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!