I know this girl...

[Lewis]

I've been dating a girl who has shown a bit of interest in disc golf, and she lives really close to a course where I like to play a lot. The problem is she's recently had back surgery, and has been forbidden by her surgeon from ever bending her back again. She's still in her twenties, but the interdiction against back movement has thrown a monkey-wrench into my plans to introduce her to the game. However, she's heard from a back rehab doctor that disc golfers who've been through back surgery can learn to play with a forehand.

Problem is I'm a backhand-dominant player. Are there any good videos or instructional lessons out there for teaching the fragile of back to learn to play? I'm thinking I'll start her out by just going for walks in the park, and maybe she can watch me play a few holes while we walk to judge whether she's still interested. Then if she is, I'd start her with putting. From there we could maybe work up to a forehand approach type shot, but I'm wondering how much she could really learn to do with a fragile back, and even a forehand approach shot would be too much for her at this point in her recovery. Anybody out there know how to seek out advice for this situation?

[sidewinder22]

I don't think my forehand is any better for my back than backhand. You can check youtube for the Discraft with Mark Ellis for forehand driving though.

[Marty McFly]

Dump her... dump her fast.


jk

Some guys can not play with their wife or g/f. Nagging, fighting, and whatever cause them to stumble. Just simply tell her you passion for the sport, if she thinks she can handle it, take her out. If not ask if she wants to come walk a round with you. My wife actually enjoys going out and watching.

My wife starts out playing the first 9-10 holes and then tries to relax. She rarely plays a full 18. She does love giving me guy time and I spend more time playing with them.

Bringing girls into the sport is fun but balancing it out is the key.

As for the FH shot, I always hear how easy on the body it is. The main thing is not trying to push her into being a pro. That is my problem with my wife, I want her to be the best and she just wants to have fun and could careless about being good.

Disc golf is one of the few games were you don't have to be good at it to enjoy it. Teach her what you know and let the rest develop. Start off playing a limited amount of holes.

Here is a decent video for the FH throw.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOECjLjhiTI

one more
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGwHwsuSQ1A

Hope this helps.

[biscoe]

i have had varying degrees of lower back trouble for years and unfortunately sidearm bothers it at least as much as backhand.

[Lewis]

I see from the videos that there's a lot of back twisting and bending involved in the technique, which is discouraging. I wonder if anybody with back surgery experience has any advice on how to adapt a forehand to minimize back twisting. Remember of course that this is a girl who probably wouldn't expect to develop a 300' drive if she had never had any back problems.

And to be more particular about her injury, I'll try to imitate her description: One day, for no apparent reason, a disc in her lower back decided it wanted to exit her spine. She had other tissue grafted into where the disc was to take its place in her spine instead of having the vertebrae fused. She wants to avoid that invasive a surgery.

[TalbotTrojan]

I like the Mark Ellis forehand video. He does a good job and he is a guy who switched from backhand to forehand becasue of pain in his knees I believe.

[solomon.trenton]

honestly just have her face the basket with her arm parallel to the ground with her elbow touching her waist. holding the disc in your hand flick your wrist. at first you wont get much distance but it will make for one helluva straight shot that only utilizes your wrist.

[jace]

tomahawk? at least off the tee. there's less twisting involved but maybe it would still be painful - dont know, but just a thought?

[solomon.trenton]

:(tomahawk? at least off the tee. there's less twisting involved but maybe it would still be painful - dont know, but just a thought?

when i tomahawk i twist and turn my entire body. if you have a tight back it kills, much less if you cant use your back.

[runnaman]

I think that using a forehand shot should be fine if she doesn't use a run up of any sort. Kind of like what solomon.trenton was saying.

[Geoffro]

You might also want to look into the turbo putt - might involve less twisting.

http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2651

[blang]

I've been dating a girl who has shown a bit of interest in disc golf, and she lives really close to a course where I like to play a lot. The problem is she's recently had back surgery, and has been forbidden by her surgeon from ever bending her back again. She's still in her twenties, but the interdiction against back movement has thrown a monkey-wrench into my plans to introduce her to the game. However, she's heard from a back rehab doctor that disc golfers who've been through back surgery can learn to play with a forehand.

Problem is I'm a backhand-dominant player. Are there any good videos or instructional lessons out there for teaching the fragile of back to learn to play? I'm thinking I'll start her out by just going for walks in the park, and maybe she can watch me play a few holes while we walk to judge whether she's still interested. Then if she is, I'd start her with putting. From there we could maybe work up to a forehand approach type shot, but I'm wondering how much she could really learn to do with a fragile back, and even a forehand approach shot would be too much for her at this point in her recovery. Anybody out there know how to seek out advice for this situation?

