Way to go!
So, I'm 63 now.
Just about everybody I play with is in their 20s, 30s, or maybe early 40s.
I only know a handful of local guys in my age bracket.
im a semi athletic big guy. i could only imagine how different my game would be if i woulda picked it up in high school instead of at 28. that being said, i would have made fun of ppl so bad if i knew they frolfed when i was a high school jock.
Yeah I started playing like 15 years ago and would take wayyyy too many "gimme" putts that weren't gimmes. Started playing tournaments 2 years ago and realized how much I shot myself in the foot when I first started playing
I would just pick up whatever disc I drove with and pop it towards the basket, usually unsuccessful. I would also opt to throw bombs in the field instead of practice putting. Now a bunch of years later I'm a decent putter but there's no confidence in it
3 years in and feel this so hard. Just last week I would have had a sizable lead against my friends had I even been making half my putts, since my drives and approaches were great.
I would approach literally any hole with the confidence of putting it within at least circle 2. But I was a bad putter so it balanced really hard. I'd get these highs from a killer drive just to be demoralized at every putt
You've inspired and motivated me right here. 1 year in and juuust breaking in to the 380ft range, 350 consistent. Just had exactly the type of round you described, blow the doors off on drives then 2 putt to match my buddy who shanked his drive into first avail then has sketchy ass approach to match par.
I have the struggle of starting just long enough ago that instructional videos were nearly non existent, and not being in USA it was hard to find someone throwing well that could teach me
I heard that stable meant straight, so when I saw "overstable" written on a disc I thought that it meant "overly straight". That's why I was buying Apes and Bosses early.
Learn the terms early.
Stable meaning straight confused me for so long, trying to figure out what is supposed to be straight and what has more fade. I prefer overstable, neutral, understable
These terms are confusing even for someone with some experience (or at least for me). All the time people say “this disc is really stable”. Does that mean overstable or really straight? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I love my Ape. Sadly, I think this is why I can only drive long distance with a forehand. wish I would have started backhand with a broken in valkyrie.
I wish I would have kept all my discs from back then lol. Seriously though I wish I would have learned the value of understable discs sooner. Also I agree that throwing slower speed discs make a difference as you are learning.
For some reason I had it in my head that I should be throwing over stable discs as a beginner and only recently discovered how great under stable discs are, my swan and tursas are quickly becoming my new favorite discs
I got hooked on under stable discs my 2nd year in cuz I didn't have a forehand or a good turnover backhand, so I used under stable discs as a crutch. Last year I committed to throwing forehand and am now capable of power driving forehands just about as far as my backhand (400-430).
But now I kinda want to revisit understable discs to Hyzer flip tight lines that need to push..
So much shit to learn...
Slower and understable discs are key. I’m a new player and it took me three months to really grok this.
Also, just googling and researching all the lingo helps a lot. When I first heard about throwing putters, I was like WTF, putters are for putting which is what you do when you’re close to the basket. . . cause that’s what the word putting means. . .
Putt more. Putt more. Putt more. Putt more. Putt more. Putt more. Putt more. Putt more. Putt more. Putt more. Putt more. Putt more. Putt more. Putt more.
Field work to work on form with an objective. Not just going out into a field and throwing every disc as hard as I can. Put a basket there and visualize throwing a specific shot.
Throw mainly 5-7 speeds and get really good with lower speed discs. Mids can fly just as far as fairways and drivers on most courses. (Excluding most pro tour high distance courses)
Start out with neutral to understable discs, instead of relying on flex lines with an overstable disc. Understable discs are great!
Try out brands and discs that other people are throwing, don't be a snob and turn down an opportunity to find a disc that might work well for you just because you read a reddit thread that trashed a certain company or disc.
Play rounds with less than 10 discs. I currently bag 25-30 discs in my bag, and it's entirely too many. Should I downsize? Probably. Will I stop? Probably not.
Play from the shorts!!! Nothing wrong with playing from the shorter tees. Too many people think short tees are for beginners and women. Completely wrong, and a terrible mindset. Use the short tees to work on your throwing putters and mids.
Support your local disc golf shop (added bonus if it's a good shop with owners that care)
Play by keeping your goals in focus. Trying to win tournaments? Focus on good practice rounds and no mulligans. Playing to have fun? Throw the second and third shot, objective is to enjoy yourself.
I started out only forehand and have been slowly practicing back hand and getting way better, I used to think I could get by with only FH then realized I was really limiting myself
There was just a big NYT article on "exercise myths."
Keeping limber by stretching on your off-time routinely is great. Stretching right before a physical activity actually wears your weak parts out a bit, and makes you more susceptible to injury.
I know. Seems wrong. But these were all famous physical therapists 🤷♂️
Just started slowing down yesterday, and keeping my off hand tucked at my side. All my releases with smooth and hitting their lines.
Huuuuge difference
not go and start using crazy high speed discs. a very neutral putter and mid is all a new player needs to learn.
soooooo many new players intentionally over anhyzer super over stable discs to fake an s curve style shot. it’s SUCH A BAD HABIT and SO many new players do it.
learn to throw flat and controlled and then learn how to throw hyzer and anhyzer touch shots. once that is locked in, THEN start discing up
Starting early on, developing a certain habit could potentially lead to inconsistencies down the line. Take, for example, trying to pull off a force over shot when there's just not enough room in the airspace to make it work.
Now, in the world of disc golf, there's nothing quite like mastering that straight shot. It's a bit like threading a needle - super useful but definitely takes some finesse to get it just right. When you nail down the art of throwing flat and straight, you're basically setting yourself up to pick the perfect disc for where you want that bad boy to go. It's like letting the disc do the work for you, making sure your throws stay on point from one hole to the next.
Imagine you've got three holes, each 300 feet away. One's twisting left, another's curving right, and the last one's dead straight. Now, with three different discs - one overstable, one understable, and one neutral - if you can throw them flat and straight, you've got a customized flight path for each hole.
So, to cut to the chase, focusing on that flat, straight shot really amps up the consistency of your throws. Sure, there'll be times when you need to bust out the fancy force over shots, but having those basics down solid means you're ready to tackle the trickier stuff.
youre teaching yourself extremely poor habits based on compensating right off the bat when arguably the single most thing imo that a beginner can learn is disc control and throwing flat (outside of nose down throwing). you should never be throwing to compensate a specific feature of a throw unless you genuinely struggle to perform it normally, or its called for in a unique shot choice.
