Disc Golf Grip Tips

Forehand Tips

This post on disc golf grip, is the third post in a series designed to help you elevate your game. Read the tips clearly laid out for you in writing then reinforce them by watching videos created by professional disc golfers. Read, watch, practice, and improve!

Okay everyone, go ahead and grab a disc… 

As a matter of fact, while you’re there, you might as well get a disc from each category (putter, midrange, fairway driver, and distance driver) so we can test out some different grips on each.

This is one of the few disc golf activities you can do in your home without fear of broken lamps and the like…

We might as well take advantage, right?

In today’s post, we are going to look at some specifics on how to properly grip your disc in order to improve performance and stay consistent out on the course. 

These videos will NOT get into all the minutiae that can be found on the intricacies of each grip. Rather, they will collectively give a good overview, as well as provide some concepts that you may not have considered yet. 

Also, this post will mainly focus on backhand throwing grips. If you are interested in looking at the forehand grip, you’ll be able to find it in this video on forehand approach shots. 

As a matter of fact, this post ties in nicely to some of the other posts in this series on accuracy and approach shots. If you haven’t already, be sure to give those a look as well.

For now, disc in hand, let’s get right into some of the particulars of how some of the best players in the game grip a disc.

That way, you can feel confident and secure in your own grips and know that you are taking yet another step to put yourself in position to succeed on the course!

Disc golfer deciding between a power and fan grip

Power Grip versus Fan Grip!

In the first video, we are not only going to take a look at how Infinite-sponsored pro, Eric Oakley, grips a disc for his backhand throws, but we are also going to consider why he alternates grips in a given situation out on the course. 

As you watch him alternate between the power grip and the fan grip, I highly recommend you pause the video and try to emulate his grips on the discs. 

The video does a good job of showing you close-ups so you can make sure you are getting the grips (fan and power) Oakley recommends for backhands. 

But the real take-away, in my humble opinion, comes a bit later on with the following tip…

Grip Tip # 1 – You can diversify your shot selection by changing your grips and keeping the same line!

In other words, you can throw the exact same line on a shot, but get a different result (mostly in the ground play) by switching between power grip and fan grip.

As you watch the video, notice how Oakley keeps the flight path of his two shots similar. Then, watch how he gets distinctly different ground play when the discs hit the ground.

For a fan grip, you can expect less ground play. This can be helpful when you are trying to stop the disc where it lands.

For a power grip, you can expect more ground play, or skipping. This helps when you are asking the disc to go around obstacles and continue traveling towards the target after it hits the ground. 

Now, have a look and see for yourself!

Oakley’s last line sums it up well: “if one really needs the ground play, I’m probably throwing a power grip. If one doesn’t, and you want it to sit soft, [I’m] throwing that fan grip.”

In this way, he tells us, we can add diversity to our bags and keep dropping scores out on the course!

Shot Consistency with Grips!

Next up, we have some tips on how to keep your shots consistent.

We do this by keeping your disc golf grips consistent as well.

Our teacher is the one and only Paul Ulibarri.

The video we’ll watch is an entire clinic, but the part on grips comes at the very beginning.

Early on, Ulibarri drops a helpful nugget on keeping your shots consistent…

Grip Tip #2 – For consistency in your throws, place the disc in the crease, or fold, of your hand.

If you press your pinky and thumb together, this “fold” of your hand will reveal itself in your palm. (But you will definitely see it when Ulibarri discuss it at the 1:20 mark).

By putting the disc in that crease each time, he explains, he is virtually guaranteeing himself the same grip for each shot. He also assures himself of that highly coveted consistency for each shot as well. 

The added benefit of placing the disc in this crease, he continues, is that it will also greatly help you with your angle control. 

We’ll get into angle control in a future post. But if you ever wondered what the pros do in their pre-shot routines (when they hold the disc in front of them at an angle), then definitely continue watching…

That should help  add some more consistency to our game with our disc golf grip.

Now, let’s look at how we can use grip to add a little distance.

Grip Tip for Distance!

