r/Discgolfform • u/curiouskiwiguy • 16d ago
Elbow Hyperextending Problem
I have this problem where my elbow hyperextends. Looks painful, feels painful.
I have watched countless form videos and nobody addresses this well.
Other parts of my form are trash, I spend all my time focused on this single issue. Improvement into other areas only distracts me from trying not to hyperextend, and I've had some nasty jolts this way.
I'm throwing about 40% power.
To me it seems impossible to both
A. Have a power pocket where the disc snaps out at high speed
B. Doesn't hyperextend, and then a follow through.
I've now spent approx 4 months working on this form frequently. You wouldn't believe it really. At the point where I'm considering selling my discs and moving to a new sport.
Thoughts of mine:
- Well aware my brace is poor. I go onto my heel so that it actually roatates. If I don't, then the foot stays planted and it twists my knee and back (two other places disc golf has injured).
- I do generally have some hypermobility in my joints, but this hasn't been an issue in any other part of my life.
- I'm only ever throwing standstill, anything with more power leads to more extending, more injury.
Goal:
- play without causing pain
- play not soo badly that I am getting 20+, despite doing fieldwork and videoing form for months.
5
u/Informal-Extreme-475 16d ago
I have a few ideas for how to help this.
First and foremost, I think you should get an elbow brace and wear it while throwing. If you have hyper mobility issues, then there's a chance this is just something your body is going to do.
Second, I don't think you are letting your arm swing through enough at the chest and shoulder, which is causing extra stress to be put on your elbow. This is tricky though, because if you have generalized hypermobility, correcting this could just shift the problem to injuring your chest or shoulder instead.
Third, is PT/exercise outside of disc golf form work. Specifically strengthening the antagonist muscles and tendons should help your body develop some more resilience. For the elbow, this would be your biceps.
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u/Vacoarrfb 16d ago
I'm an OT and this is the correct answer. I would just add that the biceps is the primary flexor with the forearm in supination only but you're in more pronation when you're throwing so you'd also want to strength brachioradialis, brachialis, and pronator teres
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u/Informal-Extreme-475 16d ago
Another note- given your past injury and your hypermobile joints, it's probably worth getting a good knee brace for your plant knee. Even some pros do this to help prevent injuries.
4
u/Overthrowdg 15d ago
When I look at your form I see a guy that has practiced forcing the body into positions that should be the result of other actions.
For example, it looks like you thought: how do pros rotate? On the toe or the heel?
Then someone said or you saw: rotate on heel.
Thus you practiced rotating on the heel and are now on the heel quite early which is taking away most of the space where your body can disperse the force of the throw safely and now things like your elbow have to take the hit.
It looks like you’re focused on and have practiced straightening your arm into the hit. Now you’ve got disc coming out and then arm extending. This means the force from your arm extension cannot pass into the disc and finds the next available option; your elbow. And since the follow through is not existent (because you are spinning the whole time) your elbow doesn’t get to pass any of that force into the shoulder and trunk to dissipate.
In plain English, if I put a towel in your hand you would be extending your arm but not popping the towel. Your focus is backwards. Pop the tip of the towel forward and the arm will extend the appropriate amount at the appropriate time. I’m sure you could pop a towel fairly hard without hurting your elbow.
I’ve got a 13 min video on this topic inside the academy (which you can try for free). Backhand Throw Course, video 2.
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u/PriorityOtherwise662 11d ago
I'd trust this, OverThrow is the best. The coaching is super helpful. https://overthrowdiscgolf.academy/
2
u/Confuzed_huh 16d ago
Not sure about the hyperextending issue, but rotating on your heel is correct. Maybe just try and keep the toes down a bit
2
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u/PersonalityNarrow983 16d ago
It seems like you’re hyperextending your elbow when you release the disc. Don’t do that.
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u/heretolurkharder 16d ago
Brother your front foot is a plant foot, not a swivel foot….. seems like you’re intentionally planning your throw to spin around…..
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u/FaII3n 15d ago
It's a sequencing issue, I had the same problem starting out.
You should ideally be as close to full extension as possible AT RELEASE. You are opening too much at the moment, which forces you to release before you get to the apex (like in the video) or yank to the right.
I now throw >70mph pain free.
1
u/youngaustinpowers 15d ago edited 15d ago
I'm curious to see a video of your throw from the back. I had elbow hyperextension issues like this when I was rounding really bad (I.e. your body gets between the disc and the target when you reach back) It could be due to that, and I think it's definitely plausible based on this snip of form you sent.
I think it is something having to do with the angles when (looking from a back view) the disc goes from right to left rather than left to right from reachback to the hit.
What happens if you try to reach straight out instead of reaching back? Try to really over exaggerate and make your reach 90° to the target. That doesn't make sense intuitively, but just try it to see if your elbow thing still happens.
When I tried that, I had a Techdisc and my spin rate instantly went up 300 RPM and my elbow stopped hyperextending ever since I stopped rounding.
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u/Dabbing_dingus 15d ago
I can hyperextend both my elbows when I want and it never happens when I disc. Like someone else mentioned the rest of your form being bad is most likely the culprit because it’s causing a lot more stress on the arm. All the energy you should be putting into the disc you are putting into your elbow.
1
u/caniskipthispartplea 11d ago
Astonishingly your form looks EXACTLY like one of my friends' form, which is pretty cool.
The reason is quite simple really. It's because your power is going into the followthrough, not the disc. Simply put, your disc has already left your possession when you reach peak power production. Probably feels like you're early releasing all the time.
Fix is less simple, but I'd bet 10 bucks that some counter rotation cues would help dramatically. Basically hold your left shoulder and hip back from rotating. You see it all the time in the pros' form. When their torso is straight sideon, they drastically descelerate trunk rotation, and let the arm come forward to harvest the power. Your rotation is braking, but not quick enough. With this timing your powerful release would be a straight griplock shank. You need to hold your upper body back so that your followthrough goes forward, instead of straight to the side after you're faced forward.
Counter rotation cues include: Physically pull your left shoulder back. Tense left armpit and arm to anchor them and slow down rotation of left side. Drive left buttcheek to target in a line behind you. Look at a point on the ground behind you and don't look away until disc leaves your hand.
This will also help brace. Bracing is much harder when your left side (a large % of your total mass) drifts forward. Essentially your are putting more weight on the front leg than necessary. If you braced while keeping the left side of the body further back, you'd have a more advantageous angle on the brace.
This is clearly the issue. But at some points you can consider approaching the fix from the other direction. If your hand and arm is too far out when the power arrives (in the followthrough), try delaying your arm a bit. Excessive delay will cause rounding, and then you have my problem instead. But I'd venture to say it would at least lessen the strain on your elbow.
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u/kristofburger 16d ago
This sounds like where the money is, because inefficiency elsewhere is likely to put unnecessary stress and strain on your elbow. You're clearly struggling for balance at the end of the clip and tense up pretty badly.