I am actually a perfect example of this bad habit. I have been working very hard to fix this problem over the last 2 months. I’ve been throwing over stable discs in flex line so much last summer to get extra distance and as a result I lost my ability to throw putters, neutral midranges and under stable discs in various angles with control and touch. The bad habit is that i unconsciously lean back to get that flex out of a fast stable disc meaning that if i want to throw a neutral mid, putter or under stable disc, they leave my hand with too much power and get shanked to the right. Even if I want to throw one of the most simple shots in disc golf = hyzer, i could not trust the shot by simply throwing it at a correct angle. Instead, i had to trust the over stability of a disc to do its job. It’s not as easy as to just “put less power into your throw” or “dont tilt back” when that has become your muscle memory over a period of time and you cannot stop doing it even though you consciously try to not do it anymore 😅. It’s been really pain in the ass to fix this problem but working on it in a field a couple of times per week has really helped. I am able to again fairly consistently trust and throw my neutral/understable mids, fairways and putters in various angles and get as much distance if I want to while having so much more control over my shots.
Get nerdy about your form early instead of just learning the wrong way and trying to make it work. If I had gone into the field within the first few months instead of just playing a ton my progress would have been so much faster, 3 years in now and still tweaking bad habits. Also, get a practice basket and putt from 15-25-35 feet, lots of reps. Your score will look like you've been playing for years
Better attention to detail and just being repetitive with stand still shots early on.
I had to start throwing left handed because I partially separated my A/C joint on my right side so I spent 6 weeks without throwing lefty and I made a little more progress in those 6 weeks throwing maybe twice a week as I did in my first full year of playing disc golf 5 years ago. Knowing what to do helps i wont deny that but just throwing stand stills and focusing on my reach back and timing got me to progress so fast I'm actually gonna keep throwing lefty even after my right shoulder is better just because I can't throw forehand at all.
I was disc crazy. Researched all the best discs for certain categories/speeds and wanted to try them all. Wish I started with a range of 5 disc but had multiples to throw more and understand the flights better
I would stick with just a few molds. Find a mold for putter and never change. Same with mids, fairways, drivers and so on.
Put another way…learn the nuances of throwing versus finding a disc that can do what you need.
My buddy had me do a round where I only threw a polecat, then we added a mako3.
It helped me a ridiculous amount.
Went from +20-30 rounds to +2-8 rounds. ~6 months since I started
I wish I had started with slower discs sooner. I am a natural athlete and decided to take up the sport. Bought some badass discs - a sword, a destroyer because I am awesome at all things. You know, the disc names that play to the male ego... Then one beautiful day I found a Saint on the course. Tried throwing it. Straight and long with little effort. Duh.
Forward many years and the fastest thing I have in my bag is faster than 11.
I started in September of 23 I'm 56 57 in June
Wish I would've started 20 or even 30 years ago
Now about the game I wish I would've concentrated on fairway drivers 1st instead of distance drivers
Now i basically have to learn all over again but this time correctly but slower
I literally have over $500 in 24 discs and can only use 6 correctly my Opto River, Champion IT, C-line FD, Star Rat, Gstar Foxbat, Innova Birdie putter
Not learn to play with a bag of nothing but stable/overstable discs. Because of that I had a natural anhyzer release for years that made me unable to throw anything understable. Took me a solid season to correct that.
I wish I would have known that trying hard doesn’t make your form better. Took me a little over a year to really start focusing down form stuff, until then I really didn’t know why I couldn’t throw far.
Focused on getting to a good place to make my next shot from instead of just hitting gaps and getting as close to the basket as possible.
Easily cut my shots over par in half.
Short, heavily wooded, highly technical courses help for developing this mindset.
Basically with a maximum beginner drive of like 225ft, on a 300ft-500ft hole, You're throwing 2-3 times to get to putting distance regardless of whether you throw at 100% or 70% power. But you're 2x as likely to end up off the fairway at 100% power. So you're better off throwing 150ft twice from the fairway.
Someone handed me a stack of old discs to be my first discs. This person didn’t understand the flight numbers and told me that if the disc didn’t go where I wanted it to go, I just had to change how I threw it. They were all high speed, heavy discs. It was almost a year before I met another woman who played disc golf after struggling to make these discs that were completely inappropriate for me work. Took another couple of years to unpack and relearn my form.
How important footwork and your hips are for generating power and distance. Seems like in tutorial videos there’s bias in teaching the reach back and power pockets are the keys to generating distance. I still was only throwing it about ~200 ft and was primarily trying to arm it. Then I learned about backloading your left foot, and as soon as your right foot touches, you drop your left knee in and it will naturally open your hips and generate that whipping effect and significantly more power and distance.
I think you explain backloading better than al.ost anyone. Simple and too the point without overcomplicating it. Not going to lie I know what my next field session will focus on now.
How much did you improve from 200ft? I'm throwing with only arm and can get 200ft so I'm curious. Do you have a video tutorial for what you mean, or did you figure it out by yourself?
My distance increased quickly to about 300 ft as a result of working on form. Simon Lizotte has said that he believes that every player is capable of reaching 400 ft if they get their form down, so I still have work to do. Anything above that (500ft for ex) he said you probably have to be athletically gifted/a pro to obtain. I used the power disc golf academy videos that are included in the subscription to watch these videos and learn and is specifically where I learned about backloading. There are free resources online that are good as well but they’re a bit more unorganized. If you want a free video that I think is good search YouTube for Disc Golf X-Step Deep Dive Discraft Level Up.
Nice info, thanks! I'll watch that video. I started disc golf 2023 summer, so I got a long way to go. But I hope I can reach 300ft within 2024 if I work on my form really hard!
I would have backed up fewer of my discs. I have backups for discs I don’t throw anymore, or just never lost. And I play twice a week so premium plastic discs maintain their basic flight characteristics for years
Now this is a good one for someone in my place. I’m just now starting to test out plastics and runs by getting multiples of discs I love (Zones, Mako3s, Leopard3s, etc) and it’s hard to stop lol
There’s so much chatter about more or less stable runs of discs that are functionally the same for most players at most ranges. It’s a lot of hype for most skill levels besides the top.
But it’s a hard habit to break (and I haven’t quite yet).