Last but not least, we’ve got Connor giving us a post for throwing far.

“Finally!” you say! “Bout time!”

And Connor, when talking physics, is going to be the first to admit that he’s got a few of the terms mixed up. When he says “kinetic energy” he means “potential energy”.

And when he says “grip energy” I’m pretty sure he means “grip pressure.”

But don’t let that take away from his key point.

Grip Tip for Distance – For distance throws, put 95% of your grip pressure between your pointer finger and your thumb.

By putting the pressure at the front of your grip, you are allowing the disc to pop, or spring, out of your hand. This gives it more speed, spin and thus, distance. 

He also tells us, with regards to pressure, “You gotta grip that sucker!”

By putting the pressure at the front of your grip you are preventing the disc from coming out too early, and losing a lot of it’s speed/spin.

An important distinction, as I see it, is being able to grip your disc with pressure WITHOUT tensing up your arm. 

When you can do that, you can have the fluidity we want in our arm. We can also keep the disc secure so it can burst forth and propel out of your hand. 

This takes practice, but is well worth the work you put in. 

Give his video a watch and let it crystallize…

Disc Golf Grip Tips – In Summary

There’s a lot of different information out there on grips.

In this post, we tried to give you some disc golf grip tips that would help you stay consistent on the course. They also present some ideas that you may not have considered.

3 Crucial Grip Tips:

  • Disc Golf Grip Tip #1 – You can diversify your shot selection and determine how much ground play you want, by alternating between power grips and fan grips.
  • Disc Golf Grip Tip #2 – For consistency in your shots, place the disc in the crease, or fold, of your hand.
  • Distance Grip Tip (#3) – For distance throws, put MOST of the pressure between your pointer finger and your thumb.

There you have it! Those are three helpful tips on grip! We certainly hope they aid you in your progress!

But maybe you have some disc golf grip tips as well? If so, don’t hesitate to leave them in the comments below. Which grips do you use in different situations? Do you have any tricks to help you keep your grips consistent? Let us know this, or anything else in the comments!

 

 

Best Disc Golf Grip Enhancers

How a disc feels in our hand is an important part of our game. Plastic type, rim width and depth, and whether or not it is beaded can affect our decision about which discs we throw. However, even when we are throwing discs that we love and feel great in our hand, our grip can be negatively affected by the amount of moisture on our hands.

Playing disc golf on a hot day or in a humid environment can make our hands wet with sweat. Playing in the rain can be a non-stop effort to keep our hands dry. Enter the grip enhancer.

Get a Grip

Grip enhancers are products which help us alleviate the problem of moist hands. They come in a few types. There are some who which absorb the moisture to keep our hands dry. There are some that have a powder to dry our hands. A final category is solids, which give our hands a little extra grip. Let’s look at some of the grip enhancers available.

Moisture wicking bags:

Osmosis Sport Bag and Sport Ball

Filled with moisture absorbing beads, the Osmosis Sport Bag will dry your wet hands. The Sport Ball is a round version of the bag and fits nicely in your hand.

Discmania, Trilogy, and Innova Sportsack

The Sportsack is also filled with moisture absorbing beads to keep your hands dry.

Powder or chalk bags:

Option Bag

The Option Bag is a grip enhancement tool that is filled with a blend of chalk and ceramsite with a subtle minty scent. It is also designed as a footbag, or a Hacky Sack.

This will help you to have better grip on your discs. Or, it can keep you entertained while you’re waiting for the card in front of you to finish.

 

DryV Bagz

The Dryv Bags are made of a proprietary blend of three all-natural ingredients that will help you achieve the perfect amount of hand drying and “tack”, optimizing your grip on every drive. They come in three different sizes to fit any hand.

Mitten Bags

Mitten Bags help to remove moisture from your hands when you’re playing in hot, sweaty conditions or otherwise wet conditions. This will help to enhance your grip on the disc. Plus they come in a great selection of fabric designs and have a nice little loop that can be used to hang the bag on a bag or cart.

