What’s an ‘anti-skip’ in disc golf?

Anti-skip.

You’ve heard this before.

Ian Anderson and Philo Brathwaite say it all the time during Disc Golf Network broadcasts. Trevor Staub and Hunter Thomas do the same thing on the Foundation Disc Golf YouTube channel. Even on your home course, the term gets tossed around on an everyday basis.

It’s almost always said in reference to a disc that’s fading or turning far past its intended target. This is usually the basket, but it could be a landing zone, as well. In this case, the plea for an anti-skip is one made out of hope or desperation – a last-second prayer to the D.G. gods.

Long putts suck.

Now that’s great and all …

But what is an “anti-skip,” exactly?

Simply put, in disc golf, an anti-skip is the reaction a frisbee takes after making contact with the ground that results in it skipping in the direction opposite of what you would’ve anticipated.

For example, let’s say you’re faced with a wide-open, 250-foot hole. Armed with your favorite Champion Firebird, without even thinking about it, you decide to opt for a backhand spike hyzer with the goal being a park job – maybe even a “tombstone,” if the soil’s somehow soft enough.

Straight out of the hand, though, you realize you’ve sawed off your drive, having failed to give the disc enough room to work from right to left. As such, the disc comes crashing down to Earth a good 20 to 30 feet left of the pin, as opposed to right of the pin, as you’d originally planned.

From here, two scenarios are on the table:

• The disc will skip hard left, continuing on the path of its current momentum.
• The disc will gently skip back to the right, flying in the face of conventional wisdom.

The first is more likely to occur.

Because physics.

The second isn’t …

THIS is the anti-skip.

Backhand. Forehand. Hyzer. Anhyzer.

It can all result in an anti-skip.

I’ll say it again: If the disc does the opposite of what it should do after hitting the ground, it’s an anti-skip. That, or it’s possessed by the demon of Emily Rose. The example I’ve provided has the anti-skip producing a positive result. Here’s James Proctor experiencing that for himself:

However, by nature, the anti-skip is unexpected, so it can be a negative thing, as well.

Be careful what you wish for.

So, what causes an anti-skip?

Usually, it’s something basic like a slight slope, tree root or branch. Ask Michael Johansen, though, and he’ll tell you a chipmunk can produce one, too. This really happened – and during a playoff with Bradley Williams, incredibly. He lost the 2016 Vibram Open because of it.

Click here to see for yourself.

The anti-skip: Can’t live with ‘em, can’t live without ‘em.

Such is life.

Such is disc golf.

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