Putting Practice

[AshleyH]

I feel like my driving has become much more consistent. I also feel like I am losing the most strokes putting. Don't get me wrong, I have made many pressure putts in tournaments. I love pressure.

However, I would like to be much more effective within the circle. I have decided to go away from my rhyno(some may say for obvious reasons) and am going to go with a wizard.

I know that most of my problem is in my head, so I am starting easy and working my way out. Currently I am around 80% at 15ish and 75% from 20. For now, these are the only distances I am working on. I feel like I should be closer to 100% at 15,and eventually 20.

Currently working with 2 putters. I find when I have a stack much larger I just throw quantity and not quality. My plan is to work on hitting as many in a row as I can. It helps me to build the pressure and makes it feel more like a tournament. At 15 I was able to hit 8 or 9 in a row. My husband(much better putter than I) pointed out a couple of things I was doing wrong. After correcting them, I got up to 18 in a row within the hour.

However, at 20 my best was only 7 in a row. Granted, it was a bit breezy out, but wind practice is a bonus right?

For simple tracking results, I am just going to mark my progress in steps.

Day One- 18 at 6 Steps, and 7 at 7 steps.

Feel free to comment on my suckitude, or make suggestions.

 

[JReynolds]

A difference of 11 shots in only 1 step further away. That, to me, says it is all in your head... I fought the same problems for a while... I would be 7/10 at 7 steps but only 4-5/10 from 8 steps... Once I quit stepping it off from the basket, and putted, THEN stepped off the distance, it cured most of my head problems...

 

[AikoAdam]

I have my own thread as well tracking my progress. technique help here seems pretty spotty. I am interested in your putting practice routine to see if I can improve mine. Good luck on your putting!

 

[AshleyH]

Oh, I know it's all in my head. But I am going to consistently work on it and go from there.

Aiko- I will try to keep this updated and check in on you to see how you are doing. Accountability always helps me.

My approach game has always been my bread and butter. Honestly, it is rare that I can't put my approach 5 steps or closer. However, now that my drives are longer and more consistent, I can see where I am losing strokes, especially on shorter holes.

I also have a mental block in going under on the course. I have shot WAY too many rounds between 54-58 to believe otherwise. However, I believe by truly dedicating myself to my putting game, I will get over that.

 

[AikoAdam]

I am often in the same boat. I got tired of having a great drive only to not be able to finish the duece putt. Sometimes you have to accept the problem and take action to change it. It won;t fix itself. Being able to hit those birdies will make a world of difference in a score. Sometimes par just doesn't cut it.

 

[AshleyH]

My ultimate goal is to get my rating above 900, last tournament I played I averaged 885. I think I could easily pick up 2 strokes a round, or more with a better putting range. I do recall two really good putts I hit that tournament, one at about 30 and another at 40, but I'd like to get there more frequently.

 

[McFer]

I've gone from using a stack to using one and only one putter when practicing. I found that with a stack, my brain is going a mile a minute, adjusting from the last throw (something that really doesn't happen on the course), thinking about how many I've made out of that stack, wandering off.

So what I do now is I lay down a bunch of cones around the basket at whatever distance I'm wanting to work on. Throw putt from one cone, retrieve putter and head to another cone for another throw. When I use one putter like this, I'm walking in between throws (more course-like) and my mind is quieted.

You can do a lot with cones (in my case, it also really helps to involve the kids) to break up the drudgery of putting practice, which is another thing that putting practice needs to be - fun! Around the world, H-O-R-S-E, putting races, etc.

 

[cfair]

Mark Ellis has the best putting practice advice. Dude can putt silly good.

 

[nohr]

Do you have a funky or stupid routine yet? Having a routine makes routine putts a routine.

In all seriousness it really does help me alot. Approaching every putt the same way does help calm me down. At a local clinic Des and Jay Redding were preaching the same thing. Jay said all the thinking about the putt happens before he steps up to his putt. Once he approaches his mini it is just time to do the routine and put the putt in.

 

[Bamm]

I like to make a game of it. Put a qualifying number on the whole round itself. I use this.

http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62127&highlight=pressure+putting+practice

 

[AshleyH]

Wow,if I improve like this everyday, Climo best be watching his back,lol.

Day One- 18 at 6 Steps, and 7 at 7 steps.
Day Two- 50 at 6 Steps, 14 at 7 steps, and 7 at 8 steps

I know there is a big dropoff between 6 and 7, but I did double my number at 7. 6 steps(about 15 give or take a foot) looked like 10 footers for me yesterday(I canned 50 in a row at 10 feet)

Today, I warmed up at 4 and 5 steps just to get a feel, and then stepped out to 7. Once I hit 14 in a row, I stepped back in to 6 steps, and canned 14 in a row first try,and 50 in a row on my second try, or 64/65.

My misses are almost always hitting metal. Now, I started this thread yesterday, but I have been working on my putting for 2-3 weeks now. I just figure this will make it more organized for me.

Tomorrow, I will warmup at 4,5,6 but if they look as good as they did today, I am going to focus on 7 and 8.

