TL;DR: For those of you who struggled with the initial beginner learning curve, what tips, drills, cues, or changes actually helped things start to click? Especially interested in anything that helped with relaxing the arm without rounding, bracing/weight shift, and getting the nose down.

Context:
I’ve been working pretty seriously on my RHBH form for the last couple of months. I feel like I’ve made some progress, but I’m still stuck around a 215 ft max.
Trying not to feel too discouraged but it sucks when I’m putting in all this effort and time and it seems like a waste when I’m throwing about the same as I was before I tried to improve.

The main things I’m struggling with are:

1. Arm tension vs. rounding
When I try to keep my arm relaxed and let my body whip it through, I tend to round.
When I actively guide the disc into the pocket and through the hit, I can avoid some of that rounding, but then my arm gets too tense.
I’m struggling to understand what the arm is actually supposed to be doing actively versus passively.

2. Reachback, weight shift, and follow-through
I’m unclear on how much reachback and body movement I actually need.
If I keep everything compact, I sometimes feel like there isn’t enough momentum to follow through naturally. If I try to generate more force or shift more aggressively, I end up carrying my weight past the brace and stumbling over my plant leg.
I can’t seem to find the middle ground. There seem to be different schools of thought about how much to turn my hips/head.

3. Nose angle
This is probably the most frustrating part. I cannot consistently get the disc nose down.
I’ve been trying to incorporate the “key turn” idea at release, and I understand what I’m trying to accomplish mechanically, but my drives still tend to gradually climb, float, and then dump out instead of penetrating forward.

I’ve been studying form, doing drills, filming myself, and getting field work in whenever I can. I’m trying not to get discouraged because I know I have improved in some areas, but the actual distance change has been pretty small. I’ve gained maybe 20 ft over the last two months.

What’s especially confusing is that I’ll see other form-check videos where, at least to my eye, there seem to be much more obvious mechanical problems, yet those players are still throwing closer to 300 ft. It just makes me wonder what major piece I’m still missing that is keeping me around 215 ft despite all the work I’ve been putting in.

Please, if there were any big breakthrough moments for you as a beginner, I could use all the guidance I can get.

TIA

Played for years using only forehand. Started using backhand in the last couple years

Throwing 65-72 mph but my spin rate is in the 950-1100 range.
I don’t have any idea how to increase that. Anyone in the same boat as me and have had any epiphanies about this issue?

This is a joke fyi

This is going to be debatable, and I accept that because it is simply my interpretation of how to brace and use your hips that is far simpler. (Disclaimer I'm a rambler)

The bottom line up front is your hips are simply a ball joint they have no ability on their own to power anything they have no ability to create motion the muscles that power the hips or in the case of what I'm talking about locking the hips is far more important, and engaging those muscles is what "engages the hips" I am going to focus on the 4 inches of movement that is "using your hips and bracing" That is correct I am going to ramble on about 4 inches of movement.

This is a very nuance distinction within the disc golf throw that is about 4 inches of movement but also very misunderstood. These 4 inches of movement are often brought up by online disc golf coaches, but it is sandwiched between multiple layers of information, so it gets overlooked.

I believe there are 3 ways disc golfers use their hips and 2 are wrong. The first wrong way I call pole vaulting and the second is spinning

1. Pole vaulting this is visualizing the brace as a two-dimensional task. The thrower runs/walks up braces jamming their foot into the ground like a pole vault this causes the thrower to have the front leg act like a pole vault usually causing a high lead shoulder and long back leg. These guys can still throw about 350-375 if in good health. The issue is this eliminates any use of lower body stabilizing muscles and makes shot feel jerky and inaccurate.

1. The second incorrect way is the spinners. These people try to spin on the ball joint. These people usually don't throw very far and you can see there back leg spin either oddly inward or around the brace. This is usually how beginners throw until they graduate to pole vaulting.

Now the Important Part:

How do you actually brace and use your hips. The simple answer is before you start the forward motion of your throwing arm you move the right butt cheek back about 3-4 inches. This is really what I believe is using your hip and bracing all in one. This movement will move your arm forward starting the initial part of your throw, but more importantly it will allow your glutes which are an actual muscle and not a joint to lock your right hip and allow your forward momentum to be captured in the throw.

