Improving At Disc Golf

One of the question I hear asked a lot when there is someone new to a disc golf group is, how long have you been playing disc golf? I’ve often asked that question and have been asked it many times myself. It’s fun and interesting to learn how and when people started playing. It’s also interesting to see people’s skill level based on how long they have been playing, and what they are doing to improve at disc golf.

Some people have impressive amounts of skill, even though they haven’t been playing long. Others are at about the level we would expect them to be, based on how long they have been playing. There are a couple reasons why there might be a difference. First, some people just have more athletic ability than others. Second, the courses and people we play with can influence how much and how rapidly we grow. Third, some people want to get better while others are content to just play at their current skill level.

Survey From Remix Outdoors

How does your growth and skill level compare to others? Our friends at Remix Outdoors shared the results of a survey they conducted among disc golfers which shows the average driving distance and the length of time playing for survey participants. This gives us an idea where our skills match up with others who have been playing as long as us.

According to the survey, after starting out as a beginner, the average disc golfer doubles their driving distance in just six months. Then the average distance gains slow quite a bit. The longer we play, the more difficult to add distance to our drives. I’ve seen this trend among a lot of disc golfers that I know. Although the arc seems accurate, the distances seemed a little lower than I’ve seen.

I would have guessed that the average disc golfer would have picked up a little more distance in the first year or so. After people learn the basics of form, quite a lot of growth can occur. Then the progress might slow down. Even so, the growth/plateau arc is close to what I’ve seen a lot. Is there something we can do to speed up the growth?

Improving at Disc Golf

There are several methods we can use to improve our skills in disc golf. Some cost money but most are free. They all involve investing time to improve our skills.

Watch Youtube Videos

One of the great benefits of social media is that people with a lot of knowledge can impart that knowledge to the masses easily and cheaply. There are many disc golf coaches who post videos that walk you through every aspect of disc golf. Watching the videos, doing the drills, and following suggestions can help us improve our skills. We can see every detail of good form, then work to implement that form for ourselves.

That method of improving does have a few drawbacks though. First, not everyone learns just by watching a video. Some need to be told how to make our body do the moves in the videos. We might assume we are doing what is suggested in the video, but really just creating new bad habits. Which leads us to the second drawback: A video can’t give feedback. Unless we know we are using proper form, we can’t really correct our issues. Which leads us to the second method we can use to improve:

Take Video of Our Form

If you watch good tutorials you can get a good mental image of what proper form looks like. If we then record and watch ourselves doing the same moves, we can compare our form to the proper form to see what areas we need to work on. This still requires us to be able to make changes to the way our body moves, which may or may not be easy for us. That is where the last improvement method comes into play:

Get Some Coaching

Having a knowledgeable coach watch our form and give immediate feedback, including ways we can correct any issues we’re having, is a great way to speed up the learning curve. This takes more than just pointing out problem areas. This means finding someone that can teach us how to change our muscle memory and lay the foundation for good form and good habits.

When it comes to coaching, there are several options. Some coaches have monthly subscriptions that include video form reviews. Others offer single lessons with feedback. If you are lucky enough to have a good teacher in your club, you can get some one-on-one coaching or maybe some feedback if you’re playing a casual together.

Practice!

Regardless of the method you choose to improve your skills, if you don’t plan time for practice, you are making the road to getting better a hard one. I mean, even the pros practice. We need that body/brain connection on a regular basis to cement the neural pathways so we can duplicate the correct form on a regular basis. Practice!

What is YOUR experience with driving distance vs Experience?

As I said in the before, the general trajectory I’ve frequently seen with new players fits nicely with the results of the survey by Remix Outdoors. How we fall on the scale and how fast we want to advance is up to us.

How about you? How fast did you gain distance? Are you taking steps to improve your disc golf game?

Ted Hegemann

Ted is the Chief Writer at Infinite Discs. He is responsible for the State of Disc Golf Survey articles and most of the "best discs" posts. Ted runs all kinds of local disc golf leagues and tournaments and tournaments in Northern Utah.