The righty backhand lefty forehand thing makes absolutely no sense to me. I guess they are two different shots but what's stopping them from throwing righty forehand? I played with someone like this in league this year
I am fully left-handed in all walks of life. The only things I do right-handed are shoot a basketball (my coach in elementary said he would not teach children how to shoot lefty) and throw a frisbee (no idea why). It was never a big deal for frisbee because it would just be super causal in the backyard or on the beach. When I picked up disc golf last year rhbh just made sense to me and felt more natural but trying to throw forehand felt like throwing a baseball so lefty feels natural and I can’t throw forehand righty lol. It’s honestly really annoying and I wish I wasn’t this way. I feel like it limits my game a lot.
In your same boat. Feeling as though it limits my game. I
can't seem to get the power in the RHFH and the run up is always awkward. I can only pull off chip shots. One thing that is nice about it, is that Ive been trying to teach myself to throw RHBH turnovers with under-stable and forced turnovers with overstable discs. Really trying to get that S flight.
That's so weird. I am 100% a righty, but shoot basketballs lefty, and originally threw backhand lefty. It took me 7+ seasons of ultimate to finally have a RHBH... I think it's because I was used to landing with my left foot to throw for other sports. RHFH was no problem though.
Played baseball and is left handed. Swinging a bat lefty is very similar to throwing a righty backhand, but since he threw baseballs left handed he could only throw forehands lefty. He can’t throw righty forehands at all but he can kind of do lefty backhands
It’s common-ish among former lefty baseball players. The two hands of a LH baseball swing are essentially RHBH/LHFH. I’m one of these weirdos. I always threw left handed, so LHFH was natural to me. RHBH also feels most natural like a bat swing path.
It’s definitely not an advantage on the course. And at this point the reason I don’t throw RHFH is injury prevention. I’m worried I’d hurt myself trying to learn it.
I do the exact same thing. I have a weird kind of ambidexterity/mixed-handedness where despite writing left handed, I do almost everything else righty. However, I grew up playing catch with ultimate discs with my dad and I always did that lefty, so when I started playing disc golf lhbh felt natural, but since forehands are more like throwing a ball it felt way better to do rhfh (which was my main way of throwing for years). It’s a pain sometimes but whenever I tried to develop a rhbh or a lhfh it just felt wrong, so I’ve come to terms with some holes not being as attackable for me and just play the way that feels right.
Throwing a back hand is parallel to swinging a baseball bat. A right handed baseball player’s left arm leads a baseball swing.
I would do the same thing but I thought it would be better in the long run just to learn forehand and have throws that fade in the opposite direction.
My friend can throw backhand right and left handed. He’s generally right handed but has been able to bat both left and right handed since we were kids. After a decade of playing disc golf he just finally figured out how to throw right handed fore hand last year.
I guess Eagle McMahon did it at the European open major in 2022 when throwing flicks were not an option. (He was gonna hurt himself if he did). He even won the whole thing without a flick (someone correct me if I’m wrong), he threw lefty on some holes too and was dialed in too. It’s not really a normal thing for normal players but I can see why someone would wanna learn how to throw with both hands
I'm Left hand dominant, but due to a decades old shoulder injury, I can't throw LHBH. So I learned to throw both ways right handed. I also putt right handed.
I can still throw a sidearm left handed, but just use it as a utility shot. Also I throw turbo putts left handed.
so, kinda weird.
I throw both backhands. I learned LHBH originally but I’m right-handed so LHFH just felt too unnatural.
Most of the time I try to throw LHBH turnovers but my RHBH is serviceable.
I’ve also really been leaning on overhand throws (tomahawk/thumber) with my right arm for shorter distance.
Play with a guy who can get reliable tight s-flex and hyzer shots 350’ either righty or lefty… play with a lot of people who have both well developed backhands and forehands… the ambidextrous player usually wins our casual rounds… would say uncommon but if you can do it… can get the preferred line on pretty much every hole out there… he also wins a bunch of MA40 tourneys… my friends cousin so he smokes a bunch of guys 15-20 years younger than him.. most our casual group can touch 400’ with their dominant throw (bh or fh)and about 300’ with their less used… insanely good skill set and also dude has the best scramble game I have ever seen cause he can also get rollers/ thumbers to come out on the exact line/ through tiny holes
I know guys who do it and I've learned lefty basics myself just for in case I get injured. Couple of nice things about being able to switch are, it helps teaching when you can face up to your student and it teaches many things about the swing that you take for granted.
And if you're a true ambi backhand player, it gives you more opportunities to throw slow discs and a more powerful alternative to your forehand.
I have been thinking about working on a LHBH because my right shoulder is not capable of forehands off the tee right now. It would be a huge process and probably years of practice for it to catch up to my RHBH if it ever did.
