How do you actually get better at putting?

[ReinZ_96]

I've spent the whole winter putting over 100 putts every single day and still suck as much (or more) as I ever have. After missing no less than 7 putts from less than 15 feet, completely air balling two of them 80 feet downhill, on Saturday during a tournament I am pretty much at wits end.

Three months of putting, trying to take my time and focus on quality over quantity, watching and re-watching every putting video I can find, and trying every which way and other type of putt I still have no idea where to put my feet, no idea how to have anything even resembling a consistent release, throw everything am side (then miss by even more on pro side any time I try to correct it), and somehow have less confidence than I started with. :wall::wall:

So, how does one actually get better at putting.

 

[navel]

You are probably a whole lot better than you think you are. When trying out new stuff and focusing on form rather than feel things tend to get difficult for a while. It's a natural process. Tell yourself that. When you find confidence and a good feeling in your putt you will realize that your practice has done a lot for you. Good job!

I have two tips for you:
1. Stand so close to the basket that you can't miss. Don't think about the form. Try do do what feels natural and smooth with least amount of effort. Like if you were throwing trash in a garbage can or something. Listen to some music and just relax. In a few days you can move back a little bit if you want to. Keep the same mindset and make every single putt form that distance. Don't move any further than that.

2. Just to get out of the funk and not be able to think about the form when practicing - throw something else.
Throw a ball, a hammer, a paper plate, a stick. This will convert and you wont get stuck in bad habits as easily. Don't make it a disc throw. Throw a ball like you would throw a ball.

 

[NoseDownKing]

I have a kind of a weird approach. But I mostly practice from 30 footers. 25-30 if I want to change it up a little. When I feel confident making it from that distance there is no way I'm missing anything shorter than that. The problem with practicing short putts for me is, that it makes me lazy. Then the long putts feel really difficult, since you can't exactly be lazy from 30 feet like you can from 15 feet. I guess you could say practicing from 30 feet teaches me to commit to every putt, instead of just chucking it in from 15.

Sent from my SM-G981B using Tapatalk

 

[wolfhaley]

When you get to see me putting your confidence will immediately skyrocket. It's actually kind of impressive the different ways I can miss putts.

That being said I have nothing to offer helpwise. But I would wager you're not that far off techniquewise. Being a northerner myself, it just takes some time to adjust from cold to warm weather. You'll dial it in in no time.

 

[HyooMac]

You didn't mention your stats, but you're probably a very good practice putter (or at least an improved one).

At least for me, tournament conditions should be compared with other tournaments. Every facet of my game falls off when I play in tournaments,because I play so few of them. Similarly, I compare C1X practice-to-practice, and casual round-to-casual round.

Each type of play has its own goals and its own baselines. What are your stats in practice, casual, and tournaments? You might have more success looking at them that way.

 

[seedlings]

If you have access to a basket, put it outside on/near an incline, with nearby low branches. Amazing how different it is putting in a gymnasium over the winter (like I did) versus actual outdoor conditions.

 

[Jay Dub]

Practice is the secret to putting good. Too much practice can also happen.

How serious are you mentally while practicing putting? Maybe try relaxing and not be so serious. If you're missing, stop and walk away. Come back later and pick it back up.

One thing your putting practice should be teaching you is how to relax while putting, keep working on that.

If you are practicing all those hours then this is a mental issue for you, imo.

 

[Horsman]

You need to keep at it. 3 months is not enough time to get good at putting. It took me maybe 5 years or so to say that I was good at putting.

 

[B The V]

Practice putting and putting in a tournament are two very different things. You need to get your head to think you are practice putting while in a tournament and you'll be set.

 

[stevefolfer]

Practice putting and putting in a tournament are two very different things. You need to get your head to think you are practice putting while in a tournament and you'll be set.

This is what helps me. First I decide if I'm going to try and make the putt or lay up. If I decide I'm going to try and make it I'll tell myself, "Just like in the backyard" and then try to give it a good go. If you are afraid to miss, and then miss the comeback putt, you are setting yourself up for failure. You have to believe it doesnt matter if you miss.

 

[drk_evns]

I almost made a post about this the other day.

I've thought about mechanics a lot. They're important, they are the foundation you must build your game upon. BUT to be competitve you can't be thinking about them. It's truly all about maintaining and controlling your focus.

Simon always says "you should learn to throw and then learn to golf" which I fully agree with. It's not a fun thing to hear. We all just want to play disc golf and be good at it, but if my personal study of the backhand taught me anything, it's that you can't truly be competitve AND work on your swing at the same time. If you're thinking about your backswing instead of your target, you're not going to hit your target.

Putting puts this theory under a microscope and it amplifies the importance of focus. I worked on my putting mechanics less than my driving mechanics, but I definitely took some time to make sure I was happy with the power I could get out of it as well as the way it looked. I personally think the McBeth style "spush" is the best all-around putt there is, so I based mine off of his. The mechanics of the putt are more important than people give them credit for... but in the end, visulization and supreme focus on your target is what you need to make putts consistently.

