Those who throw 500' backhand, which method do you use?

[Twistedhorse]

I finally got to 500' today. This after a couple years of steady work to do so.

It was a combination of improving mechanics, practice, and trying out the Axiom Excite for the first time. That disc absolutely bombs, and I got my first confirmed 500' throw on flat ground with it. No wind today. It wasn't like this throw was some sort of miraculous bomb that got carried away on a tailwind.

I really didn't do anything fancy flight-wise. Just a flat release and somewhat high flight. The Excite S curved beautifully and wound up probably 40' further than any other throw I did today.

One thing I did slightly differently today was to increase pressure on top of the flight plate with my thumb. I pushed down hard enough to indent it a bit. Someone (may have been Avery Jenkins) suggested doing it in a tutorial. With increased thumb pressure and an overall tighter grip I felt like I was getting cleaner rips and more spin overall.

Today was a good day throwing, and it won't be the last time I see 500'. These types of shots have little practicality on most courses around here, but I still like knowing I can reach back and unleash that kind of distance if necessary.

if you push down har don the disc, how do you keep your arm loose? or you know relaxed like a slingshot, when i pushe down on a disc my arm uses my biceps it feels like and that makes me anything, but relaxed

 

[Twmccoy]

if you push down har don the disc, how do you keep your arm loose? or you know relaxed like a slingshot, when i pushe down on a disc my arm uses my biceps it feels like and that makes me anything, but relaxed

I get what you're saying. I'm pushing down fairly hard with my thumb, enough to indent the flight plate. Doing that doesn't seem to affect how I release the disc. I've found that with a tighter grip I get cleaner releases and more spin on the disc.

I found that when I relaxed my grip too much that I got tons of early releases and lots of slippage.

I'm not totally throttling the disc or anything. I don't want to make my arm too rigid to produce snap.

I played in cold, dry weather today. Gripping harder helped. Those are usually the days I have issues with early releases and slippage.

 

[DiscFifty]

The disc golf guy has vids from the big bombers of the 2019 Pro World Championships Long Distance competition. Everyone was throwing hyzer flip turn overs except for AJ Risely. Double G was the farthest, but the most golf like throw with almost the same distance was Thomas Gilbert. The high hyzer flip turn over works well for less powered arms too. When I get the release angle right, my lightweight flippy tern gets me damn close to a respectable distance. lol..

 

[UhhNegative]

Thomas seems to have an amazing leverage on the disc out of the power pocket. Just look how deep he gets the disc into the power pocket before redirecting it outward. Mainly he lets the wrist lag a lot further/longer than most. It takes really amazing timing to not engage the wrist sooner like most people do. Look at Garrett's power pocket position. His wrist is more open so he's getting a little less leverage on the disc but he keeps his shoulders closed super well so ends up with more power but they probably throw very similar distances overall.

 

[Twistedhorse]

When you get your form improved will it go further right away ? or is that something that you have to practice to make it go further? or if you throw like normally 300feet and then try to do a proper reach back and hit the power pocket and the disc flies 200feet instead of 300feet like it used to, is it something that will come with time with the new form? or is that a sign that you are doing something wrong? can it be that strong arming the disc makes it go further if you are not used to proper form?

 

[RowingBoats]

When you get your form improved will it go further right away ? or is that something that you have to practice to make it go further? or if you throw like normally 300feet and then try to do a proper reach back and hit the power pocket and the disc flies 200feet instead of 300feet like it used to, is it something that will come with time with the new form? or is that a sign that you are doing something wrong? can it be that strong arming the disc makes it go further if you are not used to proper form?

You can absolutely make leaps and bounds with diligent focus on form. I think a big key to learning correct technique is to have an absolute, genuine willingness to humble yourself. Your mental concept of what you are trying to do will almost certainly have to change, and change utterly.

