Backhand Anhyzer -vs- Forehand Hyzer

[Mad Scientist]

To achieve a right turn (throwing right handed), is there any advantage to throwing a backhand anyhzer, rather than a forehand hyzer?

Personally, if I need a disc to finish right I'll throw forehand and add the necessary amount of hyzer to achieve the amount of turn I need. I find this much more predictable, as it avoids the chance of a throw unexpectedly turning roller if too much angle is needed or the disc isn't stable enough to pull out of it. I also find that it all but eliminates the need for an understable disc for any particular range.

So why carry understable discs or throw anhyzers? I know that when employed properly rollers can be usefull in certain situations, but in general why not throw forehand? What am I missing out on?

[Peot]

#1 and probably the most obvious response is that some people simply can't throw forehand.

Having both of these shots in the bag is going to help far more than hurt. Understable plastic is necessary to shape a lot of lines, and learning to throw it will teach you how to throw everything else. Also, there are a number of hugely important shots that require an anyhzer release; throwing a perfectly gliding, floating anhyzer to a gentle landing is (at least for me) one of the most satisfying shots to throw and watch.

The tl;dr answer is that anhyzer lines are more conducive to certain holes than forehand hyzer lines and vice versa

[Dogma]

RHBH anhyzer is less likely to roll if you are on a sidehill that slopes down to the left. Under certain circumstances the anhyzer can carry/glide farther to the right. If you are behind a large obstacle the anny can reach farther to the left to throw and with a better angle. That said, I throw mostly flicks because except under the above circumstances I find it more reliable.

As Peot said, they each have a purpose and complement each other.

[kern9787]

The biggest difference to me is the fact that you can still maintain a somewhat straight flight at the end of an anhyzer. Throwing a flick hyzer is just going to go to the right. It really depends on how you want the disc to finish. Most of the courses I play that try to force a flick or anny don't have the obstacle back close to the basket, so I just need that initial left to right to get around, then want to finish straight.

[Star Shark]

Another simple difference is that your lie may not give you the stance you'd like for one shot or the other so it's best to have both in the bag.

[Blake_T]

the two shots aren't really direct replacements for each other. ask any lefty that lives near a hyzer-heavy course and they'll probably agree.

it takes quite a bit of mastery over a sidearm hyzer shot to be able to hold a gradual curve. very few players have this shot in their bag, especially those that are backhand dominant. most sidearm dominant players also have pretty crappy touch in this regards.

a sharp right turn = righty sidearm hyzer, lefty backhand hyzer, righty backhand roller, lefty sidearm roller.

a sharp left turn = righty backhand hyzer, lefty sidearm hyzer, righty sidearm roller, lefty backhand roller.

gradual turns favor different shots.

the true solution is to have mastery over all, as one style isn't the perfect choice for all shots of that nature.

[Apothecary]

yeah. learn every shot.

then learn how to pick the appropriate shot.

thats all you have to do...

[Mark Ellis]

To achieve a right turn (throwing right handed), is there any advantage to throwing a backhand anyhzer, rather than a forehand hyzer?

Personally, if I need a disc to finish right I'll throw forehand and add the necessary amount of hyzer to achieve the amount of turn I need. I find this much more predictable, as it avoids the chance of a throw unexpectedly turning roller if too much angle is needed or the disc isn't stable enough to pull out of it. I also find that it all but eliminates the need for an understable disc for any particular range.

So why carry understable discs or throw anhyzers? I know that when employed properly rollers can be usefull in certain situations, but in general why not throw forehand? What am I missing out on?

While I agree with the answers given so far, for the most part it is easier to learn hyzers than anhyzers. Golf disc are made to hyzer, after all.

To learn a basic, serviceable forehand is not that difficult. The most important part of that skill is to understand, as you develop the shot, when you should NOT throw it (for example, depending on the skill acquired, into a strong wind, or when conditions prevent a good grip, or trying for too much distance, etc.). Too many players overestimate their precision with their NOT YET READY forehand and shank it badly, harming not only their score but their confidence.

So, Mad Scientist, it sounds like you have good basic skills in throwing hyzers backhand and forehand. You have reached a level few golfers do outside of tournament players. Congrats. So why now mess around with anhyzers, aside from those rare bad weather or bad lie situations? Because LEARNING THE ANHYZER TOUCH WILL MAKE YOU A MUCH BETTER PLAYER.

