Putting grip - Index finger

[ChrisinFL]

Thanks. May be the direction I end up going too - work on getting more distance with the fan grip. It definitely gives me more accuracy. I may have to try it more with my mids and see what I can do.

 

[ChrisinFL]

Yeah, 250ish and that's a golf shot, if I were to flex out an understable one (soft banger GT is my preferred thrower) I could send it plenty further. It's a fan grip, with the middle and ring fanned out, the index wrapped over the top of the rim but not touching the flight plate. I do have my pinky tucked in, on the rim in the power grip position for that digit, and now that I'm thinking about it and playing with a disc in my hand, I think that probably helps bigtime in adding spin, power and distance. But I always just did that unknowingly because it felt comfy and my pinky finger is far too small anyway to fan out under the flight plate.

It took me years of practicing fan grip shots to get more consistent distance and go past 200 with the putter. The original reason for developing this shot was actually because my index finger was (and still is, albeit not as bad) injured from throwing too many power grip shots, specifically the top smaller joint. Shifting over to throwing in a fan grip position for all my putter and mid shots really took a ton of stress, wear and tear off that joint. Also, I had watched an interview with Will Schusterick from many years ago and he said the most important shot that he developed during his pro career that took him from a 980 rated local pro with potential to the 1040 rated USDGC winner was that fan grip putter shot because he was so much more accurate with all of his touch shots, approach and patent pending shots with that grip and it would save him multiple strokes during the round. I have found that he is definitely right in saving strokes, but for me it is also helping my index finger out too so it is a double bonus.

The added bonus that I never saw coming was the increase in the power in my putt that has come because of all the extra practicing with the fan grip throws, this I believe is due to the grips being identical and my overall hand and finger strength with that grip has increased as I've put in the reps and time.

I just did practice field work. I took 14 drivers, because I just got several new F2 drivers I wanted to try out, but I also took 6 putters. Tried putters power grip - still no good for me. Threw them fan grip, but added the x-step and body turn like a drive, and added some distance without sacrificing too much accuracy. I think I was getting them in the 125' range, with my Watt maybe going as far as 150'. I looked back at your post - I have two Soft Banger-GTs - wish I took them. Maybe next time. If I can get 150' putter fan grip accurate and consistent, I can see that helping my game. Plus maybe over time I get it even a bit further.

 

[Nick Pacific]

Start at the standstill. Practice field is great, stay off the teepads for most of your practice, saves your shoes and wear and tear on your body. Have some sort of target you're throwing at or general gap/line. Keep most of it at 50% power for now, you're trying to learn form, strengthen everything with reps. You can really get it a lot of reps and practice this way and drastically cut down on strain on your body and injury chances as well. Bonus is that it's a tremendous workout. As time goes on, eventually take an audit of things and film some throws from the side, not behind you. Pay particular attention to your feet, specifically your front leg brace, and the position of your body. Are you leaning or falling over your front leg brace prematurely? Look at your arm swing in slow motion, compare it to professionals in slow motion, often we are making huge form errors and not even realizing it, little adjustments go a long way.

 

[ChrisinFL]

I practice in a field (adjacent to a baseball field) - there are no tee pads! I have took video 3X - got a couple shots from Friday. Is definitely progress from the first time I took video, when I was throwing waist high and rounding terribly - I was shocked at how different (aka worse) I was throwing from what I thought I was doing! I do quite a bit of volume. Practice field, usually well upwards of 100 throws. I generally play 2-3 times a week, practice field 2-3 times, and back yard putting practice 3-5 times. So, yeah, pretty common that I do more than one DG session in a day, whether playing, practice field, or putting.

 

[Countchunkula]

What % do you make at different distances? I spin putt, and am a decent putter and still improving (for a recreational player and only 4 months playing). I wonder at times if I would be better at maybe 20-30' with a push putt, but started as a spin putter with the idea I will get better faster using only one style, and I didn't have the power to make longer putts with a push putt. Plus, I am over 90% at 15 feet or less, probably 70% at 20' and still improving, and closing in on 50% at 30' but not there yet. At 30', in practice, throwing 10 in a row, I started out averaging about 1 in 10, but now I often get 3-4-5 out of 10. I fully expect to be able to get that over 50% - just not sure when yet. The other day I made 10 of 10 at 20' on my first try - but that is rare for me. I was in the zone - it felt amazing. I sometimes practice 20' over and over trying to get 10 of 10, and either it takes a lot of attempts, or I eventually give up and quit after a decent 8 or 9 makes of 10. Figure as long as I am improving, I don't want to mess around with the push putt, but it is frustrating when I miss left or right from 20-30'. I guess I have the best plan for me, for now, keeping my putting style the same, and working on my driving form, which I know needs work. But, I will say, no doubt that improving my putting made a much bigger difference to my scores than the gains I have made driving! I usually play 2-3 times a week, practice putting 3-5 days a week, and practice driving 1-2-3 times a week. Fairly common for me to do two sessions of whatever combination in a day.

I can't really give accurate %s because I'm not practicing from specific distances and none of the courses I regularly play have any sort of markers. I'm very confident from 20' in and although I'm not making nearly as high of a % once I get into the high 20s I try to make everyone of those and deal with whatever I have left.

Years ago, I was doing a true push put, with the wrist and elbow pretty much locked. That's evolved to include a tiny bit of movement from each joint to add some extra speed to what I was getting out of just weight shift and finger push.

When I started getting serious about DG, I think most top players believed the push putt was the way to go. It was Climo's style and he was absolutely dominant for so long that a lot of people modeled their games off of his. Also, the older style baskets tended to favor a putt that came in a bit slower and moving downward. Over the last 10 years or so, we've seen spin (or hybrid) styles have a ton of success. Partly due to the equipment and partly due to those top spin putters getting dialed in to the point where they don't need to worry about the potentially longer comebacker.

Spin putt should allow you to use your normal putting style farther out. If I was starting over today, my putt would probably look a lot different and would be much farther toward the spin end of the spectrum.

 

[ChrisinFL]

I can't really give accurate %s because I'm not practicing from specific distances and none of the courses I regularly play have any sort of markers. I'm very confident from 20' in and although I'm not making nearly as high of a % once I get into the high 20s I try to make everyone of those and deal with whatever I have left.

Years ago, I was doing a true push put, with the wrist and elbow pretty much locked. That's evolved to include a tiny bit of movement from each joint to add some extra speed to what I was getting out of just weight shift and finger push.

When I started getting serious about DG, I think most top players believed the push putt was the way to go. It was Climo's style and he was absolutely dominant for so long that a lot of people modeled their games off of his. Also, the older style baskets tended to favor a putt that came in a bit slower and moving downward. Over the last 10 years or so, we've seen spin (or hybrid) styles have a ton of success. Partly due to the equipment and partly due to those top spin putters getting dialed in to the point where they don't need to worry about the potentially longer comebacker.

Spin putt should allow you to use your normal putting style farther out. If I was starting over today, my putt would probably look a lot different and would be much farther toward the spin end of the spectrum.

Thanks for sharing. Yeah - when I miss a 30 foot putt, come back is usually a safe make. I go for it on 50-60 foot putts, but leaning a bit more conservative, and I don't miss come back putts often. I try to never leave a 30' putt short. I don't mind quite so much if I leave a 50-60' putt a little short, because I only make 1 of 10 from there, so I don't want to miss more than 1 in 10 come back putts. That said, we almost always throw 2 discs each shot, and play from the best one, so I generally play more aggressive than I would in a regular round.