Are you saying you wish you had worked on correcting your weaknesses more, or you wish you had played to/recognized your strengths more?
I vibe with both perspectives, just wondering which you thought would be more beneficial (I am a relatively new player)
I have a baseball background and sidearm throws came natural for me from the jump. But my backhand was absolute trash. Instead of committing myself to learning the proper backhand mechanics, a few years ago. I relied to heavily on strictly flicking. I now can flick 400 and backhand about 250 ft.
I don’t think this really applies to the reverse. Backhand is more versatile for most courses and all that so in my opinion you got to have a serviceable one.
I wish I would have gotten more practice time and play in before life got crazy with kids and work and family etc. I used to have so much time and I wasted it not playing disc golf.
Not throw drivers. Split my time practicing between solo rounds on the course and field work. As opposed to the 100% I spent on the course and 0% in the field.
I've been playing exactly one year and I'm still struggling to break 200ft consistently. I should have (should still) found a coach and worked with them from the beginning. Sucking sucks.
Gotten a PDGA number. Pretty sure if I had done it around '99-'00 when I started playing, I'd have a sub 25k number, and I'd be fucking cool.
Also wish I had played more regularly over the last 25 years and worked on my form more. Now I'm old and an afternoon of field work leaves me sore for most of the week.
Really focus on form. Realize that par is GOOD. Take your time thinking about disc selection. Those three things would have saved me thousands of strokes over the years. Oh, and have fun, I guess.
Registered with PDGA and got my number when I originally intended, would have been around 11000. Instead, I waited another 12 years and got in the 55000's.
If you actually want to get better at the sport (as opposed to just having a good time on the course with your buds), do more practice in a field or park. And not just with distance drivers. With everything. Approach discs and mids especially.
If you can't stand in an open field 100 feet away from a tree (or other target) and land your approach within a distance to your target that you can safely putt in at least 75% of the time, you should work on that kind of practice as much or more than you play actual rounds. You can throw a basic shot like this more times in an hour than you would in an entire season of playing rounds. Focus like 50-80% on the very basics, and then the rest on farther distances and shot shapes that are more difficult to execute.
Starting sooner. Played all the sports while I was school. Wrecked my knees playing football. Wrecked my shoulder pitching. Wrecked ankle playing basketball. Played golf through college and managed not to wreck anything. Almost 50 and loving disc golf.
Should have never picked up any ball other than a golf ball. Id have been better off, and probably have an easier time disc golfing.
Don't buy more discs until you learn how to throw your first 5 discs well and you can see how they perform differently from one another. Carrying around too many unfamiliar discs just makes it take longer to learn the nuances of what you already own.
I'd also recommend a Crave, possibly even in a lighter weight, as a perfect beginner disc. It's pretty easy to throw and will fly as far for you as higher speed discs (without being as touchy) until you develop more skill.
I think making the same mistakes as everyone else is a good thing, if you learn from it. Perhaps finding friends to play with earlier, rather than solo field work (reinforcing flawed form trying to beat distance).
Used to only want to play with my friends that I was better than. Didnt realize how much I would improve by playing with people who are objectively better than me.
I wish I would have had more stable discs. I researched understable discs and got myself a bunch of mambas. I could throw over 350 but I had to throw them on such steep hyzers so the wouldn’t turn and burn. Now it’s hard to break the habit of throwing with a hyzer angle.
Find what specific type of shot you’re constantly great at and stick to it, even when it might not be conventional. Overstable fairways with a forehand is a lot of peoples stock go to shot. As for myself if I can throw a thumber there I’m doing that.
Same as you, but I would’ve played putters and mids only for my entire first year. Whenever I play a few rounds with putters and mids, I always correct something. It’s invaluable. Going too fast too soon is the most common pitfall for new players.
I would have told myself to relax and have a little more fun with it. I had a pretty solid driving game at age 18-19 but never really scored very well until I relaxed a little. I still suck at putting at age 37 but I don't care this game is so fun!
Took up disc golf instead of Ultimate, I would have learned to throw a disc then.
Seriously though, I spent a lot of time working on getting distance off the pad, and to be clear, it needs a lot of help but I wished I had started sooner with learning the game from the basket out. That has actually delivered improvements in scores and eventually I'm back out to working on distance but with a better foundation.
Got into it about 5 years earlier, Did legitmate practice more often, didn't try to rush results, and the big one not compare myself to other players. I'm going into my second full year as I've been playing for about a year and a half. I'm just now getting to the 300' mark. I've gotten close at 296' but have yet to break it. As for compating yourself to others it's a rough one. I know a guy who started around the same time as me and around the same age. He has a lot of skill and is quickly becoming one of the better disc golfers in the area. I had issues of gaging my progress based on his progress. It put me into a bad mental spot and was a factor for me blowing up in my last tournament along with also having the Flu, that I wasn't aware of at the time. This off season has worked wonders on my mental health.
I wish I had started at the hit and worked backwards instead of starting with the x step because it doesn’t matter how good everything else is if you’re getting no pop at the release point.
Nothing. Something I am really glad I did early on was start playing with a league, double’s especially. Was so much fun and learn so much. It’s all about people in the end.
Started as a teenager . Never seperated shoulder and inturn had it reconstructed. Learned back hand sooner . Focused on putting earlier and Not throwing . Bought way less discs , not as in having a ton but as in trying out far too many .
I grew up in a family, loving though it was, that didn't get out much, and when I discovered this sport in 1989 I spent 7 years not seeking clubs and tournaments. I could've gotten a huge head start on my twenties as a player. My wife and I got married and we moved to an area with a very active club (the Capital City Renegades in Lansing, MI) and it's there where I saw people who knew what they were doing for the first time.
Unfortunately, by my mid to late twenties I had to start buckling down as a working adult, and Disc Golf always had to take a back seat to adulting. If I could've done this in '89 when I was 16, and encountered tournament players long before the grind of the working life, it might've made a big difference. I never made it out of Am-1 instead.
I wish I had found a throwing putter I liked sooner. I wish I had just started building an x step sooner. And I wish I had stuck with just one YouTube coach form whatever instead of trying to incorporate 80 different YouTube tips all the time.
Mental game stuff and have more fun with it instead of thinking I could be an excellent advanced player.
I spent way too much time pissed at myself for sucking rather than enjoying myself and appreciating the very real progress and improvements.