 

[joegraham]

Make sure that you also go out to 10 meters and then 40 feet to keep the feel of these longer putts fresh. Don't worry about your accuracy totals from these distances, just get the feel. Shorter putts will be easier.

 

[Cory326]

I had a thought. Get a friend to play Horse (kinda)with ya. Pick a spot, throw, and see who makes it first. move after you both make it, or just play plain ol' horse. Might make it more fun than just pacing off distances and throwing.

 

[GT Chris]

I feel like my driving has become much more consistent. I also feel like I am losing the most strokes putting. Don't get me wrong, I have made many pressure putts in tournaments. I love pressure.

However, I would like to be much more effective within the circle. I have decided to go away from my rhyno(some may say for obvious reasons) and am going to go with a wizard.

I know that most of my problem is in my head, so I am starting easy and working my way out. Currently I am around 80% at 15ish and 75% from 20. For now, these are the only distances I am working on. I feel like I should be closer to 100% at 15,and eventually 20.

Currently working with 2 putters. I find when I have a stack much larger I just throw quantity and not quality. My plan is to work on hitting as many in a row as I can. It helps me to build the pressure and makes it feel more like a tournament. At 15 I was able to hit 8 or 9 in a row. My husband(much better putter than I) pointed out a couple of things I was doing wrong. After correcting them, I got up to 18 in a row within the hour.

However, at 20 my best was only 7 in a row. Granted, it was a bit breezy out, but wind practice is a bonus right?

For simple tracking results, I am just going to mark my progress in steps.

Day One- 18 at 6 Steps, and 7 at 7 steps.

Feel free to comment on my suckitude, or make suggestions.

Just stop before you get all the way there. IMO, don't try to think of any range as 100%. Everybody misses a short putt now and then. If you look at putts inside 15' as 99%, that seems to take a lot of the pressure off of those short routine putts.

 

[BIGHAFNER]

Something I was told today by the owner of DKG Disc Sports: Practice putting inside the circle. If you are 100% from 20ft out, that gives you a large area to land your approaches in. And still be good to go.

That seemed very interesting to me. What I'm gonna do is to just consciously work on one line. A line from my sternum or back foot or whatever point I choose, the center of the disc, and a chain link. (That is another thing he told me.) No matter how I choose to putt, (I'm in a funky transitional putting phase right now) that line will apply.

 

[bholy08]

Something I was told today by the owner of DKG Disc Sports: Practice putting inside the circle. If you are 100% from 20ft out, that gives you a large area to land your approaches in. And still be good to go.

That seemed very interesting to me. What I'm gonna do is to just consciously work on one line. A line from my sternum or back foot or whatever point I choose, the center of the disc, and a chain link. (That is another thing he told me.) No matter how I choose to putt, (I'm in a funky transitional putting phase right now) that line will apply.

Yes! I have never understood any attempt to direct an object in a particular direction without squaring up the body and guiding the object in a straight line to the intended target.

Think of it as curling. Your momentum should be moving in the direction you intend to release the disc. Spin and nose angle (slight differences) are all that is needed to place the disc in a multitude of locations.

 

[AshleyH]

Day 3- My confidence is growing every day. Played doubles yesterday, and played with in the same group as another guy for the third week in a row. He commented that my putting was looking good. I was routinely hitting the 6-7 step putts, and also hit metal on 2 40 footers(neither stuck) and hit metal again from 100 out.

Day One- 18 at 6 Steps, and 7 at 7 steps.
Day Two- 50 at 6 Steps, 14 at 7 steps, and 7 at 8 steps
Day Three- 21 at 7 steps, and 6 at 8 steps

It was windy again today, and unfortunately I only had 1 of the 2 wizards, so I was using a 12 KC Aviar as my second disc. I'm definitely starting to like the feel of the wizard, I will be picking up 2 more, so I always have at least two to practice with.

Horse is always a fun game to play, unfortunately with my schedule, I don't have time to do it very often. I am going to try and putt 6 days a week, we shall see if that's possible. I work 14 hours on Saturdays, so that will be my day off.

 

[AshleyH]

Didn't putt on Sunday or Monday. However I did play a few rounds on Monday. Putting is definitely looking better out on the course. I hit my putts from 6 steps and in consistently. Also hit many of my putts in the 7-11 step range also. My personal favorite was the putt that I canned from 21 steps out. Going to putt again today, will report back when I am done.

 

[gcanter2376]

Putting

I will say this, putting is 90% confidence and u get that confidence from practicing. However confidence is a fickle beast. One or two putts can weaken that confidence if u let it. Just dont slack on the practice. If u can practice at least 15 minutes each day that confidence will stay strong. Pretty soon u will step up to 40-50 foot putts and u will believe you can make those to. You want make them all the time of course but it feels very good knowing u can make them.

 

[Dan Ensor]

I had a thought. Get a friend to play Horse (kinda)with ya. Pick a spot, throw, and see who makes it first. move after you both make it, or just play plain ol' horse. Might make it more fun than just pacing off distances and throwing.

I used to be big on playing horse. But now I'm not so sure. It seems like we don't try makeable putts very often.