Is throwing sidearm sustainable?

[HyzerUniBomber]

Talking about longevity, not distance. Avery is less prone to an elbow injury. Might want to bust out a dictionary.

Didn't Avery literally stop playing because of elbow issues?

 

[slowplastic]

He's not a doctor, but Pedro Martinez won 3 Cy Youngs and pitched in the big leagues for over 15 years.

Obviously the arm slot is different from disc golf FH and a traditional baseball pitch, but watch at ~0:30 to see the elbow strain he is talking about. Watch more if you want to hear about being strong vs. hurting yourself.

 

[Chaz58]

Sore Shoulder

Not sure if all of us are cut out for a sustained sidearmed outing. I went to a sidearm throw and it was fine for a while. Actually increased my distance over my BH by about 50 to 75 feet and I was a little more accurate with the shot over my BH. Guess I started to air it out too hard too early a few weeks back. Got up on the first tee w/o proper warm-up, etc. and tried to really wing it. Felt the shoulder go. I have had both shoulders dislocated from playing football and hockey years ago (also played a lot of years of baseball) and that is what it felt like. I've had to shut down the FH for now and just getting ready to ease it back in. I'm a little older than almost all the players on the courses I go to (58) so age may have a factor in it too. For now I am back to my RHBH throw and have increased my distance with that to a satisfactory level. I'm going to bring the sidearm (FH) back into my arsenal but am going to do it right this time. Proper stretching and warm-up before hand. What I hate in going back to the RHBH as compared to RHFH is losing some distance off my drives, but I am concentrating more on a closer approach shot and getting my putting down. Thankfully my pro Valkyrie is great for BH driving.

 

[Stable]

I've been throwing sidearm since '04 (when I started playing) and have never had any injuries. Tuck your elbow in close to your body and learn to throw with your core and wrist instead of your arm. I keep my elbow close to my ribs and the disc high near my shoulder. Learn to really incorporate that muscle that runs from the rib to your armpit. A heavy Champion Valkyrie (or something close to it) is a great choice to learn to throw sidearm with a flat to hyzer release angle and get big distance.

Keep working on your backhand too. The best players can throw FH or BH whenever they need to.

 

[forehandfranz]

I've been throwing a flick for 24 years now and incorporated a backhand into my game a few years ago. I still use the sidearm for most drives and a majority of approaches because it is my comfort throw. Keeping the elbow close is a key ingredient. Only one minor injury in all those years, but it healed quickly. I am almost 50 and plan to keep using it because it's so damn accurate for me to look at the target.

 

[Moose33]

If your form isn't that good you can put strain on your UCL and your rotator cuff throwing sidearm. However if you learn good form and timing as well as how to use your legs there is no reason it should put more strain on your arm than a backhand throw.

I was a sidearm pitcher until my career ended 5 years ago, and the only reason I have ever had arm issues is when I had leg injuries that didn't allow me to throw normally and tried to overcompensate with my arm. Which is never a good idea.

Continue to work on both BH and FH form though, if your using more muscle groups you will find less overall fatigue and make you less prove to overall injury. I throw BH and FH almost equally even though my FH distance is still 30-50 feet better, it has helped my game tremendously.

 

[slowplastic]

I was a sidearm pitcher until my career ended 5 years ago, and the only reason I have ever had arm issues is when I had leg injuries that didn't allow me to throw normally and tried to overcompensate with my arm. Which is never a good idea.

Out of interest, how hard were you throwing a ball, and what is your FH drive distance? Also do you know how hard you can FH a disc?

 

[mfcastillo17]

If your form isn't that good you can put strain on your UCL and your rotator cuff throwing sidearm. However if you learn good form and timing as well as how to use your legs there is no reason it should put more strain on your arm than a backhand throw.

I was a sidearm pitcher until my career ended 5 years ago, and the only reason I have ever had arm issues is when I had leg injuries that didn't allow me to throw normally and tried to overcompensate with my arm. Which is never a good idea.

Continue to work on both BH and FH form though, if your using more muscle groups you will find less overall fatigue and make you less prove to overall injury. I throw BH and FH almost equally even though my FH distance is still 30-50 feet better, it has helped my game tremendously.

Bingo! This dude is spot on.

 

[etdefender19]

I know you didn't ask me, but...

I can still break 70 throwing a baseball, even when I drop down sidearm (which I used to do exclusively, but now do maybe 6-7 times a game)

FH I consistently hit 310' or so but my form is crap. I know this because I have thrown a few 350'+ when my form accidentally comes together

I can't throw a BH farther than 275' but I'm really working on it - got a beautiful looking Assassin in the mail Saturday to use for that - was hoping to spend today working on my BH form but my arm is sore from a brutal pitching effort yesterday

 

[mfcastillo17]

I still argue that throwing a sidearm is more like hitting a baseball rather than throwing a baseball mechanically. That is how I teach the sidearm throw to those trying to learn.

