Driving & Distance

The X-Step Run-Up

A rhythmic run-up that builds momentum into the throw.

Why it matters

The x-step exists to let you arrive at the plant already moving, so the brace has something to convert. It is worth perhaps 15 to 20 percent over a standstill for most players — real, but far less than people expect, which is why learning it before you can throw well standing still mostly adds a new way to be off balance.

How to do it

Start by walking it at half speed. The x-step is a timing pattern, not a sprint, and every fault in it comes from rushing.
For a right-handed backhand the pattern is: step onto the right foot, cross the left behind it, then plant the right foot across your body at an angle to the target.
Keep your shoulders turned away from the target the whole way through the steps.
Time it so the plant foot lands exactly as the reach back reaches full extension. That coincidence is the entire point of the move.
Stay low and smooth. If your head bobs up and down through the steps, you are losing more than the run-up is giving you.

Common mistakes

Running at the pad and hoping speed turns into distance.Speed you cannot brace against is wasted. Walk it until the timing is right, then add pace a little at a time.

The plant landing before or after the reach back completes.Have somebody watch the two and tell you which arrives first. Almost everybody plants late, which means throwing from a stopped body.

Opening the shoulders during the steps.Stay closed until the plant. If you are facing the target before you plant, the x-step has done nothing but move you forward.

Adding an x-step before you can drive from a standstill.Build the standstill first. A run-up multiplies whatever your form already is, including the faults.

Key points

Walk it slowly first — the X-step is timing, not speed.
Stay balanced; the plant foot lands as the disc reaches full reachback.

The drill

Drill · Walk it — 20 walking-pace x-steps, then 10 at full speed. Twenty repetitions at walking pace, throwing at maybe half effort, watching only for the plant and the reach back finishing together. Then ten at full speed. If the full-speed ones fall apart, you have found your real pace — work there and let it rise on its own.

Watch: How to X-step | 1-on-1 disc golf lessons with Danny Lindahl Ep. 2 — Danny Lindahl