I love fantasy baseball.
No joke: I haven’t missed a season since I was 12 years old.
The one thing that drives me crazy about fantasy baseball, however, is the frequency with which these guys get seriously injured. Baseball’s not the most intense sport on earth. There’s some movement involved, but if David Wells can pitch for two decades, it’s hardly the decathlon …
Speaking of pitchers, if ever there was a group of ballplayers getting injured at a high clip, it’s those guys – every week, some of the game’s biggest arms cycle on and off the injured list.
Listen, I’m no trainer, physical therapist or exercise scientist, but even I’ve been following the game long enough to know there’s a reason for this phenomenon: The pitching motion is SO unnatural, it’s scary. After years of whipping an arm around like a slingshot, it breaks …
Disc golfers, beware: The big-time forehand is a ticking time bomb.
No, the movement’s not exactly the same, but there are enough similarities to cause concern.
And I’m not talking about the 100- to 200-foot sidearm approach you can toss in your sleep. Or the controlled, 300-foot flick you bust out from time to time off the tee. No, more specifically, I’m referring to the jaw-dropping “bomber” forehand that’s become trendy in recent years …
The pros do it all the time – this sort of thing:
As I understand it, Ryan Sheldon played college baseball, hence his right forearm needing to be registered with the state of Minnesota as a deadly weapon. But not everybody with a crazy-good flick has that kind of background. And even if they did, ligaments are only good for so long …
Why else do you think mega-strict pitch counts are a thing in professional baseball?
You knew we’d get here eventually: Eagle McMahon.
Rightfully so, McMahon’s known for having one of the best power sidearms – if not THE best sidearm – in the history of disc golf. Yet, even with the form and tall, lanky levers requisite for bombing Cloudbreakers 450-plus feet on a rope, the dude’s sidelined with a bum shoulder …
Here’s the incident that brought us to this point – look away, if you’re squeamish:
And before you go there, I get that this was an irresponsible “circus” shot – but Eagle’s not the only big-name pro taking a break from (or severely limiting) his forehand hucks. For well over a year, Simon Lizotte’s elbow had him throwing turnovers like they were going out of style …
Also, the latest in the lengthy list of Paul McBeth’s excuses for a poor performance came during this year’s PDGA Champions Cup. After the first round, McBeth complained of pain in his right elbow. Naturally, he backed off flicks for a bit – two events later, he’s still ginger with the thing.
Heck, even Ricky Wysocki often opts for a turnover when the forehand gap is wide open …
Listen to the commentators: They usually point it out.
Let’s get back to McMahon, though: Eagle’s young – REALLY young. At this point, disc golf’s not nearly lucrative enough for guys to bow out of the sport after a year or two, banking solely on the money they made early on. In pro disc golf, the name of the game is “Longevity.”
In any sport, trends come and go – disc golf’s no different.
Twenty years ago, apart from Scott Stokely, nobody threw forehands. Ten years ago, dudes were flirting with the idea, but it still hadn’t quite caught on. And now, the general consensus is if you can’t get a forehand at least 350 feet off the tee and aren’t James Conrad, you’re screwed …
So, what’s next?
- Turnovers.
- Off-hand hyzers.
- Cutting out the flick cold turkey.
It’s all fair game.
This much I know: For the past five years, as Eagle McMahon’s gone, the rest of the sport has followed. If he thinks it’s time the power forehand falls out of fashion, it might do just that …
Time will tell – stay tuned.
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