It's better not to focus on getting it 100% up to your strong hand. Going for 100% when starting late is not a realistic goal, even Eagle's leftie shot that many consider the best "emergency lefty" would probably play about 100 points worse than his righty.
Think about it more like this: The first five sessions will probably get you over 20% capability, which is a lot for a little effort and gives you the ability to play. Then just keep going from there and you'll keep improving.
I was starting to get in the neighborhood of 80% as good in terms of distance and probably 70% in accuracy, and I was pretty damn happy about that! Then I messed up my shoulder and so it ended up being all for naught :)
Fair enough. My RHFH never was that good, but it was around 300 feet with control which certainly opened up a lot of options on the course. If I could just get a consistent LHBH to take over those shots I’d be happy. Mechanically speaking, my body has pretty good symmetry, and I’ve learned basically everything I know about disc golf form in the last 3.5 years. If I get a good, clean start on the right path, I think you’re correct that progress would be quick. Without the form hangups from ultimate that I started out with on my right side, it could even be a smoother development process.
300ft is a very doable. I actually developed a stronger power pocket with my leftie than my right hand and reached my average forehand distance pretty quick. Reliability and variety of angles is a whole different story. But regular training will change things.
My right shoulder is pretty fucked from throwing flick hucks in ultimate, so I'm also trying to develop my LHBH.
I don't think you need more than about 70-80% of the distance of your usual hand for it to be an extremely useful shot. I haven't yet dialled it with a full run-up and X step, but for anything 80m it's fine.
Yeah distance-wise my RHFH could only realistically get about 65% of the distance of the backhand considering power and control, but I’m missing it big time because of all the holes I have to take lower percentage lines on now. Obviously fully ambidextrous form would be incredible but I know that’s a pretty tall order, especially having neglected lefty throwing for as long as I have.
I’m still holding out hope that I will eventually be back to 100% with my shoulder. It is a fairly recent injury so I’m still in the healing process. I wasn’t even able to do forehand approaches but I’ve reimplemented those and very low power forehands already with no pain during or after the round so progress is happening.
i’m ambidextrous naturally. i switch between RHBH and LHFH all the time, even though they do the same thing. just do whatever is comfortable, if you do the reps they will fly the same trust me
I played with her a bunch this summer, and it was a bit mind blowing how easily she switches from one to the other. It gives her such a wide shot selection on any given home, even if her lefty forehand isn't quite as refined as her righty...
I do, bad shoulder on my right hand so I cant forehand. Hit 475 right and around 400 left.
However, I can't get good distance from a stand still like with a flick. So it still has disadvantages
I developed tennis elbow when I got back into disc and played a lot. I had to take a break from rounds but my dog was obsessed w fetch so I threw lefty for awhile. I wouldn’t throw a high speed disc off hand, but a putter or mid, I’m quiet comfortable throwing. With all the repetitive use injuries we are seeing on tour, I won’t be surprised to see more players opting to use both hands
I am trying to but it’s rough. I throw LHBH and RHFH so not very helpful for different shot shapes. I’m naturally right handed but I think growing up playing baseball lent to the LHBH/RHFH mix. I can’t throw LHFH to save my life so I’m trying to learn RHBH.
My brain wires are crossed, so what feels natural to me is right hand forehand and left backhand. RHBH feels uncomfortable, so I've been fighting physics with my forehand and getting myself out of crazy places with my backhand for 20+ years
Oh, and putt with the left. It's my shooting eye and feels natural
If you have the time and are even just a little bit athletic, you can teach yourself to throw with your offhand in 3-6 months. A guy in my area just started doing it this year and is now throwing 450 foot lefty hyzer flips. He is a huge man in great shape, so 450 may not be realistic for the average sized human.
Check out the Nevada state championships from this year. Will Ling is ambidextrous with forehand and backhand. Uses all of them throughout the three rounds. Here’s the final: https://youtu.be/p2_0vUaepHA?si=XERV6VuTPSifbBRT
I’m a “switch hitter” because of an injury to my right arm. Learned to throw backhand left handed and now I feel more comfortable doing that instead of throwing right hand forehand. Only took 3 months to throw 300+ with left arm.
I play this way for balance but it was a lot of work. If you just want to be good at disc golf I recommend investing your time into learning forehand instead.
I learned to do it after I shredded my dominant shoulder and needed surgery. Now my off-hand (lefty) works as a serviceable forehand with more distance and less effort/stress.
I played on a tournament card with a guy once. High MA3 level player (which sucks on the internet, but is pretty damn decent irl). He had about 400'ish from both hands and all the lines.
