Rollers how?

[Jungle Tim]

Hola

I know its not a popular shot, but i cant help smiling when a disc pops out of the bushes and slowly winds its way round the corner and coast up under the basket. Typically i throw rollers to get back to the fairway, but i have seen some pros park it form 500ft away with a roller.

So my question is how do they do it, and what are the pros cons of Forehand and backhand rollers, over and under stable discs.

At the mo all my distance roller attempts bugger off into the bushes randomly. (loop back to beginning)

Throwing for rollers -
150 Champ Stinger (short range)
172 Champ Sidewinder (attempted long)

Muchas Gracias
jungle tim

 

[IrishCreamer]

I would like to know the basics of throwing a roller. It is definately not in my bag of tricks.

 

[jedwards]

This is a pretty good video demonstrating a few different techniques:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18h0H2MIVjg

 

[IrishCreamer]

thanks for the link. unfortunately my work proxy blocks youtube but i will take a look at home later.

 

[Jungle Tim]

damn, no internet today in Mexico
thanks for the link though

 

[DGtourist]

Page 26 of the 1st issue of Flying Disc Magazine has a great little article about the back hand roller (which I've made my project this summer with some success)! Essentially you approach the box from the back right corner (if you are right handed) and come out at the left with the landing in the center of the box and with your hand down through your x-step. But not straight down to the ground you want a fair amount of flight but with the disc landing on the rim with good bite. I've been using a roadrunner for this. I also find that the wind will do havoc to your intended landing and rolling path, the disc sticks up like a sail. When I'm lucky enough to have the right condidtions, it can get me an extra 40 feet from normal, so far.

 

[DGtourist]

Page 26 of the 1st issue of Flying Disc Magazine has a great little article about the back hand roller (which I've made my project this summer with some success)! Essentially you approach the box from the back right corner (if you are right handed) and come out at the left with the landing in the center of the box and with your hand down through your x-step. But not straight down to the ground you want a fair amount of flight but with the disc landing on the rim with good bite. I've been using a roadrunner for this. I also find that the wind will do havoc to your intended landing and rolling path, the disc sticks up like a sail. When I'm lucky enough to have the right condidtions, it can get me an extra 40 feet from normal, so far.

The man who wrote this article, Snapper Pierson, is featured on the March 15, 2004. PDGA radio archive talking about backhand rollers. It's good stuff!
http://www.pdga.com/pdgaradio/2004.php (March 15 04)

 

[discinator]

Forehand rollers are not too hard either. I am admittedly not extemely great at it yet, but I am working on it. With the forehand roller I just kind of throw a little more overhand, almost like a 45 degree tomahawk. The disc lands at an angle and then stands up and rolls. This is definitely not a shot to throw into the wind.

 

[RustyP]

The forehand roller is an emergency-only shot for me, but the backhand roller is a big part of my game for longer holes (as I'm just now getting 400' of air distance regularly).

In addition to what DGtourist said about approaching the x-step from a different angle, try leaning your torso back a little to move your center of gravity further back...this should help you get the right angle of release and make the follow-through more smooth and in the right direction.

IMO, the easiest way to get the disc to land at the desired angle (between ~35-50 degrees for me personally) is to use an understable-to-stable disc (Orion LS for me...also Roadrunners, Sidewinders, Flash, etc) and release it high and at the angle you want it to land at (for a "sky roller"). It'll take some practice to find out how much power you need upon release to get your disc to hold the release-angle all the way down.

You can also just take an understable disc and throw it low, at full-power, and with only slight anhyzer...let the disc do the work for you and flip on it's own before hitting the ground. Again, it'll take some practice to figure out how much power you have to put on it to make it hit the ground at the right angle.

Hope that helps...

 

[justin]

My "trick" I'll recommend (perhaps a shortcut) for a backhand roller is to throw a 150g DX Leopard. It's super-understable out of the box. As mentioned above you want an understable disc which can be turned over enough that it will land on edge (hopefully pointing to 10-11 o'clock for BHRH tossers) so buying a lighter disc can gain you that understability quickly. I throw nearly full strength with a bit of hyzer concentrating on a low shot. Of course the disc flies to the right before hitting the ground so the best thing to do is to aim maybe about 30 degrees to the left of center when throwing (again, BHRH). I really wish more courses has good roller holes.

Holes like #1 and #12 at Joralemon Park near Albany, Ny are good examples of when a roller is the best option:
http://www.dgcoursereview.com/gallery.php?id=164&mode=gal#

 

[Jungle Tim]

i recently read some where (perhapse here) that disc turned similarly for rollers as for hammers. That is to say a understable disc will flip quicker in a hammer and will roll over faster too. Consequently longer rollers can be achieved with more stable discs as it take more time for the discs to roll over.

My forehand rollers 'j' off to the left pretty early so im hoping that a Z tracker would come in handy for longer fore hand rollers.....

@justin - 'BHRH tossers' that has an entirely different meaning in the UK, gave me a good laugh though!

 

[RustyP]

i recently read some where (perhapse here) that disc turned similarly for rollers as for hammers. That is to say a understable disc will flip quicker in a hammer and will roll over faster too. Consequently longer rollers can be achieved with more stable discs as it take more time for the discs to roll over.

You're correct on the first part, but I'm not sure you could say that a more stable disc will always have more potential for roller-distance based solely on it's stability. The "more stable = slower roll-over" rule applies to the portion of the roller when the disc is actually on the ground, but a very integral part of your overall roller distance is what happens before it hits the ground (ie - how far you throw it in the air prior to rolling), and at what angle it hits.

I think that finding your personal longest roller will only come through experimenting with different combinations of disc stability, release angle, height, power, landing angle, etc. My personal longest rolls (RHBH) are around 500'...to get that distance I have to throw a slightly understable disc (Sirius Orion LS) high, at full power, and with about 45-degrees of anhyzer angle...they'll usually fly ~250' before hitting the ground at about the same angle as my release, and will not turn all the way over until very late in the roll. Most of my "ground distance" is achieved while the disc is still leaning to the left (RHBH). Of course, for me to get that kind of distance, the ground has to be fairly compact, dry, and without any thick grass to slow the disc down.

I think rollers are considered to be unpopular by many becuase there are SO many variables that come into play. Even if you throw the perfect roller shot, there's always the chance that your disc will hit a twig or unseen root, causing it change direction or lose speed.