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Ella Hansen Has a Great Disc Golf Forehand

  • Apr 11
  • 3 min read

Updated: May 2


Ella Hansen has one of the best forehands in disc golf. If you’re into disc golf—and you enjoy studying the techniques of various players—then Hansen’s forehand is an absolute marvel.


I totally understand what Hansen is doing in her throw. I can grasp the mechanics of it. But it’s not something I can replicate.


Part of the problem that many of us have in throwing a forehand is that we bring our “baggage” into the game. I never threw a frisbee forehand as a kid. So I had no frame of reference for it when I started playing disc golf. As a result, I tend to approach it from my baseball background; I throw a forehand in the style of a baseball side-arm.


Ella Hansen comes from a competitive ultimate frisbee background. That likely gave her a very different perspective on throwing a forehand. In particular, it gave her some familiarity with really snapping a disc.


Not everyone snaps the disc as fully as Hansen, though. In fact, when it comes to the disc golf forehand, many players use a “passive snap.” Hansen has more of an “active snap.”


I’m very much a “passive” forehand thrower. I sling the disc—I shovel it like a shortstop throwing to first base. And to the detriment of my overall throw, I don’t use a full-out, aggressive snap of the wrist. Instead, I’m somewhat more acquiescent in the moment. I let the disc roll off my fingertip more than give it a sharp, final snap.


I’d certainly like to do the all-out snap. But the technique I’ve gravitated toward doesn’t give me the foundation to support it.


Some years ago, Innova Discs founder Dave Dunipace posted an instructional YouTube video to help players learn how to “drive” a forehand. In the video, he talks about the importance of a strong, “steely” snap of the wrist, to help eject the disc from the hand.


Hansen is someone who really achieves that snap. Her forehand is very purposeful—she drives low, forward, and outward to deliver the disc. Yet there’s no heavy muscling in what she does. Instead, it’s athletic and deliberate; you can almost see her casting the disc outward, skimming it off of the air. And it’s the final snap in her delivery that really enables the extended, spinning disc flight.


To see a good, recent example, check out the final round of the women’s division in the 2025 Waco Open—the DGPT coverage on the Disc Golf Network. Watch Hansen throwing her second shot on the 17th hole. (It happens at 3:14:30 into the full broadcast.)


Everything in Hansen’s throw is set up to maximize the delivery of the disc. She gets low and forward. And after release, you can see her right leg swing around, to counterbalance the recoil of her throw.


What’s most impressive is how everything in her throwing motion serves to stabilize and support the final part of the throw—the wrist delivery. She’s essentially working her way through the throw so that she’s fully balanced and extended when the wrist snap comes in at the moment of release. And that gives her a cannon of a forehand.


On the 17th hole in the final round at Waco, Hansen sent the disc way out over the water, and trusted it to come back perfectly at the end—and land near the basket. What’s striking is just how far she’s able to throw those kinds of forehands, and with such precisely carved lines.


Hansen’s forehand has the sort of accurate long-distance power that many of us hope to achieve with a backhand. And watching it, we see the best in disc golf, the sort of perfection in flight that makes the game so exhilarating.


If anyone wants a great forehand to emulate, check out Hansen in competition.

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