and it doesn't matter if you power grip or fan grip the disc. Only the pressure point counts. Good luck! If you found this video helpful, you can support me on: / dgspindoctor
I have been teaching Disc Golf for 10 years at a college… I have been playing for about 25 years just like you… I’m just seeing this video last week… I think it has the potential to change my game significantly! Thank you so much!
I was just workshopping grips and wrist movement in the last few weeks of practice, realizing one of my grips made it almost impossible to bend my wrist. You’re semi-prophetic with your videos as usual!
@@baustin612 Yes. I still think this is person to person and subjective. Yeah, *their* data and testing (per the Tech Disc) showed that power gripping yielded the most speed/pop out of the hand with the most revolutions. Then they started trying 2, 3, and 4 finger power grips. I think in the end they concluded the 4 finger power grip was the “best”. But again, I don’t think it’s for everyone.
You can still backload a 4 finger power grip. It's just about the concentration of where the pressure points are in your hand. Use your pinky and ring fingers to pull the disc towards your palm and let your front fingers just kind of fall where they fall. That's just my experience, but I am a mere mortal amateur trying to learn
Paul Ulibarri has a video on approach shots where he discusses these various grips. I use the pinch grip for most tee shots, drives, and other power shots. I switch to the backloaded grip to hit gaps off the tee, touchy approach shots, and any place where control must be greater than power (if that makes sense). I am glad that you addressed this. The depth of the GLITCH requires a different grip, as the disc tries to eject from the hand the rim becomes a significant barrier, and this results in a severe torquing the flight plate and distortion of the rim itself. With less grip strength in the backloaded grip, the disc can eject easier.
I just worked on this in the field and am blown away by how much of a difference this is making after just one session. I gained at least 50 ft. of distance from my putters without much effort, and discs that I kept turning over like my pixel and detour were going dead straight. Thanks for getting this thought in my head!
To piggyback off this post because it totally relates to me… I tried this way of backloading at the fields yesterday with my Terns and Forces…. Holy crap… it took a bit of time to adjust from front loading and pouring the coffee but I had more consistent nose down throws and more consistent 400+ distances rather than just a few. Thanks a ton!!!!
Great vid as always! This kind of grip resonates with me and the easiest way I've found to make it work is to reach with the pad of the thumb, keeping it an inch from the rim, and really get that whole thumb pad down on the plate. This puts the pinch point almost at the base of the thumb and naturally back loads the grip. First time you do this it even feels different. Smoother, more pop and distance with less effort. And the Glitch... man, what a disc. It's been in my bag since the week it was released because it just flies so pretty and does what I want, plus it's great for long no-effort putts and wrist pop up shots. Something I hear a lot when I'm out there is, "Was that a Glitch?"
I am one of those people who just use the "backloaded grip". This video made me realize that people do it differently. I have never really understood what people mean by "pinch grip", the pinching movement feels more unnatural for me when holding the disc. the wrist seems way more relaxed and mobile when not pinching. Ty DGSD
I played 4 rounds of disc golf today and applied this grip technique and this helped a lot! great advice thank you so much!!!!!! Crazy that just that little adjustment changed so much
I can't tell you how much I needed this video! The same issues you list (having a hard time with nose angle, can't pour the coffee) made throwing the glitch is a mess. I can't wait to try this out.
thank you for the reminder. it's absolutely a great tip! I had it awhile back, and didn't get it to stick, as I learned late like yourself!!!!! WOOOHOOO! GREAT content!
Unbelievable! This is the first tip that has ever worked for me the first time trying it. Thank you so much Spin Doctor. My stress level has gone way down now when I need to throw super straight upshots and approaches.
Thank you so much. I used to intuitively backload my putter throws but have been focusing on the pinch grip and I could not get a good flight anymore... 🤯😳🥳 I can already feel the improvement
Holy smokes! Did a 36 hole glitch only tourney today, I ended up turning over alot of my drives... After watching your video when I got home, I went outside to test this out and was immediately throwing farther and not turning and burning the disc. If only I had watched this before the tourney lol, Thanks for the video~!
