i am right handed. so about 3 weeks ago i started feeling some pain in my upper arm area, almost to my shoulder...i instantly thought it was just my shoulder being screwy from playing too much golf, i have had problems with it for the last 6 or 7 years from this time i fell on it. so because of my love of disc golf, i didnt want to permanently injure myself, so i forced myself to take some time off, i was going to give myself about 2 weeks. i realized i had to still play somehow, so the past 2 weeks ive been just practicing a lot of normal putting (doesnt hurt) and also learning to throw left handed.

now learning lefty has been very interesting. because im basically learning from the ground up, but now i actually know about the mechanics of a good throw and what to do, and the feeling youre looking for, etc...so i knew it was going to help me when i started throwing righty again. i would do a throw lefty and go "wow, ive never felt that right handed, thats what the hit is supposed to feel like" and i ended up throwing a few shots farther lefty than i had ever thrown right. (i havent been able to break 300 feet yet, but ive only been playing for 3 and a half months)

so yesterday it was 2 weeks, and i thought well, ill try throwing normally again. and i focused on what i had felt lefty, and on a smooth release (ive also been trying the bent elbow the past month and a half or so thanks to dave) and whereas i previously averaged about 270 or so righty before, yesterday i threw 350 feet. i couldnt believe it, and now im so stoked, and cant wait to throw later today after work.

so the point is, i would suggest to anyone to learn lefty for a bit, and i will bet it will help your normal throws also, and Dave i wanted to say thanks very much for your insane amount of very helpful information. youve totally helped me with the bent elbow, etc...figuring out the mechanics. yesterday i really FELT the hit, and the overall throw.

One day I hope to be able to throw 300' left-handed....

I've heard of a couple people doing this due to injury and reporting similar results with their regular hand.

oh just to clarify, when i said i threw some shots lefty farther than i ever had right, that was referring to a couple of 310 foot shots i threw with my left. i had never broken 300 feet at all, even with my right before that. after only about 5 days of throwing left, i threw those 310 foot shots.

i love my beast.

So, distance aside, is your lefty shot viable for golf yet? How's the control? Seems like you'd expand your arsenal considerably if you could be consistent.

exactly, which is one of the reasons i was really stoked to learn left handed. sorry if i sounded like i was trumping up the distance, i wasnt trying to do that at all. i was just mentioning how learning from the ground up with a knowledge of how you are supposed to throw definitely helped me exceed even my right handed throws, know what i mean?

well about consistency, my left handed driving is getting somewhat consistent, but the up shots are the harder part. some are good, some are bad, but im planning on still practicing and getting decent with the left hand. like you said, that would be quite a weapon if you could rely on it even in the slightest, and thats what im somewhat hoping to do.

No, I didn't think you were hyping your distance at all. Sorry if I came off that way. I just asked about it being a viable golf shot because I'm thinking about trying to learn lefty myself. Of course, I'd prefer to spend all that practice time on a shot I could actually use during a round. If your conclusion was that throwing lefty was a good learning experience, but would never be reliable on the course, I might rather work on something else.

I'm still waiting/hoping for some positive imaging-transference, but that won't be for another month or so. I've been throwing "wrongie" close to two months, and I hope nobody ever has to go through that. There's no way I'd ever choose to drive wrongie, because I can throw a sidearm comfortably, but putting from 30-60 feet out might be something I'd do by choice [when I have a choice again]...if the wind was a significant factor.

stayouttamalibu:

If you are throwing further (farther?) lefty after only five days than you ever threw righty then you are A LEFTY!
Why go back to throwing righty?
Keep throwing lefty and the 310 will easily become 350 and with practice, you will get accuracy.

wish I could throw 350.

psst! if you love your beast, try a 164g Valkyrie.

Why go back to throwing righty?



Being able to throw either at will can come in quite handy.

It also [*****] with the people in your group.

Yeah, see Tony Bender for an example of that.....

What's fun is when I crank out a 400' FH roller righty and no one notices it was a right-handed shot until after I throw my next drive/airshot lefty.

I've made putts using my bare feet. Does that count? Or does the throw have to be made with the hands?

Yeah, i am UBER jealous of that Forehand Roller....mines not bad, just not as good as yours....

I'm still waiting/hoping for some positive imaging-transference, but that won't be for another month or so. I've been throwing "wrongie" close to two months, and I hope nobody ever has to go through that. There's no way I'd ever choose to drive wrongie, because I can throw a sidearm comfortably, but putting from 30-60 feet out might be something I'd do by choice [when I have a choice again]...if the wind was a significant factor.