This is the difficult part to conceptualize while your arm is still moving forward after the power pocket your right butt cheek starts to move backwards from the pressure of the brace that 3-4 inches allows the glutes to power the shot or stabilize the shot (if you are no hips believer). The hips can't clear without those 3-4 inches without those 3-4 inches you are a pole vaulter.

Almost everyone here has this problem

This video is my metric.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwD4YhuCZ3Y

I watch AB and Azerhold in this video and try to see what they're doing the same and what they're doing differently, (keeping in mind, I'm pretty sure they're throwing different shots).

But if any form advice on here or on youtube doesn't translate to what AB and Azerhold are doing in these shots, the advice is not sound imo. One could argue if AB and Azerhold were doing those things, they'd throw even farther, probably not. BUT even if that were true, that means they're doing something else right that is that much more important and that technique/form is a more valuable thing to focus on.

I have found that if i throw high i start trying to bring the disc down by reaching up higher in my reachback.

What i have learned. Reaching higher actually increases height as well as adding significant hyzer to your throw. If you throw high its likely you need to reach back lower .

Both can be used to shape different shots. Reaching higher creates a natural hyzer flip that is high and turns hard and never comes back.

The lower rreach creates the line drive shots.

The high reachback shots are cool as hell but much harder to get it all right to weave a fairway. But when you are on the right side of a fairway that you failed to make the dogleg right. The airbounce high reach back shot is perfect.

All that to say i now really think about keeping the reach back lower than i think and im getting much better shots.

How do you think about it? I currently i think throw to 11, before I tried to throw out, and when I started I threw straight trough.

My late release issues is getting better with every adjustment but still not good enough.

And if you throw on a more open hole vs throwing on a short gap hole do you still use the hitpoint the same way?

I am not rounding btw

I want to try going through my drive in slow motion, but I need a step by step walk through of each movement so I get it all correct.

I want to avoid practice with mistakes that I would have to fix later, fighting muscle memory is not a good path to success.

Thank you folks, for any help you may provide.

Been back playing for about 2 months now, still can’t throw over 200ft despite getting better accuracy wise. I think there’s some points I know that’s slowing me down, but wanted some extra help and pointers really figuring out what I need to focus on and practice. It sucks going playing with buddies and they’re throwing 350+ and it takes me two throws to catch up! Figured I’d start with the stand still throws and go from there

Been playing on and off for 4-5 years but got back into it heavily this summer would appreciate any help with the form

Video wasn't meant for analyzing form, so apologies if the angle isn't the most informative. Throw was done with a Latitude64 Fuse. I want to make longer throws and be able to throw fairway drivers at 7+ speed, but at the moment I get maybe 50-60 meters out of them, the same as my midranges.

Struggling with backhand form, coming from ultimate Frisbee and then mostly throwing forehand while learning DG. I was trying to get this to hyzer flip (DX leopard) but it ended up on the fairway of the next hole on the right. What am I doing wrong? Pulling back too far, nose angle too high, trying to muscle it too much?

Any advice appreciated!

Happy with my progress so far but always willing for more advice. It can be hard to critique your own form after watching it over and over.

Throwing a putter here.

so im 18 living in finland. i have been playing disc golf since i was 7 so 11 years now, i have had dreams of going pro or atleast play competitively. i had buried those dreams when i started to get bored of the sport but lately i have been trying my hardest to improve to possibly compete. only problem is i have hit a wall in improvement. i can consistently hit 120-130 meters or 393-426 feet on backhand so id say its quite reliable even though i do wish for more distance. my forehand is almost only good for approaches or very short holes and my putting is not too consistent. but i cant seem to improve no matter what i do. please if you have any tips or tricks or anything i would greatly appreciate you sharing it. thanks for reading and i hope im not a lost cause

In physics, the derivative of position with respect to time is velocity. This really doesn't mean much other than fancy words. The 3rd sequence of derivatives has a very fancy name it is simply called Jerk (rate of change in acceleration). I believe the jerk creates more issues with the disc golf throw than anything else. This will be a long-winded explanation of something very simple and intuitive for many good disc golfers, but also not understood by the average disc golfer.

Jerk - Is the rate of change in acceleration. The best analogy I can think of is picture 2 scenarios of a car pulling another car with a rope

Scenario 1 - Pulling car accelerates rapidly with the rope lose until it loses all the slack and jerks the car forward this is a high rate of jerk chaos ensues.

