Asking the Pros: Do you remember reaching 400'?

While sitting around thinking of new material for the blog I began to wonder if the pros had the same goal way back when, or was it like reaching 300' for a lot of us – one day it just happens. There's no real celebration. It just absorbs into our game and helps us card more birds.

I decided I was going to log on to Facebook and throw the question out to as many pros as I could and hope that some of them would respond. The following responses are in the order in which I received them.

"Honestly John it has been so long since I reached that. I cant remember too much about it.... I will say this that just being able to throw that far is nothing without control. You have to learn the precision that it takes to be successful. Good luck with your quest!"

– Nate Doss 


"Honestly I cant remember the disc it was, maybe an eagle. I know i wanted to reach 400 before my 14th birthday. I out-threw Garrett Gurthie in a Distance contest @ am worlds 2002! Post that up! yeah he was like 12 years old... so what! GG bombs. I think I threw it like 407'. This is memorable.. because i don't think i'll out throw GG again!"


– Gregg Barsby


"I have been playing this game for over 26 years and can't remember the day or even how old I was when I broke 400' or what disc I threw. I was not so concerned with how far it was, I just knew that I wanted to throw even further.

This probably took place in my backyard at my parents house in Ohio, I would throw drives all day long crushing them into the back woods behind the house and past the field.

But I can tell you the day that I threw 800'....

All the Best!!"

– Avery Jenkins


Hey John,
 Ya dude that's an awesome topic. It really is a milestone in disc golf to control a disc to fly 400' plus.

I remember fairly well when that happened. Ive been playing since 2001 or so. Really consistently since 2004-05. Candy plastic was new in disc golf, at least it was to me. I had been playing with cyclones and roc's. Really slow or under stable for a big arm. When the CE Valkyrie and tee birds came out that's when i hit that mark. Id say maybe 2002 or 3??


I was at oak grove in Pasadena on the field warming up and a local had a new Valkrie. I had never thrown anything that stable before. It was an awesome feeling to really see the disc glide. Early in my disc golf career I didn't have much control. But as the disc became more stable and predictable, throwing 400 feet is less a challenge than before. If you have the ability, technique and arm speed.
Thanks for thinking of me for your blog!


– Philo Brathwaite

I'm still waiting to hear back from more people, but I decided to post what I have so far because I've been sitting on this entry for a while now. If I'm lucky enough to receive more responses I will post a follow-up.

Thank you for responding Nate, Gregg, Avery and Philo!

Rediscovering DX on an Easter Day

I mentioned before that I started throwing Innova discs back in 1996, but felt like my game progressed when I threw my first Discraft mold. I only threw plastic for about a year back then so I never had the chance to delve into a disc-buying and trying phase. It wasn't until recently that I finally started throwing Innova molds.

My wife likes the game and owns her own bag of discs. Usually, when I'm ready to buy a disc or two I find myself wondering what new disc she might like as well. Tee Birds were on my mind at the time, so when I added a Star Tee Bird to my Internet cart I went ahead and clicked the tiny box for a 150 DX Tee Bird for my wife.

I started thinking about the old days and wondered what DX plastic I threw back then that made me feel like the entire Innova brand wasn't for me.

When the exciting day arrived we opened the USPS package and removed our new purchases. I couldn't wait to finally throw the Star Tee Bird, but I found myself equally curious about my wife's DX mold.

Fortunately, she let me try it out. The plastic actually felt OK. I knew the rigidness would have to take some getting used to, but I figured that wouldn't be a problem. After throwing hers a couple of times on a serious hyzer line I decided I was going to buy a heavier one for myself one day.

That day came extremely quick.

When my blue 170 DX Tee Bird arrived I went out to the field and started experimenting. I immediately found out it was going to be a great under-stable disc. I knew I would be able to hit some nice lines down tight fairways, but there was one thing I didn't know right away.

I didn't know I was going to start driving this $8 disc further than my go-to distance drivers.

On Easter I hit up a course in Redmond, WA called Juel. It's a wide open park with nine baskets and 18 tees. It's a great course to practice long precision drives and putting. Unfortunately the ground gets saturated after heavy rains, so most of the course was unplayable since I didn't feel like wading through ankle-high rain water.

I played the few dry holes over and over again and a couple of them were around the 350 foot mark. At one point during my practice the Nuke started pissing me off. I couldn't accomplish a good flight. After I had thrown my two Nukes and a Star Tee Bird I grabbed my DX plastic in anger, stepped up and tried to puncture the atmosphere with it. I stood in amazement as I watched it slowly stand up from the hyzer line, start gliding right and then slowing start gliding back left as it made its way back down to the dirt.

