There is a game called Disc Golf. It has exploded through out the United States, and even world wide. Many think it’s just throwing some Frisbees around a forest, with a basket that appears every once in a while. Those of us who play know its a game of skill and finesse. Throwing a solid made plastic disc in a perfect “S” formation so that it maximizes the distance and glide, and then lands exactly where you wanted it to is a talent shared by few.
A disc gold is usually hard rubber or hard plastic. Throwing a disc like that is completely different than throwing a regular Frisbee. Regular Frisbees are suppose to be thrown and caught straight. Their aerodynamics are made in such a way that when you throw them the air will flow under them and lift them up as they spin. When the spin and speed leave, they began to drop straight down. However, when disc golf pioneer Ed Headrick created the disc golf discs , he made them so that they would fly with curves and spins so that you could get around a tree or a river. This create3d a completely a new way to throw the discs.
The question of how to throw a disc varies so much that to give an exact is almost impossible. So what i detail here is how to generally throw a disc golf disc. When you throw a disc golf disc you place your index finger under the lip, and your thumb goes on top of the disc. You draw your arm back towards you till the disc wraps around and touches your shoulder. Turn your body with the turn of your arm, and with one sweeping motion extend your arm out. When it becomes straight, then let the disc go. The finger will give it that spin that is needed to make that disc fly. When you throw a disc this way it will veer to the left midway through the flight. If you throw it directly straight,a nd directly flat, it will first veer to the left, and then veer back to the right. This is the coveted “S” curve.
The secondary way of throwing a disc golf disc is to grasp it by the your index finger under the lip, and your thumb goes on top of the disc. But this time, you are going to let it flop over the back of your hand and you are going to pull your arm back the other way, away from your body this time. When you pull it back, your arm will naturally hook up, that’s ok. Now to throw, let you arm come down the natural ark and bring it flat as the disc is sitting away from you and your arm comes down to a 45 degree angle pointing away from your body, but the disc is being propelled in a forward motion. When you get it flat and your arm is fully extended, let the disc go. When the disc is thrown this way it will go straight and arc to the right. If thrown right it will arc back to the left and then again you have that “s” curve.
Many people will get even more power with a running throw. They take about seven steps back, and run to the end of the throwing “run”, then twist out of the throw. When they let go of the disc, they have all of the potential energy of their forward momentum, mixed with the forward throw. This will give a longer flight, and a longer glide. there are some who debate as to whether this works or not. The physics are there, but the longest throws have been clocked by people who haven’t run.
