Tomahawk, when to use it.

[gaerith2]

I can throw a tomahawk effortlessly 275 feet. When I really get into one and throw it perfectly I can throw about 350. This is with a Banshee. I found an Epic one time and threw it for a few rounds and once I got down what it did I could throw it about 400 feet. I throw an overhand most often when I am playing doubles and I need to guarantee I get one in the fairway to give my partner some breathing room. The other times I will throw one is to take get out of trouble or to make sure I stay in the middle of the fairway on a very steep uphill hole. I hope that helps.

 

[agibson]

I initially used tomahawks only to get out of trouble or over obstacles.

Now I often use them for uphill drives and approaches (usually it has to be fairly significantly uphill). Sometimes even for drives if it requires hitting a gap, and isn't too long.

 

[Alcuin]

I don't throw many tomahawks, because I just don't get how to throw them well for some reason and haven't worked hard enough to figure it out.

But I love thumbers, and like to throw them for get out of trouble shots. I don't throw them every round; more like every few rounds really, but I love pancake shots, thumbers, and low thumber skip shots for getting out of trouble. You can do amazing things with a thumber grip; I like a Firebird for distance, and a Teebird for straighter shots.

 

[BuddyBody]

this thread has made me wonder. does anyone actually use the skamahawk in replacement of an over hand shot? not sure if that's spelled correctly...

What means skamahawk?

 

[Kodachrome]

it's a backhand tomahawk.

feldberg talks about them in a video that i can't find on youtube right now. it's in a video of a clinic he did on trick shots, form and distance with a couple other dudes.

my buddy played tennis for a long time; has a ridiculous tomahawk. he seriously doesn't use his brain sometimes, though. here i am throwing hyzers and turnovers to get around stuff; he gets all pissy because he isn't as good as me. so i stare at him and say "seriously. all you have to do is go OVER the ****".

he's taken my advice and now has 3 guaranteed birdies per round at his home course, haha. i've even gotten him to use it for approaches; he's got really good timing and a few different discs for different things he wants his tomahawk to do, like low and long skipshot approaches and everything. now that i've gotten him thinking about the tomahawk in a different way, it's nuts. he's not very good, but i think if he utilizes it more, he'll have a unique and VERY handy skill.

 

[Kiekko_FIN]

I throw thumbers up to around 100 meters. i have different discs for distances. Sidewinder for under 70 meters. it rotates extremely quickly in small gaps. i can aim it even straight forward like throwing darts. good for wooded courses. up to 85 meters i use latitude halo. it needs much more space to rotate, but its pretty good distance. Over that i use Latitude XXX. It rotates slowly and needs open space but flies far. I can throw these in 10 meter circle pretty easily. Many players call it cheating, because it looks so easy. I use it higher percentage that many others, but backhand is my main throwing style. Thumber also stays where it drops. Well some unlucky rolls on hard ground, but thats acceptable. With backspin you can do almost the same without throwing overhead, but its not that long throw.

 

[The Last DJ]

I'll pull out the overhand on the teebox for some shorter holes with no ceiling (inside of 250'). Also, I find these throws effective to go over obstacles when going around isn't feasible. Sometimes I'll throw one at a steep uphill aproach or even to get out of troube...

 

[Thumber]

I throw quite a few thumbers. I am not good at Tommys. Max D is about 350 on a good day

I use it to go over stuff where a left to right fade will work

Also a big fan of throwing them hard and low in wooded holes that go left to right

If you throw them low and hard enough you can get monster skips out of them.

Overhands are generally considered part of the dark arts of disc golf and make the purists nervous.

 

[DiscinFiend]

Overhands are generally considered part of the dark arts of disc golf and make the purists nervous.

:hfive: Part of the reason I love em. I had a group of older guys let me play threw the other day. I threw a tomahawk & the look on their faces was priceless. One of the guys told me that overhand is cheating

 

[Dan Ensor]

That's my favorite thing about disc golf; there are so many ways to throw. It's the mma of hurling sports. You don't have to have a perfect backhand; or any throw that you're awesome at. If you have several throws you're proficient with, you can defeat fairways and score well. Use the dark side!

 

[Time2Shine]

ken climo= Yoda

 

[DiscinFiend]

ken climo= Yoda

McBeth is Luke Skywalker

 

[ambroze]

I use it every time I play this hole in Smyrna, TN @ Sharp Springs. Picture is taken from the tee and the basket is on the other side of the trees on the right. There is a small opening right of the fence line you can take if you want to play it safe but even that shot is not easy shot to place. Most people go BIG anny backhand over the trees but I chose the tomahawk over all the trees. It's definitely a risky shot but very rewarding on those times I get a 2.

 

[DustinRobirtis]

when you own an aerobie epic.... all the time!

 

[Voltron Don]

I have some background in baseball playing 3rd and SS.I have only ever used them for getting out of trouble and as a last resort.

Last round I was pretty far in the woods because my drive deflected off a tree, crossed the whole fairway and went in the woods. I had a small window pretty high above me so I figured why not, it can't get worse. Next thing I hear is my buddy, that I can't even see, yell: "wow, nice shot man". He said it hit the top of the basket and it was upside down when it did it.