_

I say all of that to make this point; meditiation can make your disc golf game better. I am a very pragmatic person with an engineer-like view of the world. I find religion fascinating, but have never been a religous or spiritual person. However, recently I started the introductory course of Waking Up, a meditation app from Sam Harris (Neuroscientist and Philosopher). It gives you a daily, guided, meditation that usually lasts less than 10 minutes. It approaches meditation from the perspective of science as opposed to religion, while still maintaining the spirituality it can tap into. I think it's a wonderful introduction to meditation... but I'm not trying to be an advertisment for this app, rather for mediation itself.

I notice a distinct and positive change in the way my brain works after meditation, and MY PUTTING HAS IMPROVED because of it. It gives you practice on focus. It makes it a skill. It's something I can "turn on" as I prepare for my putt, and it truly can feel like a super power. The 8-10 minutes I spend meditating are the best 8-10 minutes of disc golf practice I get every day.

Try it.

 

[ReinZ_96]

Practice is the secret to putting good. Too much practice can also happen.

How serious are you mentally while practicing putting? Maybe try relaxing and not be so serious. If you're missing, stop and walk away. Come back later and pick it back up.

One thing your putting practice should be teaching you is how to relax while putting, keep working on that.

If you are practicing all those hours then this is a mental issue for you, imo.

Oh, 100% this. I know that 90% of putting is just mental. I joke I have the driving and upshot game of a 950 rated player and the putting game of an 850 rated player, or worse. But my mental game is by far the worst part of my game. And when I get off, especially if it's right from the start of a round, it's so so hard to push through it and recover.

And in that regard I almost feel like all the practice has been bad. When I get to my comfortable 'I can make this every time' (15 and in on most days) my anxiety shoots through the roof and the only thing I can think is 'don't miss' rather than 'I've done this 1000 times in the last week, I got this no problem.' If I get out to the course and get in a groove right away on the practice basket I'll hit what feels like everything for almost the whole day, same thing with practice sessions. Otherwise it's mega struggle bus and it's really hard to build up my confidence for the day.

 

[Jay Dub]

Oh, 100% this. I know that 90% of putting is just mental. I joke I have the driving and upshot game of a 950 rated player and the putting game of an 850 rated player, or worse. But my mental game is by far the worst part of my game. And when I get off, especially if it's right from the start of a round, it's so so hard to push through it and recover.

And in that regard I almost feel like all the practice has been bad. When I get to my comfortable 'I can make this every time' (15 and in on most days) my anxiety shoots through the roof and the only thing I can think is 'don't miss' rather than 'I've done this 1000 times in the last week, I got this no problem.' If I get out to the course and get in a groove right away on the practice basket I'll hit what feels like everything for almost the whole day, same thing with practice sessions. Otherwise it's mega struggle bus and it's really hard to build up my confidence for the day.

IMO, this is the problem and I think you know that. It takes time and experience. I think a player needs to go thru uncomfortable situations on the course to learn how to handle those situations.

I say keep at it and try to get the frustration level down. :thmbup:

 

[ReinZ_96]

You didn't mention your stats, but you're probably a very good practice putter (or at least an improved one).

At least for me, tournament conditions should be compared with other tournaments. Every facet of my game falls off when I play in tournaments,because I play so few of them. Similarly, I compare C1X practice-to-practice, and casual round-to-casual round.

Each type of play has its own goals and its own baselines. What are your stats in practice, casual, and tournaments? You might have more success looking at them that way.

My practice putting has improved a bit. But, especially recently, it's more my highs are higher AND my lows are lower and it balances out about where I've been at. So, like, I've gotten better but also less consistent which is the crux of my frustration. 15ft I've gone form 89% to 94% and 20ft I've gone from 68% to 76% on week long averages, though there is some skew in there from quitting early on my days I'm way off and missing everything. But, that can be 98% and 85% one day to 85% and 60% the next and everything in between. Since I started playing again this spring, in like 15 rounds or so I've had as many 0% c1x rounds as I had almost all of last year, but also have comfortably hit the 80-90% a few times with a mistake or two in there.

As for tournament vs casual rounds, I usually don't play too differently. If anything I tend to play very marginally better on average because I tend to stay more focused. Now, that wasn't really the case on Saturday since everything went so downhill so fast, but I wasn't out there just mindlessly throwing shots except for a hole or two. The thing that always gets me most in tournaments is seeing cardmates go massive shank, bad approach, save par from well into C2 with a perfect dead center putt on the same hole I park my tee shot and miss the 12 footer for biridie. Maybe it's just me remembering the putts where my cardmates do absurd things like that and not when they balls it up, but I feel like I'm just so far behind everyone in my rating range when it comes to putting. So, when my drives or approaches are off I just completely collapse. And, like I said in my reply to JayDub, it's my mental game collapsing and I know it. But it's so dang hard to reel it in once it's gone.

 

[txmxer]

Okay, so take the pressure off your putting. If a 15' putt turns in to an 80' comeback, you've done something really wrong.

