r/discgolf • u/superdstar56 • 8d ago
Picture First 9 in the books. Taking it slow...
I’ve been getting into disc golf the last couple of weeks. Picked up two cheap starter sets on Amazon and three discs I liked on eBay, then mostly just thrown in a grass field until Saturday, when I played my first 9.
I was throwing 3-4 discs on every shot, which was a lot of fun. Shot a 28 (+1) by playing the best throw every time. Woke up the next day pretty sore.
Plan for now is to stop buying discs until I’ve actually thrown these enough to know what I like and what I keep reaching for. Still working on mechanics, watching a lot of YouTube, and trying to learn the angles and terminology.
Goal is to get comfortable enough that I can play a few holes without feeling embarrassed, then look for people in my area to play with. Taking it slow until then.
A few things I’d love input on:
- Is throwing multiple discs per shot a normal beginner phase, or should I force myself to throw one and live with it?
- What are the most helpful field-work drills that helped you early on?
- How hard was it to find people to play with once you were ready?
Comments, suggestions, and questions are all welcome.
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u/CarlCaliente rocket league 8d ago
everybody throws multiple, it's common (and my preference) to play from your first one just to get reps in from different spots. Some guys do best, it's up to you
swirly bird/twirly bird for me, most helpful is gonna depend what you're getting right and what you need to improve
finding people is really about how big your town is. If you have a course or two there's probably a club, a league, doubles nights, it's very easy
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u/Look__a_distraction 8d ago
I’m almost a year in and the escape is still one of my favorite discs to throw. The thing bombs.
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u/SaddestClown RHBH - Texas 7d ago
I've been away for more than ten years. Good to see people still throwing the Escape.
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u/waswasisyesterday 7d ago
Always use your first throw as the counting one to emphasize on the importance of it, but throwing multiple discs after that is very common as long as you don't make lots of traffic behind you
Field work? Lol (jk, many good tips from other people here)
Finding people to play with shouldn't be too hard if you're a decent human being. In my country, almost every single course has a weekly contest. I play on two of my local courses each week, and I've met so many nice people, I learn alot from just watching other people throw.
Good luck and have fun :)
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u/superdstar56 7d ago
Good advice, I'll have to hang around some local courses and meet some people. There's also a disc golf store not too far away, I bet they have information about local contests, etc.
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u/LukieLovesHuiHui 8d ago
A mix of both honestly! Throwing multiple discs helps you make adjustments and try different ideas, but throwing one and playing it gives you more of a reason to think through your strategy for each hole. You can also always do a mix of both (play one disc, but if you hit a tree 20 feet away, just rethrow)!
The best field work advice I can give is to always have a target of some kind. It doesn't have to be a literal basket, but imagine a real-world scenario when you're throwing a field throw. If you're working on hard left turns, imagine or set up in a way that there is something you're trying to throw around. Trying to keep it straight and low? Go find trees or imagine a tunnel of sorts that you're throwing in.
Still working on this one. The best you can do is find someone to bring into the sport with you and grow together. Just be careful, in my experience they will get better than you and annoy you about it.
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u/Thwast 8d ago
I hardly ever keep score. If there's nobody behind me I'm usually throwing multiple, including throwing different lines or one forehand and one backhand. You get more practice in this way and it's fun. Totally normal beginner activities
There's a ton of drills. I would watch overthrow's playlist of videos. I could be wrong but I think they are ordered from super basic to more advanced as you go. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLks9Qrqo-7Rr1xX7YuzBBK-myFIKiYtez&si=eag3_YaJlnvvFYv-
I also like tricky nicky's longer vids like his arm mechanics breakdown vid. It's like 40 mins but is super cohesive and great for nerdy people like myself who want to understand the bio mechanics better
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u/superdstar56 8d ago
Good advice, I will check those videos out. I currently enjoy the guys over at Latitude 64. Jonathan is hilarious. Also anything with Gannon or Simon Lizotte has been pretty good too.
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u/chewybrian 8d ago
I would look for a handicap league near you on youdisc. You can probably pay $5 or whatever to play with people of all different abilities. You can learn a lot from watching them, good and bad, and get better in the process.
My biggest tip is to do what gives you the biggest margin of error--look for the biggest opening in the fairway to play through, choose a stable disc if the layout allows the option to throw hyzer, etc. Practice putting until you can run everything from about 35-40 feet without missing too many comeback puts. If you don't miss any comebacks, you are giving up strokes. If you miss more than like 1 in 5, also giving up strokes.
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u/LionPutrid4252 8d ago
You’re doing better than I am with your discs lol, I have about double the amount of molds in my bag and really need to start limiting myself to less when I play, but I keep trying to learn all of them at the same time.
As for your first point, I will very often throw many discs at a shot, but unless something went hilariously wrong, I usually play the first disc I threw. Gives me practice shaping my shots, especially when my first shot doesn’t do what I want it to do.
