leaves our hand. Of course you need to master the angles, reduce grip problems, and eliminate inconsistent "non-smoothness;" and of course different discs act differently... but if you ain't throwing FAST, you ain't throwing far.

How many DGCRers have measured their speed? What about the difference between forehand and backhand? I haven't thrown for a radar gun, but I'd bet my forehand release speed is faster than backhand, simply because it still consistently goes farther.

I agree with you IFFFF you're talking "apples to apples", I.E. backhand of one person vs. backhand of another, etc. If you're saying that 'speed is directly related to distance', you could be wrong - as there ARE other factors.

Case in point: My overhand speed was (10+ years ago) in the high-80s and my BH speed a LOT less than that, but due to 1) the flight characteristics of a disc 'flying' vs. 'flying upside down' and 2) the spin on either disc, BHs will yield greater distance than will overhands...for the same 'muzzle velocity'.

Karl

 

[armiller]

I agree with you IFFFF you're talking "apples to apples", I.E. backhand of one person vs. backhand of another, etc. If you're saying that 'speed is directly related to distance', you could be wrong - as there ARE other factors.

Case in point: My overhand speed was (10+ years ago) in the high-80s and my BH speed a LOT less than that, but due to 1) the flight characteristics of a disc 'flying' vs. 'flying upside down' and 2) the spin on either disc, BHs will yield greater distance than will overhands...for the same 'muzzle velocity'.

Karl

I suppose I'm referring to forehand and backhand both. Overhand is another animal, though I'd be interested to see how those speeds look. But with both forehand and backhand, lift/drag factors and release angles seem pretty comparable to me.

What do you think about forehand? I'm guessing you have a good one, simply because you have (or had) a good overhand. My working assumption is that forehand has less spin than backhand, but I'm pretty sure the distance still comes down to release velocity. I always had a decent arm in baseball/football, and I think that's why I still get a consistently higher release speed when I throw forehand. Backhand is still coming along, and I'm sure I'll throw farther one day... just needs some more work.

I guess my point is that there's no "magic trick" to get big distance without having good arm speed. Some guys (I'm thinking some masters, even some touring pros) can make up for slightly lower arm speed since they have smooth, consistent form, and their distance is adequate if not amazing. BUT they still throw pretty fast, and that's how they can consistently get discs 350-400.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

I'm betting that the relationship between throwing speed and distance doesn't work quite like this because of the increase in drag at higher speeds. For example, assuming no wind, a throw over level ground and the same mold, a disc thrown at 1 mph probably won't go 7'. A disc thrown at 100 mph probably won't travel 700 feet. Somewhere in the middle will be a disc whose distance traveled is exactly 7' for every 1 mph of release speed.

Professor Shmirtz is onto something here...

 

[ILUVSMGS18]

On a side note does Baseball velocity have anything to do with how fast you can throw a disc. If there's any comparison I'm throwing about 65 with a baseball and I'm assuming my FH speed is about 60 and my BH is about 55 or so. My max d is about 375 BH and 400 FH.

 

[lyleoross]

There I something I don't understand about this thesis. Forehand arm speed is noticeably faster than backhand, and yet to get distance we go backhand. It isn't as simple as speed. Furthermore, the old pro axiom was take 15 % or so off for max distance.

 

[scarpfish]

This is one of those times I wish we had a disc throwing machine that could throw at exact speeds and angles.

I would venture every mold has a ideal cruise speed that it flies optimal distance at. Would be kind of cool to see what a lot of our popular molds max out at.

 

[armiller]

There I something I don't understand about this thesis. Forehand arm speed is noticeably faster than backhand, and yet to get distance we go backhand. It isn't as simple as speed. Furthermore, the old pro axiom was take 15 % or so off for max distance.

I don't agree about forearm speed being noticeably faster. The difference between FH and BH is that the arm speed is generated quite differently. I do think that my FH is longer than my BH because I can't generate as much arm speed BH. I think it's that simple... Maybe the problem comes in when trying to generate extra speed introduces problems like wobble, OAT, bad release angles, etc. I can't help but notice, however, that some pros have somewhat ugly, jerky form. They're using it successfully to get that extra arm speed, while still maintaining adequate control.

ILUVS... yes, obviously forehand speed must have some relation to baseball speed. I don't know that backhand really correlates with other athletic motions, which is why it seems to take more work to master.

 

[PBokor]

I'm betting that the relationship between throwing speed and distance doesn't work quite like this because of the increase in drag at higher speeds. For example, assuming no wind, a throw over level ground and the same mold, a disc thrown at 1 mph probably won't go 7'. A disc thrown at 100 mph probably won't travel 700 feet. Somewhere in the middle will be a disc whose distance traveled is exactly 7' for every 1 mph of release speed.

Totally agree. :thmbup:

This is the source I was referencing. https://www.bestdiscgolfdiscs.com/using-science-to-increase-your-drive-distance/

 

[NathanNoodleArm]

The goal is to have disc ejection speed that is faster than arm speed.

 

[ohtobediscing]

Back in '80 I went to a multi-event Frisbee tourney, and in the disc speed.event (measured with a radar gun) I got my Ultimate lid up to 68 mph.

With a thumber.

I didn't win---3 people threw over 70 mph.

 

[Pbmercil]

The goal is to have disc ejection speed that is faster than arm speed.

Yeah I meant to mention that. Arm speed isn't really relevant to the discussion. Disc ejection speed is what matters.

 

[armiller]

The goal is to have disc ejection speed that is faster than arm speed.

Dang terminology... Yeah sorry, I slipped "arm speed" in there, though I'm actually referring to "disc speed as it leaves the hand that's connected to the arm." Obviously you can't get good ejection speed without good arm speed, though.

 

[slowplastic]

I had the chance to throw into radar several times in the last month. It's surprisingly consistent...the same person will throw within 1mph basically every time using the same form and similar effort.

For reference, if I throw a disc cleanly with the right height and not too much hyzer, I will throw putters 300', mids 320-330', mellow straight fairways 360-380', straight to fade high speed drivers 380-390', and high speed mellower drivers 390-425'. This is just to set a baseline.

My backhand speed is 60-61 mph. When I am exhausted it drops to 58-59 mph. So these speeds correlate to the distances I listed above. My max speed with a blizzard disc was 63 mph. I have not thrown blizzard in the field.

Standstill resulted in 54mph basically every time. So about 10% less speed in my case.

I have an ok forehand, but it is clean. I throw high speed discs 330-350', NOT on flex lines. Fairways like a champ Teebird are 300'. My forehand speed is 56-57 mph, with highest at 58 mph. A mellow but firm flick gets 52 mph or so.

What I have learned is throwing over 85% is likely to add no more velocity, but more torque and strain. Also, every mph is hard to gain.

I want to compare my standstill distance to my forehand. I wouldn't be surprised if I could standstill at least as far, even though the velocity is less. I need to try this sometime.