Seventeen years of research in this field has answered two central enigmas. Why is the disc golf backhand so difficult to learn in the first place, and why does The Method work when so many prior teaching systems have come up short?


Fundamentally, it comes down to the idea of "handedness". Everyone knows that most people have a dominant hand, with roughly 90% of the population reporting they're righthanded. When you're a righthanded person, the motor control centers on the left side of your brain govern most of your physical actions.


No matter the task, whether it's eating, or throwing a ball, or writing, or driving a car, the moment you have the intention to use your dominant side you're all but helpless to prevent your dominant motor control center from taking over. The brain always wants to do things as efficiently as possible to save you energy and work, so it'll automatically default to dominant behaviors. This is extremely problematic when you are trying to learn to throw a golf disc with proper backhand mechanics.


The central issue lies in the idea of "sequence". A proper biomechanical backhand swing unfolds sequentially in the body, from the ground up. This sequence is discussed at length in chapter three, "Why it Works: The Physics Behind the Method." That sequence imparts a feel, which you then build upon to construct the entire swing. The sequence begins in the trailing leg, in your nondominant side. Without that sequence, you'll grip the disc tightly, and your dominant arm will impart force too early. This gets the upper body ahead of the brace and wrecks everything.


Frisbee legend John Kirkland takes center stage here, to explain how the sequence unfolds in the body. Critically, John talks about how everything is linked to an intention that comes from the nondominant side of the body, and how that sets you up to feel a firm brace.


That brace halts rotation of the lower body in exactly the right spot, which allows the upper body to move sequentially. Once that happens, a loose throwing arm feels heavy leverage, and the brain immediately understands when to add power.


This is the sequence you see in the biomechanics of every player you see exhibiting what we have long called "Pro Form". The Method can get you there incredibly quickly, once you overcome the enigma of handedness.