The hyzer is a crude but effective weapon, like a meat axe. The anhyzer is a delicate and precise instrument, like a scalpel. The hyzer is a tank. The anhyzer is a sports car. The hyzer is a drunken giant, stomping through a forest. The anhyzer is a ballet.

To throw a hyzer, you force it to go where you want. To throw the anhyzer, you persuade it.

Think about all those upshots inside 200 feet where you are in the deep rough. There is no single open hyzer route but there may be numerous tight little lines. The meat axe may be of no help. You need precision, bending around this but cutting in front of that.

Think about those tight tunnel holes where there is only one route which will get you there. Your hyzer discs give you two choices but the tunnel does something different. If you can't gently bend a disc then you are smacking wood.

As you learn and develop anhyzers you learn how to control discs to a level you never will and never need to with hyzers.

Throw a hyzer with an overstable disc. You point it in the right direction and the disc does the work.
Throw an anhyzer with an understable disc. You must throw it well (power, height, angle of release, line)or it won't perform. Since it takes more skill to control, it teaches you more skill as you develop it.

[what'shisname]

Nice post, Mark. After wrecking my elbow a year and a half ago I focused on learning the anhyzer so I didn't have to flick and keep aggravating my elbow. Learning to throw anhyzer has been the greatest thing I've done for my game for the reasons Mark just went over. My elbow's better now and I still pull out the forehand once in a while when the situation dictates, but I love throwing anhyzers now, they're just such a pretty line to watch when they fly as intended.

One situation I really struggle with regarding anhyzer vs. forehand though is into a head wind. If I have a hole that doglegs right and there's a stiff headwind, how do you throw that hole anhyzer? I always get screwed up thinking about it and then just fall back onto the forehand. I'm assuming the forehand into the wind is a higher percentage shot, ya?

[Steady 26542]

One situation I really struggle with regarding anhyzer vs. forehand though is into a head wind. If I have a hole that doglegs right and there's a stiff headwind, how do you throw that hole anhyzer? I always get screwed up thinking about it and then just fall back onto the forehand. I'm assuming the forehand into the wind is a higher percentage shot, ya?

In this situation, for me it's much easier to throw a backhand into the wind. The disc naturally acts like an anhyzer throw. I would not dare to throw a forehand shot into the wind as the disc will want to turn to the left. Playing in the wind is difficult enough as it is. Why try make a disc do something it doesn't want to do?

[what'shisname]

One situation I really struggle with regarding anhyzer vs. forehand though is into a head wind. If I have a hole that doglegs right and there's a stiff headwind, how do you throw that hole anhyzer? I always get screwed up thinking about it and then just fall back onto the forehand. I'm assuming the forehand into the wind is a higher percentage shot, ya?

In this situation, for me it's much easier to throw a backhand into the wind. The disc naturally acts like an anhyzer throw. I would not dare to throw a forehand shot into the wind as the disc will want to turn to the left. Playing in the wind is difficult enough as it is. Why try make a disc do something it doesn't want to do?

Yeah, I'd rather go backhand overall, but I just struggle with disc selection and release angle. If I go with an overstable forehand I know it will do what I expect, with backhand I always have questions in my mind....is this the right disc? right angle? is it not going to turn with this much angle? turn too much? bleh...

I know the answer is more practice... I'll have to remember to practice it when the winds up again, I always just seem to practice straight/hyzer routes into the wind for some reason.

[FierceTable]

For once I really don't care for how simple Blake tried to make his response. I'm more inclined to throw a hyzer when a sharp turn is at the end of the desired flight path and an anhyzer when a sharp turn is in the begining of the desired flight path. Gradual turns are fairly easy to perform with either method so factors other than flight path determine the shot type (such as where are safe spots for the disc to land). In these cases the line doesn't matter as much as the landing. An anhyzer tends to roll back (unless it lands almost flat on dirt and can slide) so you can reasonably say wherever the disc lands it will not continue to go in the direction of the anhyzer. Similarly, a hyzer will tend to skip in the direction of the hyzer (though if landing on a slope perpendicular to the hyzer it can skip away from the hyzer flight path). Pick out your landing spot and figure out where you have room for error...is there a larger area of safety to the left or right of the landing area and what can I expect to happen with the shot given the landing surface (grass, dirt, mud, rock, etc)?

