overhead shot induced arm injury

[turso]

Was acting a bit retarded on the local course, there's a hole I can't really reliably play with anything else than overhead shot, thumber in this case, and I hurt a muscle or muscles in my upper arm because of it. First throw gave just a small indication of pain, second gave a proper one, and third time the charm, took my arm out of action for rest of the day.

I don't think it's injured too badly, but the pain pretty much stopped me from doing anything with the arm for few hours, and for now I'm taking a few days off as it starts coming back even when backhand throwing after a couple of hours.

It's one of the supporting muscles on the inner side of the upper arm, the pain is closer to the elbow than middle part of upper arm.

The question is how can I prevent this in the future? I'm pretty sure it has to be a technique flaw or do I just have such feeble muscles there that they can't take the stress of an overhead throw?

[chainchaser]

Stop by and ask the thumber man himself brian schweberger tomorrow night. Here http://live.discgolftalkradio.com

[JHern]

As with any other throwing style, you're using too much arm strength to throw, which isn't going to help you and could result in serious injury if you don't stop. Also, this is a throw you should build up slowly, since you will need to build muscular coordination that you don't already have (unless you're an active baseball player). Start with very light plastic (e.g., Blizzard 130g). Go to a field, try throwing 100 times but only aiming to hit 100 ft. Remember, your body's stupid instinct is to put more muscle into the effort if you're not getting the distance, but it is actually the worst thing you can do. Keep your arm loose and whip it forward using the strength of your torso alone. Push off your back leg to gain forward momentum, and then push back from you plant foot to accelerate the hip turn (your back leg pushes that side of the hips forward and your plant leg pushes the other side of the hips back...this is the fundamental twist force). This should uncoil in sequence up to your shoulders...that's where all the strength lies. The rest is positioning and timing with the arm, but just remember to open the hips almost completely before the disc begins moving forward.

[JR]

You could also ask on www.frisbeeliitto.com forums if monster has any advice. He has plenty of experience of injuries too not just throwing over 150 meters overhead.