I guess if I went out into a field and forced myself to actually learn the shot, I would probably start "seeing" more opportunities on the course where the shot would be better than a backhand.

 

[StevieWraithVaughan]

@ Discin Fiend:

What is your main Tomahawk driver for max distance? How are you gripping/releasing it to reach 375'?

 

[heartman]

it's a backhand tomahawk.

feldberg talks about them in a video that i can't find on youtube right now. it's in a video of a clinic he did on trick shots, form and distance with a couple other dudes.

my buddy played tennis for a long time; has a ridiculous tomahawk. he seriously doesn't use his brain sometimes, though. here i am throwing hyzers and turnovers to get around stuff; he gets all pissy because he isn't as good as me. so i stare at him and say "seriously. all you have to do is go OVER the ****".

he's taken my advice and now has 3 guaranteed birdies per round at his home course, haha. i've even gotten him to use it for approaches; he's got really good timing and a few different discs for different things he wants his tomahawk to do, like low and long skipshot approaches and everything. now that i've gotten him thinking about the tomahawk in a different way, it's nuts. he's not very good, but i think if he utilizes it more, he'll have a unique and VERY handy skill.

@ 6:33ish

 

[ViolaBouquet]

All of the time!

I just finished Michigan State Championship. There was a new course called West Shore. Almost every hole was around 250' through, or around pine trees. One other guy and I threw thumbers the whole time, and two other people didn't. It almost felt like cheating as if we would avoiding the route that was intended for the course. We both would be next to the basket while the other guys were hitting trees. They both ended over par while we sat at 2 under.

 

[DiscinFiend]

@ Discin Fiend:

What is your main Tomahawk driver for max distance? How are you gripping/releasing it to reach 375'?

My main tomahawk disc is my 172 Champ Teebird & I only use it for overhand shots. Most of the time when I throw overhand it's for dead accuracy, to get outta trouble or to go over something. I like my overhand discs to be a little lighter than max weight, usually somewhere around 170-172. That doesn't sound like a lot of difference in weight but when you throw a lot of overhand it is easy to tell the difference. I feel getting a little lighter than max weight gains me a little more distance & is less strenuous on me arm. I use my Champ Teebird for shots up to around 325', I used to get a little more distance with it but my Teebird is beat in after only being used for overhand for a few years. When I really want to bomb an overhand I use a (Flat Top) 172 Champ Firebird. The Firebird needs more room to work so I use it on wide open shots (350-375') & on shots that need to go more left (Tomahawk) than my Teebird can do. When I tomahawk on short pitch out shots & any shot under 200' or so, I use a one finger grip (like a one finger sidearm grip) but anything over 200' I use a two finger grip (the same grip many people use sidearm). When it comes to getting max distance I release the disc straight up & down (vertical) b/c it takes longer to flip than if you were to give it any angle. Also releasing the disc straight up & down gives it the best chance for a roll with most discs. Many people don't release after you learn your disc overhand very well you can purposely put a certain angle on it to control how much your disc will skip or roll if you want it to. Most of the time I use tomahawk for dead accuracy on shots around 300' or so, so I use my Teebird more than my Firebird. I have a unique run-up that is kinda like an X-Step but it's hard to explain by typing it. A huge key to throwing big distance overhand shots for me is to have all your weight on your plant foot (left for me since I'm right handed). I look almost like a ballerina with my right leg perpendicular to the ground while I'm balancing on my left foot. When it comes to overhand hand shots 90% of the time I throw tomahawk & 10% I throw thumber. I don't get the distance I want out of thumbers & my accuracy with tomahawk is far superior to my thumber also. Overall this is a rough estimate of how much I use each type of throwing style, I throw around 33% Overhand, 33% Sidearm, 33% Backhand & 1% Rollers. As I said in my other post I throw a lot more overhand than most people & just throwing overhand over the last 5+ years has really conditioner my arm & body for it. I highly recommend warming up/stretching your arm/shoulder before you throw any overhand shots.

 

[Dan Ensor]

The Flick is my overhand disc of choice. I have 4 different stabilities; going from flippy (just buy one from pias; takes too long to beat a fresh one in) to massively overstable. The flippy one is the most often used, because it doesn't take much arm to get it to flip for some distance, but max d is the most stable; it flips slower which is what seems to get distance on overhands. I throw mostly tomahawks, but thumbers too. I use the more stable 3 mostly for thumbers; they don't take much to flip and act right.

There are 2 reasons I haven't switched from the Flick: a shallow rim, and overstability. The shallow rim seems to make it fly more similarly from right side up to up side down, which seems to give it more distance and better wind fighting abilities. Overstability makes it flip slower and get more distance. Most people I talk to are in agreement that the Nuke OS is the longest overhand disc; I just don't like throwing them; rim hurts my finger on thumbers (not as shallow as my flicks) and I don't find them in low weights very often (all my flicks are 145-155g).

If it matters, I'm about 15% ud, 40% bh, 20% fh, 25% trick shots (lots of rollers).