DrySack

The DrySack is an excellent grip enhancement bag for disc golfers. It is uniquely crafted with long-lasting denim material and moisture absorbent filler. You can clap the DrySack to dust it up for better grip on your disc, or use it to wipe moisture off your discs. It comes with a handy carabiner to clip to your bag or cart.

Prodigy Chalk Bag

The Prodigy Chalk Bag has a similar to design to the rock climber’s chalk bag. This will hold a lot of the chalk, ensuring that you have sufficient for your needs. There are some additional small zipper pockets for small items. You can purchase the bag, or the bag with chalk.

Infinite Discs Chalk Ball

The Infinite Discs Chalk Ball is a unique grip enhancement tool for disc golfers. Rather than being a bag of beads, dirt, sawdust, or other filler, it features magnesium carbonate grip chalk. The chalk ball comes inside a pouch which keeps the chalk from getting all over your bag and clothes while you carry it around. The pouch has pull-strings to keep it closed tightly and includes a carabiner which you can use to clip the pouch to your backpack, disc bag, belt buckle, etc. When needed, simply remove the chalk ball from the pouch to apply a solid dusting of grip-enhancing chalk to your hands. This is similar to the stuff you see rock climbers using to keep from losing a grip on their handholds, and many serious disc golfers have been looking for a similar product to help them handle their plastic in all weather conditions.

Legacy Discs Confidence Bag

Play with confidence in your grip when you use a Legacy Discs Confidence Bag. Much like the Dynamic Discs Dirt Bag, use these chalk filled bags to keep your hands grippy and your throws consistent!

Whale Sacs

A Whale Sac is a whale shaped grip bag, that you can tie onto anything! It will keep your hands dry in the heat of the competition. The Whale tail ties onto your disc golf bag, or belt. The bag is filled with clay based stone/powder to knead into your hands or rub onto a disc!

Solids:

 

Dryv Bagz The Marker

The Marker, by Dryv Bagz is a unique hand grip product for disc golf. It’s a 2oz solid grip bar, taking the Dryv Bagz technology to a solid form.

Just gently drag the tips of your throwing fingers across the surface and you will notice increased grip immediately! The added grip will replace the need to lick or dust your fingers, and the grip will last the entire hole.

Max Wax Windsurfer Mini and Snap Stick

The Max Wax Windsurfer Mini is about to bring new grip to your game! This is the Original Disc Golf Grip Wax – a specially formulated grip wax used to apply to your hands for superior grip, control, and distance out on the course.

It’s a tournament legal mini marker, made out of 100% natural product. The specific grip formula was worked on for over a year to achieve the perfect, consistent disc golf grip. The Windsurfer Mini has a “citra-delic” scent, made from a blend of essential oils. Take the grip variable out of your game by using the Max Wax Windsurfer Mini.

Which one is the best grip enhancer?

Do your hands get a little sweaty? The SportSack will treat you just right. Its size and shape fits naturally in your hand and will keep your hand dry and ready to rip! Plus, it comes with the names or logos of some of the best brands on it, so you can always be reppin’ your favorite.

If you need a little more drying power for your hands or prefer the feel of powder for your grip, the Whale Sac is the way to go. Toss it in the air a couple times and let it smack down on your hand to get some moisture-wicking powder on your throwing hand, and you’ll get the grip you’re looking for. Whale Sacs come in a variety of colors and patterns.

Looking for a little extra grip on your throws? The Max Wax Windsurfer Mini is what you need. It will give you extra grip in any condition. Wet hands? Dry hands? Cold hands? The Max Wax will give you a consistent grip and confidence in your throws.

 

 

 

 

Review: Apex Disc Golf Hand Warmer

Since we play disc golf year round here in Northern Utah, we end up playing many months of the year in cold temperatures. Knowing that, I’m always on the lookout for products that keep my hands warm during the colder months of the year. When Infinite recently started selling the Apex disc golf hand warmer, I was excited to try it out and see if it would be something that would help keep my throwing hand warm when the temperatures started falling below freezing. I was VERY happy with the results of my testing!

