Most important part of the game

[iacas]

Originally Posted by DiscGolfMaster

Take a 500ft hole for example. There are very few ppl that can drive that far. Lets say I throw my max D accurately at the hole. Which would be about 385ft. That leaves 115ft left to the hole. It would be easy for me to get a 3 on that hole which is probably par.

Now the other guy I'm playing with can drive 475ft, but without as much accuracy, which is usually the case with a drive of that distance. So he drives 475 on that hole, but his disc lands 50ft to the right. So he still have 75ft to go, which is no easy shot for birdie. In the end, his long drive turns out to be worthless since he still got a par like me.

Your own example works against you.

That guy will birdie 10-20% of the time, perhaps. You'll almost never birdie (You might make, what, 1% of your 115-footers?). And make no mistake, a 385-foot drive is longer than most people can throw already.

I'm telling y'all, the place to separate yourself is in your driving and your "long iron" play, similar to golf.

[simpletwist]

Silly debate. The best thing anyone can do to improve scores is improve putting.

Throw it accurately 400 feet and miss a 20 foot putt. Maybe miss the 15 footer coming back. Hmmm...

Drive for show, putt for dough.

End thread.

[kingjames1014]

Accuracy for me. I'd make more putts if i were closer to the basket.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by simpletwist

Silly debate. The best thing anyone can do to improve scores is improve putting.

Throw it accurately 400 feet and miss a 20 foot putt. Maybe miss the 15 footer coming back. Hmmm...

Drive for show, putt for dough.

End thread.

An old saying that's being proven that it's not really true. I believe these stats closely parallel golf stats. The to players gain more strokes on the field in any given week by hitting their longer clubs better.

http://www.slate.com/articles/sports.../bad_lies.html

It's not a direct parallel to disc golf but it has a lot of overlap IMO.

If you could put yourself 20 feet away from every basket for birdie and you only made half of them, dropping in for par the other half of the time, that's going to beat the guy that's putting from 70 feet every time and behind a tree or from a sloped lie a lot of the time.

Yes, being a good putter helps. But not as much as being good with the driving and approach shots.

[garublador]

I've noticed that everyone that says that putting is most important make the assumption that you already have accuracy. Doesn't that mean that you really think accuracy is the most important?

[DiscJunkie]

Originally Posted by garublador

I've noticed that everyone that says that putting is most important make the assumption that you already have accuracy. Doesn't that mean that you really think accuracy is the most important?

We have a guy at our home course that can drive most of our Par 4's.
He's rarely in the Top 3 in our Monthlies.
Can't putt.

No doubt, you have to learn how to throw straight.
The thing is, I've seen great throwers who couldn't putt straight, but I've NEVER seen a great putter who was a lousy thrower.

I'm not sying that there's a connection, but it's true in my experience.

[aces_in_illinois]

Originally Posted by iacas

Your own example works against you.

That guy will birdie 10-20% of the time, perhaps. You'll almost never birdie (You might make, what, 1% of your 115-footers?). And make no mistake, a 385-foot drive is longer than most people can throw already.

I'm telling y'all, the place to separate yourself is in your driving and your "long iron" play, similar to golf.

I agree. The 450-475' thrower will more than likely birdie more holes in the long run.

[elnino]

for me the truth is landing in the fairway with a chance to get my upshot past the basket with a chance of going in or touching metal.

if you can drive get tap in 3s with a few chance at 2s your game will improve a lot.

but like above poster...a well rounded game with killer putting is hard to beat.

and fun is most important.

[blind pilot]

Distance may very well be a better skill in ball golf when everyone is 2 putting,and the course is wide open.

Disc golf is played in confined spaces,that limit your opportunity to throw bombs. Tight spaces call for control not power,now when you're forced to let up you're not throwing as far and not separating from the others,when it comes time to hole out you're 2 putting and the good putters are nailing their first putt.They just gained a stroke on you.

Give me good putting all day every day.With some control. Distance is probably the least needed skill in disc golf. Control and putting trump big d most of the time.

[agibson]

Originally Posted by garublador

I've noticed that everyone that says that putting is most important make the assumption that you already have accuracy. Doesn't that mean that you really think accuracy is the most important?

Yeah, there's got to be some hierarchy of necessary skills for developing players.

The difference between a 500 and a 600 foot drive may not be that significant. But, the difference between a 100 and a 200 foot drive is probably _very_ significant. As might be 200 to 250, 250 to 300 (I'm probably still in between there, myself), maybe 300 to 350.

I know as I've lengthened my drives a little in my year of playing, relatively modest improvements seemed to open up whole new possibilities on the course.

So, maybe it's an ordered list like "putt from 15 feet", "drive to 250", "approach from 100", "putt from 25 feet", etc.