Putting Practice that Works

[MrFixIt]

You can also do a search for "Pressure Putting Practice" if you want another optional putting game.....jb

:clap: :clap: :clap:

 

[wake911]

Sounds good, but I have a question, Why "rapid fire" the last 20? I can easily say that is a practice I would never use on the course? Just asking, not criticizing...................jb

I never did either. But I watched a video with Climo talking about his putting warmup. He said that rapid fire for a few putts helps him with his "natural motion" of his putt. So I try to get a couple of them in there, helping me to hone in on my natural putting motion (which is really close to my 'take my time' putting motion, which it never was before.) and it's less rapid fire as fast i can. It is more of a 'Don't do any motion accept the final push towards the basket' (i normally rock forward, then back, then push toward basket). so i putt, start pulling my body back for another, grab the disc out of my left hand, and push it forward with no rest, no pausing, but NOT rushing.

 

[Monkeypaws]

Good advice i always seem to be short of the basket but have a good line

That's my speciality as well.

One thing I've done with my son is play HORSE, like basketball, but with putters. Fun way to practice.

 

[Bamm]

I never did either. But I watched a video with Climo talking about his putting warmup. He said that rapid fire for a few putts helps him with his "natural motion" of his putt. So I try to get a couple of them in there, helping me to hone in on my natural putting motion (which is really close to my 'take my time' putting motion, which it never was before.) and it's less rapid fire as fast i can. It is more of a 'Don't do any motion accept the final push towards the basket' (i normally rock forward, then back, then push toward basket). so i putt, start pulling my body back for another, grab the disc out of my left hand, and push it forward with no rest, no pausing, but NOT rushing.

Gotcha! interesting....

 

[RandyHjr]

Good advice i always seem to be short of the basket but have a good line

usually that is a confidence issue. try releasing the disc higher.

 

[RandyHjr]

rapid firing also improves muscle memory.

 

[davmer2303]

Ok....I can honestly say I'm putting better. Certainly not up to expert level, but I'm now making 15 to 20 ft putts with confidence. The approaching north south has helped and setting my routine (like a basketball free throw) Has helped too. Really makes a difference when you aren't missing the short ones. I putt more of a hyzer style, so my main issue now is right to left winds. Anyway, great advice Randy.

 

[Ranger Rick]

i pratice by playing perfect putt 360. check it out.

http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1786&page=3

I found the scorecard for PP360 here: http://wilkesdiscgolf.org/Perfect_Putt_360.pdf

 

[811rv]

Would be nice to mobile app for Perfect Putt scorecard similar to Driven 1025.

 

[sgamerp]

I just do a pretty simple practice routine in my basement. (it gets cold in Indiana)

50 putts from 15', standard putting toss
50 putts from 20', standard putting toss
50 putts from 15' straddle putt
50 putts from 20' straddle putt
25 putts from 15' spin putt
25 putts from 20' spin putt
15 forehand anny putts (like from behind a tree)
15 BH anny putts (basically all wrist flip, little arm motion for being stuck behind trees)
20 putts from 20' standard style. Rapid fire 5 at a time.
300 total

I try to do it every 2-3 days, hopefully every 2 over the winter. I keep track on a sheet of paper how many I hit from each distance, and each style. My confidence on course is GREATLY improved, just by gaining some muscle memory.

I've been looking for some ideas on what to do this may be what I start with.

 

[RowingBoats]

Rapid fire and mass repetition practice is very helpful.

I started to make more actual round gains when I spent 50% of my practice with single, isolated putts, then retrieving the disc.

The combo is certainly important though.

 

[sgamerp]

Rapid fire and mass repetition practice is very helpful.

I started to make more actual round gains when I spent 50% of my practice with single, isolated putts, then retrieving the disc.

The combo is certainly important though.

I threw about 100 putts for 20 feet on a slight uphill. I need a lot of work. This sounds like fun. Do you normally just walk out random distances or are you straddling around a tree for these?

 

[ChrisWoj]

I've been looking for some ideas on what to do this may be what I start with.

Rapid fire and mass repetition practice is very helpful.

I started to make more actual round gains when I spent 50% of my practice with single, isolated putts, then retrieving the disc.

The combo is certainly important though.

If either of you is interested, here is a 4-week putting cycle that I developed for the Rocket Disc Golf Club here at U of Toledo...
Column Q has descriptions of the less straightforward setups.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...ouid=111564697499148183935&rtpof=true&sd=true

There's also a link in the document to an article at the Dynamic Discs Blog that can support you in understanding what type of routines are best for the mental and physical parts of your approach to putting.

 

[RowingBoats]

I threw about 100 putts for 20 feet on a slight uphill. I need a lot of work. This sounds like fun. Do you normally just walk out random distances or are you straddling around a tree for these?

I do lots of weird things Im fortunate to have a backyard with some trees and bushes that can be used to torture myself in various ways.

Mostly, what I think helped, was to completely stop even wanting to fool myself. Putting from one spot 10 times without breaking stance is just not the same as stepping up to a lie and draining that specific situation.