I am not sure if you remember but my wife has a bad back as well and we share your challenge. She is a decent putter but has issues with anything from the tee. One way we have been able to overcome the bad back is allowing her to throw the Arobie Ring for her drives. Your girl friend will be able to get good distance just using her wrist and without twisting. The ring is easy to get caught in trees but will work fine in Oregon Park.

[Geoffro]

One way we have been able to overcome the bad back is allowing her to throw the Arobie Ring for her drives. Your girl friend will be able to get good distance just using her wrist and without twisting.

Great suggestion. This thing flies forever, and is an acceptable substitute for someone wholly reliant on their arm for their drive.

[LeftyToss]

There's a very good post somewhere on the site about how to throw a forearm shot. I have some slight back pain issues from golfing/skiing for so many years. I tried a forearm where i literally just used my arm (no real back movement at all). I basically stood sideways on the tee and took a big step and threw. The key is the wrist snap.

[nexanimal]

McFly recommends a staged introduction to the sport, which I suppose is how many/most women are introduced, though I stand as evidence that it's conservative to suggest that all females want to stop playing after nine holes. I like nothing better than teeing off on a blind long dogleg or narrow tunnel, even if it means that I'll be bushwacking to find my disc in tall grass or worse if I shank it. Don't limit your dream too early.

While I find McFly's positioning a bit old fashioned, it's worked for him and could for you. If you have good reason to doubt your girlfriend's interest, his advice is likely sound.

Consider another outcome. My boyfriend and I noticed a small municipal course close to a neighborhood we frequented (Pvt. Anderson Park, Carson CA), and he said he wanted to play there sometime. He had played with another friend for some time, but had never invited me. The next time we were going to be in that area, I suggested that he toss his discs in the truck and that we should play the course. I was probably going to be pretty bad, I reasoned, but how bad could it be to go play in a pretty park on a sunny afternoon?

After my first pretty bad tee shot I was already hooked. And from what I've learned from other players on pretty much every course I've played, sudden love with the sport is pretty common.

It's appropriate to be concerned about how DG could affect your girlfriend's back, and she's going to have to quarterback that part. There are a lot of different ways to toss a disc: one guy at my home course (El Dorado Park, Long Beach, CA) spins like a top on the tee to help his disc get into rotation. I'd suggest taking her out for a round to watch, and if she's interested ask her to work with her physical therapist to develop an appropriate strengthening routine so that she can play comfortably.

I wish you well and look forward to seeing what the rest of the crew chimes in with. Good luck.

- nex ;)

[Marty McFly]

McFly recommends a staged introduction to the sport, which I suppose is how many/most women are introduced, though I stand as evidence that it's conservative to suggest that all females want to stop playing after nine holes. I like nothing better than teeing off on a blind long dogleg or narrow tunnel, even if it means that I'll be bushwacking to find my disc in tall grass or worse if I shank it. Don't limit your dream too early.

While I find McFly's positioning a bit old fashioned, it's worked for him and could for you. If you have good reason to doubt your girlfriend's interest, his advice is likely sound.

Consider another outcome. My boyfriend and I noticed a small municipal course close to a neighborhood we frequented (Pvt. Anderson Park, Carson CA), and he said he wanted to play there sometime. He had played with another friend for some time, but had never invited me. The next time we were going to be in that area, I suggested that he toss his discs in the truck and that we should play the course. I was probably going to be pretty bad, I reasoned, but how bad could it be to go play in a pretty park on a sunny afternoon?

After my first pretty bad tee shot I was already hooked. And from what I've learned from other players on pretty much every course I've played, sudden love with the sport is pretty common.

It's appropriate to be concerned about how DG could affect your girlfriend's back, and she's going to have to quarterback that part. There are a lot of different ways to toss a disc: one guy at my home course (El Dorado Park, Long Beach, CA) spins like a top on the tee to help his disc get into rotation. I'd suggest taking her out for a round to watch, and if she's interested ask her to work with her physical therapist to develop an appropriate strengthening routine so that she can play comfortably.

I wish you well and look forward to seeing what the rest of the crew chimes in with. Good luck.

- nex ;)

Old Fashioned... Never been called that! I will take what I can get.

