In disc golf, the goal is often to achieve longer and more accurate drives. It can be frustrating to be outdriven by a friend or to miss your line on a straight drive of a tunnel shot.
To improve your game, it’s essential to have a comprehensive understanding of both the equipment and the techniques involved to throw straight. With the right knowledge and practice, you can enhance your skills and find yourself driving your disc with unprecedented precision and distance. By adhering to these guidelines, you’ll be able to execute shots that are remarkably straight, akin to an arrow’s flight.
The Choosing the Right Discs for Straight Drives
Discs
With so many discs to choose from, knowing what kind of disc golf driver you need for a straight drive is paramount.
Low Speed is Best
The first step in enhancing your disc golf game is to select a disc with a slower speed. High-speed drivers, characterized by their wide rims, inherently struggle to maintain a completely straight trajectory due to the aerodynamics and physics of their design. To achieve a near-straight flight, especially for low throws, opt for a driver with a speed rating of 9 or below. The ideal choice would be a fairway driver with a speed rating between 6 and 7 for optimal performance. For a truly straight drive you’ll need to choose a midrange or even a putter. To achieve a completely straight line you may need to sacrifice distance.
Go Understable
Another crucial aspect is to choose an understable driver, particularly useful for navigating tight, wooded fairways without needing to exert full power. This selection is particularly significant for beginners and intermediate players, as choosing an overstable disc can lead to challenging situations.
Consider Lighter Weights
Begin with a disc that offers less stability and is lighter with a slower speed. While this approach may seem counterintuitive at first, the benefits will soon become apparent. The only way to make a disc golf driver finish straight is with a hyzer flip throw, and it’s easier to hyzer flip shots with lighter weight discs. You likely won’t want the lightest weight disc you can find, but something in the 160-169g range is my preference for straight drives.
Initially, you might not outperform your competitors in terms of power, but the precision and predictability of your throws will be a significant advantage. Your disc will consistently head towards its target – the basket, ensuring a more controlled and effective game.
Start With Putters and Move Up
At first, you may even consider a putter, which will give up some distance, but when it comes to a tight tunnel shot, straight and inline is better than long but off. As you become more skillful, midrange and drivers will be your next best bet.
Flight Ratings Choose
Next, select discs with the appropriate flight numbers to achieve a straight flight. look for discs with a speed between 6-7, and a stability with a turn rating of -1 to -4, and a fade rating of 0 or 1. Maxing out at a speed of 9 for your disc will not make you friends, but rather mortal enemies.
Throw With Proper Technique
One of the worst things you can do when trying to throw a disc golf driver is to tense up. Being as relaxed as possible will allow you to throw further and with better direction. If you can’t relax yourself, there really could be some hurtful repercussions like injuries, strains, and pulls.
Additionally, you will throw your disc golf driver at a short distance because your shot will come out of your hands slower when you tense up. The rule of thumb should be that you throw the disc not harder, but smoother and smoother is faster and will go further. When you are about to pull the disc through your chest, this is where your technique affects your distance and your aim all together.
Grip
Grip is also a must when working toward accuracy. Of course, your grip should be tight, but not so much that your knuckles turn white. Open up your wrist, as to not strangle your hands around the disc. Also, you do not want the disc to come too easily out of your fingers either.
Finding the right grip, not too hard or soft, can be touchy; however, it is doable. Use a friend for assistance, and ask them to pull at your disc, while you are gripping it. If your friend really pulls at it, the disc should come loose, but it should not be easy to take away either.
This exercise will really set the stage for how an early or late release can affect your disc golf drives for the worst. When the grip is true and the release is on time, the disc will travel further and straighter than you ever thought possible.
Save the Run Up Til Later
Another thing that affects accuracy negatively is this next misconception. You have seen many players do this. Since the pros run up to the tee and then throw, you think you should do the very same thing. Like in basketball, we think we have to “be like Mike.” Imitating the pros is a no-no. They are pros for a reason, and you are still working your way up the ladder.
Running-up to the tee will definitely not help you at first. It actually gets you more off target. Before you try to grip it and rip it, either shoot standing still or take a slow pace up to the tee box when you throw the disc golf driver.
Think of it scientifically. It is said that an average human can run between 10 to 15 miles per hour. This might seem like a lot of pace when looking to throw a disc golf driver, but let us examine it further, shall we?
You do not run straight forward when throwing a disc golf driver. The x-step technique makes each thrower reach only up to 7 or 8 miles per hour. You have to plant your leg to throw, pivot, and turn your body when releasing the disc anyway. In the end, only 2 to 3 miles per hour is gained from your running throw anyways. That is not a big enough gain to say it will help your distance and accuracy together. It will honestly only cause more trouble in the end.
Lastly, really observe your tendencies, and see if you are overcompensating. Sometimes, really funky throws happen when a player tries to do something else to compensate for an issue they really need to fix. This may be as simple as seeing if your throw the driver flat on release.
Using phones or cameras can really help you log how you are doing with your form and technique. Then, you can use it your advantage to grow and improve. Ask for advice from close players and coaches. This will go a long way.
Finishing Strong
Ultimately, you have to do what is best for you. Are you looking to impress your friends or do you really want to become a straighter disc golf driver? If you side with the latter, do yourself a favor and go back to basics. Losing accuracy for distance really is a problem and by learning to throw straight in the beginning you will be in much better shape for the long term.
Many people will have something to say on the manner, but trust your instincts. Work on the skill you need to uses the driver effectively. Think of the legendary golf quote that reminds all players that you “drive for show and putt for dough.”
Driving far might be amazing to see, but at the end of the day only one-thing matters: how accurate are you?