Isolating putts, even in practice, has just helped me a lot. I think it forces you to do a lot more visualization, rather than just dialing something in by repetitious feel.

I definitely DON'T recommend cutting out the repetitions though, it helps a ton, but I kept feeling disappointed at how differently I felt about putting in practice and in rounds, so I tried this and it does seem like a good idea.

 

[sgamerp]

I made this spreadsheet. my idea is that if I am getting less than 50% I move forward again. If I get 5 of 6 (for 10 and 15) or 4 of 6 for (20 and 25) I move back. Today I got an Axiom basket to replace my skillshot and I assume the numbers should improve and it'll be more realistic.

 

[RowingBoats]

I made this spreadsheet. my idea is that if I am getting less than 50% I move forward again. If I get 5 of 6 (for 10 and 15) or 4 of 6 for (20 and 25) I move back. Today I got an Axiom basket to replace my skillshot and I assume the numbers should improve and it'll be more realistic.

I can see the intuitive logic here, but for me, I found that forcing myself to just grind out the long putts had a dramatic impact on shorter putts, but the reverse was not obviously true.

 

[ninjabq]

Putting from one spot 10 times without breaking stance is just not the same as stepping up to a lie and draining that specific situation.

I agree with this 100%. My practice putting routine used to be the standard "putt a bunch from one spot, if you make them move back, if you don't move forward" kind of jam, and it wasn't really translating to the course.

I changed it to the following:
- Put 5 discs in a circle (NOT a straight line) around the basket to mark increments of 5 ft from 10 ft to 30 ft
- starting from 10, putt in a stagger stance
- rotate to 20 ft, putt in a straddle stance
- repeat for 30 ft stagger stance, 15, ft straddle stance, 25 ft stagger stance, then start over, with straddle at 10 ft and so on

This instantly paid way more dividends for putting on the course. It really makes you have to isolate each putt. Standing in one spot putting repeatedly 10 times means you may practice the stroke 10 times but you're only practicing the setup 1 time, and ultimately you need reps of the whole thing to translate to the course.

Part of this is also because I realized I usually have to make a straddle putt at least a couple times per round but was never practicing it!

(To be clear I still suck at putting but... maybe less)

 

[sgamerp]

I can see the intuitive logic here, but for me, I found that forcing myself to just grind out the long putts had a dramatic impact on shorter putts, but the reverse was not obviously true.

Yeah I don't know what is the best way to do this, but I actually enjoyed doing this and it wasn't awful. I would think when I get around to getting better in the reps, I will just throw some putters out and just go at it, but I am kind of a logic and numbers person so would like to see if these numbers translate to better putting in game. My idea was to try and move the basket around to change the style of putts. Sometimes it may be slight uphill, sometimes slight downhill.

 

[sgamerp]

I agree with this 100%. My practice putting routine used to be the standard "putt a bunch from one spot, if you make them move back, if you don't move forward" kind of jam, and it wasn't really translating to the course.

I changed it to the following:
- Put 5 discs in a circle (NOT a straight line) around the basket to mark increments of 5 ft from 10 ft to 30 ft
- starting from 10, putt in a stagger stance
- rotate to 20 ft, putt in a straddle stance
- repeat for 30 ft stagger stance, 15, ft straddle stance, 25 ft stagger stance, then start over, with straddle at 10 ft and so on

This instantly paid way more dividends for putting on the course. It really makes you have to isolate each putt. Standing in one spot putting repeatedly 10 times means you may practice the stroke 10 times but you're only practicing the setup 1 time, and ultimately you need reps of the whole thing to translate to the course.

Part of this is also because I realized I usually have to make a straddle putt at least a couple times per round but was never practicing it!

(To be clear I still suck at putting but... maybe less)

I do like this. Maybe I'll try some of this out soon too. Just want to get more used to my basket and putting. Another thing is with it as hot as it is, I want to try and get used to putting while covered in sweat lol.

 

[ChrisinFL]

Quick tips made me putt better immediately…

I read some putting tips on here. I already had a MVP Black Hole Pro at home ($150 on Amazon - love it!). I had not worked a ton on my putting yet, and it needed work. Applied these, and got noticeable, almost immediate improvement: First, find a comfortable stance and grip that feel good. Second, don't aim at the chains - aim at one particular link of chain (for me that was huge). Third, I guess same as what somebody called north-south putts - if going for the chains, throw as straight as possible (the curving shot is MUCH harder to make). Then, fourth, and this one I discovered for myself while implementing the others - going for the chains, I try to keep a level throw, from the height I need (usually about chest high) - avoid throwing up or down as much as possible. Too early to say these results will hold, but in my group of 4 players, in one back yard session implementing all of these, I went from being the worst putter in our group to being equal with the best - way more than doubled my make percentage. Plus, make my putts well enough now that I don't have to worry near so much about leaving it close, so it frees me up to go for it from further and further out. I hit about a 50 foot putt for birdie this very morning (not expecting that kind of luck often, but without the improvements in my putting, I never would have had a chance there - I would have been trying to skip it in close, hoping for a 2 putt for par).