I have a pretty decent sidearm too, so learning the lefty backhand wouldn't add too much in the way of options. I know at least a couple people who throw backhand with one hand and forehand with the other - which doesn't really increase their options at all!

I'm a person who does everything right handed except write and throw a frisbee, i even putt right handed. I think part of the reason why i throw left handed is because of the fact that when i golf, i golf right handed. The turning of the upper body to throw a disc is alot like the turning to swing a golf club. Thats just me personally, but i do know a couple of left handed people who golfed before disc golf and throw with the opposite hand. thats just my .02 though

I'm a natural lefty and I putt and sidearm approach lefty. But I throw my drives RHBH. Trying to teach myself the LHBH when I have time. At one point I threw my drives LH sidearm exclusively. Maybe all this is why i'm not that good? :D

Where is Oark, Arkansas? That is what you list on your profile. Do you mean Ozark?

No, I mean Oark. It is north of Clarksville by about 20 miles. I'm in the middle of the mountains next to the Mullberry river. I teach agri. at the high school there. We've even played a few rounds together if you don't remember or know who I am.

I think so.

stayouttamalibu:

If you are throwing further (farther?) lefty after only five days than you ever threw righty then you are A LEFTY!
Why go back to throwing righty?
Keep throwing lefty and the 310 will easily become 350 and with practice, you will get accuracy.


wish I could throw 350.




hahaha...well i dont know about that. keep a couple of things in mind here...for one, ive only been playing disc golf for 3 and a half months, so its not like ive had years and years to build up a right handed throw, only to stomp all over it in 5 days with my left hand. im still learning. for two, when i first started playing, i of course had no idea the correct way to throw, or at least how the mechanics are supposed to work, and what you need to do to get good distance, a strong hit, the snap, etc...but since then, ive done hours and hours of reading, mainly on here, and daves articles, about the correct way to do things. ive tried my best to implement the things ive learned from reading into my right handed throw, and its definitely improved, but i think that i was able to pick up throwing lefty so quickly because since i only started a couple of weeks ago, i had already done all of this reading and knew all about the mechanics of the throw, and how to properly do things and why doing them that way results in distance. so i had no pre-set way that i just kind of ignorantly learned with to fight, you know what i mean? i was able to learn the correct way to throw from the ground up, with a knowledge of how it works, and i think that has enabled me to do what i did. i highly doubt im a lefty...

also keep in mind that my previous distance best righty was only about 290 feet. since then, like i said, i started right handed again...yesterday i hit 360 feet.

psst! if you love your beast, try a 164g Valkyrie.




yeah, ive been meaning to pick up a lighter candy valk. whats so special about 164g?

Throwing sidearm [with the opposite hand] might give you an occasional advantage...f'rintance, a tight shot where it would behoove you to keep your eyes on the target. Or perhaps a forehand roller, if you can't arch your back enough to get the proper set-up angle.
Elaborating on my comment about putting: I have a hard time putting from a stance, even when healthy, outside of about 15'. I know that sounds pathetic ; I'm much more comfortable standing perpendicular to the basket, and putting with an anhyser release. On such a putt, I want the wind on the BOTTOM of the disc, to take it to the target. To use but one hand, and maintain this 'wind-on-the-bottom' paradigm, I'd have to putt sidearm occasionally, and I don't have that kind of 'touch' on shots inside 60', or so. But switching hands [when I get the 'good' one back] would be a viable option. [i]That's the one positive I can glean from this sordid situation.
If I can offer any useful advice, it's this: DON'T slip on a teepad, land with all your weight on your good hand, and change it's make-up from a complex, well-functioning machine to a bloated sack of protoplasm!! ...it's much preferable to try off-handed shots by choice!

If you want to learn to throw with your "off hand' I recommened for rhbh players that you work on a tennis backhand. I broke my left hand in 95, and started playind righty to cure the crave. You can also video tape your regular rhbh going right to left on the screen. Then you are watching an opposite hand shot that you can break down with slow motion. Your are eesentially creating a mirrir image to work out the kinks.

i tried to learn the left hand shot awhile ago, but i got these wierd pains, and tingling/numbness in my fingers after throwig... :confused: i was able to get some distance after just a few throws but the odd feeling in my hand led me to stop...any ideas what might have caused this... :confused:

That tingling is all the blood rushing into your hand. You need to conditon your arm, as it is not used to the sudden motion of throwing. It still happens to me from time to time, the tip is to not over do it at first. The only time this affects me is when I throw right handed, without warming up.

