Help teach my dog to catch frisbees

[Cornboy]

I'm trying to teach my dog to catch frisbees. I've done this once before with my brother's dog, a few years back. She's a pitbull/lab mix. I started her out by having her sit and stay and throwing the frisbee at her until she got confident catching the frisbee without having to run, then we started her moving, little by little. She's now great at catching, could probably do it competitively.

My dog is about a year old now, he's a shepherd/pit mix (possibly Dutch Shepherd), without maybe a smaller dog mixed in. He's about 40 pounds and is incredibly fast. He also loves to chase things.

So I've been working for a while with him to get him to catch frisbees as well, using the same methods I used on my brothers dog. He's got issues, though, that she didn't have, mainly that he tries to catch with his paws and his mouth. When I throw the frisbee to him, he'll open his mouth up, but he'll also rear back on his hind legs and try to trap the frisbee between his paws. I'm not sure how I can break this habit.

Additionally, I've done some test trials of tossing the frisbee away from him and having him run to catch it, to see if this was easier for him to do than throwing it right at him (since running and catching take out the possibility of him using his paws). The problem is, he won't sprint after it. He's happy running 3/4s speed, letting the frisbee hit the ground, then grabbing it. I know he can sprint after it and catch it, as when there is competition (my brothers dog) around, he'll haul ass after the frisbee so that the other dog won't get it.

I know this is somewhat strange request, but I was wondering if anyone had similar difficulties with their own dogs in frisbee catching, and if they had any advice. Thanks.