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What's more important: Spin or speed?
- Thread starter DiscFifty
- Start date
Majicmarkr
Newbie
I've been thinking about this a lot lately. I really like the comparison to hammer throwers and discus throwers. I was a national champion discus thrower in college and competed in the Olympic Trials many years ago. I was also a 69 meter hammer thrower. I think the closest comparison with dg discs would be the discus throw. Totally different techniques but what makes it go far is the same. Speed at release (should be accelerating through release) and imparting spin in order to maintain rotational stability. In discus throwing the top and bottom flight plates are exact mirrors of each other unlike dg discs. Discs come with different percentages of rim weight. If you are able to put a lot of spin on a disc with very high rim weight you would get much better glide after the disc reaches the apex of its flight. If you used a high rim weight disc and could not spin it it would not glide much, you essentially just muscled it out there with power and release speed. After it reaches its apex it would stall and fade to the left as it fell. To truly throw a track and field disc far the speed of the disc at release has to be high AND the disc must be spinning fast.
I don't think the hammer is a good comparison. As a multi time all American hammer thrower and a us championship competitor the speed of the hammer head (ball) at release and angle determines distance. It's that simple. A track and field hammer is four feet long in total and the head (which is a shot put with a swivel) made up 95% of the implement's weight. When you throw, the hammer head was about six feet (4 foot hammer plus 2 foot long arms) away from the body (axis of rotation). A dg disc is the same weight all the way around since it's round. You just happen to be gripping one side. So I could see comparing throwing a dg disc to hammer as more of a mental cue than a real comparison in technique. If the opposite side of a dg disc had a little more weight to it than the side you grip then it would be more applicable.
My past experience in track and field is a big reason I love disc golf and these technique discussions. I can't get enough. I just wish my wife understood why I like it so much.
I don't think the hammer is a good comparison. As a multi time all American hammer thrower and a us championship competitor the speed of the hammer head (ball) at release and angle determines distance. It's that simple. A track and field hammer is four feet long in total and the head (which is a shot put with a swivel) made up 95% of the implement's weight. When you throw, the hammer head was about six feet (4 foot hammer plus 2 foot long arms) away from the body (axis of rotation). A dg disc is the same weight all the way around since it's round. You just happen to be gripping one side. So I could see comparing throwing a dg disc to hammer as more of a mental cue than a real comparison in technique. If the opposite side of a dg disc had a little more weight to it than the side you grip then it would be more applicable.
My past experience in track and field is a big reason I love disc golf and these technique discussions. I can't get enough. I just wish my wife understood why I like it so much.
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