 

[demon102]

This sounds like an exhausting effort. I get the reason for it and its probably smart, but how much does this affect your game playing LHBH?

It took lots of practice but I think it has helped my game as I can throw more discs as they don't turnover as easily and I have more precision. I think a player who only plays 2x a week wouldn't be able to put in the time to develop both backhands tho, it took a lot of working on it but it was easy as discgolf just became part of a regular workout routine. I don't play tourneys but I was actually impressed by my scores today at the hardest coarse in my area, it's just a hilly, tree filled place and I scored pretty well, nothing amazing but decent.

 

[ColonelDracula]

Here's Ville for some inspiration:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV9NW94hnOU

 

[degan]

For drives I only throw forehand and I chalk it up to being a handler on my ultimate team prior to playing disc golf seriously. Its a weird motion and not really that natural. Being able to perfect the throw with a ultimate disc definitely made the transition easier.

 

[Moose33]

Out of interest, how hard were you throwing a ball, and what is your FH drive distance? Also do you know how hard you can FH a disc?

I could throw 88-91 in my healthy seasons, and I still can throw up to 84-87. I moonlight as a pitching instructor and we have a radar I use regularly.

With a disc it's not quite as hard, I've hit 80 on a 360 FH but when your trying to throw hard it's really easy to mess up your wrist angle. on a normal drive it's around 69-73, harder if I'm throwing for max D.

it looks like for me that the drives around 70 MPH end up in the 400-425ft range, and when I push it to 75 MPH or higher I can get 450+.

I've gotten to 500 on flat ground and handful of times, but almost always with a 360 and not always on golf lines.

Something that I'm very interested in is getting velocity readings on players, and with something like a trap launcher see how fast you have to throw certain discs to get them to fly how they are advertised.

I know the games not there yet, but if you could say eventually,"to make this Destroyer throw as advertised you have to be able to throw it 60Mph" would be a really cool selling tool that could help people find the best disc for them. But accurate radar that is easily available and disc companies investment in human independent testing are a long way form making this possible.

 

[Moose33]

I still argue that throwing a sidearm is more like hitting a baseball rather than throwing a baseball mechanically. That is how I teach the sidearm throw to those trying to learn.

I can see how that would work as a teaching tool, but the wieght transfer is different.

Honestly I think the BH has the most in common with a baseball swing mechanically. You just rarely find someone who is right handed but can also hit left handed to get the benefit of that similarity.

The day after I practice LH hitting at the cage I can usually crush some BH drives though!

 

[etdefender19]

Honestly I think the BH has the most in common with a baseball swing mechanically. You just rarely find someone who is right handed but can also hit left handed to get the benefit of that similarity.

The day after I practice LH hitting at the cage I can usually crush some BH drives though!

I throw righty and hit lefty when I play baseball. I'm just beginning to incorporate BH distance shots into my game. The above statement gives me hope that I'll be able to make it work!

 

[slowplastic]

I haven't really heard high level FH speeds before, so that is awesome. 70+ mph forehand is fast, and I definitely believe that gets you 425' or more.

I also agree that to me, RHBH feels like a left handed baseball swing.

 

[HyzerUniBomber]

I haven't really heard high level FH speeds before, so that is awesome. 70+ mph forehand is fast, and I definitely believe that gets you 425' or more.

I also agree that to me, RHBH feels like a left handed baseball swing.

Agreed. I've played with a few guys who clocked 70+ and they all can throw 500'. Eagle, Jerome Knott and Jared Roan come to mind.

If you're throwing that fast and only getting 425' I have to guess you're not getting the disc nose down enough.

 

[slowplastic]

HUB are you talking backhand or forehand speeds? Are you saying Eagle can FH over 70mph too?

With backhand I'd think 70mph is 500ish. I just don't have the benchmarks for forehand.

 

[Moose33]

Agreed. I've played with a few guys who clocked 70+ and they all can throw 500'. Eagle, Jerome Knott and Jared Roan come to mind.

If you're throwing that fast and only getting 425' I have to guess you're not getting the disc nose down enough.

I can get over 500 on occasion, but the 67-72 range is where I have the most control and those throws end up 425 or so most of the time.

Seriously nose angle is at times an issue for me, but it's one that I'm getting better at managing. On Sunday I threw an ideal form drive 455 and on the same hole later got nose up a bit and was only about 415.