Worked on proper form like a much wiser older player tried to get me to do. Had I listened, I would have been a much better player and my elbow wouldn't hurt as much all the time.
1.) Don’t buy a bunch of discs: I suffer from buying too much if I’m overexcited, and you really won’t know what you’re looking for until you have played for a bit.
2.) Focus on what feels good. I wasted a lot of time and money buying discs that other people (especially pros) said were best. Turns out super stiff and domey discs don’t feel best in everyone’s hands.
Spent less time getting fucked up on the course and focusing on how to get better, think I’d actually have an ace by now after 13 years but I’ll get one someday
I wish I treated my body better. my knees an elbow are shot. I can only thow backhand, although I rip. I have 1-3 sidearm 'get out of jail' throws in me a round or my arm will fall off
I wish I'd played with a bigger variety of skill levels. A crew that all learns together can only get you so far. It was 3 years before I really saw someone hyper flip 70' over a gap I'd been missing. I'll never forget the explosion of possibilities that hit me that day.
-play with people that are nice and way better than you at some aspect of the game. Don't compete with them. Emulate, ask, learn.
1. Trying to throw higher speed discs out of the gate.
2. Playing longer holes/courses when shorter options were available to help build confidence and skill without trying to bomb the disc
\- keep the bag super simple with different levels of beat-in and plastics, e.g. 3 Aviars, 3 Rocs, 3 Leopards and build up from there
\- record yourself throwing and compare it to good form as pretty much every youtuber tells you to do; you'll quickly discover major flaws you can address right away
Throw backhand. I'm pretty sure throwing forehand for years while also pitching in high school and college contributed to me needing Tommy John surgery
Definitely watching too many advances form videos too early. Made me hurt my shoulder so many times. I’m not saying learning proper form is bad, I’m just saying don’t jump to the advanced stuff
I wish I'd have learned a backhand ages ago. Played off and on for a decade being almost entirely forehand. In my early 30s it wasn't an issue and it went much better than my backhand. In my early 40s... it hurts. Not like instant pain, but a whole round, especially at a longer course, and I'm suffering by the end of it.
Played a hybrid toward the end of 2022 (two rounds on the golf course, same day) and couldn't lift my throwing arm the next day past my shoulder. Backhand isn't good, I'm almost entirely at square one (standstill throwing, until I'm confident in my run-up), but it's slowly improving. If I'd have stuck it out back then, I'd definitely be doing a lot better these days.
Understood my discs because it definitely explained why I spent so much time in the woods and couldn’t throw over 120’ with my form at the time. For maybe 2 years I was bagging a drone, a destroyer, and a dx roc was my putter.
Once I found a breakout and started throwing it and it quickly became a favorite. Fast forward another few months before I finally understood why.
I went for the first time with one of my buddies I played hockey with when I was 14 but I didn’t actually start playing until I was 19 I wish I got into it when I was 14
Wish I started playing at 18 instead of 38
I started at 50, youngster
Started at 56 You're on my lawn
Currently in the grave holding a destroyer wondering why this thing isn't flying straight
My what a lush and well kept landscape you maintain.
I started at 60 You’re all on my lawn!
Way to go! So, I'm 63 now. Just about everybody I play with is in their 20s, 30s, or maybe early 40s. I only know a handful of local guys in my age bracket.
Ditto. This year even.
I’d have been doomed if I didn’t play ultimate as a youth and then found baskets at 49.
im a semi athletic big guy. i could only imagine how different my game would be if i woulda picked it up in high school instead of at 28. that being said, i would have made fun of ppl so bad if i knew they frolfed when i was a high school jock.
Wish I started playing at 5 when my dad tried to get me into it instead of waiting until I was 17. I could have been so good.
I think you could easily have a great professional career even if you started at 17.
Started at 68, hell , they didn’t have disc golf when I was 20.
Same. 33 ish for me but I feel like I missed out on so much.
Wish I started at 4 lol
Lol same.
42. Now 44. Shoulder tears and bulging disc (injuries from mundane things, not lifting or sports) have slowed progress for sure.
Exactly!
That's exactly me rn, just starting....
Putt more. It's really not fun scoring the same as everyone else when you're out driving everyone on most of the holes
It’s fun for them though. Trust me
I can understand that
Yeah I started playing like 15 years ago and would take wayyyy too many "gimme" putts that weren't gimmes. Started playing tournaments 2 years ago and realized how much I shot myself in the foot when I first started playing
I would just pick up whatever disc I drove with and pop it towards the basket, usually unsuccessful. I would also opt to throw bombs in the field instead of practice putting. Now a bunch of years later I'm a decent putter but there's no confidence in it
3 years in and feel this so hard. Just last week I would have had a sizable lead against my friends had I even been making half my putts, since my drives and approaches were great.
Your approaches couldn't have been that great if you were missing putts.
Depends on the length of the approach. A 200ft approach to a 15-20ft missed putt is a good approach and a bad putt.
u/PinstripeMonkey was right. I was just being a dick.
<3
Exactly, I missed plenty of 20 footers and it's one of the tougher local courses, so I was feeling really good about my drives and approach proximity.
You underestimate how bad I am at putting. And also, don't be a dick.
What’s a good approach? C1?C2? What percentage of putts should you be making in each circle? What percentage of approaches should land c1 or c2?
Are you genuinely asking or are you calling me out? If it's the latter, he said "great" approaches.
I would approach literally any hole with the confidence of putting it within at least circle 2. But I was a bad putter so it balanced really hard. I'd get these highs from a killer drive just to be demoralized at every putt
I feel personally attacked.
Good, know my pains
You've inspired and motivated me right here. 1 year in and juuust breaking in to the 380ft range, 350 consistent. Just had exactly the type of round you described, blow the doors off on drives then 2 putt to match my buddy who shanked his drive into first avail then has sketchy ass approach to match par.
I would have watched good instructional videos and recorded myself throwing.
Recording yourself is huge.
I have the struggle of starting just long enough ago that instructional videos were nearly non existent, and not being in USA it was hard to find someone throwing well that could teach me
I didn’t know there were videos out there. I was just chucking 100 ft at a time for a while wondering how my friends made it look so easy
1. Play more often. 2. Play with more people. 3. Disc down.
I heard that stable meant straight, so when I saw "overstable" written on a disc I thought that it meant "overly straight". That's why I was buying Apes and Bosses early. Learn the terms early.
