Putting frustrations

[Mrcpa]

Hello all,

I am relatively new to disc golf. I have had the absolute hardest time putting... I've watched a bunch of the most popular videos online n it just doesn't seem to help. I feel when I push putt I just lob the disc n with spin putts it always has some right to left on it. Any one else ever go through this? I have a gateway wizard in sss n and a envy in nuetron plastic.


Thanks all!

 

[lucasgg]

Practice makes perfect. Watching those putting clinics helps, but it's another thing to actually putt them into practice.

I setup an embarassing but effective tomato cage for practicing. Doing so helped me to figure out what to do with my fingers and rest of my body.

 

[Pbmercil]

It takes a long time to develope a confident putting style that works for you. Keep practicing, keep watching videos. Play locally with the best putters you can find and learn from them. putting is hard.

 

[markmcc]

Putting is the most variable part of my game, because so much of it is about confidence. When I buckle down and practice putting every day, I can be a very decent putter. But if I don't, I'll start missing a couple of easy ones, and then I get tentative and it's downhill from there. Get a practice basket (or a tomato cage, good idea!) and practice.

 

[Broken Shoulder]

It takes a long time to develope a confident putting style that works for you. Keep practicing, keep watching videos. Play locally with the best putters you can find and learn from them. putting is hard.

So, I don't want to attack or pick on you specifically, but it's in your post so I'm quoting it.
"Putting is hard."

I believe that most people that struggle putting have this self-defeating mindset. They have decided that putting is difficult so it becomes so. In reality, it isn't. You hold the disc here and you need to put it in the basket there. The how isn't really important, as evidenced by the fact that I've never seen two people that putt exactly the same way. It's so much more mental than it is physical. Yes, good putters have practiced and developed muscle memory, but more importantly they are confident, or at the very least, don't allow doubt and negativity to be present while putting. Obviously the physical and mental are interrelated, but I truly believe that a mindset change is the single most beneficial change a poor putter can make to increase success.

My two cents.

 

[lucasgg]

So, I don't want to attack or pick on you specifically, but it's in your post so I'm quoting it.
"Putting is hard."

I believe that most people that struggle putting have this self-defeating mindset. They have decided that putting is difficult so it becomes so. In reality, it isn't. You hold the disc here and you need to put it in the basket there. The how isn't really important, as evidenced by the fact that I've never seen two people that putt exactly the same way. It's so much more mental than it is physical. Yes, good putters have practiced and developed muscle memory, but more importantly they are confident, or at the very least, don't allow doubt and negativity to be present while putting. Obviously the physical and mental are interrelated, but I truly believe that a mindset change is the single most beneficial change a poor putter can make to increase success.

My two cents.

Very well put. Kudos.

 

[tonyroberts]

Practice putts you can make. That is to say, don't worry about the 20, 25, or 30 foot putts until you've very confident and accurate with the 10, 12, and 15 foot putts. Practice those short ones until you hit every one, then move back incrementally. Your whole game will improve as you gradually build confidence in your putting. Takes some time, takes some work. Try to put in some practice regularly.

 

[epkade]

Hello all,

I feel when I push putt I just lob the disc n...

Learning the push putt was weird for me. The first few putts I attempted fell short and definitely felt like I was just tossing something towards the basket, not letting it fly towards the basket. Learning to spring the disc forward with my fingers and later develop stronger weight shift/momentum have greatly helped my confidence in my putt.

I'm sure there are videos that talk about both of these concepts. Springing my fingers added spin and stability to my putt. In addition to springing my fingers, I think there is a difference in how you orient the disc initially in your hand compared to a spin putt. That is, I know that I hold the disc slightly more from the top (away from your body) instead of the side or back (towards your body). Regardless, I focused on springing my fingers at release and ending up with my fingers splayed out pointed towards the basket.

In terms of weight shift, this is all about kicking that back leg up to keep you balanced as you transfer power into the disc. The stronger or farther you want the disc to go, the more powerful your back leg needs to kick upwards. Here the focus is about staying balanced.

I know these two concepts are in videos because that is where I get all my disc golf knowledge. Practice these ideas and see if they improve your putting game.

 

[Pbmercil]

So, I don't want to attack or pick on you specifically, but it's in your post so I'm quoting it.
"Putting is hard."

I believe that most people that struggle putting have this self-defeating mindset. They have decided that putting is difficult so it becomes so. In reality, it isn't. You hold the disc here and you need to put it in the basket there. The how isn't really important, as evidenced by the fact that I've never seen two people that putt exactly the same way. It's so much more mental than it is physical. Yes, good putters have practiced and developed muscle memory, but more importantly they are confident, or at the very least, don't allow doubt and negativity to be present while putting. Obviously the physical and mental are interrelated, but I truly believe that a mindset change is the single most beneficial change a poor putter can make to increase success.

My two cents.

That's all fair and accurate. I don't disagree with anything you are saying.

I do think that it takes a ton of work to master a unique putting stroke that works well for an individual, which is more what I meant when I said "putting is hard". I agree that confidence and mental attitude is huge in being a good putter. But you have develope a good stroke too, and that is time consuming and difficult.

 

[birdman101]

three things
1. Confidence. tell yourself you can make it
2. find a main style/routine that works for you and stick with it.
3. PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE

 

[Dan Ensor]

it's another thing to actually putt them into practice.

I lol'ed

 

[Questatement]

Hello all,

I am relatively new to disc golf. I have had the absolute hardest time putting... I've watched a bunch of the most popular videos online n it just doesn't seem to help. I feel when I push putt I just lob the disc n with spin putts it always has some right to left on it. Any one else ever go through this? I have a gateway wizard in sss n and a envy in nuetron plastic.


