Is putting really more important than driving

[JC17393]

First, I'm not trying to pick on you, I'm just using this as an example.In this case what you'd need to do is record how many times you're "recovering a par" compared to how many times you miss a ~30' putt to see what's more beneficial. If the putting only gets you one or two strokes per round, but you're "recovering" a par 5 or 6 times per round then driving is more important. If it's the other way, than putting is more important.

The thing is people rarely have actual recorded numbers, so no one actually knows what's more important for any given golfer. It's just a bunch of speculation.

The problem comes with definitively saying whether or not a drive actually cost you an "extra" stroke on the scorecard. When you miss a putt, that's guaranteeing at least one extra shot you otherwise wouldn't have had to throw. It's easy to quantify that. You can't really do the same after every "bad" drive in a round. Unless you ace, you are always going to have to make another throw after the tee shot.

It's easy for me to look back at my last round and see that I missed 6 putts within 25 feet, one of which rolled away downhill and I needed to two shots to finish that hole. So that's up to 7 extra strokes on my score that could have been prevented by making more of my <25 footers.

But looking at my less than ideal drives in that same round is tougher. I missed four drives where, in my estimation, a good/great drive would have put me in the circle. On those holes I took two 4s (including an OB) and two 3s. Do I count that as costing me two extra strokes (the 4s not being 3s)? Or should I be assuming a good drive = a deuce so I could/should have been four throws better?

I also had two tee shots that came up well short of my intention, but they were both on multi-shot holes so regardless of how well they were thrown, they weren't reaching the circle. They just both meant longer approaches, which I executed just as well as I think I would have if I'd been closer. So IMO, neither drive hurt my score even though I'd classify them as poor or misses.

This leads me to think it would be easier to improve my putting to improve my score. It's just much more definitive in its effect on my overall score. That shouldn't diminish the need for making good tee shots, but if you can't finish them off, what good are they, really?

 

[tylerc]

a while ago I found an app for ios called dg score, I think that's what it is called. but on it you can enter everything that happened on every hole such as how far your drive was from the pin and how far putts and upshots were and such. but after gathering that info for about 10 or 15 rounds I had some putting percentages and a percent for fairways hit on the drive. and using that info there is a thing in the app for what if you improved say 25 foot putts from 60% to 80% and it would give an average strokes that you would do better in a round with that improvement. so I used that and calculated if I putted everything from 40 feet and in at 100% I would shoot 1 or 2 strokes lower. but then I reset it and calculated if I got just 80% of my drives within 50 feet and I would shoot 3 strokes lower. then I made it that I got 100% percent of the drives in the fairway and within 50 feet and I would on average shoot 8 strokes lower. that's when I decided that driving is more important, for me. I think it could be different for different people and it depends on the course. this course is short and all par 3s for reference

 

[Broken Shoulder]

Lights out putting will do more to help your game, I think.
I believe it also has a trickle down effect on your approaches and drives. The wider your margin of error on those shots (in terms of landing zone) the greater your confidence is going to be in executing certain shots. Or, it may allow you to play safe to a spot instead of trying the miracle shot to land next to the pin.

 

[Stardoggy]

I don't even think it's close. If you can't drive worth a damn, you won't get any opportunities at birdie putts.

 

[smarkquart]

Lights out putting will do more to help your game, I think.
I believe it also has a trickle down effect on your approaches and drives. The wider your margin of error on those shots (in terms of landing zone) the greater your confidence is going to be in executing certain shots. Or, it may allow you to play safe to a spot instead of trying the miracle shot to land next to the pin.

In essence this is the answer.

If you are worried about your putting, the stress of landing a drive or an approach within the narrow comfort putting zone can lead to over-concentrating on trying to hit the perfect release point with the perfect snap instead of just trusting your body.

Putting has a quicker and larger impact on score than driving can. Unless we are taking about an absolute horrendous drive, at most a drive is going to swing your score by one or two throws per hole. Putting, however, can easily add two to three throws to your score because so many more bad things can happen. You come up short, go long and just as far on the backside, clip the basket and have it roll behind you and or down a hill, and etc. etc.

A prime example would be of what happened to me last night. At Elm Creek (drive - approach - putt course, most holes 380-440) I was going into the final five holes 4 down. Because it is drive - approach - putt, par is average and unless you have absolutely killer drives, there are not many opportunities for birdies; so 4 down is awesome and almost best case scenario. I then proceeded to double-bogeyed Hole 5 because I hit chains and the center pole but the putt did not stick. Three holes later I double bogeyed again because I bounced the par attempt off the top of the basket, it got on edge, and rolled down the hill over 70 feet away.