I have had that same thing, the blood slamming into your fingers, when you throw full power withouth stretching and/or warming up. Feels like someone sticking pins in your fingertips....hurts like hell for a minute or two.....

the distance is still coming for my right hand now...yesterday i hit 370...i think learning lefty for a bit was the best thing i ever could have done to my right hand!

Rad! I'm still in the 240' to 260' range...when I don't smack a tree...reduced distance I can accept; it's still the control issue which frustrates me...getting that penultimate shot to park is my big problem. But at least I'm making some progress...it took two solid weeks of concentrating on nothing aside from 'flat,' but at least I seem to be past the 'nose up' phase.
...today I played with Sweeney, and it seemed odd to see a lefty play [I'm throwing 'wrongie' if you haven't been keeping track]. I've become conditioned to think the mirror-image of what was once 'normal'.

ok so no permanent damage??!! man the first couple of times i threw i thought that i was doing something unreversable to my arm!...i'll keep at it then, because i was surprised at the distance...and accuracy for throwing for the first time with the left...ambidexterous...i am still working at becomeing ambiWACKsterous :D;)

My left hand holds my fork when I'm cutting my steak! :D
The few times I did try driving left handed, I was surprised how "stereophonic" the whole procedure was.
Maybe I should try this instead of (currently) resurrecting my sidearm/overhand muscles...hmmmmm... :confused:

engrhawg:
You too? I thought I was alone. I am primarily a leftie, but throw RHBH and lefty forehand! I putt with both hands (not at the same time, though I've tried it). I seem to do better on putts under 30' if I putt lefty underhand. I too am trying to learn to throw lefty backhand as the way I throw now, forehand and backhand have the same spin and neither is conducive to a solid right hook.

I also pretty much suck at putting.

Stayouttamalibu:
Nothing extremely special about the 164 Valkyries. I just meant the lower weight Valkyries work great for me. My favorite current Valk is a 161g. I assumed you were stronger than I am, as are most people, so I added 3 grams! :D.
I find that disc weight is EXTREMELY important in my game.
It also seems to be overlooked for the most part by just about everybody I've talked to.
E.G. I can easily control my 161g Valkyrie, but find it almost impossible to control my 168g Valkyrie. The 168 is way overstable for me and just hooks left unless I put extreme anhyzer on it.

Underhanded? Do you mean like a pitching horseshoes motion? What is the attitude of the disc to the ground upon release? Do you putt both hands this way, or is lefty underhand something you 'resort to,' and it works?

Yep, I'm messed up. The reason I started throwing lefty sidearm when I already threw RHBH is because I wasn't happy with my distance. I was slowly increasing my D with RHBH and all of a sudden for a month or two my D went in reverse. I just couldn't make a decent throw. So just for kicks I flicked my driver LHSA and it went further than my BH. So for a few months I was using a flick LHSA as my driver. Then the D on it started going in reverse, so i'm back to RHBH for my main drive, with short approaches being LHS.
I started putting with both hands, but LH putts started falling alot more often, so i'm exclusive LH putting.

Blarg... underhand?!?

Uh...pretty much underhand, yeah. On longer putts, I start with the disc verticle by my side, bring it up and flick it out nearly level.

Been puttin' lefty now for a few rounds (inside 50 feet) and making a few more of 'em. :eek:

Yup, I call that a horseshoe pitch, but there's probably a more correct name...I think that was one of the throws diagramed on the box Frisbies used to come in [they may still], back in the mid-60's.
Putting is the only aspect of throwing wrongie where I'm not significantly worse; in fact I'm so comfortable with it I may not even use my dominant hand for that again unless my putt would finish into a side-wind...then I'd switch back and finish WITH the wind.
...still looking forward to going back to dominant hand drives--only a week away now, after sunset on January 32nd--then I can see if any of the concentration on bare fundamentals will pay off...which I believe was the original subject of this thread.

Waaay back in the old days, I had friends who could throw massive distance with that technique (i.e. holding the disc at your side, pointing the nose straight down, then stepping forward and firing it upwards).
There was a phenomenon called 'putting it on the shelf' which achieved great distance for some. The disc would rise at a 45 degree angle up about 50-60 feet at least, then level off completely flat ('on the shelf') and glide forever. This was done with the regular frisbees (119g or so).
Doesn't work with golf discs. :p

Though he has since moved to Florida, a fellow master used to run the course playing with such a throw...allowed him to throw and just continue on his way as he held his other 2-4 discs in his off (right) hand.