I needed this so much, thanks man! Now with Adam Hammes' putting tips and this I should be able to improve my score and get more consistent on my rounds.
Thank you so much. Like you I've only used front loaded grip, and always struggled with little spin and nose up. The FIRST time I tried the backloaded grip I was able to rech the pin on a hole I never been near reching. The nose angle was flat or much more flat. This I have tried to achieve for two years. So I'm gratefull :)
Thanks so much for this, I can already tell this is going to be really useful for me. I can't wait to go get a field work session in with it. Maybe I can sneak out of work a little early today ... the next few hours are going to take forever!
I could never throw putters. I started with the back-loaded just a few months ago and it was a huge difference. Now I am launching my putter almost as far as my mids. But so dead straight. I am so stoked and just want to throw my putter everywhere as my game was always lacking these shots. Haven't tried my Glitch yet but look forward to it. Keep up the good work!
Interesting idea to throw from the back of the hand and keep the index finger and thumb loose, I always think to sling the discs from back to front to start the spin. It took me a couple of days but man this works. It even helps with long puts too, much better control and distance if you aid the finger pop with rear hand motion. After 31 years I learned a great thing! Glad I can still learn new tricks, appreciate your channel so much!!
Hey, ain't kinda awesome to learn something so simple yet so new? And in this state of experience, right? It took me about a couple of sessions to get used to, but man, it feels natural after that. I throw my Ultimate disc like that too, and the release has never been smoother. No grip locks whatsoever. And I remember maybe a little more than a year ago, I strained my index finger gripping too hard, and it bent. Was hurting for a week or so. Back loaded seems good! Also, the disc actually still spins out from the index, it just does it cleaner.
This went straight into my "Best Disc Golf Training Videos" playlist. It's a very very important video. Right up there with the "Spin & Throw Disc Golf Playlist".
Haha. Well, I am not sure if this is a compliment or not, since I surely don't advocate any of the S&T stuff once I steered away from it a few years ago. If you liked this one, I'm happy.
I've gone out and tried this the last couple evenings. Back three fingers power grip, point finger resting on the underside of the wing (like a putting grip) and thumb on top like normal. My nose angle on my distance drivers is insanely better with this grip! I can tell the disc is coming out cleaner and more nose down. Without a change in effort, I noticed a 40-50 foot improvement in distance just because I believe the nose angle is so much better. Funny thing is I used this grip when I first started playing around five years ago, but "conventional" teaching wisdom had me drift toward using more of a front-loaded pinch grip. Thanks for this and I'm excited to keep experimenting.
Yo, my man, my first evolution in disc golf came when I discovered the finger thumb pinch...instead of a "power grip", it changed everything I could throw soo much farther... you just gave me my next evolution, I saw your video today and went to the park today and implemented this... it's incredible man! Absolute game changer, "thank you sir may I have another?"
@@dgspindoctor tried it out with my Glitch, Envy, and Inner Core. It definitely works! I've only been playing (seriously) since last fall (I threw some DX Innova back in the 90's as a teenager) and threw the best/longest putter shots of my life today!!! Into a 10mph R to L headwind Best shots: Inner Core, 273 Envy, 271 Glitch, 232 I'm a changed man! Gonna keep working on this grip technique. Can't wait to see what my fairway shots look like!???
Tried this method out yesterday and have never thrown that far in my life. I was throwing 3 speeds and 5-7 speeds on holes I’ve always grabbed 9-13 speeds and went past the pin! Thank you for this info! Best part was is it felt comfortable and overall more accurate.
I went to do some field work (inspired by this video) and made couple of observations. 1. Backloaded gripped disc were flying way smoother (especially putters) and were released more consistently on the line I tried to throw them. Almost all of them flew a little bit nose up and stalled at the end. 2. Frontloaded discs were flying further and nose down but were spread way across the field compared to the ones I backloaded. Conclusion: Because we are playing golf and not distance contest, I should probably focus more on backloaded aswell because its better to hit your line and land smoothly next to the basket than skip maybe 30-40 feet past it. I really dont have any problem with tension in my wrist even when frontloaded because i've done it so many years but I can understand the point of trying to be as loose as possible. Maybe I wont completely change but I never really though I could throw faster discs backloaded too but I guess that in summer I will find out if it affects my scoring ability. Great insights and good video as always!
