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Strats for lefties?

DiscRook18

Newbie
Joined
May 4, 2010
Messages
21
Location
Wisconsin, yes its cheese country
Hi everyone I'm a new player to the game and have been steadily progressing as a player. I'm looking to take it to the next level, but everything I read on more advanced strategies and techniques is geared for righties. Should I just be taking any advance said and flip it or what? Or does anyone have any good advice for a lefty?


Thanks for the help

The Rook
 
Jimi Hendrix used a righty guitar but played lefty. Just flip it.
 
Yeah discs work the same way for lefties, just mirrored. Don't be scared to ask if you need something cleared up.
 
As a lefty, I can easily say most average and below average courses are designed around RHBH throwers. So my tip for DiscRook is to learn your anhyzer release and understable discs.

Understable Disc suggestions:
Driver: Sidewinder 165g
Fairway: Leopard 170g
Midrange: Stingray 170g
Putter: (Gateway) Magic 172g

If you're mildly capable of throwing forehand, practice it as well. I have zero forehand skills, which i hate.
 
As a lefty, I can easily say most average and below average courses are designed around RHBH throwers. So my tip for DiscRook is to learn your anhyzer release and understable discs.

Understable Disc suggestions:
Driver: Sidewinder 165g
Fairway: Leopard 170g
Midrange: Stingray 170g
Putter: (Gateway) Magic 172g

If you're mildly capable of throwing forehand, practice it as well. I have zero forehand skills, which i hate.

the stingray is awesome. and so is the kite. (im also LHBH)
 
As a lefty, I can easily say most average and below average courses are designed around RHBH throwers. So my tip for DiscRook is to learn your anhyzer release and understable discs.

Understable Disc suggestions:
Driver: Sidewinder 165g
Fairway: Leopard 170g
Midrange: Stingray 170g
Putter: (Gateway) Magic 172g

If you're mildly capable of throwing forehand, practice it as well. I have zero forehand skills, which i hate.

As a lefty as well, i would concur with this assesment. I use the Stingray for most of my shots
 
As a lefty, I can easily say most average and below average courses are designed around RHBH throwers. So my tip for DiscRook is to learn your anhyzer release and understable discs.

As a lefty only " seasoned" player, I agree with this statement.
Most disc golf players are right handed, and most disc golf course designers are arrogant and self serving. What this means is you will usually find more disc golf holes that curve right to left.
This is hard for a lefty to throw well. Anhyzer throws are hard to master, but will help you on most courses.

Best advice I can give you is learn to throw forehand. This will allow you to more easily follow all the preferred right hand lines to the pin.

If you can throw both forehand and backhand well, you will fear no line.
 
As a lefty, I can easily say most average and below average courses are designed around RHBH throwers. So my tip for DiscRook is to learn your anhyzer release and understable discs.

Understable Disc suggestions:
Driver: Sidewinder 165g
Fairway: Leopard 170g
Midrange: Stingray 170g
Putter: (Gateway) Magic 172g

If you're mildly capable of throwing forehand, practice it as well. I have zero forehand skills, which i hate.

I'm in that same boat, and I'll agree that the Sidewinder/Stingray combination is effective for courses requring alot of righty hyzers.
 
also a lefty

I agree with most of the advice here. I would add that my best anhyzer disc is a star Roadrunner, or a lightning #1 roller. It is important to be able to throw and anhyzer and also to be able to throw strait and flat, a disc that fades hard left will most of the time not be good.
 
Thanks everyone for the advice! Being lefty, we are all just born with a disadvantage :( oh well, that's why we are the best because we overcome our challenges!!! haha.

Does anyone know of any links or can tell me a good technique for throwing forehand? Its a tough shot and I haven't been able to throw it half as well as my backhand.


Thanks again for all the advice!


The Rook
 
Ya gotsta love lefty's baby!

If you learn the side arm well, you can reduce your molds and stick with stable to overstable discs.

If you must rely on back hands, you will need some understable discs.

Flight path's hold true, regardless of right or left. So when you hear a righty say the disc cuts hard left, it will cut hard right for you.

