There are few situations to find yourself in on the disc golf course that are more nerve-racking than trying to drive through a straight tunnel. If your throw is off or you miss your release, you could find yourself hitting a tree and having to search from your disc in the woods. No one wants that. The perfect throw for this situation would be a straight shot down the middle. But how do you throw a disc golf driver straight? In this article, I’m going to give you a few options and some pointers to help you on how to throw a disc straight.
When it comes down to it you have two main options for throwing a disc straight:
- Use a stable disc and release it flat
- Use an understable disc and release it with a hyzer angle
Now, there are some alternatives that can give you a relatively straight path and might be easier to throw. These include a tight S-Curve, a tight flex shot and an overhand throw like a thumber or tomahawk. But to get that true straight flight path, these are your options.
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Stable Disc With A Flat Release
The first option I’m going to suggest is throwing a stable disc with a flat release. By this I mean, taking your straightest flying disc and release the disc as flat as possible.
Now you might get different definitions of what a stable disc is, but for this article, I mean any disc that you can get to fly straight. A good rule of thumb, especially for newer discs, is a disc with a 0 to -1 turn rating.
The best way to know the turn rating of a disc is to use the flight rating of the disc which is usually printed somewhere on the disc itself. The turn rating is the third number in the sequence. You may also have a really beat in overstable disc that flies really straight for you. That would also be a good option to use in this case.
If you are attempting this approach but aren’t seeing a disc fly straight, there could be some reasons for that.
One of which might be that you aren’t pulling the disc throw in a straight line. This would primarily occur if you are throwing backhand.
If you are releasing the disc flat but aren’t performing your pull throwing in a straight line, this could cause your disc to hyzer or anhyzer instead of flying straight.
Focus on pulling the disc straight across your chest. You don’t want to be start high and release low or vice versa.
Another thing that could prevent a straight flight would be if you are rounding your wrist. You might be releasing the disc flat but then rounding it after the release which could cause the disc to turn over. You want to focus on keeping a straight wrist when throwing the disc.
Lastly, your run-up could be causing your disc not to fly straight. When attempting a straight path, you want to start with your run-up. For a backhand throw, keep your shoulder pointed at your target and move in a straight line toward it.
Try to refrain from starting your run up off to the left or right of the tee pad and then straighten up while on the pad.
Understable Disc With A Hyzer Release
Another great option to achieve a straight flight path is using an understable disc and releasing it on a hyzer angle. This approach is commonly referred to as the hyzer flip.
First, you’ll need an understable disc. Again, we’ll need to look to the flight rating system to determine if a disc is understable.
The turn rating is the third number in the sequence and for a good hyzer flip disc, we’re looking for a -2 or lower rating. If you have a beat in stable or overstable disc that’s really flippy, that would also be a great option for the hyzer flip.
The trick with the hyzer flip is you will need to release the disc with a lot of force to get it to flip to flat. So focus on pulling your arm through quickly and generating a lot of snap. This can take a lot of practice so don’t be disappointed if you don’t get it right away.
You’ll also want to experiment with how much hyzer you release the disc on. If your disc continues to turn after flipping to flat, you may want to release the disc with more hyzer to counteract it. You might also try a less flippy disc.
Releasing the disc low and with the noise slightly down are also important to the success of the hyzer flip.
One drawback to the hyzer flip is the flight isn’t entirely straight. The disc has to turn in the beginning before flipping to flat and riding on a straight path.
You’ll need to account for this before you drive. If there is an obstacle that will stop the disc from turning, you may want to choose the stable disc released flat method instead.
Pay Attention To Fade
Another detail you will want to pay attention to when trying to throw a disc straight is fade. Fade is the tendency on a disc to hyzer out at the end of flight.
So if you are right-handed and throwing the disc backhand, a disc with a lot of fade will tend to turn left as the disc starts to slow down.
The fade rating is the last number in the flight rating system. Discs with a 0 rating have no fade. As the number increases, discs will fade more at the end of flight.
So why is this important?
If you are trying to achieve a straight flight, you’ll want that straight flight to continue to the end. So what if you are able to throw the disc straight to the basket but the disc ends up fading to the far left and you miss your put because of it. What have you really achieved?
There are two strategies that can help with the fade problem. One of which is choosing a disc with little or no fade. Meaning discs with a 0 to 1 fade rating.
Another way to take fade out of the equation is to release the disc low. This way when it does fade at the end of flight, it will have less distance to travel before it reaches the ground.
So if you have a disc that you can throw real straight but it has a ton of fade, releasing the disc lower should help with that.
Final Thoughts
I hope you’ll at least be able to use one of these strategies to achieve a straight flight. You will likely not find success right away but if you continue to practice, you’ll get there.
In fact, I would recommend going to a field and practicing both before ever trying them on the course.
It’s bad enough executing a straight drive down a tunnel shot but will little to no practice it’s almost impossible.
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