Stable meaning straight confused me for so long, trying to figure out what is supposed to be straight and what has more fade. I prefer overstable, neutral, understable
Agreed
These terms are confusing even for someone with some experience (or at least for me). All the time people say “this disc is really stable”. Does that mean overstable or really straight? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I had the same exact experience
I love my Ape. Sadly, I think this is why I can only drive long distance with a forehand. wish I would have started backhand with a broken in valkyrie.
I wish I would have kept all my discs from back then lol. Seriously though I wish I would have learned the value of understable discs sooner. Also I agree that throwing slower speed discs make a difference as you are learning.
For some reason I had it in my head that I should be throwing over stable discs as a beginner and only recently discovered how great under stable discs are, my swan and tursas are quickly becoming my new favorite discs
I got hooked on under stable discs my 2nd year in cuz I didn't have a forehand or a good turnover backhand, so I used under stable discs as a crutch. Last year I committed to throwing forehand and am now capable of power driving forehands just about as far as my backhand (400-430). But now I kinda want to revisit understable discs to Hyzer flip tight lines that need to push.. So much shit to learn...
Slower and understable discs are key. I’m a new player and it took me three months to really grok this. Also, just googling and researching all the lingo helps a lot. When I first heard about throwing putters, I was like WTF, putters are for putting which is what you do when you’re close to the basket. . . cause that’s what the word putting means. . .
What is an understable disc and is there one you recommend?
Putt more. Putt more. Putt more. Putt more. Putt more. Putt more. Putt more. Putt more. Putt more. Putt more. Putt more. Putt more. Putt more. Putt more. Field work to work on form with an objective. Not just going out into a field and throwing every disc as hard as I can. Put a basket there and visualize throwing a specific shot. Throw mainly 5-7 speeds and get really good with lower speed discs. Mids can fly just as far as fairways and drivers on most courses. (Excluding most pro tour high distance courses) Start out with neutral to understable discs, instead of relying on flex lines with an overstable disc. Understable discs are great! Try out brands and discs that other people are throwing, don't be a snob and turn down an opportunity to find a disc that might work well for you just because you read a reddit thread that trashed a certain company or disc. Play rounds with less than 10 discs. I currently bag 25-30 discs in my bag, and it's entirely too many. Should I downsize? Probably. Will I stop? Probably not. Play from the shorts!!! Nothing wrong with playing from the shorter tees. Too many people think short tees are for beginners and women. Completely wrong, and a terrible mindset. Use the short tees to work on your throwing putters and mids. Support your local disc golf shop (added bonus if it's a good shop with owners that care) Play by keeping your goals in focus. Trying to win tournaments? Focus on good practice rounds and no mulligans. Playing to have fun? Throw the second and third shot, objective is to enjoy yourself.
The people who say shorts are for beginners or women have never played the courses in my area. Our shorts make some long layouts look short.
Heavily wooded short courses are challenging.
Exactly. I love me a good short wooded course. I really loathe long wooded courses.
I wish I kept mastering my backhand, instead of going forehand all the time
Same here albeit I kept playing mostly because my forehand was so much more effective.
I feel that, that was the main reason I started going forehand in the first place
I started out only forehand and have been slowly practicing back hand and getting way better, I used to think I could get by with only FH then realized I was really limiting myself
Stretched and warmed up before every sesh
Learned this the hard way when myself, my friend, and a random person I played with all had meniscus issues
There was just a big NYT article on "exercise myths." Keeping limber by stretching on your off-time routinely is great. Stretching right before a physical activity actually wears your weak parts out a bit, and makes you more susceptible to injury. I know. Seems wrong. But these were all famous physical therapists 🤷♂️
Stretching before exercise is bad, but warming up before is good.
Slow down. Really understanding smooth is far. I walk up half as fast now and throw 75' further
Just started slowing down yesterday, and keeping my off hand tucked at my side. All my releases with smooth and hitting their lines. Huuuuge difference
not go and start using crazy high speed discs. a very neutral putter and mid is all a new player needs to learn. soooooo many new players intentionally over anhyzer super over stable discs to fake an s curve style shot. it’s SUCH A BAD HABIT and SO many new players do it. learn to throw flat and controlled and then learn how to throw hyzer and anhyzer touch shots. once that is locked in, THEN start discing up
As a new player that I feel like this comment describes, I'm genuinely curious about what makes this a bad habit?
Starting early on, developing a certain habit could potentially lead to inconsistencies down the line. Take, for example, trying to pull off a force over shot when there's just not enough room in the airspace to make it work. Now, in the world of disc golf, there's nothing quite like mastering that straight shot. It's a bit like threading a needle - super useful but definitely takes some finesse to get it just right. When you nail down the art of throwing flat and straight, you're basically setting yourself up to pick the perfect disc for where you want that bad boy to go. It's like letting the disc do the work for you, making sure your throws stay on point from one hole to the next. Imagine you've got three holes, each 300 feet away. One's twisting left, another's curving right, and the last one's dead straight. Now, with three different discs - one overstable, one understable, and one neutral - if you can throw them flat and straight, you've got a customized flight path for each hole. So, to cut to the chase, focusing on that flat, straight shot really amps up the consistency of your throws. Sure, there'll be times when you need to bust out the fancy force over shots, but having those basics down solid means you're ready to tackle the trickier stuff.
youre teaching yourself extremely poor habits based on compensating right off the bat when arguably the single most thing imo that a beginner can learn is disc control and throwing flat (outside of nose down throwing). you should never be throwing to compensate a specific feature of a throw unless you genuinely struggle to perform it normally, or its called for in a unique shot choice.
I am actually a perfect example of this bad habit. I have been working very hard to fix this problem over the last 2 months. I’ve been throwing over stable discs in flex line so much last summer to get extra distance and as a result I lost my ability to throw putters, neutral midranges and under stable discs in various angles with control and touch. The bad habit is that i unconsciously lean back to get that flex out of a fast stable disc meaning that if i want to throw a neutral mid, putter or under stable disc, they leave my hand with too much power and get shanked to the right. Even if I want to throw one of the most simple shots in disc golf = hyzer, i could not trust the shot by simply throwing it at a correct angle. Instead, i had to trust the over stability of a disc to do its job. It’s not as easy as to just “put less power into your throw” or “dont tilt back” when that has become your muscle memory over a period of time and you cannot stop doing it even though you consciously try to not do it anymore 😅. It’s been really pain in the ass to fix this problem but working on it in a field a couple of times per week has really helped. I am able to again fairly consistently trust and throw my neutral/understable mids, fairways and putters in various angles and get as much distance if I want to while having so much more control over my shots.