Not only a student, you are my guinea pig and test lab to try out these ideas before I go public. I don't trust my experience alone is enough to teach anything as the truth, so I always talk about these things with others.
Great video! I already used that grip, but just for upshots. I used my glitch for those up shots unless there's wind, then I used my putter. I'll try that grip for other shots and other discs, and see how it works.
That's crazy. I was just playing around with that with my spin putt. Or something similar? I didn't know what it was called. Look forward to expanding it and giving it a ride. Good to see you posting again.
I can't say for sure, but look at Niklas' wrist as he putts. I always wondered whether it's intentional or not, but as I tried this grip the other day, my wrist started to do the same as Niklas', and unintentionally.
Man I never even realized I was doing this. It wasn’t something I never even really put any thought into. Thanks for the great tip, I can’t wait until I can get out on the course and see how it works out
i personally never moved on from the fan grip, but my max distance on stand still throws, which i mainly use is just about 105m. i will try the backloaded grip on putters and the glitch, the glitch always turned over on me. at the moment i throw putters with a putter fan grip and i get them to fly pretty straight with it. thx for your content and shout out to Ottie!
I couldn't throw my glitch for ages, until I started fan gripping it. But the reason I think that works is because I was accidentally backloading! Also, I've never been able to throw a "power grip" because it feels super uncomfortable. I use a pinch grip instead. But it actually feels really comfortable holding a disc in a power grip if I back-load first! I'm gonna have to try it on the course or in the field. It could be really good for me, as I'm currently only throwing with 3 fingers on the rim, and with aa backloaded power grip 4 feels great! Thanks mate!
Wow. Crazy! I was always front loaded. Never realized I can’t touch the disc to my forearm, but backloaded it easily loads back to my forearm. Cant wait to test it on the course in a couple hours.
Spin Dr maybe needs to watch more YT, LOL! I heard about front vs back loaded the 2nd day I played because I started watching a bunch of YT videos and I saw it repeated in many videos. However, this was in September 2023 so maybe it wasn't discussed in videos until recently. I would be surprised if this creates more spin (on average for most people), but I'm going to test it with my tech disc, I never did because I don't have an issue with front loaded grips even with putters. I've never tried the glitch but I recently ripped the Watt as hard as I could on a little hyzer and got a nice hyzer flip straight flight. Definitely a great recommendation to drive putters to check you form. I just met Mason Ford at the Austin Open 2024 and he uses a fan grip for hard drives and gets good spin though (mid to high 1400's at 69 mph) so good spin and speed is definitely possible with less front loading!
❤Glad you’re back!! What I’ve found is that my 6.5spd and higher discs (Crave, etc) is that if I want more pop and spin… actually the full power grip with focus on front load pressure yields the highest distance. But for mids and lower… AND fairway accuracy… the back loaded power fan grip is better. Open fairway… power grip drives. Closed fairway or gap hits… back loaded power fan grip. Even for the Glitch. 🤙 (I’m not speaking in absolutes, but my personal opinion and observations) 😊
Exactly the same for me. Anything that feels faster or "pointy" in general like a fairway driver and above, I throw a power grip no problem. Anything that feels like a deep dish pizza pan, I change my grip to a full fan grip, or the in-between fan and power grip depending on how deep it is. Otherwise I tend to yank it to the right.
I backload for 5 and under. I can’t get a putter to do anything if I don’t. I also find that my five speeds fly better back loaded. I also make the switch around the 6.5 speed range.
I really like it for lower power shots, but I keep releasing early as soon as I put some power behind the shot. I'm so used to really pinching it hard with the thumb so it becomes quite awkward for me. I will continue to practice to see if this can help me with my constant nose up shots.
