Problem with OAT in my forehand

[Lewis]

I have a problem with OAT on my forehand. And I mean some serious flutter. It's relatively predictable, but I'm sure it's killing the potential of my forehand throws, and I can't figure out what is causing it. I was in a field today trying to work on my grip, to no avail. I tried a bunch of different things. Then I tried working on my pull, making it more of a whole-body motion with a big follow through, and it helped, but I ended up making my shoulder sore. I can use a Boss and "mask" the OAT, but I want to figure out what the problem is so I can start driving over 300' with a forehand. It's either solve this or I'm going to try to teach myself to throw LHBH.

What are the most common causes of OAT in a forehand? This happens for me in both my forehand drives (maxing around 250') and my forehand upshots (usually with a Roc).

 

[bikinjack]

I've posted this about a gazillion times it seems now, but I'll say it again. The single thing that helped me with my FH was tossing a SuperHero around. I found that the only way I could get it to not turn and burn was to slow everything down and concentrate on feeling the weight of the disc shift in my hand. I would imagine you could do the same with a putter, but it seems that maybe the larger diameter of the SuperHero helped me to feel the weight shift. So my advise is to practice throwing lids FH. Find somebody to play catch with.

 

[Connor Jones]

I think i might make a FH instructional video as there aren't a lot out there and it's the one shot I would consider myself better than most at,but it's really hard for me to type in words what i'd like to say.

 

[sillybizz]

^ I was going to say what Bikinjack said. :thmbup:

What worked for me was just throwing it over and over and over. Last year during a tournament I hurt my back and couldn't throw RHBH because it hurt so bad but just standing and throwing a FH worked so I did that. It ended up being my 2nd worst rated round ever but it was the most I've learned in one round before. I'm trying to teach my dad to throw without OAT and I taught him to stand and deliver, not worrying about arm or run up just slowing down relaxing and snapping it and he's getting better. Superclass teaches you the same basic thing. It's like the Dan Beto from the hit backwards chest thing sort of but for FH.

 

[splettimer]

With a forehand the distance doesn't come from power as much as finesse. Back off the power, and loosen your grip a bit. I used to have the same problem, now I'm throwing like I should. Another piece of advice is to use only one finger inside the rim on slower discs. Really force the disc to spin with that finger.

 

[Lewis]

I used to have a pretty good flick with an Ultrastar back in school when I played a lot of Ultimate. But for some reason I couldn't get that skill to translate to disc golf. I suspect the difference in the rims is screwing with me, but I can't be sure. I have a couple of lids lying around somewhere. Perhaps I'll revisit them.

 

[jubuttib]

Two things helped turn my forehand from a catastrophe to a useful tool (I still can't throw long, but I can control it pretty nicely): Reading Blake T.'s hammer pound drills and seeing Dave Dunipace's FH throwing video. Both of them emphasize the hit part of the throw, saying that you essentially need to stop your hand to get the disc to eject properly with good spin. If you just push through you don't get a hit.

When your hand stops you create a strong pivot point for the disc, which translates to mucho spin. I'm a BH dominant player and have little need for a forehand, but at least now it's a very functional tool in my arsenal and I have tried teaching the same technique (or mindset really) to other players. One had been playing for a bout a year, forehand dominant, and while he did generate a lot of power on the throw he had terrible flutter and used really overstable discs. After talking with him about the stop and practicing for just 10-15 minutes he was able to throw Roadrunners straight from a very mild hyzer, the discs flew more consistently, straighter and longer with much more control on the flight path. It's changed his long game completely. Another player was a total first timer and in half an hour he learned to throw a nice 300-350' straight to fade shot with my seasoned S-PD. He did also play tennis and knew how to generate power forehand, but the steely stop gave him a lot of control on his throw too.

It's not the be all end all solution to all things FH, but it is a damn big part of a clean throw. You need to have a clearly defined hit in your throw.

Hammer pound here: https://www.dgcoursereview.com/dgr/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=19220
Dave D. video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xa8QHevIGKs

 

[gcr_russell]

The best way to eliminate forehand comes from the orientation of your hand at the end of your throw. (I wish I could find the other informative posts I've made relating to this) Basically if you control the orientation of your fingers through the pull, snap, and ESPECIALLY followthrough than OAT will be eliminated. You want your hand to end (Two Fingers Stacked grip anyway) pointed in a gun with your grip fingers making the barrel of the gun. Concentrate on your hand ending palm up.

A very typical cause of OAT comes from the natural movement of rolling your wrist over to "generate more power" at the end of your throw. This causes the OAT and flutter many FH throws experience and while it generates a small amount of extra power initially, a clean rehearsed release can repeat that power once it becomes the standard.

This focus on your finger and hand orientation is also the easiest way to work on throwing Hyzer, Straight, and Anhyzer releases. The palm orientation following your throw will be slightly different each time. It may be easy even to think about where you want your fingers to end, instead of your snap or any other parts of the throw. I like to think it isn't possible to finish in the proper position with your hand without a proper throw, meaning you are forcing yourself to throw properly (even unconsciously) if you are aware of where you want your hand (and eventually your disc) to end up. Hope this wasnt too convoluted and that people find it helpful.

 

[GLong]

i am a regular FH thrower and have improved mine recently by sticking the rim of the disc way down into the space between my thumb and index finger. i had read about that before, but it never felt 'right'. it was just out of that spot by about 3/8 of an inch. it's added 10-15% on my D already and maybe more once i get out and really practice it. i was maxing out around 350' with a destroyer and now i can hit that with less power with a PD.

 

[412Disc]

hammer pound drills