I’ve been playing disc golf since the summer of 1995.
I still vividly remember that first year, playing with an Innova Shark and Stingray and a Discraft Cyclone and Cyclone 2 drivers. I still have my Millennium Super Soft Omega putter that I bought that year.
I don’t think I ever threw a drive over 275′ that first year. I played a lot, and remember making many more bogies than birdies.
Over the years I’ve worked hard on improving my game. I have spent countless hours in open fields working on my footwork and throwing technique for long, crushing drives. I can now throw 350′+ drives with accuracy and consistency. I’ve spent a considerable amount of time learning to throw rollers, tomahawks, and forehands, and now feel confident enough with these techniques to use them when the situation calls for it. After thousands of round I have a complete understanding of how the wind affects my discs.
But the one part of my game I have never really worked on until recently is putting.
I would summarize my putting style over the last 9 years as ‘conservative’. My primary problem was lack of confidence. Any time I was more than 15′ out I felt shaky and uncertain about making my putt. My rule was, if I can’t be in the basket, be under the basket. Unfortunately, I was seldom in the basket.
That’s why I played conservatively. From 20′ out I only hit about 40-50% of my putts. From 30′, no more than 20%. Because I wasn’t confident making putts from 25-40′, I almost never made good, aggressive putts from that distance. I was content to drop my birdie putts within 5-10′ of the basket for the easy pars, instead of risking a possible bogie on a long come-back putt.
But I knew in order to take my game to the next level—to be consistently competitive in tournament play—I had to improve my putting game.
About three weeks ago I decided to do something about it.
How to Become a Better Putter
The first step to working on your putting game is simple: get out and practice; every day if you can. But instead of just going out and throwing disc-after-disc at the target, I needed a plan. So I devised a routine that provided me with a quantitative way to measure and gauge my improvement.
Three weeks after I started my new putting practice routine, I played in my first tournament. In my first round, I hit 7 of my 8 birdie putts, and finished with a 961-rated round—my highest ever.
What follows is the routine I created to work on and improve my putting game.
Get Yourself a Basket
If you’re going to become a better putter, you’re going to have to put in some time. And the easiest way to do it is to have a basket at home that you can use everyday. If you can’t afford a PDGA approved, professionally built basket, build your own. But get a basket.
I started by going out to my backyard and cleaning out the birds nests, pine cones, and cobwebs that had accumulated in my long-forgotten homemade basket.
My basket is made out of PVC tubing, with a set of 16 real chains (even practicing at home, I gotta have that ‘ching’ sound). I intentionally made it about 4/5th the size of a standard PDGA basket. I reasoned that if I conditioned myself to consistently hit a smaller target, then when I played in tournaments the bigger baskets would look like the side of barn.
Measure it Out
After I set up my basket, I measured and marked distances at 5′ intervals, starting at 15′ from the basket, and moving back to 40′ from the basket. Having these distances marked, I could consistently practice from known distances and hone my putts.
Use the Same Disc
I had about 30 old discs in my basket that I used to practice throwing around the back yard and at the basket. Of these, only one was a putter, three were mid-range (a Shark, a Spider, and a Roc), and the rest were old drivers.
The problem with using these discs to practice putting with is obvious: I don’t use a driver to putt with in tournaments. So I bought 4 new putters, plus the two I already had in my bag. I normally use a Millennium Omega Super Soft, but I also bought two Discraft APX Swirl putters to try. So I now have 6 quality putters that are interchangeable in my bag.
Experiment with different molds and weights of putters, and switch between soft and rigid plastic to see which putters work better for you at different distances. The putter you use for 10-30′ putts might not be the one you feel most comfortable with from 45′.
Create a Routine
Instead of just going out to the backyard and aimlessly tossing putt after putt at the basket, I created a routine…sort of a game…that helps me to gauge my progress.
I start with all 6 of my putters from the 15′ mark. I putt all 6 discs at the basket until I make all 6. If I miss even one out of the six putts, I have to start over again until I hit all six from that spot. Then I move to the 20′ mark. From the 20′ mark, I have to hit 5 out of 6 putts. The following shows my entire routine:
- From 15′ — 6 of 6
- 20′ — 5 of 6
- 25′ — 4 of 6
- 30′ — 3 of 6
- 35′ — 3 of 6
- 40′ — 2 of 6
After I make at least 2 out of 6 putts from 40′ feet, I have to sink two more from 40′, and then I work my way back down to 15′ using the same metrics.
When I first started this routine, it often took me several attempts from each distance to make the required number of putts. But after a few weeks, I can usually make it from each spot on the first attempt…usually making many more than the minimum required at the longer distances.
The key to my routine is consistency. I make myself get out there and do it at least 4 times/week. And I don’t let myself quit until I have made the self-imposed number of putts from each distance. The entire routine usually takes me about 25-30 minutes.
I also practice straddle putts and putting from behind trees from various distances several times a week. I’m also going to start practicing putting from my knees (under low branches), which I had to do twice in my last tournament.
The Cliff Notes
In case you just skimmed the article, here’s the highlights:
- Get a basket at home — this is the most important thing you can do to begin improving your putting game (provided you actually use it).
- Get several putters of the same make/weight as you use when you play — don’t waste your putting practice time by putting with drivers and other disc that you wouldn’t use to putt with during a tournament.
- Measure and mark distances in increments of 5′, starting at 15′ — this allows you to practice with consistency at known distances.
- Practice putting from each distance every day — create performance metrics that you must achieve at each practice. Once you can easily accomplish those metrics, create new, tougher metrics.
You’ll notice I didn’t mention anything about stance, grip, or technique. That’s because everybody putts differently. I would simply recommend that you find the stance and a repeatable throwing motion that feels good to you, and then practice and use it consistently.
One mental technique that has worked well for me is to ‘visualize’ the disc hitting the chains. I get into my putting stance, and then I focus on a spot—usually a specific link on a chain—and I visualize the disc leaving my fingertips and flying directly into that spot. I’ve found that focus is every bit as important an element to putting as is touch and accuracy. Do not underestimate the power of positive thinking and visualization. While you may not make every putt that you ‘visualize’ making…you’ll miss a lot more putts if you get up there thinking you might miss it.
I do the same putting regime, and I found it works great too.
Left by colin on March 22nd, 2005 at 9:41 am