The best way for beginners to improve their form in Disc Golf

You step up to the tee pad and there’s a million things running through your mind. You throw it and the disc goes straight into the air coming right back at you. After many times of doing this, you get frustrated and tell yourself you’re done with the game. I have been there and I feel your pain. It is extremely difficult to actually NOT throw the disc up in the air.

Instead of trying to remember so many things at once, it’s much easier to focus on this one main key point as a beginner.

Learn how to throw standstill

A standstill is a technique in which there is no movement coming from your legs. Since there is minimal movement of the lower body, this helps to purely focus on your reach back and follow through.

In order to do a proper standstill throw you must:

1. Plant your legs and keep them in place for the entire duration of your throw, start to finish
2. Bring the disc back on a line that feels comfortable and look back at your reach out to make sure it’s positioned properly
3. Pull the disc through your mid section; allowing enough space for the disc to come through across your body
4. Allow weight transfer of your back leg to move to your front leg when following through

As a beginner, standstill should be done slowly so you can pay attention to your reach out (or reach back) and overall form. If you go too fast you will most likely not remember the above steps taken for correct form.

This helps you to gain muscle memory when performed at a slower pace because it allows you to focus on how to do proper technique.

That is also why I don’t advise beginners to start out playing with an X step. An X-step involves incorporating footwork into your drive to propel the disc further.

There are too many parts involved in an X-step and you will ultimately just get frustrated.

One rule of thumb: If you can’t throw putters and mids flat and straight from a standstill then that is a clear indication you’re not ready to incorporate an X-step quite yet. Learn the standstill first to ensure you are doing everything right.

Why standstill will benefit you

Standstill has many perks that you won’t want to miss out on. Learning standstill shots will teach you:

• Proper weight shift from your back leg to your front leg
• To figure out how much space you need between you and the disc when pulling through
• Finding the right timing for every part of your throw
• Throwing smoothly with more accuracy and no flutter
• Keeping the front of the disc nose down for a flatter precise throw

Do not overlook standstill

When I first started playing Disc Golf I always threw with an X-step off the tee pad as well as with my approach shots. Having an X-step on all my drives and approach shots caused me to always lose accuracy simply because I didn’t learn proper form from the start. The biggest breakthrough for me was when I slowed everything down and most importantly, learned standstill. Now instead of going full force on every approach shot, I have tremendously gained better accuracy and control by simply doing standstill shots. Especially on very technical wooded courses.

Remember, Disc Golf is about taking your time and slowing everything down. This took me a very long time to realize. I wish I would have learned this sooner in my Disc Golf journey.

Have any questions? Leave them down below!