Weeks went by, and still I couldn’t drive with the right arm. Putting was okay, but drives were definitely out. The rollers weren’t working, but what were the options? Throw lefty? The left arm serves my disc golf game only for balance, and nobody has ever accused me of being ambidextrous.

Last year Ron Russell bashed his hand into a tree at Worlds, and valiantly finished the last couple of rounds throwing lefty. In researching an article that I wrote about the experience, I had tried a few lefty shots myself, with butt ugly results. However, I had only thrown maybe a bag full of drivers, and never really gave it a chance. Now it was time to try with a little more determination.

My first full-blown lefty round was at a short wooded course, and as expected, it was pretty brutal. I might have been tempted to immediately go back to the rollers, but on an early and long hole, I managed to connect on a boomer. The group erupted into cheers and ‘bagger’ comments as the disc snapped crisply out of my left hand and flew out in a smooth and straight line, finally landing as deep as any of my right-handed shots.

That was my first clue that I was onto something that was going to seriously help my game.

When I started seeing lefty shots that went as far as my normal throws, I tried to break down what was happening. Here’s the deal: it’s in the amount of elbow bend, and in a clean follow-through. See, when I drive with my right arm, I bring the disc across my chest with the elbow bent at nearly 90 degrees. As a result I never consistently got that audible snapping sound as the disc rips out of your hand, and always maxed out the distance at around 375 feet, a number I feel is too small for as long as I’ve been playing. Something was wrong.

I’ve spent countless hours shooting rounds with and photographing the world’s top disc golfers, studying their styles and seeking out their throwing tips and advice. For all my experience, I hadn’t been able to transfer the secrets of that information into solid technique. It took an injury to find the magic.

Throwing lefty, I quickly learned that the rebellious arm had no interest in performing with a bent elbow, a fact that became evident when I attempted putting. Results: really, really bad. No control whatsoever. It was easier to control the line on up shots, but here the problem was speed management. My lefty approaches were blasting 50 feet beyond the basket.

The only pseudo effective lefty shot I had was driving, and these throws were traveling over 300 feet with only half the effort and arm strength. Why?

Since I lose control when I bend the left elbow, I started keeping the arm much straighter for driving, bending the elbow maybe 45 degrees instead of my usual 90 degrees. As a result, I’m now taking more advantage of the pendulum effect, and being rewarded with greater disc momentum and an audible snap with less effort. The fulcrum point is now my shoulder, instead of the elbow. To make up for the awkwardness of throwing with my left, I began to consciously exaggerate the follow-through. It works. It booms.

My grip is different now too. I’ve always thrown long drives with three fingers on the inside rim, leaving the index finger to run along the bottom of the rim to help with control. To throw lefty, I’m using the power grip, which is all four fingers gripping the rim. The power grip never felt comfortable from my right side, but then again, I wasn’t throwing it properly. Now I get it.

As a result, I’m throwing farther with the left than I ever did with the right. Zoinks.

The other thing I learned is that throwing with your subordinate arm is not as difficult as you think. Like most of us, I had always assumed that throwing lefty would be virtually impossible, when in fact a brief afternoon of practice had me connecting on some serious drives. Now I’m finding holes that were once dicey anhyzers are becoming easy lefty hyzers. I still spray them around too broadly, and about ten percent are worm burners, but it’s just a matter of time and practice before I get these problems fixed. Figuring out smooth lefty footwork has helped. During field practice the other day, I sent a few over the 450 foot mark. Ba-boom.

Once the drive is dialed in, it’ll be time to start working on lefty putting. Who knows what else I’ll learn.

As I write this, it’s been six weeks since the injury, four of them as a lefty, and from the feel of things, it will be at least another month before I’m properly healed, much to the chagrin of my match play league teammate. My goal is to get within three or four strokes of last year’s league average using the left (from the current 11 strokes over), then improve another five under last year when I get my right arm back. I may even find the discipline to continue throwing some lefty shots when I’m healthy, but that remains to be seen.

Go spend an afternoon throwing from your weak side, you might just learn something too… and don’t forget to stretch. Everytime. Really, I mean that.