Side Arm grip tips

[Akain132]

Hello everyone I am experimenting with my side arm grip after playing a round yesterday. Since I started playing disc golf I have always leaned to the side arm game (15 years of baseball will do that). My grip has always been only one finger (Index finger) under the rim of a star destroyer. Yesterday I was really unleashing some bombs (to my standards) average for me is about 275-300' sidearm but for some reason yesterday I was getting them out past 300' and had one soar out of my hand to about 350' where I was the only one to birdie the hole and that has never happened before. I was playing with a buddy who is really good and just went pro and he was impressed and wanted to see my grip. I showed him and he said "Bro, if you gripped it right you could throw it 500+", he showed me the stack 2 finger grip and the power grip with the middle finger against the side of the rim and the index curled on top and behind the middle finger. I tried it and I cant throw either of them at all. The power grip I release the disc way to late and it flys way left and fades back but still way to far left. The 2 finger stack throws werent quite as dramatic but much less distance than my usual 1 finger grip. Any tips would be welcomed because I know I can add distance if I just change my grip. Thanks guys!

 

[JeremyKShort]

I see a lot of people using both grips. If the one finger works best, then probably go for that. I started getting mine coming out more level with a two finger, but because I do it is not a good reason for you to. If you're getting that much distance side arm, i wouldn't worry too much. I'd work more on control with it, you'd probably be better served there.

 

[ThrowBot]

Is your finger actually under the rim, or is it inside the rim?

I just use 1 finger inside the rim. I know I might get more distance with a "stronger" grip, but IMO it would also result in a lack of touch/finesse, at least until I got it dialed in. Personally I'm not interested in jumping back down the learning curve since most of my drives are FH. I also sacrifice some power for touch on my BH grip.

 

[ilmcgee]

I personally use the two finger, I feel like I have better angle control. I do use one finger for fh/oh rollers though. It's all about preference and feel.

 

[mrDROCK]

Yeah, grip what works for you. I tried all the two finger stacked or fan grips, but just my index finger inside the rim is what works for me. Everything else turns out flopping in the air. The unwanted advice "pros" say you have grip one way to get the most out of it, I have found that isn't entirely true. Congrats on the 350'.

 

[armiller]

Two finger here too. I'll try to take some pictures later, particularly to show how it changes from disc to disc... I consider myself to have a decent forehand, from Nukes down to Polecats and Ultrastars. Some discs feel better, but they all work just fine.

 

[Akain132]

Is your finger actually under the rim, or is it inside the rim?

I just use 1 finger inside the rim. I know I might get more distance with a "stronger" grip, but IMO it would also result in a lack of touch/finesse, at least until I got it dialed in. Personally I'm not interested in jumping back down the learning curve since most of my drives are FH. I also sacrifice some power for touch on my BH grip.

I use one finger inside the rim. What my friend told me is that the snap comes from your fingers and if I could get the disc to snap with more fingers on it, the more the distance I would get out of the throw. I'll mess around with it in the field maybe but I think I'm just gonna stick to my one finger grip.

 

[Akain132]

Yeah, grip what works for you. I tried all the two finger stacked or fan grips, but just my index finger inside the rim is what works for me. Everything else turns out flopping in the air. The unwanted advice "pros" say you have grip one way to get the most out of it, I have found that isn't entirely true. Congrats on the 350'.

Thanks I rarely get my side arms over 300 but my throws are very predictable with my one finger grip so I'll probably just stay with it.

 

[armiller]

I see a lot of people using both grips. If the one finger works best, then probably go for that. I started getting mine coming out more level with a two finger, but because I do it is not a good reason for you to. If you're getting that much distance side arm, i wouldn't worry too much. I'd work more on control with it, you'd probably be better served there.

Sounds good to me too. Basically the point with your grip is to transfer arm motion to disc motion. If one finger feels better, it's probably not worth changing unless you wanna spend some time doing field work. Your forehand will be plenty useful on the course at that distance, particularly if your backhand is decent. If you're throwing Destroyers and they're going 300', you might wanna try some slower discs too. A star Teebird, for example, is a great forehand disc. See how far you can throw something like that.

