06/27/2024
I think in terms of similarity the tennis one hand backhand is the absolute closest to the disc golf backhand.
Regarding setup:
-Closed hips. All the other sport movements people like to compare with like baseball or golf are done from either a neutral or open stance. This massively changes the way you are able to use the hips in the shot. As a matter of fact, it makes it so you cannot use them as a power generator rather a base for the upper body to work off of.
-Thrown using the lead shoulder. The throw is not a two handed swing or done with participation from the trail side. Movements where we have to get both hands or just the trail hand through require different use of the torso. In movements like batting you have to get the chest forward because you still have your left hand on the bat. In both disc golf and the tennis one hander we deploy the off hand as a parachute to slow the shoulders, keeping our chest barely open at release.
-Hip clear? You’ll see here that in both the right hip only clears after the racket/lead arm starts pulling it open. The hips turn because the torso turns them; not because the feet turn them.
Of course we are talking about maximal efficiency here. I know people outside of Wiggins, GG, and AB are more open than these pictures here, but for me I want to model drive form after what is maximally efficient and all the signs and data point to this.
Do we really think that Federer would use something that isn’t efficient at generating power? Or all the one handers for that matter. If there were more power generated by starting open and finishing more open they would find a way to do it. When you have a setup with closed stance and holding the object you’re trying to move in the lead hand, this is maximally efficient.
And before you say the one handed backhand is only closed because they are moving across the court, do your research. Short balls where you’re moving into the court are hit closed as well.
The biggest differences between the one hander and the disc golf backhand are that we need to break the elbow to get the disc through the pocket and coil significantly more.
-Josh