[Lewis]

Thanks for the advice folks. :)

It's not so much about back pain, since the surgery mercifully solved that problem. It's more about minimizing the risk of blowing her back out again and having to have yet another surgery. I don't know if her mother could forgive me if she blew her back out playing a sport with me. ;) The fact that she asked a physical therapist about how to play with back problems makes me think she's at least strongly curious about the sport. Wish us luck.

[giles]

McFly recommends a staged introduction to the sport, which I suppose is how many/most women are introduced, though I stand as evidence that it's conservative to suggest that all females want to stop playing after nine holes. I like nothing better than teeing off on a blind long dogleg or narrow tunnel, even if it means that I'll be bushwacking to find my disc in tall grass or worse if I shank it. Don't limit your dream too early.

While I find McFly's positioning a bit old fashioned, it's worked for him and could for you. If you have good reason to doubt your girlfriend's interest, his advice is likely sound.

Consider another outcome. My boyfriend and I noticed a small municipal course close to a neighborhood we frequented (Pvt. Anderson Park, Carson CA), and he said he wanted to play there sometime. He had played with another friend for some time, but had never invited me. The next time we were going to be in that area, I suggested that he toss his discs in the truck and that we should play the course. I was probably going to be pretty bad, I reasoned, but how bad could it be to go play in a pretty park on a sunny afternoon?

After my first pretty bad tee shot I was already hooked. And from what I've learned from other players on pretty much every course I've played, sudden love with the sport is pretty common.

It's appropriate to be concerned about how DG could affect your girlfriend's back, and she's going to have to quarterback that part. There are a lot of different ways to toss a disc: one guy at my home course (El Dorado Park, Long Beach, CA) spins like a top on the tee to help his disc get into rotation. I'd suggest taking her out for a round to watch, and if she's interested ask her to work with her physical therapist to develop an appropriate strengthening routine so that she can play comfortably.

I wish you well and look forward to seeing what the rest of the crew chimes in with. Good luck.

- nex ;)


I'll chime in on this. My girlfriend and I had been dating for 2 weeks when when asked me "what is up with this disc golf you talk about?" We played a little 9 hole course and I set her up with some discs. She was throwing in a field by her apartment the very next day. She played her first sanctioned tournament in the first 6 months of picking up a disc. She hasn't slowed down. We both have an equal passion for the game but she is into the competitive aspect more than I. http://www.pdga.com/player-stats?PDGANum=33398 if you want to see her stats.

[Lewis]

Also I really like the aerobie ring idea. With her flexibility limitations she's not going to be playing in any tournaments anyway, so why not use a ring if that's what makes it fun? :cool:

[craigd]

I like the Idea of the aerobie ring for my 7 year old daughter. She only drives about 35 feet and she gets frustrated rather quickly. I think I am going to try that out.

[volklgirl]

You might also have her look into getting some type of back brace to keep everything snug and aligned, as well. She can ask her physician or PT person, or she may have a corset still hanging around from her surgery. If so, I highly recommend she use it while playing.

If she does decide to play and you don't go with the Aerobie Ring, get her a set of 150 class or lighter discs....they really fly, even with minimal speed and action.

[tajsss]

My wife plays with me all the time. She has some shoulder issues so usually just stops throwing when she gets tired and just walks the rest of the course with me. She is not serious at all and I am semi-serious about DG. We have no problem going to a course together and playing a round. I'm serious and she is having a good time. We're having a good time together. I do give her tips here and there to improve her game. She just enjoys not throwing in the bush as often. She does have a nice drive on her and could be really good if she really wanted to practice a lot more, but she doesn't have the desire or competitive drive, so I don't push it and everyone is happy.

It's a great way to spend a nice sunny afternoon outside together.

[craigg]

Not trying to be a downer or anything, but I'd take frisbee stuff real slow with any sort of back/neck issues. Doesn't matter how hard you're throwing, there are a lot of muscle groups involved with chucking a disc. And the little "all arm" throws can be just as damaging to a sensitive sytem as "full body motion" throws.

Get her out walking on the course first - and take whatever interest she might have in pursuing DG very gently, until she has a grasp on what her limitations are.

[CaptainAnhyzer]

It's a great way to spend a nice sunny afternoon outside together.
Second this..........

[Lewis]

I think she's planning on getting a back brace, but couldn't be fitted for one until her incisions healed up. That's finally done, so I'm looking forward to taking her for a walk in the park so she can see what it is I'm talking about.