Forehand Technique?

[Andurain]

When I started playing, I found that the forehand/sidearm technique came much more easily to me, as I played 7 or so years of competitive tennis (inside out forehand). However, as I am starting to really work on my form and also develop a solid backhand to go with my game, I looked at a lot of technique videos and such. It seems as though there is a plethora of information for the backhand throw, and it could even be broken up into individual parts easily and can be assembled in the correct order to learn to throw smoothly and correctly.

Since I've started that, my backhand has become much more predictable and reliable, and has little to none of the OAT that used to plague my throw (I just chunked it like a frisbee without much form before). As I'm trying to apply this to my forehand, I struggle "powering down" and throwing my mids with simple form. When I go to slower discs, I find that they either wobble like crazy or dive off the table and turn into dead rollers. Looking into technique stickies and such, there are hundreds of in-depth discussions as to the proper way to throw a backhand, but it seems like the forehand is in the category of "throw it until its straight" and much of the advice I've seen is very brief and not terribly help. I get plenty of snap, my issue is keeping the disc level and getting rid of the OAT that kills my development.

OAT was less of a problem with more overstable offerings like the wraith or boss, but when I try throwing my roc, leopard or even teebird, I can't forehand with any reliability. Is there a more in-depth look of stabilizing my forehand?

TL;DR Want to get rid of FH OAT, be able to disc down with FH to properly learn forehand technique.

Thanks for checking into this!

 

[4th Rock]

Low speed FH mid/putting shots require a lot more snap than arm thrust. Instead of powering it out there like a FH drive, slow down your arm movement yet amp up the wrist action. It took me a while to get it down myself. Even my low power FH drives, while pretty straight, blow past my aim point much of the time. When i learned how to power down while maintaining control it took a good amount of strokes off of my game.

My explanation isn't the best in the world, hope it helps though.

 

[Andurain]

Low speed FH mid/putting shots require a lot more snap than arm thrust. Instead of powering it out there like a FH drive, slow down your arm movement yet amp up the wrist action. It took me a while to get it down myself. Even my low power FH drives, while pretty straight, blow past my aim point much of the time. When i learned how to power down while maintaining control it took a good amount of strokes off of my game.

My explanation isn't the best in the world, hope it helps though.

I figure that it will be rough, as it seems to me that throwing low speed with a forehand is much more touchy with backhand. That wrist snap, it seems is too powerful for upshots and things like that. Which is why I was surprised to learn that some pros use almost only forehands for approachs/upshots.

Piggybacking the previous comment, get an ultimate disc, or ridiculously flippy putter, and warm up by playing catch. If you're rolling your wrist or using too much arm, you'll know. Throwing at a human target, you also have some margin for error in your throws, get more reps in in a short time, and tend to think less about placement and can thus focus on mechanics. Start short, like 10 m, and don't go much further than 20-25 m. Touch and process is much more important than bombing.

I definitely need to try this. Part of the problem is I need someone else who is relatively invested in DG, as my fiance is not a hardcore fan :\

 

[4th Rock]

I don't FH putt much, but on the times where nothing else would work it's been a lifesaver. Your right, it is much more touchy than a BH putt, yet it has its place, especially when your drive gets you behind a big fat briar bush. Gotta find a happy medium where arm thrust balances out the wrist snap.

I've made some ridiculously stupid putts with a FH come to think of it. Just another tool in your arsenal, IMO. Takes practice. A lot of it lol.

 

[Andurain]

I feel like the forehand putt is the last thing I need to work on... My normal putt is bad, as is haha.

 

[sidewinder22]

If you are discing down FH, I would only do standstill throws. Make sure you tilt your spine toward the toes and bring your shoulder/arm through low and finish high. Just like skipping stones.

 

[Jagg]

If you want to get rid of the oat, you have to think of the throwing motion more of a punch with a wrist flick then a swing from a tennis racket. If you look at Jeremy Koling, one of the best forehand players in the world, youll see he keeps his elbow extremely close to his body until the end of the punching motion. Its just a punch with the rest of the power coming from the wrist flick forward. Im a forehand player and use the d3 just like Jeremy and i can consistantly hit 375-400 accurately on the course with it on the course. However this is primarily for understable discs. If it is a overstable disc, then oat wont affect you disc as much because the disc will already wamt to come back due to the natural flight. Hope this helps.

 

[knettles]

The two points I'd second are practice throwing from a standstill and keeping your elbow close to your body. Those have really helped improve my forehand. It's still not great by any means, but definitely better than it was a year ago.

 

[Andurain]

If you are discing down FH, I would only do standstill throws. Make sure you tilt your spine toward the toes and bring your shoulder/arm through low and finish high. Just like skipping stones.

Thanks, this is essentially what I need, I think, it helps for me to have a little more visual approach sometimes.

If you want to get rid of the oat, you have to think of the throwing motion more of a punch with a wrist flick then a swing from a tennis racket. If you look at Jeremy Koling, one of the best forehand players in the world, youll see he keeps his elbow extremely close to his body until the end of the punching motion. Its just a punch with the rest of the power coming from the wrist flick forward. Im a forehand player and use the d3 just like Jeremy and i can consistantly hit 375-400 accurately on the course with it on the course. However this is primarily for understable discs. If it is a overstable disc, then oat wont affect you disc as much because the disc will already wamt to come back due to the natural flight. Hope this helps.

When I throw my distance drivers (wraith, krait), my forehand usually is fine, and it seems like things "click into place" moreso. Generally as I speed it up, it becomes a more familiar motion, because the same concepts of a flick transfer over well from an inside out forehand, generally. But hopefully, the idea of punching can translate into my approach game, which is generally the most varied part of my game. (I generally drive well, putt horribly, and approach/upshot is the wild card)

The two points I'd second are practice throwing from a standstill and keeping your elbow close to your body. Those have really helped improve my forehand. It's still not great by any means, but definitely better than it was a year ago.

I think going from the standstill is what I need, thanks!

 

[pauldst]

If you want to get rid of the oat, you have to think of the throwing motion more of a punch with a wrist flick then a swing from a tennis racket. If you look at Jeremy Koling, one of the best forehand players in the world, youll see he keeps his elbow extremely close to his body until the end of the punching motion. Its just a punch with the rest of the power coming from the wrist flick forward. Im a forehand player and use the d3 just like Jeremy and i can consistantly hit 375-400 accurately on the course with it on the course. However this is primarily for understable discs. If it is a overstable disc, then oat wont affect you disc as much because the disc will already wamt to come back due to the natural flight. Hope this helps.

Well it helped me! :thmbup: I have been wanting to get my short range FH to work, and I just tried this throwing at the couch and it seemed to give me a big improvement.