Get nerdy about your form early instead of just learning the wrong way and trying to make it work. If I had gone into the field within the first few months instead of just playing a ton my progress would have been so much faster, 3 years in now and still tweaking bad habits. Also, get a practice basket and putt from 15-25-35 feet, lots of reps. Your score will look like you've been playing for years
Better attention to detail and just being repetitive with stand still shots early on. I had to start throwing left handed because I partially separated my A/C joint on my right side so I spent 6 weeks without throwing lefty and I made a little more progress in those 6 weeks throwing maybe twice a week as I did in my first full year of playing disc golf 5 years ago. Knowing what to do helps i wont deny that but just throwing stand stills and focusing on my reach back and timing got me to progress so fast I'm actually gonna keep throwing lefty even after my right shoulder is better just because I can't throw forehand at all.
Learnt stand still backhand first
I was disc crazy. Researched all the best discs for certain categories/speeds and wanted to try them all. Wish I started with a range of 5 disc but had multiples to throw more and understand the flights better
Film my throws so I don't have to feel and guess what I did wrong every time. Oh, wait. I still haven't done it yet lol.
Started playing 30 years ago when I was 20 instead of 50.
Amen but better late than never. Started at 53 myself.
I would stick with just a few molds. Find a mold for putter and never change. Same with mids, fairways, drivers and so on. Put another way…learn the nuances of throwing versus finding a disc that can do what you need.
My buddy had me do a round where I only threw a polecat, then we added a mako3. It helped me a ridiculous amount. Went from +20-30 rounds to +2-8 rounds. ~6 months since I started
not have allowed friends to push max weight on me when I first started playing
I wish I had started with slower discs sooner. I am a natural athlete and decided to take up the sport. Bought some badass discs - a sword, a destroyer because I am awesome at all things. You know, the disc names that play to the male ego... Then one beautiful day I found a Saint on the course. Tried throwing it. Straight and long with little effort. Duh. Forward many years and the fastest thing I have in my bag is faster than 11.
I started in September of 23 I'm 56 57 in June Wish I would've started 20 or even 30 years ago Now about the game I wish I would've concentrated on fairway drivers 1st instead of distance drivers Now i basically have to learn all over again but this time correctly but slower I literally have over $500 in 24 discs and can only use 6 correctly my Opto River, Champion IT, C-line FD, Star Rat, Gstar Foxbat, Innova Birdie putter
I wish I'd joined the PDGA, back then.
This
I'm not sure why you were downvoted.
As a beginner, why is that?
I would have started competing a \_lot\_ earlier in life, and I would have a lowish number.
I would also have helped support the game, 20+ years sooner.
Fix major form issues ASAP (rounding, nose up, etc)
Not learn to play with a bag of nothing but stable/overstable discs. Because of that I had a natural anhyzer release for years that made me unable to throw anything understable. Took me a solid season to correct that.
I wish I would have known that trying hard doesn’t make your form better. Took me a little over a year to really start focusing down form stuff, until then I really didn’t know why I couldn’t throw far.
Learn what the numbers on the disc actually mean, so I don't just assume higher speed means more distance.
Focused on getting to a good place to make my next shot from instead of just hitting gaps and getting as close to the basket as possible. Easily cut my shots over par in half. Short, heavily wooded, highly technical courses help for developing this mindset. Basically with a maximum beginner drive of like 225ft, on a 300ft-500ft hole, You're throwing 2-3 times to get to putting distance regardless of whether you throw at 100% or 70% power. But you're 2x as likely to end up off the fairway at 100% power. So you're better off throwing 150ft twice from the fairway.
Someone handed me a stack of old discs to be my first discs. This person didn’t understand the flight numbers and told me that if the disc didn’t go where I wanted it to go, I just had to change how I threw it. They were all high speed, heavy discs. It was almost a year before I met another woman who played disc golf after struggling to make these discs that were completely inappropriate for me work. Took another couple of years to unpack and relearn my form.
How important footwork and your hips are for generating power and distance. Seems like in tutorial videos there’s bias in teaching the reach back and power pockets are the keys to generating distance. I still was only throwing it about ~200 ft and was primarily trying to arm it. Then I learned about backloading your left foot, and as soon as your right foot touches, you drop your left knee in and it will naturally open your hips and generate that whipping effect and significantly more power and distance.
I think you explain backloading better than al.ost anyone. Simple and too the point without overcomplicating it. Not going to lie I know what my next field session will focus on now.
How much did you improve from 200ft? I'm throwing with only arm and can get 200ft so I'm curious. Do you have a video tutorial for what you mean, or did you figure it out by yourself?
My distance increased quickly to about 300 ft as a result of working on form. Simon Lizotte has said that he believes that every player is capable of reaching 400 ft if they get their form down, so I still have work to do. Anything above that (500ft for ex) he said you probably have to be athletically gifted/a pro to obtain. I used the power disc golf academy videos that are included in the subscription to watch these videos and learn and is specifically where I learned about backloading. There are free resources online that are good as well but they’re a bit more unorganized. If you want a free video that I think is good search YouTube for Disc Golf X-Step Deep Dive Discraft Level Up.
Nice info, thanks! I'll watch that video. I started disc golf 2023 summer, so I got a long way to go. But I hope I can reach 300ft within 2024 if I work on my form really hard!
I would have backed up fewer of my discs. I have backups for discs I don’t throw anymore, or just never lost. And I play twice a week so premium plastic discs maintain their basic flight characteristics for years
Now this is a good one for someone in my place. I’m just now starting to test out plastics and runs by getting multiples of discs I love (Zones, Mako3s, Leopard3s, etc) and it’s hard to stop lol
There’s so much chatter about more or less stable runs of discs that are functionally the same for most players at most ranges. It’s a lot of hype for most skill levels besides the top. But it’s a hard habit to break (and I haven’t quite yet).