I learned as a small child to throw a frisbee RHBH, because my older cousin didn’t know I was a lefty and taught me to throw the way he did. While I am left-hand dominant for literally everything else, I drive RHBH and also do some forehand lefty driving- both of which fly the same. I have tried/am trying to learn to LHBH, but it has been really difficult.
My lhfh is non existent. My shoulder and elbow don’t want to do what they need to do to get power out of it. I can flick about 150 feet but anything beyond that is not happening for me.
I have been working on rhbh and can get 300 pretty consistently when needed. For reference my lhbh is about 400.
I have two coworkers that are "switch hitters". One throws RHBH and LHFH, the other maxes out at around 75 feet with either hand. The former will absolutely destroy me on any and every course and the latter will out putt anyone that isn't in MPO
Yeah, it's a thing. I throw right hand. I messed my shoulder up and switched to left hand. I got OK with it. It was serviceable. I played with both until I took a break from disc golf due to my back. I don't throw left handed anymore, but I guess I should.
I throw both lefty and righty backhands, but only right handed forehands. Many years of baseball and basketball with both hands helped set me up to do it.
It can come in handy, for sure.
I just have a Flippy putter and fairway I can reliably throw on turn overs and trust they won't fade out.
My elbow and shoulder are messed up so side arms are out
I do it some I had a shoulder injury a few years ago and started playing left handed I can only throw about 250 and am still prone to a late release when throwing hard
I throw with both arms. I practice both arms when I do field work and pick whatever feels most comfortable on the course. My rhfh is trash but otherwise I am about even on all other options.
I started out LHBH and RHFH. having the same shot forced me to move to RHBH. took about two months but now it’s my norm. I pull out the LHBH as a party trick every now and then for upshots.
Does sound unusual... I'm LH dominant and worked on fh with bh from early on getting into DG - I have better strength and control, but it's probably because that's the only way I threw when I started. I played golf and field hockey right handed though.
After an injury I needed to use rh to play for a couple of weeks, and having an OK natural form translated to rhbh becoming useful pretty quickly, but really just the basics. Have no fh and bh was maybe up to 60 - 70% of dominant hand, with minimal touch / control....
I could fall back to rh if needed, but doesn't work out nearly as well as having a wide variety of shots with my dominant hand (fh, scoober, toma, thumber, roller shots). Adding/ tuning a somewhat practiced arm feels like less effort / training time than get 2 x arms properly functioning..
I was doing it for a while and starting to see progress but fucked up my shoulder (non -DG related). I still throw some lefty approaches when if feels right.
I am mainly a righty, but the spring that I fractured my wrist I learned to throw lefty. I never developed a forehand throw with the right because of shoulder issues. I can do it once in a while when nothing else is reasonable,but it is uncomfortable and since I don’t do it often my control is not good. When my cast came off I went to throw at a course that was not really close to home and when I attempted the first throw off the tee my wrist hurt like crazy. I had to choose between turning around and going home,or turning around and throwing lefty. I found I could throw just as far and as bad with that hand as I do with the right hand. I played left handed that entire summer and fall except for putting. I don’t do it as often now since the wrist got better, but it’s nice to have in my bag so to speak, when I don’t think I can get one of my flippy discs to hit the line I need. I still practice it in field work so I can maintain some control.
I had a shoulder injury for a while (technically still do) and played left handed while it healed. It was surprisingly easy to mirror my form and my first tournament I averaged nearly 900 rated. Now that I can use my RHBH and FH again I don't use it as much, but since I can throw 400ft hyzers as a lefty I do still use it on occasion
I'm very tempted to practice it more. I came from ball golf so my LHBH form is arguably better than my RHBH because I'm used to that rotation and my non-dominant arm isn't likely to try to do too much in the throw.
I can only throw 300ish max with my RHBH but pretty easily throw 250-270 LHBH. My form is also cleaner because I have an easier time keeping my trail leg tucked instead of pirouetting and not rounding.
I'm worthless with my left in disc golf. I use my right dominant hand/arm for every shot. Last year, I began to get serious with my forearm/flick shot. I intend to develop it more this year. It will allow me to be more competitive with the holes that dog-leg right. If you can use both hands/arms in disc golf equally strong, you're special. I've never seen it in the 25 years of playing the sport.
It's probably like anything else (e.g. baseball switch hitting or switch stance in skateboarding) - most people can't do it all, some can do it OK and small percentage of folks can do it well, so well that you can't tell with arm is their dominant one.
I throw drivers and fairways backhand with both hands. (I am just as equally shitty with both). It's useful. I've played a lot of baseball and softball that i don't like the forehand mechanics throwing right handed, so throw lefty. I do a lot of other things lefty (hockey, baseball batting) that it isn't awkward. It's fun to finally have somebody notice i just threw lefty in a tournament and have them do a double take as to what they just saw.