Wow I was just holding a putter and driver with the back loaded grip. I can immediately tell this is going to improve my game! Incredible! Can't believe I never tried this during field practice! 🎉😂 Thank you so much for this video!!! Perfect timing I have a tournament in 3 weeks!
actually nice point of view , been wondering for a year why my discs fly 100ft less with powergrip instead of same kind of fangrip you use . but on Fangrip i haven't never felt pressure on pointy finger but more like a pinky holding it relaxed on my hand ! but when powergripping the disc it definitely is really big pressure on pointy and wrist movement really bad !
A couple of years ago I actually realized this from (was it?) Garreth Gurthies video. I focuse alot on keeping my arm as loose as possible. Having this grip you can shake your wrists loosely with a good preasure on the disc. Been throwing like that a few years now. Really nice to hear that i was on to something...
Great, will try it . Focus on getting loose wrist, and not pouring the coffee , getting more spin and hopefully more power/distance is on the agenda this season.
Interestingly, I used a very backloaded grip my first year of playing, basically lightly putting my index finger on the underside of the rim but all the grip done with my other three fingers. Felt incredibly natural, and I managed to get pretty decent with it. IIRC I first broke 300' still using that grip. It's been years now, so I don't remember if I also struggled with nose angle etc. Then in the quest to get better and learn form and whatnot, everything and everybody was saying to power grip and pour the coffee. It felt like I was getting more distance (not sure if I really was), and over time I've somewhat learned how to control it. But, it still feels unnatural to pour the coffee, and I still struggle with nose-up throws. Currently I often find myself pushing my back fingers and the back edge of the disc up into the meat of my hand up by the thumb just to try correcting the nose angle. So, thank you for this video. I think I'm going to go out and try the old grip and see how I get on. I've been wondering for awhile if grip is a problem for me with my nose angle question, and I'm excited to see if I'd accidentally stumbled into the answer when I started playing before I was told it was wrong.
Ompa hauska tiedostaa tämä. Oon heittänyt n.7 vuotta enkä ikinä oo ajatellu tätä näkökulmaa gripistä. Tykkään heittää paljo alivakaita puttereita ja niilä myös normi hyssejä. Nyt vasta tajuan ku otin kiekon käteen että oon aina heittäny tuolla gripillä. Ajatus siitä että pitäisin painoa etusormella tai muualla sieläpäim on tosi vieras! Kiitos Jaani tästä.
After 25+year of playing, I learned this from my 16yo son. That's his natural grip and it works for him on every disc. I was trying to teach him how to power grip and it wasn't helping him at all, so I tried it his way and it improved my game.
I've listened to this tip and it's almost always been described in a way that makes it almost irrelevant and an alternative... this explanation makes at lot of difference, thanks! ;D Will probably not get the Glitch 300' but I hope it will get me to 260' now as well but more accurate! :D
So, 395' with my Ballista, I think its top 5 on flat gound for me, works fine, not as much potential snap with backloaded yet, but no early releases 12 throws, a bit easier to griplock deeper discs due to more friction letting the disc stay a bit longer. Probably just a releasepoint thingy for putters and deeper mids needing change ;)
Can further add that this have helped me getting angles more correct so far, both lovely turnover putters and mids and slight hyzers. Have practiced throwing "high" shots without nose up lately so distances isn't the goal at the moment :P
@@dgspindoctorthere is always some helpful info in every one of your videos that turns into the inspiration for a great throwing session for me. Don’t hold it in, please let it out haha. Appreciate you!
This is fantastic advice and I can't wait to try this grip out, but I do believe that the tendons we use for gripping things are on the inner side of the forearm?