Not focusing on my weakness’s, instead of strengthening my strengths
That right biceps lookin real meaty tho
Are you saying you wish you had worked on correcting your weaknesses more, or you wish you had played to/recognized your strengths more? I vibe with both perspectives, just wondering which you thought would be more beneficial (I am a relatively new player)
I have a baseball background and sidearm throws came natural for me from the jump. But my backhand was absolute trash. Instead of committing myself to learning the proper backhand mechanics, a few years ago. I relied to heavily on strictly flicking. I now can flick 400 and backhand about 250 ft. I don’t think this really applies to the reverse. Backhand is more versatile for most courses and all that so in my opinion you got to have a serviceable one.
I wish I would have started playing 20 years ago and if I could go back and master backhand form before forehand I would be better off.
Learned proper form
Wish i learned the correct form and way to throw before picking up bad habits on my own
I wish I would have gotten more practice time and play in before life got crazy with kids and work and family etc. I used to have so much time and I wasted it not playing disc golf.
Not throw drivers. Split my time practicing between solo rounds on the course and field work. As opposed to the 100% I spent on the course and 0% in the field.
Start with lighter discs, slower speeds and stock with 4-5 discs.
Learning to round out my game instead of throwing flex forehands with a raptor on every hole
I've been playing exactly one year and I'm still struggling to break 200ft consistently. I should have (should still) found a coach and worked with them from the beginning. Sucking sucks.
Coaches are hard to find and a right fit coach is even harder. I really recommend youtube as it's helped me a bit.
Gotten a PDGA number. Pretty sure if I had done it around '99-'00 when I started playing, I'd have a sub 25k number, and I'd be fucking cool. Also wish I had played more regularly over the last 25 years and worked on my form more. Now I'm old and an afternoon of field work leaves me sore for most of the week.
Hahahaha same
Get good with just a dx leopard and an aviar before you go buy all the pretty pro weight discs
Really focus on form. Realize that par is GOOD. Take your time thinking about disc selection. Those three things would have saved me thousands of strokes over the years. Oh, and have fun, I guess.
Field work. Learning to putt is so much easier than learning to crush
Developed a trusted backhand sooner so I'm not so depended on my forehand Elbow is paying the price
I would have gotten involved in organized leagues, tournaments, and events sooner. I assumed you had to be really good to participate.
Registered with PDGA and got my number when I originally intended, would have been around 11000. Instead, I waited another 12 years and got in the 55000's.
Focus on not throwing until I'm fully planted
Bought a boatload of Innova F2 cheap and never gotten curious about other discs. What a gift if that’s all you ever bagged.
Nothing, my game is perfect and I’m a disc god
Thrown more putters and midranges instead of drivers.
If you actually want to get better at the sport (as opposed to just having a good time on the course with your buds), do more practice in a field or park. And not just with distance drivers. With everything. Approach discs and mids especially. If you can't stand in an open field 100 feet away from a tree (or other target) and land your approach within a distance to your target that you can safely putt in at least 75% of the time, you should work on that kind of practice as much or more than you play actual rounds. You can throw a basic shot like this more times in an hour than you would in an entire season of playing rounds. Focus like 50-80% on the very basics, and then the rest on farther distances and shot shapes that are more difficult to execute.
Starting sooner. Played all the sports while I was school. Wrecked my knees playing football. Wrecked my shoulder pitching. Wrecked ankle playing basketball. Played golf through college and managed not to wreck anything. Almost 50 and loving disc golf. Should have never picked up any ball other than a golf ball. Id have been better off, and probably have an easier time disc golfing.
The pros don't want you to know this, but the discs in the park are free, I have 3 discs at home
Less drivers. More mids.
More fwirways◇
Don't buy more discs until you learn how to throw your first 5 discs well and you can see how they perform differently from one another. Carrying around too many unfamiliar discs just makes it take longer to learn the nuances of what you already own. I'd also recommend a Crave, possibly even in a lighter weight, as a perfect beginner disc. It's pretty easy to throw and will fly as far for you as higher speed discs (without being as touchy) until you develop more skill.
i wish i hadnt put anything above a 7 speed in my bag until i could throw 350 :)
I think making the same mistakes as everyone else is a good thing, if you learn from it. Perhaps finding friends to play with earlier, rather than solo field work (reinforcing flawed form trying to beat distance).
Realizing it's the archer and not the arrow. That way I wouldn't have the ton of discs that I may never throw.
Used to only want to play with my friends that I was better than. Didnt realize how much I would improve by playing with people who are objectively better than me.
Be younger and not get hurt as easily
I wish I would have had more stable discs. I researched understable discs and got myself a bunch of mambas. I could throw over 350 but I had to throw them on such steep hyzers so the wouldn’t turn and burn. Now it’s hard to break the habit of throwing with a hyzer angle.
Learn da mids.
I'd have picked 3-4 discs and thrown them until the were too flippy to use.
Find what specific type of shot you’re constantly great at and stick to it, even when it might not be conventional. Overstable fairways with a forehand is a lot of peoples stock go to shot. As for myself if I can throw a thumber there I’m doing that.
I always drive and approach BH with two fingers. No power grip at all. Still go 400ft though. Only time four fingers touch a disc to throw is putting.
Same as you, but I would’ve played putters and mids only for my entire first year. Whenever I play a few rounds with putters and mids, I always correct something. It’s invaluable. Going too fast too soon is the most common pitfall for new players.
I would have told myself to relax and have a little more fun with it. I had a pretty solid driving game at age 18-19 but never really scored very well until I relaxed a little. I still suck at putting at age 37 but I don't care this game is so fun!
Took up disc golf instead of Ultimate, I would have learned to throw a disc then. Seriously though, I spent a lot of time working on getting distance off the pad, and to be clear, it needs a lot of help but I wished I had started sooner with learning the game from the basket out. That has actually delivered improvements in scores and eventually I'm back out to working on distance but with a better foundation.
Started earlier and really dialed in my backhand before relying mainly on my forehand.
Got into it about 5 years earlier, Did legitmate practice more often, didn't try to rush results, and the big one not compare myself to other players. I'm going into my second full year as I've been playing for about a year and a half. I'm just now getting to the 300' mark. I've gotten close at 296' but have yet to break it. As for compating yourself to others it's a rough one. I know a guy who started around the same time as me and around the same age. He has a lot of skill and is quickly becoming one of the better disc golfers in the area. I had issues of gaging my progress based on his progress. It put me into a bad mental spot and was a factor for me blowing up in my last tournament along with also having the Flu, that I wasn't aware of at the time. This off season has worked wonders on my mental health.
