Knowledge bomb from the 970 rated advice thread

[BuzzzChief]

From my experience, expanding the "always make" putting range is the best way to improve because it takes so much pressure off the rest of your game. If you're a terrible putter then you're constantly thinking that you need to park it. That means going for it when you probably shouldn't sometimes, and opening yourself up for big numbers. If you can make everything from 20' in, and the majority of putts in the 25-30' range, often you can take a more conservative line to the basket. You can also take more (and more confident) runs in the C2 range, knowing that you'll make the comeback putt.

For like 15 years I was a 900-920ish player, and then in 2018 I jumped to the 950-970 range over just a few months. The difference? I got a basket in my backyard and practiced putting. A lot. I was awful in the beginning and now I'm halfway decent. 50 point jump. Most of my problems now are related to random misfires off the tee every so often.

Nobody is "perfect" from 250' or 300', but they don't need to be. The best players in the world are so solid inside the circle that anything inside 25' might as well be underneath the basket.

 

[RoDeO]

This is some Casey ****.

Is the corn in the ravine? Are you throwing your NukeOS 400' over a revine and corn...uphill? How does glide magically make uphill shots easy? What does the tunnel have to do with the end of the whole where (presumably) the corn is?

If you have the strength to throw over a corn field and baseball field you have a cannon.

How would a putter or midrange go too far but not a distance driver [NukeOS]? How do you magically range the NukeOS but find it impossible to throw a Buzz/Roc/putter the correct distance?


:wall:

Keeping the Nuke OS under 1320 feet is hard sometimes.

 

[azplaya25]

From my experience, expanding the "always make" putting range is the best way to improve because it takes so much pressure off the rest of your game. If you're a terrible putter then you're constantly thinking that you need to park it. That means going for it when you probably shouldn't sometimes, and opening yourself up for big numbers. If you can make everything from 20' in, and the majority of putts in the 25-30' range, often you can take a more conservative line to the basket. You can also take more (and more confident) runs in the C2 range, knowing that you'll make the comeback putt.

For like 15 years I was a 900-920ish player, and then in 2018 I jumped to the 950-970 range over just a few months. The difference? I got a basket in my backyard and practiced putting. A lot. I was awful in the beginning and now I'm halfway decent. 50 point jump. Most of my problems now are related to random misfires off the tee every so often.

Nobody is "perfect" from 250' or 300', but they don't need to be. The best players in the world are so solid inside the circle that anything inside 25' might as well be underneath the basket.

Good post. Just out of curiosity, it seems like the improved backyard putting transitioned pretty quickly to tournament play based on your rating jump. Did you establish a solid pre putt routine or anything? One challenge I've had in tourneys is just missing putts that I can in my backyard because I get nervous. So much different putting in my yard than putting with people standing there watching you.

 

[Jugular]

Good post. Just out of curiosity, it seems like the improved backyard putting transitioned pretty quickly to tournament play based on your rating jump. Did you establish a solid pre putt routine or anything? One challenge I've had in tourneys is just missing putts that I can in my backyard because I get nervous. So much different putting in my yard than putting with people standing there watching you.

Based on very little experience I found that focussing on a single chain link and intending to hit that link hard helped me block out all the other stuff and commit fully to the putt.
Practice and repetition have got me to the point where I can feel confident in that approach out to circle's edge and all the other prep can be done in the lead up to taking my stance before one practice swing then putt.
I do think having a checklist is something I'd like to work on while assessing my lie, selecting my disc and taking my stance.

 

[BuzzzChief]

Good post. Just out of curiosity, it seems like the improved backyard putting transitioned pretty quickly to tournament play based on your rating jump. Did you establish a solid pre putt routine or anything? One challenge I've had in tourneys is just missing putts that I can in my backyard because I get nervous. So much different putting in my yard than putting with people standing there watching you.

There are probably several threads related to putting practice routines, so I apologize in advance to the Prerubes out there for going too far off topic.

