Getting better at disc golf takes practice. It takes thousands of putts, drives, and upshots to get better at disc golf. It takes those spit outs, tree hits, and looking for discs in brush to make you a good player.
This week in the blog I’d like to help you figure out where you’re going wrong and what tools we can use to find our weaknesses. Everyone has a weakness in their game, identifying it is the first step before practicing, and then improving your game.
There are so many things to practice in disc golf. Keeping your wrist from rolling over in forehands, timing your hips and shoulders in your backhand, keeping a consistent release point when putting, etc… Knowing exactly what you need to work on will help you out a lot more than just practicing a little bit of everything.
I hear plenty of very common phrases after people come into the pro shop after a round where they struggled with something. I’d like to look at 6 of these phrases that might pertain to you, and how we can evaluate them to find what our weaknesses are.
“I just left some putts out there.”
“I couldn’t stop hitting trees.”
“My scramble game was great.”
“I faded on the back 9.”
“I was all over the basket.”
“I left myself a lot of tester putts.”
These tell us a few things but not everything. Being specific with your criticism is a skill and it takes time. But it’s an important part of becoming a better disc golfer.
“I left some putts out there.”
This was me on Wednesday and Thursday at dubs last week. I was getting to just inside circle 1 with a lot of my and my partners drives, but I couldn’t convert a putt.
So I think back to all of my missed putts. On hole 1,2, and 3 of the Wednesday round I hit the band. Then I hit the band a couple more on Thursday.
So let’s transform my critique to “I kept putting high.” Now that I know what’s happening I can try to address it.
“I couldn’t stop hitting trees.”
Was it trees on the left, the right, or right in front of you?
Was it only on forehand shots or backhand shots?
Were they understable or overstable discs you were hitting with?
“My scramble game was on point.”
This means that your short game of putting and approach carried you. So it was getting off the tee that hurt you. Think back to your drives, were you getting where you wanted to be? Did you land short, long, or off in the trees?
“I faded on the back 9.”
I have good news about this one. I have a little tip that can help with this. Make sure you have a snack and water before you get too tired. Some of these courses are no joke. I’m a big fan of the Patriot course at Pineland Farms. But it’s a long day with lots of walking in between my shots.
“I was all over the basket.”
This one is a little more specific than “I left some putts out there.” It tells us that you were missing high, left, right, and low. That just means it’s time to up those reps and get a consistent stroke down. If you’re hitting all over the basket you’re getting both the height and side to side a little bit off.
“I left myself a lot of tester putts.”
Were you going long, short, missing right, or left?
Was your putting struggling that round, are those putts you regularly make?
Did you just get unlucky kicks off of nearby trees/bushes?
What tools can you use to evaluate your game?
I’m a big believer in a tripod and a camera. Capturing your form can feel a little weird, but you’re going to know your body the best.
Use a Notepad or scorecard to write about that hole you played. I’m pretty lucky when counting my scores from previous holes. I can usually remember my throws, and where they landed that round. But some people have trouble remembering. A single sentence like “short left off the tee.” or “missed putt high right” and the hole number will help you remember.
Taking time to evaluate how you missed your line, your landing zone, or your putt can give you valuable insight for your practice. Once you’ve established what the problem is you can start the (much longer and less fun) process of fixing what’s going on with your game.
I think we often boil down our disc golf failures to execute during a round to a quick sentence and settle on it. Finding out that you’re consistently missing in the same way can help you figure out a practice plan.
May your discs miss all the trees,
Andrew Streeter #70397