Backhand

Category: Throw Types & Shot Shapes

Definition: A backhand is a throwing style in which the disc travels across the front of the body from the non-throwing side toward the throwing side before release, with the back of the throwing hand leading the motion. The throw may be made from a standstill or with footwork such as an X-step, and effective backhands coordinate balance, weight shift, body rotation, arm movement, grip, and release timing to create launch speed and spin.

For a right-handed player, a conventionally stable backhand often finishes left as it slows; for a left-handed player, the handed pattern reverses. But backhand describes the throwing motion, not the flight shape. Disc stability, speed, nose angle, height, and hyzer or anhyzer release can make a backhand fly straight, turn, flex, fade, or roll. That distinction matters: backhand tells you how the disc was delivered, not where it must go.

Why It Matters: The backhand is a versatile platform for drives, approaches, touch shots, recovery lines, and controlled placement. Learning to change power and release angle lets one basic motion solve very different problems: a gentle hyzer into a protected green, a flat tunnel shot through the woods, a turnover that drifts away from the natural fade, or a flex line that uses both turn and fade. A reliable backhand therefore expands the number of routes a player can attack instead of forcing one preferred shape onto every fairway.

It also rewards efficiency. Pulling harder with the arm does not automatically create better distance, and extra effort can make timing, nose angle, and release direction worse. The practical goal is repeatable coordination: arrive balanced, organize the sequence, deliver the disc on the chosen angle, and let the flight tell you what changed. On the scorecard, that can mean fewer early-tree hits, fewer scramble shots, and shorter comeback putts; to the eye, it often looks suspiciously easier than it felt while learning it.

Term Observations:

• Small timing changes can make a noticeable difference. Change one part of the motion at a time and watch the resulting flight. Rebuilding the entire throw after one tree hit gives that tree too much coaching authority.
• Backhand is a delivery method, not a flight shape. A backhand can be hyzered, thrown flat, turned over, flexed, rolled, powered down, or floated. Choose the release and disc for the line instead of assuming the word backhand already tells you the curve.
• In the woods, controlled speed and a repeatable release often matter more than maximum power. A straight shot through the first gap is useful; impressive distance measured sideways into the rough is less so.
• A “backhand-friendly” hole always needs context: friendly to which hand, at what distance, with which shot shape? A left-finishing fairway may invite a right-handed backhand hyzer while asking a left-handed player a very different question.
• Footwork can organize the throw, but a run-up is optional. The PDGA does not require any particular throwing style, and a legal standstill backhand can be the smartest choice when balance, footing, distance, or accuracy matters more than momentum.
• A 2015 survey of 883 disc golfers reported that 86.2% primarily used a backhand throw. That is an interesting snapshot of how central the motion has been to the sport, but it was a self-selected injury survey, not a modern census of every disc golfer.
• Grip details are not trivial. In a 2024 experiment using a TechDisc-equipped midrange, 24 players made 600 backhand throws while changing thumb position; the researchers measured meaningful changes in launch speed and spin across positions. The practical lesson is not that one thumb location fits everyone, but that small setup choices can produce measurable effects.
• DiscLula coinage: “Let the sequence supply the speed.” This is not an official rule or a standardized coaching term; it is a reminder that “smooth is far” means organized acceleration, not slow motion. When the feet, body, arm, and release stop arguing with one another, the disc often looks as though it left with less effort than it actually took to learn.

Related Terms: Forehand; Hyzer; Anhyzer; Power Grip; X-Step; Standstill Throw; Release Point; Shot Shaping

References

• Official Rules and Regulations of Disc Golf (Rev. Jan. 1, 2026)
• PDGA Official Rules of Disc Golf — 802.01 Throw
• PDGA Rules Questions and Answers — QA-THR-2
• PDGA Official Rules — 802.04 Teeing Off and 802.07 Stance
• PDGA Official Rules — 802.07 Stance
• Koch, McGuire, Cole & Lindsey, “The effects of thumb position on backhand disc golf throws of a mid-range disc,” AIP Advances 14, 105125 (2024)
• Nelson, Jones, Runstrom & Hardy, “Disc Golf, a Growing Sport: Description and Epidemiology of Injuries,” Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine 3(6) (2015)

Sources accessed October 7, 2026.

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