This is kindof how I've thrown some mids and putters the past 4-5 years or so and it is heavily influenced by my desire for smooth flat flights of my Fuse and the release of the Lat64 Bite (which basically flies like an ultimate disc but fits like a lid over your putter in the bag so it doesn't take up extra space). I've never really thought of the difference of backloaded vs frontloaded but for control shots with "sensitive" discs like the Bite and the Fuse I tend to extend my middle finger towards the center and hold my indexfinger just under the rim so by necessity the ringfinger+pinky along with the base of the thumb are the only parts of the hand capable of applying significant pressure.
you just answered a question I've had about my game forever. I can throw a DGA gumputt 300' on flat ground. I've been throwing this disc for 20 years. But I can't throw my pathfinder that far. When I put my gumputt in my hand my grip is automatically doing that "backloaded" grip, holding firm with my pinky and ring finger because the inside tapered rim doesn't leave much for the middle and index finger to grab with the fan grip. When I grab the pathfinder, or any of my other discs, I didn't even realize I was switching to a powergrip with pressure focused more on the first two fingers. Time to hit the field practice!
I played super-cali tonight at a local random dubs using this technique and my shots were straighter and more accurate. I won by 2 strokes with a 43. I was gripping everything with loose index and middle fingers and tight ring and pinky. Mind blown
Interested to hear what happens when you test this out. Backloaded is my natural grip, and the praxis and the pathfinder go more or less the same distance for me. I've attributed this to the fact that frontloading a mid feels weird and makes me less accurate, so I end up treating a mid like a sturdier putter, and using it more like a utility disc for low ceilings and the like.
Welcome back，we need you。Having English subtitles is great，I am Chinese and do not have subtitles to proofread. Machine translation of videos directly can result in too many errors.
Had to switch my backhand grip last year from front loaded powergrip (all drivers) and birdie grip (midranges and putters), which is like powergrip but with straight middle finger, due to one field session with only drivers which ended up injuring or irritating my index finger dip joint. Even if I let my finger heal by not throwing backhand for a month it would still get irritated from just a couple backhand throws. Then I switched to using the back loaded modified fan grip in all my discs and haven't had a problem with my index finger getting irritated from backhand since then.
Welcome back! I grip my disc with the index + middlefinger only, makes me throw nose down alot more. I pinch alot with my thumb and the two fingers in the rim. Would this tip work with my grip also? Pressing with the base of the thumb instead of pinching?
Thank you very much for this eye opening video. When I switch to a back loaded grip, I shouldn’t hook the inside of the rim with my pointer finger, correct?
you are using a modified fan grip.. i used to use that then i saw a video from a tour pro giving a tip on how to find grip and it helped my hand be able to power grip it like i couldnt before.. once i got used to the power grip i was able to tinker with it for a much better power grip that semi touches the flight plate!
I have almost always thrown like this (and never really had a problem with the Glitch), but had no clue it was different or why. The explanation makes a lot of sense now that I played with the two grips a bit. A friend of mine told me he doesn't like throwing the Glitch because he has to change how he throws so much to make it work. I had trouble explaining to him how I didn't change my grip or form and threw it fine. Now that I have the explanation, I'm going to pass it on to him.
I actually rest my index finger on the outside of the rim like a putter grip when I throw the Glitch. I agree, backloading makes it less likely to overpower and turn it over.
Not much experience so far, but the first time I tried, the release felt easier and the flight looked better. Didn't measure. But the feeling was definitely smoother. I left for travels soon after I learned this and I only have a few putters with me now.
Having broken my left hand and gone through open reductive fixative surgery, it was surprising to learn during my rehab that the index and middle fingers are the weak fingers of the hand, and that most of the power of your grip comes from the ring and pinky finger. In hindsight, it is very obvious. The ring and index fingers are longer, more mobile and haven't got the benefit of being tied to the big muscles of the hand which are dedicated to the thumb on one side and the pinky and ring fingers on the other side. Take one of your fingers and loop the opposite hand's index finger around it, squeezing as hard as you can manage. Now do the same with the pinky finger and be amazed at the increase in pressure. Your grip pressure comes from the pinky and index fingers. The thumb and first two fingers are for dexterity. The last two are for strength.
I actually learned this from using a gripper for strength. The weak fingers have a lot more muscle in the base, so naturally the gripper feels lighter when you squeeze it with the whole palm and not with the long fingers.