Mechanically I changed a couple things, mainly to remove moving parts. I adjusted my grip to give a more consistent release. I played a lot of JYLY and PP360 for repetition. Sometimes just firing off a bunch in a row from the same distance to build muscle memory. Other times going through the full routine. I really focused on the 20' range, where to be a really good player you need to be 95%+. If you feel super confident from 20', then 25' and 30' don't seem so difficult anymore.

I didn't ever really consciously intend to create a pre-putt routine, but one has developed over time. Set the stance. Set the grip. Check the backswing a couple times, make sure I'm not dropping it too low.

Last step is to RELAX and let tension go, especially from the shoulders. Don't think about anything other than putting the disc on whatever line it needs to be on. The time for analyzing the putt, thinking about risk, where to aim, etc. is over. Sometimes I find myself over-concentrating and tensing up, and that kills my putting. Aim goes to crap. The main thing is to just relax and put the disc on a line. I've probably made the same putt a million times, just let it go.

I find that I actually putt quite a bit better in competition, than in practice. In my backyard I'm over-analyzing everything. How does the grip feel, what is my wrist doing, where's my backswing, did I transfer my weight properly, and so on. In competition the goal is to clear my mind and let all that practice do the work for me. It's muscle memory. Just check your setup, relax your shoulders, and pitch it in!

 

[autocrosscrx]

As the rest of my game improved, my putting range was only about 20 feet. So I've been working that. I changed to a beadles putter, I took my index finger off the front of the rim, I took a lot of movement out of my swing, and I work on follow through and getting push with my back leg. My goal was to have a compact swing that gave me a chance at 25 and 30 footers, but now, I'm really just trying to repeatedly can 15 footers and work from there.

I have 6 grid Aviars that I use. The other day, I hit 113 of 120 putts from 15 feet. All 7 misses were top band. What is incredibly interesting to me is that all 7 misses were with the same putter.

 

[muptonfish]

What is incredibly interesting to me is that all 7 misses were with the same putter.

Sell it immediately!

 

[autocrosscrx]

Sell it immediately!

I'm not sure how much of a factor glide is at 15 feet or if it is a total coincidence, but since I always carry 2 putters, I'm entertaining the possibility of making it my putter for at the edge of my range and beyond.

 

[azplaya25]

There are probably several threads related to putting practice routines, so I apologize in advance to the Prerubes out there for going too far off topic.

Mechanically I changed a couple things, mainly to remove moving parts. I adjusted my grip to give a more consistent release. I played a lot of JYLY and PP360 for repetition. Sometimes just firing off a bunch in a row from the same distance to build muscle memory. Other times going through the full routine. I really focused on the 20' range, where to be a really good player you need to be 95%+. If you feel super confident from 20', then 25' and 30' don't seem so difficult anymore.

I didn't ever really consciously intend to create a pre-putt routine, but one has developed over time. Set the stance. Set the grip. Check the backswing a couple times, make sure I'm not dropping it too low.

Last step is to RELAX and let tension go, especially from the shoulders. Don't think about anything other than putting the disc on whatever line it needs to be on. The time for analyzing the putt, thinking about risk, where to aim, etc. is over. Sometimes I find myself over-concentrating and tensing up, and that kills my putting. Aim goes to crap. The main thing is to just relax and put the disc on a line. I've probably made the same putt a million times, just let it go.

I find that I actually putt quite a bit better in competition, than in practice. In my backyard I'm over-analyzing everything. How does the grip feel, what is my wrist doing, where's my backswing, did I transfer my weight properly, and so on. In competition the goal is to clear my mind and let all that practice do the work for me. It's muscle memory. Just check your setup, relax your shoulders, and pitch it in!

Great post. One thing I noticed is I'm kind of backwards to you on how I approach backyard putts vs tourney putts, and it's something I need to fix. In my yard, I just step up to a 15 foot putt and can it without thinking because it's the 954th time I've thrown that putt from that exact spot.

In tourneys , I'm checking my swing, judging distance, and doing a lot more analyzing before I let it fly. Need to just step up and let muscle memory take over like you do