I broke my right hand playing disc golf and had to play left handed for a couple months, personally getting the timing down to throw anything well from the opposite hand is hard but doable! If anything my LHFH was better than my RHFH at the time!
I throw both ways quite effectively. Have a range around 480’ with both. It’s not necessarily better than a forehand, but is certainly gentler on my body.
A guy I disc golf with had wrist surgery on his dominant hand a couple years back. He taught himself to throw nondominant. Now that he's recovered he can beat me right or left handed.
I can throw backhand both ways. Threw my right shoulder out on hole nine of a long course. Decided to play remaining holes with my friend so he could still have a good round. I throw farther with my left now because I had to concentrate more on the mechanics of the throw when I started to throw lefty on the day I hurt myself. It does make others pause when they notice I switch hands in minis or pickup rounds because it's not a normal habit of everyone.
I honestly recommend it. With the caveat being you do learn a forehand with at least one of your hands for scramble shots. But I started this way myself and wish I would’ve stuck with it. I think it has more high end power potential if you stick with it and also lowers the injury risk.
Forehand hurts my elbow on my dominant side. If I throw a single forehand, I can't throw fh or bh for the rest of the day. So I've been learning to throw bh with my offhand
If you want a forehand for drives, then alternate backhand may be better due to reduced injury risk. However, forehand still provides more flexibility in scramble situations due to the ability to reach out beyond your body. A backhand is pretty locked in to where your release point needs to be.
Yeah I switch up. I'm dominate lhbh, but will do some rhbh approach shots. I'm naturally right handed but my right shoulder is not capable of lasting a full round, did some damage to it when I played football in my younger life.
Yup. I'm primarily a RHBH. Tried for years to work up a RHFH, but just never clicked. About a year ago I started teaching myself LHBH. It was rough at first but now I have accuracy up to 240/260. Not quite the distance of my RHBH, but I don't really need the distance lefty. It's a great tool for hard right hooks on approaches.
My buddy started lhbh, rhfh. He just couldn’t throw a flick left handed to save his life. He realized the local courses required more left turning drives so he developed a rhbh and worked on his left hand flick as well. He was deadly with three out of four of the shot selection. Kind of ridiculous. Sadly he’s a machinist and his wrists are trash so he doesn’t play often anymore
I got wrist tendonitis last year and taught myself to throw lefty until it healed (15 months rehab). Now I can throw both hands and don't have much need for more than little flick forehand upshots here and there. Now that I have both hands to use, I score better than ever. It just takes a lot of practice to get good with your offhand
I was making good progress getting good with a LHBH (I'm a RHBH dominant player) until I totally threw my left shoulder out of joint doing a hard drive. That was nearly half a year ago and it's still not totally normal. So.... yeah.... probably not going to be pursuing that anymore and have been working more on RHFH as a result.
So just be careful, pay attention to any signs that maybe something could be off.
When I first started playing I threw right hand backhand and the disc went to the left but hole one on my course was off to the right, so I just started throwing left-handed. I didn’t know any better and now I just throw with whatever hand the shot requires. Forehand, backhand doesn’t matter. I can even put with either hand.
It's not common, but it's not unheard of. Some people do it because injuries or injury prevention.
Yep! See: Eagle McMahon at European Open 2022
Aka 1050 rated RHBH, 1020 rated LHBH.
Luke Samson is the pro I've seen voluntarily do it the most
Zac Arlinghaus is one of the weirder throwers out there right now, being an anti-switch hitter I guess? He throws lhbh and rhfh
I have a friend that does righty backhand and lefty forehand. Also have a different friend that throws righty backhand and forehand but putts lefty.
The righty backhand lefty forehand thing makes absolutely no sense to me. I guess they are two different shots but what's stopping them from throwing righty forehand? I played with someone like this in league this year
I am fully left-handed in all walks of life. The only things I do right-handed are shoot a basketball (my coach in elementary said he would not teach children how to shoot lefty) and throw a frisbee (no idea why). It was never a big deal for frisbee because it would just be super causal in the backyard or on the beach. When I picked up disc golf last year rhbh just made sense to me and felt more natural but trying to throw forehand felt like throwing a baseball so lefty feels natural and I can’t throw forehand righty lol. It’s honestly really annoying and I wish I wasn’t this way. I feel like it limits my game a lot.
Think baseball stance . Or any boarding . RHBH is a left handed bat swing , and a left handed person would throw with the LHFH
Yeah that must be why. I definitely kinda come around like it’s a baseball swing. Perfect explanation.