"I just out drove my Nukes," I said to myself. I couldn't believe it. I only threw about 345 feet maybe, but it was further than my other weak drives with premium plastic. I felt like I knew even less about this sport than ever.

Since then I've been using the cheap Tee Bird in my game more and more. I've noticed that I need to throw with good form to get it to go far, but that's OK because that's what I'm really trying to accomplish.

Drive Analysis

I took my wife and daughter to my secret throwing ground when the rain let up yesterday. There's a problem though – I don't think it's so secret after all. When we arrived I noticed a man practicing his form while throwing a disc, but his disc looked a bit heavier than mine. He was practicing his discus technique. It was cool to watch.

I also saw a boy and a man playing with a remote control airplane. This field was full of flying objects. With all the activity around there was still plenty of room for me to practice, so I went to work.

I asked my wife to shoot some video using my phone so I could break everything down later. This will be my first video analysis for this blog.

Many of my drives felt good, and I may have broken the 350ft barrier. I've decided to save up for a range finder so I can know for sure. Are there any brands I should stay away from?

I focused on two aspects, my grip and my non-throwing arm. I realized my grip could be stronger and that my left arm usually swings wide while I'm pulling through. Below is a picture of me teeing off from hole three on the backside of La Mirada in California. I believe the picture was taken sometime in 2010. It was this picture that made me wonder about the positioning of non-throwing arms.

I started to notice in videos that a lot of pros kept their non-throwing arm close to their body. I sent out a bunch of questions to random people over the Internet, but couldn't get an answer. Finally, I saw the Disc Golf Monthly TV episode on YouTube featuring the clinic with Garrett Gurthie. He used the analogy of an ice skater spinning to explain the reason behind keeping your arm close to your body – it creates a faster spin of the body.

I knew for sure I needed to incorporate it into my drives.

I believe it helps a lot. The combination of that and a tighter grip made me feel like I made progress yesterday.

Now, here's something I want to work on next:

Pictured above is the moment when my right foot plants on the ground. It's completely sideways. I'm wondering if I'll generate a better heel pivot and more power if I turn my body so that my right foot almost matches my left foot. 

Overall, I'm extremely happy with the small bits of progress. If you have any critiques please share. I would love to hear from you.

Thanks for reading.

The Maw 'N' Paw

Disc golfing friends of mine came up with an idea one day. This husband and wife, after a ton of hard work, now have their idea splashed on the front page of Discovering The World. 

The Maw 'N' Paw disc golf towel is awesome. Sure, maybe I'm a little biased, but after using one for a while I can truthfully say that it's the only towel I will ever use.

Innovation is everywhere in our sport and this couple, who are obsessed with disc golf like the rest of us, found a way to bring innovation to something that's usually a simple rag we stuff away in to our bags.

This tie-dyed cotton towel has a shammy patch sewn on to one end allowing a player to not only dry their hands, but to completely dry their discs too. They come in two different styles and are also decorated with a cool embroidered basket.

Living in the northwest I've been able to truly test this product out. The cotton side does what it should. It gets the mud off of my discs and dries my hands. Then, the shammy addition completely dries my disc so that I don't have to worry about slippage.

I'm proud of these fine folks for pulling this off. Congratulations you two!

Check out dtworld.com to pick one up. 

Field Practice

Holy cow, I'm sore.

The sun came out to say hi this weekend and I took full advantage of its presence. On Saturday I drove down to SeaTac Disc Golf Course and played a full round with my wife and her cousin. Sunday was devoted to field practice.  

I mentioned my plight before regarding empty fields in this area. It seemed impossible to find an open area without human targets when blue filled the sky. Well, I may have finally discovered my secret throwing ground.

The practice session started with choosing which discs I was going to throw out of my bag. I went with two Elite Z Nukes, two Star TeeBirds and a Champion Leopard.

I stretched for a while and then threw some easy upshots to the area I wanted to tee off from. This swath of grass looks like an old football field that hasn't been groomed in a while. The field goals are vintage and there are no bleachers in sight. 

Standing under one of the goal posts I looked out at the other one across the field and wondered if the distance was regulation. I believe the measurement between football goal posts should be about 360ft. I felt like I would never reach the other side.

And I didn't.

I probably drove 50 times and stopped, because I was tired and didn't want to push it. I thought about hitting up Terrace Creek Disc Golf Course afterward, but figured it wasn't a good idea considering how my entire body was feeling.

The beginning of the session was sort of weak sauce. I wasn't warmed up yet. I finally started snapping off some good drives near the middle of the session and toward the end I was petering out.

