Discing Your Trick Shots

4 minute read

You stare at the wall, one eye twitching. You feel your body begin to tense as you breathe in and out slowly. “This one’s for the ladies,” you say under your breath, and throw the disc. It ricochets off the wall and into the disc golf net. You pound the air and look around you: no one saw. Of course.

Though you’ll likely never use trick shots in disc golf or Ultimate Frisbee, you’ll definitely win the crowd when you practice them outside the field or course. Plus, who doesn’t want to try something new? Young or old, these trick shots are real crowd pleasers.

AIRBRUSH/MACK

Perhaps one of the coolest trick shots is the airbrush or mack shot. The idea is to spin the disc in the air and hit it with your hand as it hovers. To make this shot work, spin clockwise and strike the disc from right to left. You can keep the disc hovering in the air, or you can send it to someone else. To get an idea of how to make this shot work, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdLu114yfDA.

AIR BOUNCE AND GROUND BOUNCE

If you’ve been around Ultimate or disc golf players in the past, you may have seen the air or ground bounce in the past. The ground bounce is exactly what you’d expect: when you throw the disc to the ground, it comes back up at an inclined angle. If you do it right, you’ll see the disc make a brief hop then launch back into the air.

The air bounce, on the other hand, is harder to master. It should look like your disc is hitting a solid surface as it bounces off the air and into the sky. To make this throw, use a backhand grip and throw it downward at a 20-degree angle. If you do it right, the disc will jump back up 10 feet in front of you.

Both of these throws require a lot of power on your end, so this is not a short-distance throw. It’s extremely difficult to get the air bounce right, so you’ll have to do a lot of practicing.

BASKETBALL SHOT

The basketball shot is when you throw your disc like a basketball. Crazy, right? It’s surprisingly easy to pull off, and you might see your disc move in a pattern similar to a basketball. To throw it correctly, hold the disc with your pointer, index, and ring finger on your dominant hand. Next, pull the disc back with your other hand and flip it up toward the basket.

Another version of the basketball shot is to use the basketball hoop as your goal. Try to make the shot from at least 20 meters away and move further back the better you get. Some of the most impressive basketball shots can be found at .

WALL RIDE

We would be remiss if we didn’t mention one of the most famous trick shots: the wall ride. If you have a long, flat wall near you, use a backhand throw across the wall and watch it slide along the wall. To get a better idea of how to do it, visit .

DISCS FOR TRICK SHOTS

If you’ve been around disc users for a long enough time, you’ll notice that there are some discs that the pros stick to, even with trick shots. Some of the most popular trick shot discs include the Innova Pulsar, XCOM, and the Discraft Ultra-Star. All are durable enough to withstand a lot of blows, which you’ll need.

Trick shots are not easy, and most of the time you can’t use them on the field, but they are great to impress your friends. If you’re stuck inside and can’t get to a disc golf course or an Ultimate league, try your hand at trick shots.

We would like to invite anyone with experience with trick shots to comment and share your journey with us! Use the hashtag #FDStrickshots to show us what you’ve got! Don’t forget to add a video to show off!