Tightening Up Your Short Game

As I mentioned in the Disc Golf Fundamentals post, putting is a huge part of being a great disc golfer.  If you’ve played disc golf, you probably know the frustrations of just missing a clutch putt…and then watching your disc roll down the hill with visions of making par or better suddenly replaced by the reality of a bogey.

If this sounds familiar, it’s probably time to spend some quality time working on your short game.  Disccraft’s video on putting sums up all of the key points.  In case you don’t have the time or patience to sit through a 20+ minute youtube video, here are some of the key pointers I have taken away from not only the video, but from other players better than myself:

1.    A key to being good at anything is practice.  But, one mistake I use to make was practicing with all kinds of different discs, basically whatever was in my bag.  While it is good to mix it up sometimes, especially if you are in a funk, when practicing the fundamentals of a good putt, it’s better to have multiples of the same putter.  This way you can make corrections in your throw and actually see the result.  If you are throwing two different discs from the same spot, they may travel two different ways, but by throwing the same disc multiple times, you can ensure that it’s the changes YOU make that are affecting the flight path.

2.    Set yourself up from a distance that you can actually make the putt from.  If you set up 25ft from the basket while you routinely miss 10ft putts, you aren’t going to improve your game, and you will probably grow very frustrated in the process.  Set up from a distance you feel comfortable with and notice what you are doing right.  This will also help you build self esteem so you will be mentally prepared for the longer putts (in due time).

3.    Talk to the other guys who are warming up around you.  If you don’t mind a little constructive criticism, you may just find out that the funny looking ‘flip thing’ you do with your head right before the release is actually messing up your shot. (ask me how I know)

4.    Work on your pre-shot routine.  This gets back to my other post but is so important.  Basically, you are creating a routine, a rhythm that you get in before any shot, so that when you face a big shot, your body automatically knows what it needs to do.  This takes time to perfect, and if you are doing the ‘flip thing’ with your head as part of your routine, may take some external guidance to really get down.  Once you have a good pre-shot routine, you will notice more consistency in your putts.  So find your groove

5.    Consistency.  If you want to get better at anything, you have to keep doing it.  And this doesn’t mean once a month, or once every couple of weeks.  (ask me how I know)  In order to get better at putting, you have to log in some hours at the basket, which is no where near as much fun as playing a round.  BUT, you have to discipline your self to do this.  The best way to do it is to buy a portable basket and set it up in your backyard.  But, some people don’t have a backyard, and others don’t have the money to drop on a good basket (I will be reviewing some baskets soon).  So that means devoting some time before every round, or, dare I say, a whole day, to just putting.

So what are you waiting for, get out there and play already.