New guy

[soarinsirg]

First year player diving into the game. Decided to try it because I was always good at frisbee games (if you havent heard of KAN JAM check it out ASAP), and normal golf haha. Have played about a dozen rounds. Have watched about every youtube video out there. Athletic, still working on mechanics. Just over last few rounds have tried the mid range and putter only to work on form. Always been a guy into form and technique over power in every sport, so im trying to focus there. What would be 2 tips you wish you received early starting out?? Thanks in advance, very excited about diving into this new world of disc golf!!

 

[MrFixIt]

Welcome from GA!
2 tips I wish I had gotten when just starting? Don't buy high speed discs and watch putting videos.

 

[Nihilist]

Good thread. My 2 tips would be:

1. Putting is the great equalizer. Become a master!

2. IMO throwing a flat shot is more difficult than throwing angles. Learn to throw hyzer/anhyzer angles. Play the high percentage shot!

 

[Animage]

Have fun and do your part to keep your local courses clean when playing.

Littering and watching people stepping over bottles/cans kills me. Local course here has trash bins at every teepad

 

[Aim For The Chains]

Welcome!

1. don't try to throw as hard/fast as possible (waste of energy...lol)
2. there is no such thing as a disc which is good or bad at X style of throw or play-- figuring out those discs which fit how you play well is key. Driving putters is a blast too

 

[Timeetyo]

1. Spend as much (if not more) working on both putting and upshot accuracy. As a beginner you will have many more strokes won/lost here than adding distance.

2. Occasionally pick a round and treat it as practice and experimentation. Don't worry about the score. Pick a disc and/or line you normally wouldn't throw and see if you can make it work. Normally throw a FH for that L>R shot, pick an US disc and see if you can make the anny line work. Normally try a fairway here - see how it works with a mid, etc. Doing this has taught me a LOT about disc and shot selection and helped me get out of the rut of "X shot/disc worked last time, do it again...". Needless to say - be prepared to laugh at yourself as there will be some epic fails and you will learn some "what not to do" - but I have learned a lot of better ways to approach holes than what I had thought worked just fine.

 

[SirGawain]

For me it is

1. Form is better than power, especially when driving

2. If you go in the woods, just layup and get out instead of shooting for that perfect line (I have problems with this and overestimate my skill sometimes. It has cost me quite a few strokes over the years :wall:

 

[Curtis_Valk]

I agree with SirGawain's number 2 for sure. My problem was laying up longish putts to avoid a long comeback if (when) I missed the first putt. It took my son forever to talk me into going for the basket every time. My scores suffered for a time, but I began to putt much better. Once I was not terrified of a 12' to 15' comeback, my concentration on long putts improved.

The other thing I wish I'd known sooner is to SLOW DOWN. If the beginning of your throw is too fast, then there is no room for that magic acceleration at "the hit". I still struggle with this. If I try to throw hard and far, I'm usually a good 50 to 70 feet shy of what I know I can throw. Slow is smooth, smooth is far.

 

[soarinsirg]

Thanks for the tips guys, much appreciated. Slow and controlled seems where its at. Just like normal golf. Was out throwing at a field and am getting my putters just shy of 200, around the 185 ft mark, hopefully am on the right path

 

[Geek13]

Welcome from MS

 

[Dthunderchicken]

What would be 2 tips you wish you received early starting out??

Treat the course like a pool table. IOW think about where you want to throw your next shot from.

And as others have said, your short game will shave strokes more than anything. (Drive for show. Putt for dough.)

 

[AshleyH]

1. Throw smooth, not hard.

2. Putt, then putt some more. Then putt.

 

[Toro71]

* try to improve from basket to tee, not tee to basket. So...a)putting, b) up shots c) any shots requiring < 'full' power d)full power shots/tee shots

In fact, I'm sure more than one person told me this...so the best tip is, "don't ignore good advice."