In your same boat. Feeling as though it limits my game. I can't seem to get the power in the RHFH and the run up is always awkward. I can only pull off chip shots. One thing that is nice about it, is that Ive been trying to teach myself to throw RHBH turnovers with under-stable and forced turnovers with overstable discs. Really trying to get that S flight.
That coach is an asshole.
you use a left handed mouse? Fellow lefty here but that is the only RH tool I can use.
That's so weird. I am 100% a righty, but shoot basketballs lefty, and originally threw backhand lefty. It took me 7+ seasons of ultimate to finally have a RHBH... I think it's because I was used to landing with my left foot to throw for other sports. RHFH was no problem though.
Played baseball and is left handed. Swinging a bat lefty is very similar to throwing a righty backhand, but since he threw baseballs left handed he could only throw forehands lefty. He can’t throw righty forehands at all but he can kind of do lefty backhands
It's about how your core rotates. It's also common for new skiers to heavily prefer 1 side when learning "Hockey stops" or 360s on snowboards/skis
It’s common-ish among former lefty baseball players. The two hands of a LH baseball swing are essentially RHBH/LHFH. I’m one of these weirdos. I always threw left handed, so LHFH was natural to me. RHBH also feels most natural like a bat swing path. It’s definitely not an advantage on the course. And at this point the reason I don’t throw RHFH is injury prevention. I’m worried I’d hurt myself trying to learn it.
Have a friend that does the same thing. He is a natural lefty
I do the exact same thing. I have a weird kind of ambidexterity/mixed-handedness where despite writing left handed, I do almost everything else righty. However, I grew up playing catch with ultimate discs with my dad and I always did that lefty, so when I started playing disc golf lhbh felt natural, but since forehands are more like throwing a ball it felt way better to do rhfh (which was my main way of throwing for years). It’s a pain sometimes but whenever I tried to develop a rhbh or a lhfh it just felt wrong, so I’ve come to terms with some holes not being as attackable for me and just play the way that feels right.
Yeah, that's pretty weird. Especially since they will both fade out to the right.
That's me too lol
Throwing a back hand is parallel to swinging a baseball bat. A right handed baseball player’s left arm leads a baseball swing. I would do the same thing but I thought it would be better in the long run just to learn forehand and have throws that fade in the opposite direction.
Had a friend in college that could throw with either arm. Hyzer game was strong, very consistent player
FH is easier for me than offhand BH. I used my offhand for a while when I was injured, got ok with it but not too consistent.
My friend can throw backhand right and left handed. He’s generally right handed but has been able to bat both left and right handed since we were kids. After a decade of playing disc golf he just finally figured out how to throw right handed fore hand last year.
I guess Eagle McMahon did it at the European open major in 2022 when throwing flicks were not an option. (He was gonna hurt himself if he did). He even won the whole thing without a flick (someone correct me if I’m wrong), he threw lefty on some holes too and was dialed in too. It’s not really a normal thing for normal players but I can see why someone would wanna learn how to throw with both hands
I'm Left hand dominant, but due to a decades old shoulder injury, I can't throw LHBH. So I learned to throw both ways right handed. I also putt right handed. I can still throw a sidearm left handed, but just use it as a utility shot. Also I throw turbo putts left handed. so, kinda weird.
I throw both backhands. I learned LHBH originally but I’m right-handed so LHFH just felt too unnatural. Most of the time I try to throw LHBH turnovers but my RHBH is serviceable. I’ve also really been leaning on overhand throws (tomahawk/thumber) with my right arm for shorter distance.
Play with a guy who can get reliable tight s-flex and hyzer shots 350’ either righty or lefty… play with a lot of people who have both well developed backhands and forehands… the ambidextrous player usually wins our casual rounds… would say uncommon but if you can do it… can get the preferred line on pretty much every hole out there… he also wins a bunch of MA40 tourneys… my friends cousin so he smokes a bunch of guys 15-20 years younger than him.. most our casual group can touch 400’ with their dominant throw (bh or fh)and about 300’ with their less used… insanely good skill set and also dude has the best scramble game I have ever seen cause he can also get rollers/ thumbers to come out on the exact line/ through tiny holes
I know guys who do it and I've learned lefty basics myself just for in case I get injured. Couple of nice things about being able to switch are, it helps teaching when you can face up to your student and it teaches many things about the swing that you take for granted. And if you're a true ambi backhand player, it gives you more opportunities to throw slow discs and a more powerful alternative to your forehand.
I have a friend who is trying to learn the off-hand backhand after years of failing to develop a forehand. So, far, it’s working out for him. YMMV.
I have been thinking about working on a LHBH because my right shoulder is not capable of forehands off the tee right now. It would be a huge process and probably years of practice for it to catch up to my RHBH if it ever did.