I've seen him crush 400'+ with his 150 DX Valks...from his hip! :eek:

I'll have to try that! I used to throw that way lefty back in the 70's, although I throw rhbh most of the time. I just bought a 150g jelly plastic Valkyrie (I had to, it was bright red!).
Might be good for me, as my right shoulder muscles are definitely injured a bit at the moment. :(

I can throw MUCH better left handed than right.
F.H., B.H., O.H., you name it.
how do you throw right handed?

Hi all, I learned to throw lefty when i injured my arm in 1991. I grew tired of walking around with the crew and watching, so I basically retraced my steps rhanded and copied it with my left. I still throw righty but can and will throw lefty on short hyzers. I have several aces right handed but only one lefty, and it was sweet. my 10cents /msgboard/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

zooc, a dime is 5-times the limit! :D
People like to tease me about how 'unstoppable' I'll be when I get healthy, but that's a lot of bovine...I sidearmed 40-50' longer than what I'm doing backhand presently, and with much, much more accuracy. I'm just hoping I'll have a better understanding of the fundamentals to 'carry back'.

It's been close to five months now of gimpdom, but today I finally tried shooting right, er, lefty! Geesh, what a difference! I had tried to concentrate on the fundamentals, but the control was never there.
Today, even though I threw nothing but sidearm outside of 40', I felt like a golfer again...even without 5 months of practice, I felt confident I could execute the needed shot. I even rolled one past the pin; it might have gone 400+ [that's long for me] if a hillet with soft grass hadn't gotten in the way...and I was just doing short steps and flicks.
The one positive I can take out of this whole sordid affair is I learned I have a choice of putts...left-to-right, or right-to-left, I feel I can fire it in there.
Even though I never actually scored well as a wrongie, the typical reaction from people was admiration for hanging in there, and a comment something like "I could never do that". Well, I'm certainly not ambidextrous, so if I can, anybody can...just try it. If nothing else, it might make you more aware of just what it is you're trying to accomplish.
It seems like I've been dominating the conversation here; I hope this won't be the last word on the subject...

For those people who are alright with it I would suggest pulling those shots out occasionally. On shots in the open and stuff just because sometimes an opposite sidearm is the only option of getting you out of the woods. I personally have trouble controlling a high release backhand and find a forehand easier to control. But I'm weird like that.

So I have messed up my shoulder and am throwing lefty to keep playing...have been for about 2 months now, and will be for the next 3-6 months. Anyone have any tips(other than a lot of practice) on how to get better quicker? While I am not very consistant with my drives, I can get them out to around 200...a little more on that occasional "perfect throw". And mid-range isn't that bad. The main thing that is killing my rounds is my putting(same story different hand for me :D ) Been out in the backyard practicing, but thought I'd ask to see if anyone else has gone through this and what they did to get decent quicker?


thanks!

I did this for about 5 months a while back and even recorded an off hand ace. I didn't do anything special to get better I just didn't take it too serious. I would recommend just having fun and just like your regular game analize what is happening and figure out how to correct it. This might be more difficult because it is your off hand but be light hearted and have fun.

In addition to practicing left handed, do other things left handed. Eat your food left handed. Open doors left handed. The more you use your left hand, the more coordinated it will get.

Start short and work your shots, over time, out longer and longer. Its what I did with my lefty forehand - the biggest problem I've had is actually with progressing too fast, my tendons can't handle the load of me throwing as hard as I can (when you start out as a completely new player, you don't know just how hard you can throw, it gives your tendons and muscles time to build and grow with your game - jumping into throwing with my offhand I know just how hard I can throw, which has me overstepping what my body can handle).

So start short, and take your time building it up. Additionally - it will help you maintain decent form. I started out throwing my lefty forehands at nothing more than 100 feet. I didn't trust it beyond that, I probably could have thrown them further, but in the long run that probably would have hurt me. Start short, take your time building it up.

Thanks guys....I don't really take right handed play that serious, so lefty is for sure all about the fun of the game. I have come close to getting an ace on a couple of holes. If I can get one in the next 3-6 months of recovery time that will be GREAT!!!

Working on the putting game in the back yard, some days are good...some not so good.

But weekly minis are always fun!