I’ve been disc golfing for only two years but I’ve been able to exceed my expectations by far. I’ve also improved faster than my other friends that started at around the same time (Chris will attest to this). When I pair up and play a round with new people, none of them believe that I’ve only played a few years.
My early success is a result of solid disc golf technique. I know I have a long way to go but I’m certain I have started on the right track and I owe a lot of credit to Dan Beto and his disc golf technique video. I took this practice and technique building strategy very seriously. Building my form from the hit point backwards has enabled me to understand far more about the throw itself. I will warn you, I did a lot of field work and didn’t play very often or very well for several months. I really wanted to dial in the form properly from the start. My first several rounds left me as the shortest driver and highest scorer but I stuck with it and can now throw my Champion Boss 350′ with good control.
You’ll notice a few things right away after watching the video. First, the smaller motion Dan suggests starting with is also a good building block for your shorter approaches and any other shot where you need to take a little power off to achieve the distance or coerce the disc into an adjusted flight pattern. Starting here also ensures that you feel the hit point that you’ll strive to find later with more moving parts.
Second, and for me the most useful, learning how to throw from the “stretch” – that’s a baseball term to say without the windup. There are a lot of holes now where I don’t use a run up or x-step. Sometimes the tee pad is too short or has a poorly maintained front with a big drop off into mud, other times the layout of the hole requires more accuracy than power. The ability to throw from a stand still also helps while you are in the fairway looking to make a powerful, but controlled, motion toward the basket. Finally, the stand still throw gives me yet another consistent and ingrained motion to achieve certain distances.
Are you ready to rebuild your throwing motion? Or maybe you are new and want to start out with proper disc golf technique. Either way, give this a try and let me know if it works as well for you as it has for me.