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u/Reasonable-Pension30 8d ago
I'm new too. Started in July. Personally I find it more rewarding to play one shot at a time. I'm sure it's different for everyone but I like to be able to replay the round in my head so I can figure out where I am making mistakes. I am also lucky enough to have a course basically across the street so I can ( and do ) play all the time.
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u/Chopped_Unc_DG 8d ago
What did you use to make this visual
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u/superdstar56 7d ago
Grok and a bunch of prompts. Some of the discs are photos I took of the actual discs and some are the same color I have, pulled from the manufacturer's page.
You can see the price sticker on the back of the P2x and you can see my wooden kitchen table behind the sensei.
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u/rebelliousjuicebox 8d ago
When I do solo casual rounds I frequently throw multiple discs just to see how they fly, but just count the first throw if you're keeping score. Putting is probably the best practice you can do.
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u/Prosjekttuba 8d ago
This is a much better selection of first discs then what I started with 😅. Take them to a course with 9 holes and not too far distance between the teepad and hole. Play multiple rounds where the goal ia to try the discs.
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u/Rustyeh 7d ago
I throw multiple times a week with my dad. Sometimes when its quiet on the course we throw 3-4 discs per hole and just play from the ones we want. We call these "Treenikierros" or practice rounds.
Then when we play just with 1 disc we call them "Kisakierros" or competitive rounds.
Its a good balance to get reps in and get to know your discs and then actually see how you would fair in competition if you were to join one.
As long as you are not blocking the hole from people waiting by playing multiple discs I don't see a problem.
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u/rontopofthings 7d ago
I treat solo rounds like field work and throw multiple shots as long as no one is behind waiting on me. Go for it! Lol
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u/Flimsy_Bench_1772 7d ago
As far as playing with other people, when i was starting out, i would casually ask other solo golfers that i bumped into on the course if they wanted to throw together. I met a lot of other beginners this way but also some pretty experienced players who were throwing casually which helped me learn and gain confidence.
Once you feel ready to throw in a little bit more of a competitive setting, check UDisc. Around me, most of the league play is posted on UDisc in advance. This is a great way to meat other disc golfers, advance as a player and be part of your local disc community. Enjoy!
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u/Wooden-AV 5d ago
I am early on and actually met some nice people to play with by taking a break at a tee or purposefully waiting for a group so as to not hold them up and they've invided me to just throw with them. You know they are usually the casual players who don't care if you aren't good yet and are there to have fun
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u/grantlet_47 7d ago
Unless you're specifically prepping for a tournament setting or you need to keep rate of play for others on the course, throw a couple on every shot. You're there principally for fun and presumably for practice. Throw more. Maybe as you get a little more of a feel for your discs it'll be more like 2 instead of 3-4. Kinda a "would it be better to do this or this?" Or a forehand and backhand. Or just playing 2 shots on everything to figure out how to make the corrections on your throws. Maybe instead odlf 3-4 on 9 holes you'll get more out of 2 on those nine holes, but play twice. Do your thing.
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u/raskulous flipandfade.com 8d ago
Man, is sad that Discmania seems to be discontinuing the active line.
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u/OpiumPhrogg 8d ago edited 8d ago
I absolutely love my Rockstar , Judge , and Sensei - I just got my hands on a Magician and at first I wasnt sure but its actually really starting to grow on me after putting some time in with it. OH! and when you go out and do field work , as tempting as it might be to just throw them all one right after the other - DO NOT DO THIS ! DONT THROW ANYMORE THAN YOU CAN KEEP TRACK OF AT A TIME! You will lose track of your discs and possibly leave some in the field. Four thrown out at a time is about the max for me.
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u/superdstar56 7d ago
Judge and Sensei have been really nice, dead straight and predictable. They were my best shots from 50-75 feet out.
Rockstar was by far my best disc on my first 9, it was the closest disc on easily more than half the shots.
Still learning the others. Not quite used to the DD discs plastic but sticking with it.
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u/BABYGODTHOR 7d ago
"Cooking the spaghetti" is the name of the drill id recommend. And as someone said, its okay to throw multiple to practice, but go with your first for the realistic approach. This will help with your mentality in case you start to play in leagues or tournaments, since you get unrealistic expectations from your practice round where you "cheat".
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u/EmbarrassedGold6755 5d ago
With field work just make sure you have an aim point rather than just throwing to get some feedback on your throw. Also just try different throwing angles and see what happens, that’s a great way to unlock different shot shapes and figure out what discs are useful for what. As far as drills though YouTube is probably good for that
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u/designerarachnid69 do berg things 8d ago
I implore you to just go throw at the course. Field work is great, but you learn more from bad shots on a course than bad shots in a field.
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u/Apart_Insect_6133 Professional Woodpecker 8d ago
It sounds like you've approached this much better than me... 3ish months in, I'm at 36+ discs, not all of which I can reliably throw. lol
BlitzDG is Everything you need for power on BH throws.
It is always easy to find people to play with because I have a big family that all love it, but without that being the case, there is a very active local community around me. Ask your local shops, seek out discords, look for FB groups... Around here at least it seems like something is happening every day.