Forehand / Sidearm

Disc Golf Forehand / Sidearm

Build a reliable flick — grip, mechanics, distance and utility. Below are all 7 lessons in this path, each with the video we teach it from.

The 7 lessons

Forehand Grip

Hold the disc for a clean, powerful flick.

The forehand lives or dies on the grip, more than the backhand does. Two fingers are holding a disc that wants to leave early, and the wrist has to stay firm enough to deliver spin while the arm stays loose. Get the grip wrong and no amount of work on the mechanics will stop the disc wobbling out of your hand.

Two fingers against the inside rim (power or stacked).
Firm wrist, relaxed arm — the snap does the work.

Drill · Grip and flick — 30 short flicks from 30 ft, watching only for wobble. Short, easy flicks at a target thirty feet away, with no attempt at distance at all. Watch the first few feet of each flight. A clean forehand leaves flat and quiet; a bad grip shows as a visible wobble immediately. Fix it here, at thirty feet, where nothing else can be blamed.

Watch: How to GRIP A FOREHAND in Disc Golf (6 Tested Grips) — JustDisc

Forehand Mechanics

Build a repeatable sidearm from the ground up.

The forehand is a shorter, quicker motion than the backhand and it rewards completely different things. People who throw a good backhand often throw a bad forehand for one reason: they try to generate it with the arm, because the arm is right there and the motion is short. The power comes from the same place it always does — the ground.

Lead with the elbow; keep the disc close, then extend.
Snap the wrist at release for spin and control.

Drill · Standstill flicks — 25 standstill forehands at 60% effort. No footwork, no run-up, sixty percent effort, twenty-five throws. You are building the shape of the motion and the feel of the wrist snap without speed hiding either. Add power only once twenty-five in a row come out flat and clean, which usually takes a few sessions rather than a few throws.

Watch: Forehand Form Basics - Beginner's Guide to Disc Golf — Foundation Disc Golf

Forehand Distance

Add effortless power to your flick.

Most players’ forehands top out well short of their backhands, and conclude the forehand is simply a shorter throw. It is not — it is a throw they are making with their arm. Forehand distance comes from exactly the same chain as backhand distance, and the players who throw both a long way are using their legs for both.

Use your legs and rotation, not just the arm.
Let the disc trail, then whip it with wrist snap.

Drill · Crow hop and brace — 20 forehands with a crow hop, 20 without, same disc. Twenty with a crow hop and twenty standstill, same disc, same target, and pace both groups. If the crow-hop group is not clearly longer, your lower half is not involved in the throw — which is the finding, and it is the thing to work on before anything else.

Watch: How To Throw EFFORTLESS Power Forehands | Grip, Wrist, Release Angle, Disc Selection, Plant Foot — IceBerg TV

Forehand Utility & Overheads

Tomahawks, thumbers and utility flicks for trouble.

Overheads — the tomahawk and the thumber — are the shots for when nothing goes forward: a wall of trees with sky above, a dogleg with no line, a lie where you need the disc to come down almost vertically. They are also the shots most likely to hurt you if thrown often, so they are tools for specific holes rather than part of a regular rotation.

Overhead (tomahawk/thumber) clears tall obstacles.
Use a stable disc so it finishes predictably.

Drill · Learn your own finish — 20 overheads in an open field with one disc. Twenty tomahawks with one overstable disc, in a field, with nothing in the way. Watch where each one finishes relative to your aim and how steeply it comes down. You are not practising accuracy yet — you are collecting the one piece of information that makes the shot usable, which is what your overhead actually does.

Watch: Utility Throws For Beginners | Roller, Tomahawk, Thumber, Grenade | Disc Golf Tutorial — IceBerg TV

Forehand Rollers

Roll the disc for distance and around obstacles.

A forehand roller gets a disc down a line a backhand roller cannot, and because the forehand curves the other way it opens up the opposite side of the course. For a right-handed thrower it is the natural roller when the ground runs away to the left, where a backhand roller would be fighting its own lean.

Release with a downward, anhyzer-style angle.
Choose an understable disc so it stands up and rolls.

Drill · Forehand roller angle — 15 forehand rollers on firm open ground. Fifteen rollers with one understable disc, varying only the steepness. You are hunting for the angle where the disc stands up and runs cleanly instead of skipping or flopping. Once found it is repeatable, and it is a shot that will sit unused for weeks and then save two strokes in one round.

Watch: Disc Golf Tips With Eric Oakley | Field Work | Forehand Rollers — Eric Oakley

Fixing Your Forehand

Kill the wobble and the early roll-off.

Two faults account for nearly every bad forehand: wobble, and turning over into a roll. They look like different problems and they usually have the same root — not enough spin, which means not enough wrist snap, which usually means the arm is doing the work. Fixing the cause fixes both at once.

Wobble = too much arm, not enough wrist snap.
Keep the disc flat and release out in front.

Drill · Spin before speed — 30 throws at 60% with a deliberate wrist snap. Thirty throws at sixty percent effort where the only thing you try to do is snap the wrist hard and late. The disc should come out quiet and flat and not go very far. That is correct — you are separating spin from speed so you can build the first one, and the distance comes back on its own once it is there.

Watch: How to Instantly Get a Better Forehand in Disc Golf (Tutorial) — Gannon Buhr

Backhand vs Forehand

Know when to reach for each throw.

These are two different tools and the question is never which is better, it is which the hole wants. Having both means the course stops dictating to you. Having only one means every hole that bends the wrong way costs you something, every single round.

Forehand shines on left-to-right (RHBH) shots and quick flicks.
Backhand generally gives more distance and control.

Drill · Both, same target — 15 backhands and 15 forehands at the same target. Same day, same target, fifteen of each. Pace both groups and note the spread as well as the distance. You will end up with two honest numbers, and those numbers — not habit or preference — are what should decide which throw you reach for when a hole could take either.

Watch: Backhand vs. Forehand (Sidearm) Disc Selection : Advanced Guide — Best Disc Golf Discs