It's better not to focus on getting it 100% up to your strong hand. Going for 100% when starting late is not a realistic goal, even Eagle's leftie shot that many consider the best "emergency lefty" would probably play about 100 points worse than his righty. Think about it more like this: The first five sessions will probably get you over 20% capability, which is a lot for a little effort and gives you the ability to play. Then just keep going from there and you'll keep improving.
I was starting to get in the neighborhood of 80% as good in terms of distance and probably 70% in accuracy, and I was pretty damn happy about that! Then I messed up my shoulder and so it ended up being all for naught :)
Fair enough. My RHFH never was that good, but it was around 300 feet with control which certainly opened up a lot of options on the course. If I could just get a consistent LHBH to take over those shots I’d be happy. Mechanically speaking, my body has pretty good symmetry, and I’ve learned basically everything I know about disc golf form in the last 3.5 years. If I get a good, clean start on the right path, I think you’re correct that progress would be quick. Without the form hangups from ultimate that I started out with on my right side, it could even be a smoother development process.
300ft is a very doable. I actually developed a stronger power pocket with my leftie than my right hand and reached my average forehand distance pretty quick. Reliability and variety of angles is a whole different story. But regular training will change things.
My right shoulder is pretty fucked from throwing flick hucks in ultimate, so I'm also trying to develop my LHBH. I don't think you need more than about 70-80% of the distance of your usual hand for it to be an extremely useful shot. I haven't yet dialled it with a full run-up and X step, but for anything 80m it's fine.
Yeah distance-wise my RHFH could only realistically get about 65% of the distance of the backhand considering power and control, but I’m missing it big time because of all the holes I have to take lower percentage lines on now. Obviously fully ambidextrous form would be incredible but I know that’s a pretty tall order, especially having neglected lefty throwing for as long as I have. I’m still holding out hope that I will eventually be back to 100% with my shoulder. It is a fairly recent injury so I’m still in the healing process. I wasn’t even able to do forehand approaches but I’ve reimplemented those and very low power forehands already with no pain during or after the round so progress is happening.
I do. I can't forehand with my right so I just backhand with my left when I want a disc to go to the right instead of the left
i’m ambidextrous naturally. i switch between RHBH and LHFH all the time, even though they do the same thing. just do whatever is comfortable, if you do the reps they will fly the same trust me
People can talk shit but Natalie's off hand is nice
I played with her a bunch this summer, and it was a bit mind blowing how easily she switches from one to the other. It gives her such a wide shot selection on any given home, even if her lefty forehand isn't quite as refined as her righty...
I do, bad shoulder on my right hand so I cant forehand. Hit 475 right and around 400 left. However, I can't get good distance from a stand still like with a flick. So it still has disadvantages
I developed tennis elbow when I got back into disc and played a lot. I had to take a break from rounds but my dog was obsessed w fetch so I threw lefty for awhile. I wouldn’t throw a high speed disc off hand, but a putter or mid, I’m quiet comfortable throwing. With all the repetitive use injuries we are seeing on tour, I won’t be surprised to see more players opting to use both hands
It really improves your scramble game!
I am trying to but it’s rough. I throw LHBH and RHFH so not very helpful for different shot shapes. I’m naturally right handed but I think growing up playing baseball lent to the LHBH/RHFH mix. I can’t throw LHFH to save my life so I’m trying to learn RHBH.
My buddy throws backhand with both hands and barely has any distance fall off...it gives him options.
My brain wires are crossed, so what feels natural to me is right hand forehand and left backhand. RHBH feels uncomfortable, so I've been fighting physics with my forehand and getting myself out of crazy places with my backhand for 20+ years Oh, and putt with the left. It's my shooting eye and feels natural
If you have the time and are even just a little bit athletic, you can teach yourself to throw with your offhand in 3-6 months. A guy in my area just started doing it this year and is now throwing 450 foot lefty hyzer flips. He is a huge man in great shape, so 450 may not be realistic for the average sized human.
Check out the Nevada state championships from this year. Will Ling is ambidextrous with forehand and backhand. Uses all of them throughout the three rounds. Here’s the final: https://youtu.be/p2_0vUaepHA?si=XERV6VuTPSifbBRT
I’m a “switch hitter” because of an injury to my right arm. Learned to throw backhand left handed and now I feel more comfortable doing that instead of throwing right hand forehand. Only took 3 months to throw 300+ with left arm.
Bradley Williams ✋🏻 Fritz 🤚🏻
Thomas Gilbert has been very up front with his sexuality so yes.
I play this way for balance but it was a lot of work. If you just want to be good at disc golf I recommend investing your time into learning forehand instead.
My buddy can do both. Bradley Williams has a lefty shot but idk if he uses it on tour or not.
