Sidearm Driving Tips

What are your keys to throwing a successful sidearm drive?
Stance? Grip?, Disc?, Hyzer?

[bobd]

I played baseball growing up, so I basically throw a sidearm pitch, with more wrist snap. I usually release flat or slight anhyzer tilt (pending flight needed). Use a Star MAX for serious hyzers. As far as grip goes, I use the two finger flick (see photo below)

Discs....sidearm drivers

[D.J,]

over stable disc,TONS of snap,learn the s curve,practise and learn,

ohh and dont use 2 fingers bob is stupid
j/k j/k use wich grip feels best

[ben taylor]

for the walkup i do a xstep
then when im throwing i try to keep my elbow as close as i can to my side and throw as flat as you can with as much snap as you can and let it ride

[D.J,]

i dont do an X step i throw right handed so i step forward with my left and then put my right in front of that and then do a far step with my left
i guess it is kinda an x step but if you got good form and you figured out how to snap i then all i can say is practise!!!

[Jim Reed]

its mostly in the hips, but once you master the hips, it is the ability to master the "S"curve that seperateds the average driver from the distance man There are no secrets to mastering the "s" curve, it is all practice, and muscle memory. . Regarding the hips, I used to throw shot put and discus, wrestle, and was an offensive lineman, every coach I ever had constantly stressed that your power comes from the hips. essentially, you want your body to move from the legs upward. In as a lineman, you take 1-2 steps out of your stance, generating power first from legs, then hips, then your torso, then your arms.

For my right handed sidearm drives, I use the principal of "hips first" essentially, I have a 3-4 step run-up to gain momentum, going into my last step, my front (left) shoulder is pointed towards my target, at the end of my run up, my shoulders are still pointing towards where I am aiming, then on my last step, my lead foot (left) comes down somewhat more than shoulder width apart from my right foot, and the front of my left foot is aligned about 4-6 inches back from the front of the trailing foot (if you drew a line between your toes and continued it out to the fairway that line should end up way left of your target). Having your lead foot behind your trailing foot allows your hips room to fully turn and extend into your throw. once your front foot is placed, you drive towards your target with your back foot, then a split second later start turning your hips towards your target. when your hips are almost perpendicular to the target (maybe 3/4 of total hip rotation) , begin rotating the core of your upper body towards the target (let your arm and disc "hang back"). once your shoulders are almost perpendicular to the target(roughly 3/4 of total rotation), begin your arm motion, and remember to follow through, as part of your follow through, turn your head to see a (hopefully) great shot. good luck. I oubt if this is anything different from what you already do, but sometimes it is helpful to have the motions broken down into individual components so you can focus on and recognise flaws in form.

[Peter Kunoff]

best forehand info is the Discraft forehand clinic done by mark ellis. www.discraft.com

[Adam L.]

i throw with the two finger grip and use a whole lot of snap. i also used to pitch sidearm in baseball. i've thrown close to the 500 ft mark with this style it feels more comfortable. the main thing is to find a way that you are the most comfortable when throwing. there is also a video of me throwing on my profile. i would,ve put it on here but dial up sux and it's slow

[Smokey]

Don't listen to D.J. He does cartwheels before he throws. LOL J/K
I used to pitch 3/4 sidearm too. I can tell you it is the snap along with a stable disc and slight anhyzer. I changed from the two finger to one finger throw to keep from throwing out my elbow. I now throw with just my middle finger on the rim. I get more snap and do less damage to my elbow and shoulder.

[D.J,]

indeed cartwheels do help me but im trying to picture smokies grip and its look weird in my noggin.......
i dont agree 100% with the (its all in the hips) thing cuz i mostly just use my wristand shoulder
its getting me about 300-375 but im not pro so maybe i should try to change my form

[Jamie]

"...so maybe i should try to change my form." That is the smartest thing you have ever said!

[D.J,]

honestly dude why do you have to start SH!T?
and be gay all the time?

[Ruxc82]

I'm not sure how the X step is much help throwing sidearm. If you can work it in then you will get the benefit of your hips. However with that said I pretty much face the basket with my shoulders squared to the basket take about 3 steps and try to bring my forearm through nice and level if I'm trying to get a nice straight shot with almost all my disc fading to the right at the end.

Grip I only use my pointer finger with he pad against the rim and the disc resting against my hand with my thumb pinching down very firm closest to the outer edge that feels best for me. If you get the snap sound effect when you release your holding firm enough.

As for my Disc it all depends on how far I'm trying to get. The destroyer comes out very nice and is easy to get the S action with. Teebird can go dead straight. New Vikings can go striaght as well but will eventually brake a little to the right. Listed in order based on my distances with fades to the right at the end. TeeRex, starfire, Orc, and Monster. However the Monster has nasty skip at the end just about every time. I use mostly Champion plastic and they tend to skip more so when throwing them I have to remember to take that into effect. When I first started used mostly Eagles and Valkyries. If you can master the Valkyrie in it self you can cover every shot with this disc and get some really nice distance with it's glide. I stay away from Flicking Midranges and putters.

I would never use hyzer unless you have almost a 90' turn you have to make. Anhyzer all depends on the disc the Teerex will turn out of it end up hyzering at the end. A valkyrie with a good snap and the right angle will hold the line the longest for me and falt out at the end of the flight for the dog leg holes to the left. As to using anhyzer to get max distance I don't bother with it because I'd rather have he accuracy then the distance, but it's something you have to go into a field and just practice and see what works best for you. It's the same with stance some people run up and get big D and some just stand there and get the same D because there are less things that can go wrong. Good luck.