Make a different choice--particularly if you know it is one of those days your putter is giving you fits. Sure, you won't play a 950 round, but it sounds like your results leave you with an 850 round that could have been a 900 round had you made a different choice strategy wise. Even if you don't want to layup, maybe work on a soft bid?

Hopefully, over time, you will get more comfortable on the green because you aren't going to throw it away, and maybe some of those putts start to drop.


Regarding number of practice throws. 100 putts a day isn't really that much TBH. I've been practicing putting a lot this winter to develop a consistent feel. It's helped a ton with my confidence--even when I miss a putt, I know what it was supposed to feel like and can step up to the next putt not second guessing my form and release.

 

[ReinZ_96]

Okay, so take the pressure off your putting. If a 15' putt turns in to an 80' comeback, you've done something really wrong.

Make a different choice--particularly if you know it is one of those days your putter is giving you fits. Sure, you won't play a 950 round, but it sounds like your results leave you with an 850 round that could have been a 900 round had you made a different choice strategy wise. Even if you don't want to layup, maybe work on a soft bid?

Hopefully, over time, you will get more comfortable on the green because you aren't going to throw it away, and maybe some of those putts start to drop.


Regarding number of practice throws. 100 putts a day isn't really that much TBH. I've been practicing putting a lot this winter to develop a consistent feel. It's helped a ton with my confidence--even when I miss a putt, I know what it was supposed to feel like and can step up to the next putt not second guessing my form and release.

The 80 foot comebackers were only on one hole, both rounds, with a huge hill behind the basket. lol. Most of them were makeable combackers.

But, on the second bolded point I 100% agree. If I'd have layed up just those two putts both rounds I'd have saved 4 strokes over the tournament right there...probably even more from avoiding the mental hit. Some big mistakes, compounded by bad decisions fueled by being overly aggressive to 'make up' for the previous holes. It's usually not something I do in tournaments, and it clearly was the wrong decision to do it this weekend.

 

[txmxer]

And this is a transitional state. Working on the mental aspect. Avoiding the putting demon.

 

[BillFleming]

I've spent the whole winter putting over 100 putts every single day and still suck as much (or more) as I ever have. After missing no less than 7 putts from less than 15 feet, completely air balling two of them 80 feet downhill, on Saturday during a tournament I am pretty much at wits end.

When we practice our throws/putts, we are usually doing it in private or semi-private. There's no one watching us, waiting for us to finish. We can also take as long as we want. And we are usually throwing multiple putts from one spot.

Let's start from the last point. In regular play, when it's time to putt, we don't make multiple putts until one goes in. One putt and it is either in or we are putting from a different spot. Practicing, we get to putt multiple times from one spot and adjust each time until we get it right.

People watching us....there's pressure when you are being watched, especially if other players are waiting to putt. That can cause us to rush our putts. Practicing, we can take as long as we want to go through our routine - there's no pressure to make the putt quickly.

The best thing to do with practice is: pick one spot and throw multiple putts from there to get your routine and rhythm down. Then throw a single putter from there and other spots...don't throw from the same spot twice....mix it up like it would be during a round. Maybe get another person and putt with them taking turns....that puts pressure on you to finish your putt so the other person can putt. If you miss a putt, your next putt should be from where it landed....just like during a round.

The best thing to do during a round is: STICK TO YOUR ROUTINE. Doesn't matter if it is a 2 foot putt or a 30 foot putt....stick to your routine.

Also, remember....during practice you may throw 100 putts one after another....in a round, there's a lot that happens between putts; you go to the next tee box, tee off, throw upshots, wait for other players to throw, discuss the weather, discuss shots, put your bag down, pick it up. All of that changes your focus. With practice, you are ONLY putting, pretty much 100% focused on putting.

 

[azplaya25]

This is an epiphany I had after a tourney where the exact same thing happened to me...learn to straddle putt. I'm not saying straddling needs to be your main putting style in the long run....but as you will need to be able to straddle putt in certain situations, so you might as well get good at it. Nice thing with a straddle is when your dealing with those tourney nerves, there's less moving parts. Line up with your nose at the pole, reach straight down and toss the disc in the basket. I like to take a couple practice swings to make sure my arm is swinging straight at the pole, then just toss it in. The range may be limited, but who cares. If you make all your putts within 20 feet, I guarantee you will enjoy your tournaments much more.

 

[JuanA]

It gives you practice on focus. It makes it a skill. It's something I can "turn on" as I prepare for my putt, and it truly can feel like a super power. The 8-10 minutes I spend meditating are the best 8-10 minutes of disc golf practice I get every day.

Try it.

I'm a big believer in everything you said, especially the bolded part. When I first started meditating, I thought I had to just 'zone out' and not think of anything which was very frustrating because my mind wanders and jumps like crazy.

There is a great MasterClass on mindfulness where he talks about constantly bringing your focus back when ever it wanders off. That's the 'practice' when people talk about 'practicing meditation'. That made all the difference, and now I can also turn on the focus when I really need it. It's really a game changer for my crazy brain.