It pains me to type this, as some amateurs’ games are built entirely around it, but to a certain degree, it’s an understandable move: The thumber is a hyper-effective shot in disc golf.
There …
I said it.
During a C-tier, if you’ve ever shared a card with an ex-ballplayer or quarterback, you know the pain their thumbers can inflict upon the competition. Apart from having to think about playing a smart, competitive round, you’re busy focusing on your footwork, reachback and pull-through. And no, it doesn’t help matters when Josh Allen 2.0 throws a 400-foot thumber while yawning.
It’s infuriating.
If the shot type is new to you, in the simplest terms, a thumber is an overhand throw. As opposed to resting atop the flight plate on a backhand huck, the thumb curls and grips the underside of the disc tightly, while the other four fingers form a fist along the outside of the flight plate. Thrown like an outfielder making a play at the plate in baseball, as long as a beefy fairway or distance driver gets the call, it’s a relatively easy shot – if you’ve got the shoulder ligaments for it …
Many do not.
For a right-handed disc golfer, in most cases, a thumber is a high, up-and-over-type shot that moves from left to right in the air before smacking down (ideally) by the basket. Below, you’ll see Jeremy Koling melt faces with one of the best thumbers to have ever been caught on camera.
* Note: I’ll soon pen a post on how to throw one. For now, though, click here for instructions.
But WHY is the thumber so impactful?
And WHY do so many butt-hurt disc golfers (me) give it the “cheat code” label?
Here’s the answer …
First, again, assuming your shoulder’s up to the task, it’s a foolproof shot – there’s not much skill involved. Never mind the trees below: The fairway in the sky is always open for an up-and-down line. And yes, I understand the tomahawk – the inverse of the thumber – exists, but remember …
Ninety percent of disc golfers are right-handed.
For them, the stock, right-to-left-fading hyzer is an easy backhand. Requiring a forehand, though, the stock, left-to-right-fading hyzer isn’t nearly as easy. For a number of reasons, many struggle to pull this off. Most people have experienced tossing a baseball or football in the front yard. Because of this, the thumber motion is relatively doable. Far fewer people, however, can forehand a tennis racket with confidence – the very motion associated with a sidearm.
Thumber to the rescue.
And did I mention power control?
Forget about it.
It’s (largely) not needed.
Instead of going straight at the pin with a putter or midrange, the thumber adds some serious distance to the shot. The same logic applies to the backhand hyzer – that’s why you see so many of them on the Pro Tour. Throw the thumber hard. Watch the sky eat up a bunch of the power you put into it. And by the time it runs out of steam, the disc’s snuggled up next to the target.
Speaking of getting “next to the target,” here’s my favorite thumber factoid:
Hit. And. Stick.
Again, I invite you to watch Koling’s thumber in action – see above.
Check out the LACK of groundplay on that thing.
Thud. Parked.
Perfect.
Point-A-to-point-B shots require a golfer to account for the slide a disc will produce. With the thumber a hit-and-stick machine, even high-speed distance drivers rarely produce rollaways.
And lastly, two quick things that might surprise you about the thumber: 1) As long as you’re working with a Felon, Firebird or Nuke OS, thumbers are virtually unaffected by even the stiffest of headwinds. I’m not Bill Nye the Science Guy; I have no earthly idea why that’s the case.
But it is.
2) If you’re a gifted athlete, thumbers are capable of traveling just as far (if not farther) than a respectable backhand drive from someone who actually knows what they’re doing – 350-plus feet. Luckily, this kind of distance isn’t needed for the thumber to prove useful, by any means.
Outside of a dare or round of Ript Revenge, I don’t throw the Pterodactyl or Chicken Wing. The occasional tomahawk happens, but it hurts my body, so I avoid them at all costs. Furthermore, while forehand rollers are no stranger to my game, the backhand roller is a real rarity for me.
But don’t you know it …
I love the thumber.
You will, too.
Throw thumbers.
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