Let's start throwing Rollers!! Not Anhyzers that happen to Roll

The roller is probably the easiest shot to throw in my bag. I'm aiming at the ground so I figured how hard could that be. Gravity does half the work for me already. I roll everything in my bag because they all fly different in the air. I figured it should be no different when working on the ground. I went out to the field with 50 + discs. I got to know their flight characteristics before I started rolling them. As I started to roll them I found that if I had a consistent release on relatively the same line they would roll how they flew. I now roll my Firebird Forehand and for easy Backhand cut rollers. My CE Leopards are the core of my control rollers. The Teebirds and Eagles go a little further and faster than Leopards. The 2nd Run CE Valkyries are by far the fastest/sharpest discs ever made for rollers. I throw them on different angles with less or more flight before they hit. In doing so they will react on the ground how I want them to.

Throwing a roller can be very easy if you lose your preconcieved ideas. What I mean is that you may think in the back of your mind that a roller is simply a harder thrown Anhyzer shot. Some players can get away with it but the best in the world throw a different shot. To set yourself up to throw a roller you need to keep your shoulders back. Bend at the knees a little more than your used to. Less at the hips so your not "over top" of the disc. This allows you to pull over the top in a more fluid motion. Getting your elbow up will allow you to follow through better. Allow your shoulder to float up and away from your body so it's not hunched up (opposite of throwing a hard hyzer). Comfortably lean back and let the driver rip over your body. How hard you throw, the timing of your release, and disc stability choice dictates where and how far it goes. Just imagine the disc as an extension of the line you set forth. Whatever line you release the disc on is how it starts it's roll.

I am writing this as a place to start a conversation to help everyone become better rollers. I have fielded a handful of emails on the subject and thought there had to be other people out there with an opinion. Does anyone make sense of what I'm trying to say? Or can you word it any differently that may help?

Andrew Rich
Team Innova
Pure Disc Golf

[John Hodgkins]

Do I hear roller clinic in Eugene Oregon soon? Man I would love to get a good roller in my bag, God knows it would out distance my drive.. Except with the groove!

[Ric Roc]

Rollers are fun to throw, I like to go out on a local open course and throw my whole bag as rollers. Like the man said they all do different things and not being a big arm guy I can throw them a lot father then my regular drives.

[Luke B]

best discs to learn how to roll- Stingray or Stratus, and its not even close.

[Blazo]

thanks for the advice innova man. seriously, i'm intimidated by the roller shot and don't see a whole lot of good coming out of learning it (other than a good sky roller). I'll practice rollers when the snow melts with this advice in mind. this IS a less reliable shot than a flying one (i've heard enough times and from enough good players to believe), so i'm curious as to how useful it is to know it. other than adding a little distance which i don't consider worth the higher risk of messing up in most cases anyway.

[Pure Disc Golf dot Com]

The roller is a very useful tool when playing tight course. I'm still working on my 8 foot high 400ft+ shots so rollers really come in very handy. They are also vital when making trick shots and getting out of trouble. I could name countless situations that wouldn't have had the great outcome without a roller in the bag. Yes it is true it does give some players more distance. Depending on the terrain I don't throw it much for distance. Being blessed with a 500ft+ "360 Turnaround" I don't usually need to mess with rolling for distance. Forehand rollers are clutch in the woods and getting out of brush. I challenge you to find one tournament player in Oregon who hasn't thrown a forehand roller. Even if they don't throw the shot sometimes it just calls for it. I believe it is a mis-conception that Rollers are far less dependable than air shots. Yes, it's true, there are more variables to keep in mind. I've started throwing Roc and Aviar Rollers that are just awesome. Try it out sometime if your comfortable.