One of the big requisites for me starting to have major breakthroughs was slowing down and really feeling the disc as an object. REALLY feeling it. It sounds really silly, but I have probably spent hours at my desk just moving a disc around making it feel as heavy as I can. I'm sure you have read things like this, but there is no way to internalize it without feeling it.

I wish I could find the old thread with Blake T commenting. Maybe someone else can. There was a thread where he diverged into reminding people never to forget that you are throwing a disc, not copying a karate katta. He talked about how you can come very, very close to looking like you have good form without actually 'doing it'. This is so true, and something to keep in mind.

Edit: I think this thread had discussion about throwing a pencil across the room, and how that can help with the 'stop the elbow' concept. It was pure gold, hope I or someone else can find it.

 

[Twistedhorse]

You can absolutely make leaps and bounds with diligent focus on form. I think a big key to learning correct technique is to have an absolute, genuine willingness to humble yourself. Your mental concept of what you are trying to do will almost certainly have to change, and change utterly.

One of the big requisites for me starting to have major breakthroughs was slowing down and really feeling the disc as an object. REALLY feeling it. It sounds really silly, but I have probably spent hours at my desk just moving a disc around making it feel as heavy as I can. I'm sure you have read things like this, but there is no way to internalize it without feeling it.

I wish I could find the old thread with Blake T commenting. Maybe someone else can. There was a thread where he diverged into reminding people never to forget that you are throwing a disc, not copying a karate katta. He talked about how you can come very, very close to looking like you have good form without actually 'doing it'. This is so true, and something to keep in mind.

Edit: I think this thread had discussion about throwing a pencil across the room, and how that can help with the 'stop the elbow' concept. It was pure gold, hope I or someone else can find it.

Couldn't find the drill you were referring to, but it's been a struggle of mine that I don't want drill in bad form, and then have to redo the form to break different barriers, and It's hard to know what to work on first leanback? powerpocket? leading with the elbow? head looking at the disc? brace?

 

[azplaya25]

Couldn't find the drill you were referring to, but it's been a struggle of mine that I don't want drill in bad form, and then have to redo the form to break different barriers, and It's hard to know what to work on first leanback? powerpocket? leading with the elbow? head looking at the disc? brace?

Film yourself throwing and post it in the form and technique section. There is no way people can tell you what to work on first without see what needs work

 

[BogeyNoMore]

I throw from the top of a 500' tall building.

 

[oldmandiscer]

Couldn't find the drill you were referring to, but it's been a struggle of mine that I don't want drill in bad form, and then have to redo the form to break different barriers, and It's hard to know what to work on first leanback? powerpocket? leading with the elbow? head looking at the disc? brace?

The best thing you can do is not even throw a disc. Just stand in a mirror and at very slow speeds just practice good form. Try and get the basics down, focus on the feel and positions you want to ingrain so you can repeat good habits or "muscle memory."

There is no way to work on multiple things while throwing with power so you will likely ingrain bad/current habits.

Once you drill in relatively good form go into a 1 step throw and slowly progress. No need to rush.

 

[Twmccoy]

When you get your form improved will it go further right away ? or is that something that you have to practice to make it go further? or if you throw like normally 300feet and then try to do a proper reach back and hit the power pocket and the disc flies 200feet instead of 300feet like it used to, is it something that will come with time with the new form? or is that a sign that you are doing something wrong? can it be that strong arming the disc makes it go further if you are not used to proper form?

For me I felt like good form was only half the battle. I also needed to increase arm speed and consistency of releases. Simply put, you have to teach yourself how to throw far. You have to figure out how to control release angle and height. You also have to teach yourself how to throw different flight paths with various discs. You can't go out there and throw every disc the same.

If your form is right, you'll know it. It'll feel good and you'll start seeing favorable results. Just don't expect to tack on 50' instantly. All the gains I made were incremental.

I put a ton of time in the field throwing drivers. During that time I'd try different stuff and look for things that worked. Gaining big yardage with drivers takes a lot of time and effort.