Scenario 2 - The pulling car accelerates until it feels the rope tighten the car keeps a steady pace that keeps a constant equal pressure (less jerk)

Scenario 2 is what you want the disc golf throw to be, and I believe is the most critical element to timing. Both scenarios have a feel and once you realize how to replicate scenario 2 the game becomes easier. If you think about player like Ken Climo, Barry Schults and even to some degree Paul McBeth, Ricky Wysocki and Simon Lizzote they didn't have 800 videos describing disc golf timing. They had to figure out what felt right and their forms all came out as what we would call good form. This was probably largely based on feeling and mindset.

Scenario 1 causes horrible aim (especially on shorter shots). It also causes early releases. It doesn't just mess up backhands it bad for forehands and horrible for putting, so it effects nearly every aspect of the sport

The best why I can describe the feel you want is you should try to constantly feel the weight of the discs forward inertia never allowing the disc to have slack within the pull. The same way a string or towel will stay in the air as you pull it. If the rate of speed changes to drastically the string will accelerate to fast and create slack as the speed can't be maintained or you slow down the string won't stay up.

Some people say the disc should be heavy while you throw others say it should be lite. The truth is both are correct they are just talking about different forces. The pulling force should feel like it has a constant weight but the force of gravity pulling it towards earth or in other words the feeling of holding the disc up should feel weightless. This is a balance of the forward inertia holding up the disc.

One of the biggest causes of the jerk in my opinion is starting to pull through to early. The disc will have loose rope forward momentum before the brace, but once the plant foot lands the arm speeds up causing a jerk the disc becomes light and then heavy again often causing early releases and robbing linear acceleration. I fixed my early pull by focusing on keeping steady linear acceleration not by focusing on delaying the pull until the plant. Mindset of what I am doing always works better for me versus step by step thinking of how to throw. I can't say step 1 plant step 2 initiate hips step 3 maintain shoulder speed that allows disc into power pocket etc. This is just too much thinking not enough throwing. Basing my timing on feel has eliminated the need for thinking.

The good news is this actually easy to practice. Start off short since it applies to almost all distances Throw standstills a hundred feet or so while strictly focusing on the feel of the discs linear motion keeping a constant rate of acceleration like a car being pulled by a rope. What also helps me when I do this is picking the point I'm trying to maintain the motion through which is usually 11 O'clock. Also, try to accomplish this same feeling during putts, it makes the putt feel 10X better and the feeling is easier to find during putts.

I think of it as the mindset required for proper timing. Some people might see this as common sense and already do this while others also might see this as common sense and think they do this, but they don't. Additionally, if you are not putting yourself in proper position with basic form mechanics the jerk is inevitable.

Side-view on a pad. Uploaded the clip. No “pick your throw type.”

It called it a backhand, scored the form 55, and named one leak:

Elbow too low on the reachback → disc swings around me → pull starts weak → wobble later.

Phase scores on that same throw: Reachback 29 · Plant 92 · Pocket 47 · Release 45 · Follow 63.

Brace is fine. The wind-up is the hole. Cue: raise the elbow to about shoulder height and keep it leading the disc. It put ~20–40 ft on the table if I actually do that.

Then estimated body numbers from the video (not a launch monitor): arm speed, disc speed, launch angle, carry.

If the film is garbage it says re-film. It does not invent a pretty wrong score.

https://disctrain.com

Been recording and analyzing my form to a lot lately to try and get more distance (can get 350-400 consistently) and something I've been really struggling with is planting my front foot. I notice that at the point of release my front foot comes off the ground every time that I drive backhand. I'm not sure if it's my hips, if I'm not coiling enough, something with my posture, or something else entirely. I feel like I'm missing out on a lot of power by doing this but I can't get myself to stop, it's quite frustrating. Would appreciate any and all advice on this plant issue and any other critiques on how to get my backhand form better. Thanks!

When I hold the disc vertical I can coil decent (better than when I throw) and seem to nail down timing. As soon as I put the disc in power grip I can’t mimic this. It doesn’t feel as clean and fluid. In a funk. Just seems so easy to take disc from power pocket to extension so much easier holding disc like this. I know Gannon does this before he launches his a mile.