Critique my form - Video of my backhand

[Ben Wilson]

I've improved my backhand a lot in the past year (believe it or not!), but this is the first time I've made a video to try to improve my form. I only practice from a standstill right now, hoping to add an x-step once I feel like I've got the fundamentals down.

If it helps, my average distances are around:
Wizard - 250'
Buzz/Comet - 270'
Teebird/Leopard - 300'

Here is my own attempt at a critique:
1. Nose up! I thought I had this corrected because most of my throws stay nice and low throughout their flight, but it sure looks like those discs are leaving nose up, right?
2. It looks like my arm is dropping low when I pull through. Is this a problem? It looks kinda weird...
3. I think my shoulders are opening up too early.
4. It looks like I'm short-arming the throw at release (not extending for a full snap)

What do you think?

 

[Ben Wilson]

Here are some pics of my grip also.

 

[Don Juan]

I think you could work on having the disc move in a straight line from the back to front. Have the disc closer to your chest as your pulling it across your body should help. Work on timing your snap to get max distance. If you work on what you said needs work, you will be throwing farther in no time, you are absolutely spot on on your own critique. Keep your arm as level on a lateral plane as you can. You can use your thumb as a pointer, that what I have done and I found that it helped. If you keep your thumb stiff the disc rarely flies out nose up.

Also, the top pros twist on the heel of their front foot when throwing, just something to consider. I'm now trying to learn this and I've been playing disc golf for around 5 years. If you don't believe me, watch any world championship disc golf tourney on Youtube. I gaurantee you that all the lead card players will rotate on the heel of their front foot when throwing backhand, right at the release. Dave Feldberg said in an instructional vid that 90% of players rotate on their toes but that's not right.

 

[Don Juan]

Also, the top pros twist on the heel of their front foot when throwing, just something to consider. I'm now trying to learn this and I've been playing disc golf for around 5 years. If you don't believe me, watch any world championship disc golf tourney on Youtube. I gaurantee you that all the lead card players will rotate on the heel of their front foot when throwing backhand, right at the release. Dave Feldberg said in an instructional vid that 90% of players rotate on their toes but that's not right.

I mean on the drives, off the tee boxes.

 

[sidewinder22]

Not too shabby. Your grip doesn't look very effective, like your fingers are too curled under the rim. I'd flatten the top pinky joint and move the index finger further away from the other fingers so your leverage is spread out more across the rim and allowing the disc to pivot around the index/thumb last.

From the backswing you are reaching too far around with the upper arm hugging yourself. Use your hips and shoulders turning back to bring the arm straight back keeping the upper arm wide from the chest elbow more out/forward. This will help you keep a straight pull forward and getting the elbow further forward of the shoulder before release and imparting more whip speed.

From the transition to the forward swing, your front foot spins out before your weight has gone to the heel. Your rear foot also spins out with the rear heel moving away from the target. This is a major power leak and sequencing error as you spin before weight transfer. You are pretty much cooked from this point leverage wise and your swing is compromised and nose up.