Thanks all!

No one putts well in the beginning. Same could be said for driving and approaching only putting gives you black and white feedback whether it was good (in basket) or not (not in). Be patient and keep throwing at those baskets with varying strategies learned from watching others and gradual improvement will be seen.

In a couple of words... persistence and patience.

 

[Pymm]

Practice makes perfect. Watching those putting clinics helps, but it's another thing to actually putt them into practice.

I setup an embarassing but effective tomato cage for practicing. Doing so helped me to figure out what to do with my fingers and rest of my body.

This! I bought a basket and have been practicing an hour a day, usually right after work. It's a great way to unwind after a tough day at work. I haven't practiced anything over 30 feet but am really focusing on 15-20 feet because I have a lot of putts in that range on the course. It's definitely paying off; I made a lot of putts today from that range. Now, I just need to work on my upshots, so that I am making more of those putts for par instead of bogie. Good luck!

 

[Jouni]

Only advice I can give is that don't think putting at all. I can't do it but I hope you can. I felt pretty confident in my putting until the last few years when I watched Feldbergs push putt clinic...

I'm too very frustrated to my putting game. I have been playing about six years, and although I am by now means good player in any area, my putting is exceptionally bad. Basically I have not improved at all in these years. Part of the reason is of course a lack of consistent practice, I tend to overanalyze my putting form, keep changing it (and putters also, have been putting with P1, P2, PA4, Dagger, Nova, PA4 again, and now Dagger again) when it starts to feel bad and so on.

But, I feel that one of the biggest issues is that I no matter how I grab my putter it feels very ackward in my hand, and feel that I have get no power to the putt (a spin putt, tried to push putt few years ago and that made everything just worse), either the putter slips out of my hand too soon or I grip it too hard and I get griplock, short nose down putt or whatever.

I have read often that the pinky should be against the rim, but that makes the putter to fly wobbly to the right in anhyzer. Another more common thing is that the middle finger and thumb should be agains each other (putter being between them obviously), but it feels next to impossible to putt like that.

I have very short fingers (middle finger measured from the palm side is under three inches) but normal(?) sized palm, I don't know if that has any effect...

 

[DiscFifty]

Do this and you will improve your putting very quickly. IF....you take the time to do it.

50 putts @ 6ft, 50 putts @ 8ft, 50 putts @ 10ft. What we're working on is muscle memory at this point. Repeat this process for a a few days, then move to 8ft, 10ft, 12ft. Don't go crazy if you miss some, we're just working on muscle memory, repeating movements, etc, etc. Then move to 10ft, 12ft, 14ft. At this point you should have developed (probably without even thinking about it) a routine that you use all the time when putting, this is a good thing. Now you can start working on 10ft, 15ft, 20ft. I wouldn't go past 20ft for a while. Actually 20ft is a GREAT distance to be confident from. That's a 40ft diameter you can land the disc in your approach shot. When you need a tune up, go back and do the drills from 6,8,10,12,14,16,18, 20. Also I think it's important to work on putting for short sessions, around 15min per session. All this advice was given to me by local pros.

 

[IVER]

Relative Noobie to relative Noobie: all of the above is true and here are some things that have made my bad putting better
1. With the right technique errors to the right and left are greatly reduced because the arm motion is vertical (Feldberg)
2. Be absolutely obsessive about a consistent routine...every minute detail always the same. When the routine is consistent there is no "thinking" about putting....there is just putting.

 

[runningDoc]

at first I was a spin putter using the snap/snake strike method, then I tried learning the push putt (feldberg clinics) - what I learned from both methods is that it is really what Ricky Wysoki teaches, its mostly (I'd say 75-85% when inside the circle) in the legs.

I have to repeat, its mostly in the legs (and you can see it with the professionals from cam todd, yeti, mcbeth, wysoki, etc) where they line them selves up in a proper balanced stance (lined up and oriented towards the basket), both feet with good grip, and then a proper push off from the back leg/ball of foot/toes coordinated with the arm disc propulsion (wether you spin putt by bending the elbow or push but keeping the elbow locked is preference and almost moot).

If your feet are oriented correctly and you get a proper push off from the back leg, then all the arm/hand/wrist does is guide the disc forward/linearly towards the pole/basket/chains. Similar to a jump shot in basketball, or a proper jab in boxing.

you'll even see mcbeth (and cam todd recently in the GBO) set up their feet and dig in their back foot before their putts. Cam Todd is so quick in his putting routine, but if he feels he can't get proper footing he'll literally stop step back and then walk back to the lie to get proper footing. the players that take using legs to the extreme are Steve Rico and Jennifer Allen.

when doing a putt (either spin or push) from a straddle stance its still the same theory, but now you center your arm/hit centered in between your legs. The legs, butt, abs, lower back (core muscles) provide the majority of the power and the arm basically guides the disc towards the target.

 

[IVER]

Just got back from following my own (unoriginal) advice in the yard. 15 minutes, 90% in from 15-20 feet varying sides of the basket. I am a happy Legend (in PDGA and my own mind). LOL

 

[ThrowBot]

Have a routine, practice it and do it for every putt. Even if you're only 5' from the basket, use the same stance and motions and rhythm and focus.

Results are impossible to guarantee; you'll drive yourself crazy if you just focus on results. The best thing you can do is just focus on your process, and eventually consistent results will follow.

 

[Justin H]

epkade said spring your fingers, I've always called it "finger Pop" its the final key to get the putter in your intended line.