350-400' was cake. 400'-450' was probably a 5 year process for me with a LOT of ups and downs. 450'+ has been a couple years-long process as well. I'm at the point that I can go over 450' pretty consistently with a number of different drivers when I'm warmed up and not throwing in extremely cold weather. Right now I'm right at 500'. I can't even do it often, and the weather conditions have to be right.

Lastly, you have to learn which discs provide the best distance. Certain molds can help you sneak 30' onto what you generally max out at. To start getting over 450' I had to use high speed discs with some turn and great glide.

 

[Twmccoy]

Also, don't overlook the grip. For years I never even realized my grip was a problem. Turned out I wasn't gripping the disc tight enough. That led to lots of early releases and slippage. I never felt like I was maximizing my arm speed because I had inefficient/poor releases.

Since I started gripping the disc tighter things have improved dramatically. Harder/tighter releases with better spin and penetration. Immediate distance gains.

 

[Twistedhorse]

Also, don't overlook the grip. For years I never even realized my grip was a problem. Turned out I wasn't gripping the disc tight enough. That led to lots of early releases and slippage. I never felt like I was maximizing my arm speed because I had inefficient/poor releases.

Since I started gripping the disc tighter things have improved dramatically. Harder/tighter releases with better spin and penetration. Immediate distance gains.

do you have any pictures of your grip?

 

[Twistedhorse]

For me I felt like good form was only half the battle. I also needed to increase arm speed and consistency of releases..

How did you increase arm speed?

 

[Twmccoy]

How did you increase arm speed?

For me it was just sheer repetitions. There isn't any one thing I did to increase arm speed other than throw. Thousands of reps over time.

Grip-wise, I use a two finger power grip (rather than the standard 4). I dig the rim of the disc into the area where my fingers meet my palm. I also dig my thumb in hard on the top, enough to indent the flight plate. Doing so feels a bit weird at first, but I got immediate favorable results with it.

I like the standard 4 finger power grip, but I feel like I lose distance with it vs. the 2 finger variant.

 

[Twistedhorse]

For me it was just sheer repetitions. There isn't any one thing I did to increase arm speed other than throw. Thousands of reps over time.

Grip-wise, I use a two finger power grip (rather than the standard 4). I dig the rim of the disc into the area where my fingers meet my palm. I also dig my thumb in hard on the top, enough to indent the flight plate. Doing so feels a bit weird at first, but I got immediate favorable results with it.

I like the standard 4 finger power grip, but I feel like I lose distance with it vs. the 2 finger variant.

do you have your thumb in the middle of the disc or more against the side of the flight plate

 

[Twmccoy]

do you have your thumb in the middle of the disc or more against the side of the flight plate

About 2" from the edge of the rim. Not too close to the edge of the rim, but not too far toward the middle either.

 

[DiscFifty]

Since I started gripping the disc tighter things have improved dramatically. Harder/tighter releases with better spin and penetration. Immediate distance gains.

Such... a very much over looked and under mentioned part of the throw. Arm speed doesn't mean a thing if you don't have the grip to go with it. hell.. the other day at a tournament, I wasn't coming close to a bird on a 300ft hole that had a right turn. My drive was going left and almost ob. In round 2 I dialed back with the hope of an easy par. To avoid going ob I just did a stand still and made sure to grip the disc better. Frickin parked it for an easy 2. It's these kind of wth moments that are great but still remind me of my continued inconsistencies with form.

 

[HyzerUniBomber]

Yeah, grip was super noticeable for me recently - when I had some over-use/repetitive stress on my right wrist and it meant that when I gripped with full pressure my wrist really hurt. Dialing my grip down on a lower power shot was not a big difference at all, but on a full power shot, I was missing at least 100' of distance, plus I started compensating by trying to adjust my wrist more nose up to take the pressure off... all in all, yes... firm grip is needed.

 

[RoDeO]

I've played a lot with my grip so far and have recently brought my thumb out near to the edge of the rim and have noticed a lot cleaner release and some more distance.