It must just be here locally (after reading some of the previous posts) but I usually feel like the advantage benefits the lefty because courses are designed to be tough for rightys...and anny lines are tougher to hit off the tee for most.
 
alrighty, so heres my question: If I stick with overstable discs and work on my forehand, I can effectively hit hyzer shots with my backhand and anhyzer shots with my forehand? That way, for now, I don't have to go buying multiple discs if I need one shot or the other, but can focus on mastering one disc while still being able to work on improving my hyzer/anhyzer shot. Let me know if I got that right haha. The problems lefties face (they still rule!)



The Rook
 
Most disc golf players are right handed, and most disc golf course designers are arrogant and self serving. What this means is you will usually find more disc golf holes that curve right to left.

Dang that is a strong statement/generalization about folks who for the most part spend enormous amounts of time and energy providing us courses for our enjoyment! Captain Jack, have you been spending too much time with Captain Morgan this evening? :)

The stats are that 7-10% of the population is left handed. A tiny percentage. And there are those like me who are righties that throw lefty (I know a fair number, but it is still a small percentage). So assume 20% are lefties. But a good percentage of righties throw predominantly FH - I am guessing around 50% of newer and recreational players and about 10-15 of accomplished players.

So, at very best, if you want to make it fair your designs should be 60/40 holes that favor RHBH.....and that does not mean just holes that finish left since some such holes due to their shape actually favor a LHBH anny.

In my experience (250+ courses played) the majority are in the appropriate range of 75/25 to 60/40 favoring RHBH. (75/25 is 3 lefty holes of 18 - assuming 6 straight and 12 curving. 60/40 is 5 lefty holes.)

Conclusion: 3-5 lefty holes per course is appropriate and if there are that many it proves beyond reasonable doubt that course designers are not arrogant and self-serving. :p
 
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Hey Dave, its discrimination. :(

All courses should be 50/50, I dont care what the left handed population percentage is, its still not fair to punish one group of throwers.

My favorite courses are the most balanced ones, which require me to use a vast array of shots, both from the tee, and the fairway, not just huck and pray backhands.

The reason I made the statement about designers is, I'm tired of poor planning resulting in a waste of 9, or 18 good targets, placed poorly in the wrong locations.

Disc golf courses should make you want to come back, again , and again, not be a one shot wonder.

I think more thought, and input, should be required, rather than just one person pulling the strings.
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Now, back to our regularily scheduled program.

As far as you carrying only overstable discs, this is not going to allow you to improve your backhand throws very well, and will probably only encourage bad form.

I carry across the board molds. My longest most reliable backhand discs are the slower , less stable ones, my Valks, Wraiths and Beasts.
My best forehand discs are the Innova big 3, the Boss, Xcal, and Destroyer.

You need to work hard on one throw first, it will take you too long if you try and learn both BH and FH at the same time.

Keep your less stable discs and really work on gaining the best understanding of how they each fly backhand.

When you have an opportunity,maybe a fairway upshot, try flicking a more stable forehand disc.

Once you have what you consider to be a competitive backhand, which is being able to throw hyzers, flat shots, and anhyzers with accuracy, then start working on forehand drives to level the playing field with all those lazy righties.
 
My cousin is left handed and I've played quite a few rounds with him. So I get to see first-hand the differences in shot selection. My hyzer is his anny and vice versa...of the courses we've played, it seems fairly even, maybe the 60/40 advantage is true and I don't see it.

What do you consider the difference to be in hole difficulty, lefty to righty? I guess it would have to be holes where the disc MUST fade to the left and there is no other way to it. That would favor RHBH...hard right to lefts and spike hyzer would be the big ones.

But as long as there is a decent line, it's a wash, don't you think? Especially, after 18 holes...
 
I agree that a course should be set up with the same amount of left handed holes as right handed holes. Good players should be able to play any hole they come across and welcome the challange of a off handed hole.
 
What do you consider the difference to be in hole difficulty, lefty to righty? I guess it would have to be holes where the disc MUST fade to the left and there is no other way to it. That would favor RHBH...hard right to lefts and spike hyzer would be the big ones.

In general you need some height and room to work an anhyzer. So like you say (example A), tunnel shots in the woods that go straight for say 200-300' and then turn sharply left for another 30-40' are not reachable by the LHBH. But these holes reward those lefties who have developed a LHFH.

The same hole that is along the edge of the woods with open air to the right, is reachable with a well-played anny. This hole is neither a right handed or left handed hole. It is just a good hole that rewards skillful shot making......and it is good to have a balance of right-fading and left-fading holes like this.
 
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