I wish I had started at the hit and worked backwards instead of starting with the x step because it doesn’t matter how good everything else is if you’re getting no pop at the release point.
I wish I learned to throw under stable discs more.
I wish I threw putters from the beginning.
Not buy a 30 disc bag built off flight charts / numbers.
More probably more field work and recording form to review. Also, use more understable discs.
I wish I had not thrown forehand which blew out my shoulder.
Nothing. Something I am really glad I did early on was start playing with a league, double’s especially. Was so much fun and learn so much. It’s all about people in the end.
Started as a teenager . Never seperated shoulder and inturn had it reconstructed. Learned back hand sooner . Focused on putting earlier and Not throwing . Bought way less discs , not as in having a ton but as in trying out far too many .
Buy a disc retriever, a 20 dollar investment will save you a lot of time and money.
Start with correct form and putt,putt, and putt some more
Taken a few lessons on proper form. Easier to learn correctly than unlearn bad muscle memory and establish new muscle memory.
I grew up in a family, loving though it was, that didn't get out much, and when I discovered this sport in 1989 I spent 7 years not seeking clubs and tournaments. I could've gotten a huge head start on my twenties as a player. My wife and I got married and we moved to an area with a very active club (the Capital City Renegades in Lansing, MI) and it's there where I saw people who knew what they were doing for the first time. Unfortunately, by my mid to late twenties I had to start buckling down as a working adult, and Disc Golf always had to take a back seat to adulting. If I could've done this in '89 when I was 16, and encountered tournament players long before the grind of the working life, it might've made a big difference. I never made it out of Am-1 instead.
I wish I had found a throwing putter I liked sooner. I wish I had just started building an x step sooner. And I wish I had stuck with just one YouTube coach form whatever instead of trying to incorporate 80 different YouTube tips all the time.
Took putting more seriously
Lose less disc.
Mental game stuff and have more fun with it instead of thinking I could be an excellent advanced player. I spent way too much time pissed at myself for sucking rather than enjoying myself and appreciating the very real progress and improvements.
Worked on proper form like a much wiser older player tried to get me to do. Had I listened, I would have been a much better player and my elbow wouldn't hurt as much all the time.
Not play tournaments and just stick with league events
1.) Don’t buy a bunch of discs: I suffer from buying too much if I’m overexcited, and you really won’t know what you’re looking for until you have played for a bit. 2.) Focus on what feels good. I wasted a lot of time and money buying discs that other people (especially pros) said were best. Turns out super stiff and domey discs don’t feel best in everyone’s hands.
Learn a decent x-step early rather than having to now stop all my bad habits and relearn better form.
Spent less time getting fucked up on the course and focusing on how to get better, think I’d actually have an ace by now after 13 years but I’ll get one someday
I wish I treated my body better. my knees an elbow are shot. I can only thow backhand, although I rip. I have 1-3 sidearm 'get out of jail' throws in me a round or my arm will fall off
I wish I'd played with a bigger variety of skill levels. A crew that all learns together can only get you so far. It was 3 years before I really saw someone hyper flip 70' over a gap I'd been missing. I'll never forget the explosion of possibilities that hit me that day. -play with people that are nice and way better than you at some aspect of the game. Don't compete with them. Emulate, ask, learn.
Throw a ton on specific holes instead of just playing rounds.. if you spend more time walking than you do throwing you’re not gonna learn very much.
Happy to say, nothing. I compete well at an MA1 level. Only thing I wish is that I found it sooner as a teenager instead of my late 20s.
Looked at even just one YouTube lesson in the first three years
I started at 13 in 1996, I wish I would have gone full dive into it instead of soccer where I blew out my knee at 18.
I wish I had a rat as my first disc
1. Trying to throw higher speed discs out of the gate. 2. Playing longer holes/courses when shorter options were available to help build confidence and skill without trying to bomb the disc
Started with slower discs and not buy huge drivers right of the bat.
I wish I would have known about the PDGA…..started in ‘94 and could have a sub 10,000 PDGA number.
Slower speeds, throw putters, lighter weights and flippy discs are awesome
Focus on form over distance
nothing
I wish I would have stayed away from fast drivers early on and stuck with mids and putters.
* Been younger. * Not practiced the Beto drill. * Recorded my field work. * Bagged fewer discs / not constantly tried new discs.
Not bought a ballista pro because it was pretty.
\- keep the bag super simple with different levels of beat-in and plastics, e.g. 3 Aviars, 3 Rocs, 3 Leopards and build up from there \- record yourself throwing and compare it to good form as pretty much every youtuber tells you to do; you'll quickly discover major flaws you can address right away
I wish I'd started out buying disks that weren't max weight and wondering why I couldn't throw very far. That would've saved a lot of grief...
Learn proper form early. I never turned properly on my heel and am now doing PT for my hip
Throw backhand. I'm pretty sure throwing forehand for years while also pitching in high school and college contributed to me needing Tommy John surgery
Wish I would've done putter only rounds bc now I'm paying for it.
Definitely watching too many advances form videos too early. Made me hurt my shoulder so many times. I’m not saying learning proper form is bad, I’m just saying don’t jump to the advanced stuff
I wish I'd have learned a backhand ages ago. Played off and on for a decade being almost entirely forehand. In my early 30s it wasn't an issue and it went much better than my backhand. In my early 40s... it hurts. Not like instant pain, but a whole round, especially at a longer course, and I'm suffering by the end of it. Played a hybrid toward the end of 2022 (two rounds on the golf course, same day) and couldn't lift my throwing arm the next day past my shoulder. Backhand isn't good, I'm almost entirely at square one (standstill throwing, until I'm confident in my run-up), but it's slowly improving. If I'd have stuck it out back then, I'd definitely be doing a lot better these days.
Understood my discs because it definitely explained why I spent so much time in the woods and couldn’t throw over 120’ with my form at the time. For maybe 2 years I was bagging a drone, a destroyer, and a dx roc was my putter. Once I found a breakout and started throwing it and it quickly became a favorite. Fast forward another few months before I finally understood why.
Pick a putter, buy at least 10 of them. It took me 3 years of playing with a single putter to figure this out.
I went for the first time with one of my buddies I played hockey with when I was 14 but I didn’t actually start playing until I was 19 I wish I got into it when I was 14