I worked on so many different aspects of my drive, but the one thing that seemed like a constant hindrance was my footing. The soft ground made me feel heavy and the unkempt grass below my feet made me feel slow. Of course I realized I was reaching for excuses that justified my inability to get any of my discs to land near the goal post. 

Reality quickly took over. I am slow. I am heavy. 

But I'm getting faster and I'm getting lighter.

The highlight of the weekend came on Saturday and was easy to pick out. Pictured above is hole 14 at SeaTac DGC. According to Disc Golf Course Review this hole measures out to be 545ft and is a par 4.

I hyzer flipped my 169 Elite Z Nuke through all the trees and landed in a prime spot for an easy upshot. I nailed my second-shot line and made the chains sing with my putt. I never thought I would shoot a three on this hole... just like I think I will never reach that other goal post. Hmmm... 

I love inspiration.

My New Plastic

Are you one of those disc golfers that needs to hold back when buying new plastic? I am. If I had the money and storage space I would probably buy a ton of discs every month. I didn't used to be like that though.

I hadn't purchased anything for a while. The baby was sleeping, the beer was cold and it was a Saturday night, so I figured it was a good time to hop online and make a few purchases.

I went with a 171 Star TeeBird, an X-Out 173 Champion Leopard and an X-Out 169 Elite Z Nuke. I bought the TeeBird from Disc Nation and the other two from Marshall Street.

When I first played the game I remember using a couple of Innova discs, but it wasn't until I tried a Discraft disc that I felt like I could finally get some distance. With that mentality stored away in my mind I started buying only Discraft discs when I picked up the sport again later on in life. Eventually I justified it by thinking all manufacturers have discs that will fly the way you need them to, so why not stick with one company in order to keep yourself from buying a bunch of discs with similar flight patterns.

Silly me.

Deep down there was a part of me that wanted to throw every disc in every weight just to see the differences.

I finally gave in to my desire and I'm now in the process of mixing up my bag with anything I feel like trying without any company loyalty.

I'm not sponsored, so I shouldn't restrict myself.

The sun is supposed to make an appearance this weekend, so I'll be getting out to give these three some flight time.

Free Innova Discs: Scam?

I propped myself up against the couch the other night and waited for the whiskey to take effect. I wanted a solid night of sleep, because lately my mind has been racing – and our 1000-year-old cat has a ritual of getting up from her bed, clawing her way out of our room to eat and drink and then clawing her way back into her bed. Then, what seems like 20 minutes later, she does it again... and again... and again.

I'm usually searching the Web for disc golf related news, videos and blogs. Most of the time I find myself making disc wish lists while picking through sites like marshallstreetdiscgolf.com. I love that site. I like how it's organized and how they categorize their products. They include sections such as x-outs, vintage and goobered.

They even have stock under "prototype" of a disc I helped name for ABC discs. The BeeLine. Word has it that the disc didn't pass PDGA approval, because it's just way too gnarly for sanctioned play. Apparently the disc would have turned the tables in favor of the player so much that players without the disc would just quit the game, and dgcoursereview.com would be flooded with threads like, "Is Cinque on his way to being the best disc golfer in history?"

I haven't heard anything for a while and the ABC disc site hasn't been updated, so I'm not sure what's going on with it.

Anyways, I stumbled on to a video posted on YouTube regarding free Innova discs. This guy went to freeinnovadiscs.com and apparently followed all the rules and ended up receiving some discs he had been wanting.

I was interested, but I've encountered offers like this before and usually it's some sort of a scam, or they want so much information that it feels wrong to participate. The freeinnovadiscs.com site leads you to a site called points2shop.com. Following some brief research I found out that after you join this site you are asked to take part in different offers from different companies and if you do everything correctly you are rewarded with points.

I guess the points are used instead of money to shop for items on Amazon.com. If Amazon has it then apparently you can earn it by participating.

Things like this are usually too good to be true, but after searching Amazon for disc golf related items I'm kind of curious to see if this is actually legit. Free Leopards? Nukes? Tee Birds, maybe?

I'm probably going to regret it, but I'm thinking about making a new email account, Facebook, Twitter or whatever just so I can test this out. There seemed to be an equal amount of negative reviews and positive reviews about the process. Some people were complaining that after building up so many points they were banned, because they were suspected of cheating. Other people were raving about everything. Who knows? Those other people might be the person working for the site. The Web is sticky and tricky. I'm not sure what to believe yet. I won't give out the e-mails of my friends and I won't give out extremely personal information, so I'm not sure if I'll go through with it if that's what they end up asking for.

I'll let you know what happens. Have any of you ever tried it?