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Game tips — Drives
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The drive
Each hole starts from the tee, from where you will make a drive. This throw usually requires a relatively large amount of power to make the disc fly as you would expect. However, this should not be done in a way that affects the accuracy in a negative way. Usually it’s better to land 10 meters short than 10 meters to the side of your preferred landing point.
When teeing off, you can either use a backhand throw or a forehand throw. This text will describe the backhand drive only. You will find some tips about the forehand throw in the Grip section.
The drive requires a swift movement, which means that warming up and stretching in advance is highly recommended.
The run-up
Before making the actual drive, a run-up is usually made in order to get a good rhythm and increase the speed of the swing. The pace of the run-up should be in just about the same speed as a fast walk, but this will vary a lot from player to player. Don’t run. Normally, four to six steps are taken during a hard drive, while two or three steps will be sufficient on shorter holes.
The run-up should lead on into a backswing position where you stand on the left foot (for right handed backhand throwers) with your throwing arm stretched back as far as possible.
The swing
The sweeping movement of a swing starts with the arm stretched backwards, held as straight as possible. From that backswing position, pull the disc linear to the direction of the disc’s flight, while rotating your hips and torso in a clock-wise movement. At this point the body weight should have been transferred over to the right foot. Your left foot may still have some ground contact though.
During the swing, the arm will be bent when it passes in front of the torso to once again be stretched out when the arm continues forwards. This movement can be compared to the one you would make when you try to start a lawn mower with its cord. When the arm is fully stretched out the disc should be released. The actual release is important to do at the exact right moment and as clean as possible to avoid getting a flapping flight. At the time of the release your wrist movement will give the disc some additional speed. That is also when the disc gets its spin. When the disc is released, the movement continues by following through with your arm until it has continued backwards.
You can either release the disc flat or with an anhyzer or hyzer release:
Anhyzer
means that the edge of the disc that is furthest away from the body is tilted upwards.
Hyzer
means that edge of the disc that is furthest away from the body is tilted down.
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| Anhyzer |
Hyzer |
A good swing will give the disc proper speed and also set the disc into a rotating motion which will stabilize its flight. By using your whole body you will be able to perform nice throws with good spin. To make it easier to learn the right motion between the backswing and the release, a good way would be to imagine that you throw the disc along a fictitious vertical wall. Unlike when you throw a ball, a disc doesn’t need much height to go far, since the disc “lifts itself” and thereby avoids losing altitude as quickly. Try to keep your throws as simple as possible. Eliminate unnecessary movements in order to obtain the purest possible swing.
Visualize the throw
Before you throw, try to visualize how the disc will fly. Choose the path and the type of throw with which you think you will have the best chances of reaching the basket, or to a strategic position where it will be easy to reach the basket with your second throw. You could also visualize a target point around 30-40 feet away, where the disc should have the right height, angle and speed in order to continue in the intended direction.
/Jonas Löf, translated by Jonas Lindberg
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Tomas "Larsa" Ekström in full swing
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David
Höjetun
Full swing + Perfekt balance = Poetry |
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| Ken
Climo about drives: |
| "Drives
are 40–50 % of my game simply because most holes
can be reached from the tee. Yes, it all comes down
to the putt, but you must be able to set yourself
up nicely for the putt. And that takes power and
accuracy off the tee. What should beginners focus
on, distance or accuracy? Beginners should always
focus on control. Once you have control you can
out more power into the shot. But if all you have
is distance it's harder to learn accuracy." |
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| Ken
Climo, 11 times PDGA world champion |
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Copyright: www.kenclimo.com
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