 

When the temperatures start to dip here in Cache Valley, we slowly start adding layers, covering bare skin, and seeking devices to warm us when we’re playing those chilly winter rounds. There are a few options out there for keeping our hands warm. There are the disposable hand warmers, catalyst hand warmers (Zippo hand warmers, for example), and rechargeable electric hand warmers.  Although I like the disposable type for their effectiveness, I prefer not to keep spending money all winter long.

 

When Infinite first got the Apex hand warmer, I immediately started testing it to see if it was something that I could use for the upcoming winter months. Here is a breakdown of the features of the warmer.

  • Four LED lights to indicate the heat level of the warmer
  • Four heat setting that you can scroll through with the push of a button
  • Two USB ports for charging a phone or other item.
  • Soft pouch for holding the warmer
  • Micro-USB charging cable

 

 

To test the Apex, I just turned on the warmer and set it to the lowest setting. Then I put it in my pocket and timed until I noticed it stopped producing hear. Then I charged it up and tried it on the next level. By the time I got to the third level, it was actually a tad too warm in my pocket. Plus, I wanted to test the Apex in conditions that were more like how I would be using it: in the cold. So, I put the warmer inside my Rovic Mitten and put it in the freezer. A thermometer in the freezer indicated temperature ranged between 2-7 degrees Fahrenheit. On the fourth level, I just set the warmer inside the freezer, then checked it every half hour or so. Here are the results of the testing.

 

As I mentioned above, the warmer also has USB ports that can be used to charge things like cell phones. To test that, I charged my iPhone from 60% to 100% to simulate charging it enough to use it. Then I set the Apex to level two and ran it until it died. Even after charging the phone, the warmer lasted 9 hours!

 

One of the down sides to the Apex hand warmer is how long it takes to charge. It isn’t something you can charge for an hour before you leave to play disc golf and expect it to stay warm the entire time. It takes over seven hours to fully charge using a 2 Amp wall charger. That isn’t a big deal if you remember to charge it the night before you’ll need to use it. However, I did want to test it to see how long it would stay warm if you forgot to charge it until you were getting ready to play. To do that, I ran it until the battery died, then charged it for an hour. Then I set the heat to level 2 and timed how long it lasted. It only lasted about an hour and a half.

Long term testing

 

The only issue I’ve had with the Apex so far is with the four LED lights. Two of them are slightly dimmer than the other two. I don’t know if they shifted inside the case, or if they are faulty. That doesn’t affect the performance of the warmer, it just makes those two lights a little more difficult to see in sunlight. The LED’s were all functioning properly when I first got the warmer and I noticed the change a couple of weeks after constant use.

 

I will keep testing the Apex warmer to see how long it keeps working. I’ve only had it for about six or seven weeks, using it nearly every day. So far, it keeps on heating like it did when I first got it. I’ll keep testing it and update this blog after I’ve used it for another couple of months.

 

 

 

 

Even with the Apex I’m still not looking forward to winter disc golf. But it’s nice to know that I will stay a little warmer because if it. It’s a product I highly recommend checking out. The Apex hand warmer lasts a long time and produces some amazing heat. Check them out here:

https://infinitediscs.com/Products/Accessories/18399/Apex-Disc-Golf-Electronic-Hand-Warmer

 

 

 

 

Paul Ulibarri Disc Golf Clinic: Angle Control



In this disc golf clinic, professional disc golfer Paul Ulibarri provides tips on how you can improve your game with more accurate angle control and follow through. He demonstrates the grip he uses when driving, and discusses his mental game and what he focus’s on to compete at the highest level. Paul is an excellent teacher and was kind enough to share some of his wisdom with us.

Disc Golf Tips From Will Schusterick – Driving Clinic

Will Schusterick, 3 three time USDGC Champion, is not only one of the best disc golfers in the world, but is also a great disc golf instructor.

This clinic at the Mulligans at Creekside Disc golf course in Ogden, Utah on October 20th, 2014 is full of tips to help you improve your driving, accuracy, and overall mental disc golf game.

The video was filmed and edited by Cassidy Houdeshel.