 

[StevenSeagal]

Hello everyone I am experimenting with my side arm grip after playing a round yesterday. Since I started playing disc golf I have always leaned to the side arm game (15 years of baseball will do that). My grip has always been only one finger (Index finger) under the rim of a star destroyer. Yesterday I was really unleashing some bombs (to my standards) average for me is about 275-300' sidearm but for some reason yesterday I was getting them out past 300' and had one soar out of my hand to about 350' where I was the only one to birdie the hole and that has never happened before. I was playing with a buddy who is really good and just went pro and he was impressed and wanted to see my grip. I showed him and he said "Bro, if you gripped it right you could throw it 500+", he showed me the stack 2 finger grip and the power grip with the middle finger against the side of the rim and the index curled on top and behind the middle finger. I tried it and I cant throw either of them at all. The power grip I release the disc way to late and it flys way left and fades back but still way to far left. The 2 finger stack throws werent quite as dramatic but much less distance than my usual 1 finger grip. Any tips would be welcomed because I know I can add distance if I just change my grip. Thanks guys!

Dude you got to learn a two finger grip if you want max distance or torque on your sidearm. One finger is never going to be strong enough to grip your disc. I forced myself to learn the modified power grip a couple years ago and I never looked back. It literally improved everything about my sidearm game.

 

[StevenSeagal]

I use one finger inside the rim. What my friend told me is that the snap comes from your fingers and if I could get the disc to snap with more fingers on it, the more the distance I would get out of the throw. I'll mess around with it in the field maybe but I think I'm just gonna stick to my one finger grip.

Snap is going to come from your wrist transitioning from a radial deviation to a ulnar deviation and then aburptly stopping.

Think of a karate chop or swinging a hammer with just your wrist and no arm movement.

Dave Dunipace calls this movement the steely stop of the wrist and if done correctly this will eject the disc out of your hand faster than whatever arm speed you generated coming into the steely stop of the wrist.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xa8QHevIGKs&hd=1

 

[demon102]

I couldn't imagine FHing with 1 finger. You get so much more out of two, I didn't even know people did this. I'd think you'd get more control over your shot and more distance with 2.

 

[Akain132]

Sounds good to me too. Basically the point with your grip is to transfer arm motion to disc motion. If one finger feels better, it's probably not worth changing unless you wanna spend some time doing field work. Your forehand will be plenty useful on the course at that distance, particularly if your backhand is decent. If you're throwing Destroyers and they're going 300', you might wanna try some slower discs too. A star Teebird, for example, is a great forehand disc. See how far you can throw something like that.

When I try to sidearm a lower speed disc or less stable disc they always dive right without turning over. I will try it today with the 2 finger grip.

 

[Akain132]

Snap is going to come from your wrist transitioning from a radial deviation to a ulnar deviation and then aburptly stopping.

Think of a karate chop or swinging a hammer with just your wrist and no arm movement.

Dave Dunipace calls this movement the steely stop of the wrist and if done correctly this will eject the disc out of your hand faster than whatever arm speed you generated coming into the steely stop of the wrist.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xa8QHevIGKs&hd=1

Definitely makes sense

 

[Akain132]

Dude you got to learn a two finger grip if you want max distance or torque on your sidearm. One finger is never going to be strong enough to grip your disc. I forced myself to learn the modified power grip a couple years ago and I never looked back. It literally improved everything about my sidearm game.

That is exactly what I'm hearing from other people I play with. I am definitely going to put in some field work.

 

[Akain132]

Appreciate all the tips fellas. I am going to practice this afternoon and see what happens. I got league tonight so I might play the league with the one finger grip unless I figure it out this afternoon practicing. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[DiscinFiend]

I used the one finger grip for a majority of my disc golf career. I occasionally would mess around with two finger grips, but I always felt most accurate with the one finger grip. A few months ago I switched to the two finger stack grip. I felt I was improving in other areas of my game but my sidearm game had remained stagnant for quite some time. For max distance I was using PDs with the one finger grip. Flicking any disc with a bigger rim than a PD was pointless, because I saw little to no increase in distance. When I first started doing field work with the two finger stack grip, I was very inconsistent & kept turning everything over. I pushed through it though & after a few afternoons doing field work, I started to see improvments. I now feel much more accurate than I did with the one finger grip & I've noticed I've gained some distance as well. Plus now I can flick drivers with bigger rims than the PD. I currently use a Destroyer for my max distance sidearm disc. I recommend making the switch to a two finger grip if you're currently throwing forehand with one finger.

 

[Major Tomahawk]

I've seen guys crush with a one-finger grip FH. Whatever works.

 

[storyboy]

I use a one finger grip and have never had issues with it. Tried the two finger and could never get it to release right. But I also have big hands so that could have something to do with it. I also throw a 3 finger power grip BH because I can't get 4 fingers under the rim of the disc.

 

[The Shide]

Another, "whatever works best for you" vote. I prefer the two finger stacked grip. Tried the power grip once in field work & did not like it. A couple of friends of mine use the one finger grip & do just fine.