The short answer: pin, throw, walk
Measuring a throw with GPS takes three steps:
- Drop a pin where you throw from.
- Throw.
- Walk to the disc and mark where it landed.
The distance between the two points is your throw. With My Disc Golf PRO, every throw measured this way is saved with the disc you threw, so you build a real distance profile for your bag instead of guessing.
Why measure your throws at all
Most players know their “max” from one great throw years ago. That number does not help on the course. What helps is knowing:
- Your typical distance with each disc, not the best one.
- Where discs overlap. If your fairway driver and distance driver average the same distance, one of them is wasted space.
- Whether practice is working. A small gain in average distance over a season is real progress, even if it is invisible round to round.
That information feeds directly into setting up your bag.
How accurate is phone GPS?
Be realistic about what a phone can do. Phone location in open sky is typically accurate to within several meters, and both points of a measurement (the throw spot and the landing spot) carry that error. Accuracy drops:
- under dense tree cover,
- near tall buildings,
- right after you open the app, before location settles,
- when the phone is in a bag or deep pocket.
Tips for better measurements
- Practice in an open field. It is where GPS is best and where distance practice belongs anyway.
- Stand right on the spot when you drop the pin and when you mark the landing.
- Give location a few seconds to settle before marking.
- Use averages. A single throw can be off by a few meters; the average of ten throws is a much better number.
- Mark where it landed, or where it stopped, consistently. Choose one rule and stick to it.
For most players, these numbers are accurate enough to compare discs and track progress. If you need tournament-grade precision for a single throw, use a measuring tape.
Distance-training sessions
PRO includes distance-training sessions for field practice. However you log them, a session works best with a plan, for example:
| Step | What to do | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Warm up | 10 easy throws, not measured | Avoids skewing the numbers with cold throws |
| Baseline | 5 to 10 measured throws with your most familiar disc | A reference point for the day |
| Compare | 5 to 10 throws each with two or three other discs | Shows real gaps and overlaps |
| Focus | Pick one form cue and throw another set | See if the change helps |
Keep conditions in mind. Headwind, tailwind and wet grass all change distance, so compare sessions in similar weather when you can.
Per-disc stats and history
Every measured throw is stored with its disc. Over time that gives you:
- Distance per throw for each disc in your shelf.
- Individual throw stats per disc, so a “maybe” disc either proves itself or gets benched.
- History and stats that show progress across weeks and seasons.
Combined with each disc’s flight numbers, you can see whether a high-speed driver actually earns its place for your arm speed.
Share your best throws
A measured personal best is more fun when your group sees it, and My Disc Golf makes it easy to share your best throws.
How I built it
The measurement uses Core Location on iPhone. The hard part is not getting a coordinate; it is giving an honest result from a sensor with meters of uncertainty, outdoors, while someone is walking across a field. My Disc Golf has been on the App Store since 2021, runs on iPhone and iPad with iOS 17 or later, and GPS distance is part of PRO, available monthly, yearly or as a one-time lifetime purchase.