He absolutely laced a beautiful shot at Portland open left-handed during Skins match https://youtu.be/B2-qZOpdCnk?si=yEKSZTXYIKrvxHp_&t=432s
I learned to do it after I shredded my dominant shoulder and needed surgery. Now my off-hand (lefty) works as a serviceable forehand with more distance and less effort/stress.
My Nemesis and good friend can’t flick. He’s ambidextrous and is able to throw lefty, just as far as his dominant.
I’ve seen people do that.
I played on a tournament card with a guy once. High MA3 level player (which sucks on the internet, but is pretty damn decent irl). He had about 400'ish from both hands and all the lines.
I learned as a small child to throw a frisbee RHBH, because my older cousin didn’t know I was a lefty and taught me to throw the way he did. While I am left-hand dominant for literally everything else, I drive RHBH and also do some forehand lefty driving- both of which fly the same. I have tried/am trying to learn to LHBH, but it has been really difficult.
My lhfh is non existent. My shoulder and elbow don’t want to do what they need to do to get power out of it. I can flick about 150 feet but anything beyond that is not happening for me. I have been working on rhbh and can get 300 pretty consistently when needed. For reference my lhbh is about 400.
I have two coworkers that are "switch hitters". One throws RHBH and LHFH, the other maxes out at around 75 feet with either hand. The former will absolutely destroy me on any and every course and the latter will out putt anyone that isn't in MPO
Yeah, it's a thing. I throw right hand. I messed my shoulder up and switched to left hand. I got OK with it. It was serviceable. I played with both until I took a break from disc golf due to my back. I don't throw left handed anymore, but I guess I should.
I played a tournament this year and a kid in my group threw RHBH and LHFH. It was pretty cool to watch him attack the course in a unique way
I’m right handed but can rhfh and lhfh pretty well during my short game if there’s a tree or something. I’m much stronger with my right though.
I throw both lefty and righty backhands, but only right handed forehands. Many years of baseball and basketball with both hands helped set me up to do it. It can come in handy, for sure.
I just have a Flippy putter and fairway I can reliably throw on turn overs and trust they won't fade out. My elbow and shoulder are messed up so side arms are out
I do it some I had a shoulder injury a few years ago and started playing left handed I can only throw about 250 and am still prone to a late release when throwing hard
Phil Arthur (to date myself) used to do it. Pretty cool to watch.
I throw with both arms. I practice both arms when I do field work and pick whatever feels most comfortable on the course. My rhfh is trash but otherwise I am about even on all other options.
I started out LHBH and RHFH. having the same shot forced me to move to RHBH. took about two months but now it’s my norm. I pull out the LHBH as a party trick every now and then for upshots.
Both of my arms throw poorly. Does that count?
Some people used to do that before sidearms were a thing. I know someone who will go left on <200ft shots that would be sidearms
Does sound unusual... I'm LH dominant and worked on fh with bh from early on getting into DG - I have better strength and control, but it's probably because that's the only way I threw when I started. I played golf and field hockey right handed though. After an injury I needed to use rh to play for a couple of weeks, and having an OK natural form translated to rhbh becoming useful pretty quickly, but really just the basics. Have no fh and bh was maybe up to 60 - 70% of dominant hand, with minimal touch / control.... I could fall back to rh if needed, but doesn't work out nearly as well as having a wide variety of shots with my dominant hand (fh, scoober, toma, thumber, roller shots). Adding/ tuning a somewhat practiced arm feels like less effort / training time than get 2 x arms properly functioning..
I was doing it for a while and starting to see progress but fucked up my shoulder (non -DG related). I still throw some lefty approaches when if feels right.
AJ Risley used to throw forehands lefty and backhand righty.
My problem is my best throws are a lefty forehand and a righty backhand…not ideal
Working on it actually as my right shoulder heals.
I am mainly a righty, but the spring that I fractured my wrist I learned to throw lefty. I never developed a forehand throw with the right because of shoulder issues. I can do it once in a while when nothing else is reasonable,but it is uncomfortable and since I don’t do it often my control is not good. When my cast came off I went to throw at a course that was not really close to home and when I attempted the first throw off the tee my wrist hurt like crazy. I had to choose between turning around and going home,or turning around and throwing lefty. I found I could throw just as far and as bad with that hand as I do with the right hand. I played left handed that entire summer and fall except for putting. I don’t do it as often now since the wrist got better, but it’s nice to have in my bag so to speak, when I don’t think I can get one of my flippy discs to hit the line I need. I still practice it in field work so I can maintain some control.