I went into the final hole knowing that within a matter of four holes I went from four down to one up. I NEEDED a perfect drive on the next hole just to get back to par. If I had played as I normally do, I still would have been 3 or 4 down going into this final hole. I would have been content getting a par on that final hole, taking a lot of stress off of me, and when that occurs I will hit the line I want which on occasion sets me up for an easy birdie anyway. I NEEDED a birdie, and when I over-stress on a drive I have a tendency to throw high and to the right. There is a tree immediately to my right that frequently snags such arrant shots. If I get knocked down there, I am still facing another 280 feet with a strong crosswind. My chances of even getting par has greatly diminished.

Thankfully I was able to hit the perfect line, putting myself just two feet left of chaining an ace, but at least it was an easy birdie. I delivered when I needed it most just to get back to my average score. I cannot count on doing that every time I face this hole.

There were at least four or five drives I know I could have done better, but thanks to an overall great performance with approaches and puttings going into those final five holes, those less than stellar drives had no real effect on my game. It was strictly my putting that let me down and made that five throw swing in my score.

 

[bogeyfreetilinfinity]

gotta chime in again

During the last round i played i was thinking about putting vs driving. Here's what I realized;
1. a very small error in putting will cost me a stroke, definitely.
1a. a large error putting will cost two strokes, maybe.
2. a very small error on a drive will probably not cost a stroke.
3. a small-medium error in your drive will cost a stroke, maybe.
4. a large error in your drive will cost a stroke or more, probably.
5. It would be great to drive to ten feet on every hole.

 

[Timeetyo]

So something interesting happened to me this week as I set up my practice basket for 1025 practice. I now have three sets of flags marking 10/15/20/25/30/35 feet from my basket which give me a nice "target zone" around my basket that makes it crystal clear the distance I'm landing from the basket and my % of hitting the subsequent putt from there. I am keeping the stats of my putts hit for each day's game of 1025 to get a better gauge of my putting % for each distance.

What has become clear is:
- A drive / approach that is 40' away might as well be 100' away.
- A drive / approach that is >35' away gets exponentially more likely to hit with just a few feet of extra accuracy.
- I know others have shown the math for how the landing area gets exponentially bigger as your comfort zone for putting increases, but seeing this laid out with flags makes it crystal clear. Just a few more feet of comfort on my putts makes a HUGE distance. And when you get to McBeast putting comfort area - yikes....that landing zone is huge.
- Adding to your putting range also has a double benefit of helping with reducing 3 putts and enabling you to make a run at further putts. Both reduce strokes.

Now the question is - which helps you more? It really depends on where you are typically landing. Are you more likely to lengthen that drive 10' if it is short, or gain 10' of accuracy if it is wide right/left, or are you more likely to add 10' of comfort zone to your putting game. They obviously all help - but it is situational. On some holes I just don't have the distance to make it within putting range. Adding 20' or driving range is easier than 20' of putting comfort zone. On others, I can reach the hole just struggle with accuracy. For these it is probably easier to add 5' of putting range to GREATLY expand my target circle than it is to add another 5' of drive accuracy.

 

[zj1002]

The difference between me shooting 980 rated and 1020+ is making four or five 25-30ft putts. The drives are always there. Having the confidence to make every 25-40ft no matter what hazards the putting green has is a game changer. It takes a lot of pressure off you mentally to park every drive when you know you can make every putt.

 

[Broken Shoulder]

The difference between me shooting 980 rated and 1020+ is making four or five 25-30ft putts. The drives are always there. Having the confidence to make every 25-40ft no matter what hazards the putting green has is a game changer. It takes a lot of pressure off you mentally to park every drive when you know you can make every putt.

I think this is the biggest thing. On a drive or approach that sits circle's edge, a confident putter says, "Cool, got a putt." Whereas a less confident putter says, "Oh *&%$, I didn't get it close enough." Then they're stressing.
The mental aspect of this stuff is so much more impactful than people think.

 

[iacas]

I think the "drive for show, putt for dough" is a holdover from ball golf. I think driving holds more weight in disc golf than in ball golf due to the various lines and throws required to hit those lines.
…
That said, I still think putting is more important. But where ball golf may be 20% driving/80% putting disc golf would be closer to 40/60. IMO.

Golf is 14% putting. The short game is about 19%. The long game (driving and approach shots) account for about 67% of the difference between any two groups of players in golf.

"Drive for show, putt for dough" is bogus in golf. Probably far more so in golf than in disc golf, but as some people have pointed out, the increase in par fours and par fives in disc golf will continue to put more and more importance on driving and approach shots.