Some rollers I throw work miraculously and get me very fired up. If you see me crush a technical roller and make the 50 footer it's pretty much over. Just hold it together and bring home second cause the moneys already in the bank. I wouldn't be a touring pro without a "little" bit of ego. I like to call it confidence when I'm on the course though. You should hear the real Pro's, if it we're up to them they would never miss a shot. 1100 rounds are just waiting to get picked up with the right bonus shots. Go with what you know though and just try to execute. This will get your scores down around where they should be. Peace Out

[Luke B]

Blaze said:

thanks for the advice innova man. seriously, i'm intimidated by the roller shot and don't see a whole lot of good coming out of learning it (other than a good sky roller). I'll practice rollers when the snow melts with this advice in mind. this IS a less reliable shot than a flying one (i've heard enough times and from enough good players to believe), so i'm curious as to how useful it is to know it. other than adding a little distance which i don't consider worth the higher risk of messing up in most cases anyway.

Our current World Champion can throw a variety of rollers extremely well, and Im pretty sure he would say its a necessary shot to know. Climo also has an excellent roller, as do other top pros. As to reliability, once you learn the disc well, a roller can be as consistent as any airshot.

on some holes a roller will be much more consistent that an airshot...this is for those who can throw both accurately, of course if you ask people who never use a roller if its a good shot they will say no,

andrew next time your in vegas- me, you , and trotter play $/hole CTPs with rollers only off the tee?

[Eirik]

This is a great thread with some genuine merit and I am going to go out and spend more time with some rollers. Do not forget that there are MUCH MORE factors that mess with you on rollers. There are WAY too many 1/2 inch sticks laying around on courses that turn AWESOME rollers into devastating upshots. Even if you are PERFECT at releasing and angle.... etc there are factors you can not see MOST of the time. Not to be a downer, it's just a fact.

Luke B said:

Blaze said:

thanks for the advice innova man. seriously, i'm intimidated by the roller shot and don't see a whole lot of good coming out of learning it (other than a good sky roller). I'll practice rollers when the snow melts with this advice in mind. this IS a less reliable shot than a flying one (i've heard enough times and from enough good players to believe), so i'm curious as to how useful it is to know it. other than adding a little distance which i don't consider worth the higher risk of messing up in most cases anyway.

Our current World Champion can throw a variety of rollers extremely well, and Im pretty sure he would say its a necessary shot to know. Climo also has an excellent roller, as do other top pros. As to reliability, once you learn the disc well, a roller can be as consistent as any airshot.

on some holes a roller will be much more consistent that an airshot...this is for those who can throw both accurately, of course if you ask people who never use a roller if its a good shot they will say no,

andrew next time your in vegas- me, you , and trotter play $/hole CTPs with rollers only off the tee?

[Luke B]

but when on a course with lots of trees all you have to do is miss the smallest part(the trunk) vs the largest part(branches) that you have to miss when throwing an airshot.

[Jamie 'gr8rocshot' Ruane]

I'll add...once you have an idea on how your discs roll....backhand, forehand, thumb and cut rollers...go out and play a round throwing only rollers...every drive, every longer approach.

[Jamie 'gr8rocshot' Ruane]

Iceman said:

What are "cut rollers"?

A roller thrown so it will hook at least 90 degrees or more from where it hits the ground. Bad anhyzers thrown too low have a tendency to cut roll.

[Bill Burns]

Iceman said:

What are "cut rollers"?

For a RHBH thrower, a cut roller is one that you need to almost immediately to "cut" to the left, at around the 9 to 10 OClock angle.

[Mike]

Personally I love throwing rollers where they are needed, many times like Andrew has said forehand to get out of trouble here in Michigan on the technical wooded courses. I also use mine for distance on long open courses because I can only max out a backhand air shot to around 450-480' and I play with some guys that can throw 550' backhand so that is how I compete with them. I often hear people say how more overstable discs add more distance to a roller and I don't believe this is true from my experience with backhand rollers, but I do notice it with forehand rollers. Why is this? I will throw a RHBH sky roller with a ESP Avenger SS about 500+ and get about 400+ with a Z Flick RHFH roller. Andrew what have you experienced? I know you say you don't really use it for distance but I'm sure you have somthing to say about that.