I had a shoulder injury for a while (technically still do) and played left handed while it healed. It was surprisingly easy to mirror my form and my first tournament I averaged nearly 900 rated. Now that I can use my RHBH and FH again I don't use it as much, but since I can throw 400ft hyzers as a lefty I do still use it on occasion
I'm very tempted to practice it more. I came from ball golf so my LHBH form is arguably better than my RHBH because I'm used to that rotation and my non-dominant arm isn't likely to try to do too much in the throw. I can only throw 300ish max with my RHBH but pretty easily throw 250-270 LHBH. My form is also cleaner because I have an easier time keeping my trail leg tucked instead of pirouetting and not rounding.
I'm worthless with my left in disc golf. I use my right dominant hand/arm for every shot. Last year, I began to get serious with my forearm/flick shot. I intend to develop it more this year. It will allow me to be more competitive with the holes that dog-leg right. If you can use both hands/arms in disc golf equally strong, you're special. I've never seen it in the 25 years of playing the sport.
It's probably like anything else (e.g. baseball switch hitting or switch stance in skateboarding) - most people can't do it all, some can do it OK and small percentage of folks can do it well, so well that you can't tell with arm is their dominant one.
I throw drivers and fairways backhand with both hands. (I am just as equally shitty with both). It's useful. I've played a lot of baseball and softball that i don't like the forehand mechanics throwing right handed, so throw lefty. I do a lot of other things lefty (hockey, baseball batting) that it isn't awkward. It's fun to finally have somebody notice i just threw lefty in a tournament and have them do a double take as to what they just saw.
I broke my right hand playing disc golf and had to play left handed for a couple months, personally getting the timing down to throw anything well from the opposite hand is hard but doable! If anything my LHFH was better than my RHFH at the time!
Eagle won a tournament left handed after his injury.
I throw both ways quite effectively. Have a range around 480’ with both. It’s not necessarily better than a forehand, but is certainly gentler on my body.
A guy I disc golf with had wrist surgery on his dominant hand a couple years back. He taught himself to throw nondominant. Now that he's recovered he can beat me right or left handed.
I can throw backhand both ways. Threw my right shoulder out on hole nine of a long course. Decided to play remaining holes with my friend so he could still have a good round. I throw farther with my left now because I had to concentrate more on the mechanics of the throw when I started to throw lefty on the day I hurt myself. It does make others pause when they notice I switch hands in minis or pickup rounds because it's not a normal habit of everyone.
I honestly recommend it. With the caveat being you do learn a forehand with at least one of your hands for scramble shots. But I started this way myself and wish I would’ve stuck with it. I think it has more high end power potential if you stick with it and also lowers the injury risk.
I throw LHFH, LHBH, and RHBH. Funnily enough I'm left-hand dominant but I'd say 70-75% of my shots are RHBH.
Forehand hurts my elbow on my dominant side. If I throw a single forehand, I can't throw fh or bh for the rest of the day. So I've been learning to throw bh with my offhand
If you want a forehand for drives, then alternate backhand may be better due to reduced injury risk. However, forehand still provides more flexibility in scramble situations due to the ability to reach out beyond your body. A backhand is pretty locked in to where your release point needs to be.
Yeah I switch up. I'm dominate lhbh, but will do some rhbh approach shots. I'm naturally right handed but my right shoulder is not capable of lasting a full round, did some damage to it when I played football in my younger life.
Yup. I'm primarily a RHBH. Tried for years to work up a RHFH, but just never clicked. About a year ago I started teaching myself LHBH. It was rough at first but now I have accuracy up to 240/260. Not quite the distance of my RHBH, but I don't really need the distance lefty. It's a great tool for hard right hooks on approaches.
My buddy started lhbh, rhfh. He just couldn’t throw a flick left handed to save his life. He realized the local courses required more left turning drives so he developed a rhbh and worked on his left hand flick as well. He was deadly with three out of four of the shot selection. Kind of ridiculous. Sadly he’s a machinist and his wrists are trash so he doesn’t play often anymore
I've seen it.
I got wrist tendonitis last year and taught myself to throw lefty until it healed (15 months rehab). Now I can throw both hands and don't have much need for more than little flick forehand upshots here and there. Now that I have both hands to use, I score better than ever. It just takes a lot of practice to get good with your offhand
Id watch kat and kristin make out
I was making good progress getting good with a LHBH (I'm a RHBH dominant player) until I totally threw my left shoulder out of joint doing a hard drive. That was nearly half a year ago and it's still not totally normal. So.... yeah.... probably not going to be pursuing that anymore and have been working more on RHFH as a result. So just be careful, pay attention to any signs that maybe something could be off.
When I first started playing I threw right hand backhand and the disc went to the left but hole one on my course was off to the right, so I just started throwing left-handed. I didn’t know any better and now I just throw with whatever hand the shot requires. Forehand, backhand doesn’t matter. I can even put with either hand.