New backhand form after lesson with Bradley Williams. Critique away!

[StuMagoo]

Yesterday I had the honor of a two hour lesson with disc golf pro Bradley Williams. We did one hour of putting technique and one hour of backhand technique in the field. Bradley is one hell of a disc golf coach. He is truly dedicated to the sport. I hope to be able to take more in-depth lessons with him in the future.

So about my old backhand form. Unfortunately I don't have a good video of my old form. Since we were only limited to one hour on backhand, he didn't want to change too much too quickly. Here is what we covered.

• I was starting almost every backhand drive from the right rear corner of the box, at a sideways stance. Right shoulder facing my target line. This is the first thing he wanted to change. He squared me up on the teebox, face-forward with my target line. This threw a huge wrench in my x-step, so we pretty much had to re-work my footing entirely.

• I also had a decent hop in the middle of my x-step. He said there are many top pros that have a hop, and that's not necessarily a bad thing, but the majority of elite pros don't have a hop. I decided since we were re-working my footing entirely anyways I should try to eliminate the hop. As you will see in this video, that will take more time and practice. But for now I have reduced the hop significantly.

• I was mainly an upper body thrower. My lower body was stiff, and I wasn't utilizing my knees and hips. We worked on bending my knees more, focusing on absorbing my steps slowly rather than running through them very fast like I was before. Once I kinda got this down and threw a few slow, easy drives, I immediately noticed an increase in velocity, distance, and control. It felt like the disc was kind of whipping out of my hand rather than just being thrown. Kind of hard to explain since this is all so new to me.

• worked on extending my plant foot out on the toes, and rotating to the heel. Surprisingly this wasn't that difficult to incorporate. Maybe I was already doing it with my old form and didn't realize it. He also said my reach back and timing could use a little work but that would be for another training session.

• my upper body was more upright in my old form. Worked briefly on getting my upper torso over the disc, and really pulling my elbow towards the target line close to my chest.

All in all I am very pleased with how much we achieved in one hour. COMPLETELY worth every penny IMO.

On to the video: as you can see I'm not actually throwing the disc. I am only concentrating on a slow, smooth run-up. Towards the end I try to speed it up a little but I can tell the hop comes back in and the timing is slightly off. On a couple of these it felt like everything was clicking together and the disc really wanting to rip out of my hand.

Any constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. Thanks for looking!

[simplepmart]

Glad to hear you liked your lesson from Brad and feel it was beneficial. I have a lesson with him when he is in town for the KC Wide Open and I can't wait! Good luck with your game!!

[simplepmart]

Glad to hear you liked your lesson from Brad and feel it was beneficial. I have a lesson with him when he is in town for the KC Wide Open and I can't wait! Good luck with your game!!

[Questatement]

I would let your left arm 'hang' a little looser so that it swings around after your release. That tension might be holding your rotation back some.

[StuMagoo]

Originally Posted by Questatement

I would let your left arm 'hang' a little looser so that it swings around after your release. That tension might be holding your rotation back some.

Thanks, I'll have to try that. I see some guys that put their off hand in their pocket to help kick that habit.

[Questatement]

Originally Posted by StuMagoo

Thanks, I'll have to try that. I see some guys that put their off hand in their pocket to help kick that habit.

Yea, it's not really in the way of your throwing arm but the follow through looks like it's planned, including putting on the brakes, when at the punch I prefer mine to be flacid which causes it to swing/flop around where it will depending on various factors of release.

[StuMagoo]

Originally Posted by Questatement

Yea, it's not really in the way of your throwing arm but the follow through looks like it's planned, including putting on the brakes, when at the punch I prefer mine to be flacid which causes it to swing/flop around where it will depending on various factors of release.

Hmmm. I've seen a video of Avery where his left arm is flopping around like spaghetti. That seems like it will be a hard habit to break but I see what you mean about that affecting certain release angles.

[Questatement]

Great and same thing with your head. There's nothing that says you have to watch your disc fly from the moment it leaves your hand. You can turn back around after your follow through and, unless you hit a tree 15' off the T, you won't miss a thing.

In fact, you'll be glad you weren't watching LOL

[GordEzo]

I'd give anything for a lesson !

Hasn't seemed to help me hearing " don't worry , you'll get it ! "

[bfowler]

Nice. I've got that hop too. I've tried to take it out but it screws up my timing. I also start standing sideways to the basket. If I start out like you video I get a lot more distance but ALWAYS release way late or with more OAT. Whatever I'm doing it causing my disk to go way right.

I'm going to slow it down and mimic some of the stuff you talked about in your post.

What'd you learn in your hour putting lesson?