New to Disc Golf

Your First Throws

Get the disc flying flat and straight.

Why it matters

Almost every beginner throw fails the same two ways: the nose points up, so the disc climbs, stalls and falls; and the arm swings out away from the body, so the power leaks sideways. Fix those two and distance arrives on its own, without throwing harder — which is fortunate, because throwing harder makes both of them worse.

How to do it

Take a power grip: four fingers curled under the rim, thumb flat on top, firm but not clenched.
Stand side-on to your target, feet about shoulder width, with your throwing shoulder pointing where you want the disc to go.
Reach back level. The disc stays at the same height the whole way back — not dropped, not lifted.
Keep the disc flat with the nose very slightly down. A nose-up release is what makes a throw balloon and die.
Pull the disc across your chest in a straight line, close to your body, the way you would start a lawnmower across you.
Let it go without squeezing, and let your body rotate through rather than stopping at the release.
Aim right of your target if you throw right-handed backhand. Every disc finishes left, and fighting that is how people spend a year throwing into trees.

Common mistakes

Rounding — swinging the disc out away from your body in an arc instead of pulling it straight across.Pull the disc past your sternum, close enough to brush your shirt. This is the single most common form fault in the sport.

Releasing nose-up, so the disc climbs, stalls and drops.Think about the front edge pointing slightly down at release. It will feel like the disc will hit the ground. It will not.

Throwing with the arm alone while the feet stay planted.Let your weight move from the back foot to the front foot as you throw. The arm is the last thing to move, not the only thing.

Gripping so hard the wrist locks, which kills the snap that makes a disc spin.Firm fingers, loose wrist. Spin comes from the disc ripping out of a relaxed hand, not from squeezing.

Key points

Grip firmly, reach back level, and pull across your body.
Follow through toward your target and stay balanced.

The drill

Drill · Stand-still flat — 20 stand-still throws, no run-up, with a midrange. No approach, no x-step: just stand side-on and throw. You are not chasing distance, you are chasing a disc that leaves flat and lands flat. Watch the last second of each flight — if it is turning over or stalling upward, the nose angle is the thing to change. A flat 200 feet beats a wobbling 250 every time.

Watch: How to throw a disc for a beginner! | 1 on 1 disc golf lessons with Danny Lindahl Ep. 1 — Danny Lindahl