What Might Be Missing in Your Disc Golf Forehand

I’ve written about the disc golf forehand before. But to recap quickly—after taking up disc golf, I wanted to learn to throw a forehand. So I spent a lot of time figuring it out.

It was a gradual process—learning to turn sideways, then move forward onto the front foot, etc. But even with all of that, something wasn’t right. At times, my forehand would hook off in an embarrassingly amateurish manner.

One part of the puzzle was still missing. And when I finally found it, I locked into a more solid forehand.

So, for others struggling with their forehand, here’s something that might help.

Let’s assume you already know the forehand grip, the basics, etc. You’ve heard about “using your wrist,” for example.

The forehand grip when you're getting ready to throw.

In addition to all of that, there’s another concept to consider: the axis on which your finger spins and releases the disc.

It seems logical to push the disc with your finger parallel to the underside of the disc’s rim. It’s how you grip the disc, right? You just push your fingertip along this horizontal plane…

Not necessarily.

Here’s what I finally learned: At the moment of release, your fingertip should not be in the same position under the disc’s rim as when you gripped it at the start of the throw. The sense you should have at that precise moment of release is of the middle finger being sort of upright; the disc spins off of this upright “stub.”

It’s a very minor distinction. And maybe everyone else already knows this. But it took me tons of throws before I realized it.

Essentially, the finger isn’t pushing the disc along the line of its rim. In the microseconds before releasing the disc, the fingertip transitions to more of an upright stub.

The forehand grip as you're releasing the disc.

You want to have a sense that your finger is like an “upright pole.” It helps the wrist to impart a lot of spin. That allows the disc to fling off with stability.

Conversely, pushing the disc with the finger in the “horizontal” grip position will tend to make the disc hook leftward (for a right-handed player).

What I’m describing is sort of an impression, a feeling. What you want is for the final section of your finger to be more passive. It should feel like a pole—an upright stub—at release. The disc is being spun off of that stub by the chain of hip-arm-wrist movement.

All of this is somewhat abstract. And maybe it only works for me. Maybe everyone else does something totally different. But it made a huge difference in how I conceive and execute a forehand. It helped me throw further and straighter.

Hopefully I’ve translated this into something that might help others. Feel free to leave comments regarding your own experiences with learning to throw a forehand.