If you have a tall obstable 60' out and need to throw over it and have the disc travel for another 250' you're probably better off with an anhyzer. Throwing a hyzer with a great deal of height will go over the obstacle but will continue to hold that line into the ground shortly after clearing the obstacle. If you throw an anhyzer the disc will glide rather than crash into the ground. This is basically throwing a flex shot that doesn't finish the S curve. If you've got the power you can just throw a massive hyzer over the obstable, but you can use an anhyzer to perform the shot with a much smaller power requirement.

There's lots of other reasons that have been discussed and others that haven't, but the landing of the disc and when the turn comes in the desired flight path are the two most common deciding factors determining whether I throw a hyzer or anhyzer. Once you start to see where one might be better than another you won't just think of shots in terms of backhand anhyzer or forehand hyzer and you'll start thinking about backhand hyzer and forehand anhyzer as other possible candidates.

[Blake_T]

there's about 852,000 reasons one should have both shots and being able to execute them with proficiency and variation. i basically went at the initial poster's view since it appeared to be voiced from a standpoint of someone with a weak anhyzer.

i rarely come across a player who can throw a gentle sidearm hyzer. most have pretty nasty OAT and are unable to control the "when" and "how much" of the fade portion if they can only sidearm discs like flicks, xcalibers, max's, predators, firebirds, etc.

i've met a grand total of 2 players ever who were able to basically mirror themselves with backhand and sidearm. if they wanted a gentle turn to the right they threw something slightly understable backhand. if they wanted a gentle turn to the left they threw the same disc sidearm. it's a breath of fresh air to see someone sidearming something like a valkyrie and throwing it relatively straight and far.

An anhyzer tends to roll back (unless it lands almost flat on dirt and can slide) so you can reasonably say wherever the disc lands it will not continue to go in the direction of the anhyzer.

if you can manipulate OAT this can be avoided in almost all situations with almost any disc, regardless of how understable it may be (with the exception of the ~5 most understable discs on the market).

[FierceTable]

With the part you quoted I was talking about choosing a shot based on margin of error. I didn't state this in my example, but I was especially thinking of a hole at my home course where the landing area is perpendicular to the anhyzer making that tiny roll back all but guaranteed. People who are proficient can do almost anything they want with the disc. I was just suggesting that when the average person throws this shot they have to be mindful of how the disc will react when landing. If the disc is landing on a grabby surface like grass there is absolutely no way (I can think of) in which the disc can possibly continue to go in the direction of the anhyzer (unless it's almost verical and stands up as a roller rather than the little cut roller that happens at lesser angles). It either lands flat and stays where it lands or it will bite and move back against the anhyzer a little...it absolutely will not move farther in the direction of the anhyzer. I equate this line of thinking with the pitch putt...you eliminate missing on one side because there's only one way the disc can behave. Actually, I equate it more with shapping a golf ball, but I'll try to keep this disc golf related :-p

[Mark Ellis]

Nice post, Mark. After wrecking my elbow a year and a half ago I focused on learning the anhyzer so I didn't have to flick and keep aggravating my elbow. Learning to throw anhyzer has been the greatest thing I've done for my game for the reasons Mark just went over. My elbow's better now and I still pull out the forehand once in a while when the situation dictates, but I love throwing anhyzers now, they're just such a pretty line to watch when they fly as intended.

One situation I really struggle with regarding anhyzer vs. forehand though is into a head wind. If I have a hole that doglegs right and there's a stiff headwind, how do you throw that hole anhyzer? I always get screwed up thinking about it and then just fall back onto the forehand. I'm assuming the forehand into the wind is a higher percentage shot, ya?

What'shisname, if you can throw a forehand into a strong headwind and make it hyzer then you have a great forehand. That is a very difficult shot for anyone. While a backhand here may be tricky but it is the much easier shot. Short of crazy winds (where you can't keep a hat on your head) I throw it forehand but that is only because my backhand is limited, not because I think it is the truer shot.

As an aside, what'shisname, it may be your elbow problems are based on your forehand form. You might want to try keeping your arm straighter to relieve the strain on your elbow.