“What the f*ck, Richard?!”
For many who know nothing of disc golf, the above was their intro to our sport …
That or Seinfeld.
But if you’re at all acquainted with actually playing rounds of disc golf, the thing that caused Dick’s Vine to live on in infamy for years isn’t quite so funny – I’m talking about griplock.
Whether you’ve played for five minutes, five months or five decades, you’re no stranger to the instant anger griplock causes. As a result of it, you’ll drill the first-available tree off the tee, endanger the life of an innocent bystander or bogey your way out of tourney contention …
I get it.
Fortunately, as far as backhand form is concerned, fixing griplock doesn’t require an Ivy-League doctorate. Finish reading (not skimming) this post and put into practice the info …
Easy as pie.
For starters, let’s get one thing straight:
Griplock isn’t a grip problem.
You’ve got to remove from your mind the belief that griplock is caused by hanging onto the disc too long. I get that it looks that way, but trust me – that’s NOT what’s taking place …
Yours (and mine) is an issue of rounding.
Throwing a disc isn’t an act of conscious grip and release – momentum takes care of that last part on its own. As such, the key to eliminating griplock is pulling the disc through on a straight line. Pair that with a consistently firm grip, and you won’t yank it off your line at the last second.
If you don’t believe me, head out to a field, grip a Star Destroyer as tightly as humanly possible and pull it through on a straight line – it’ll do its thing. It’s when you round your pull-through that it appears you’ve held onto the disc too long, causing it to spray off to the side …
But that’s NOT what happened.
BTW, get ready to have your mind blown …
Those “early-release” hucks you hate so much?
It’s more of the same: rounding.
Only, instead of the issue taking place at the end of the “round,” it’s happening at the beginning of it. If you’re not pulling a disc across your chest in a straight line on the same, pre-set plane, the disc’s exit point is at the mercy of the weakest part of your grip – that’s hard to predict.
Take it from Richard …
PULL. STRAIGHT. THROUGH.
Will the above fully eliminate all griplock headaches from your D.G. repertoire?
But it sure won’t happen as frequently – that’s a start.
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