I think the same formula applies to disc golf as to golf here - the idea of maximizing your "shots gained" tends to put more emphasis on your long game than your short game.
The golf analogy of "Drive for show, putt for dough" is not true. It's quoted all the time, but it's just not accurate. Tiger Woods, for example, in the years he was dominant made up WAY more shots on the field from long range than he did putting.
Power is a huge advantage, for two reasons. One, it lets you reach holes in fewer strokes. If a par three is 400' and you've got 300' of power, the odds of you birdieing it drop to almost nothing (how often you can make a 100' putt). A 400' thrower is going to birdie that hole more often than you.
Second, imagine a 500-yard par four in golf. Bubba Watson hits his driver 340 on the hole and has 160 in, so he hits a soft pitching wedge. Luke Donald hits his driver 300 on the hole and has 200 yards left, and he has to hit a 5-iron or a 4-iron. Not only is Bubba able to drive it farther, but his second shot is closer AND he gets to to power down from the same distance. If those two are playing a 200-yard par three, Bubba's hitting a 3/4 7-iron while Luke is still between 4-iron and 5-iron. That tight 300' hole might require a Saint for the 325' power guy but the 450' guy can throw a putter or a slow, super-stable mid-range disc. In other words, power leads to an increase in accuracy because you don't need to throw as hard, and a 3/4 7-iron is much more likely to be accurate than a hard 5-iron.
Let me put it another way: the best putter and the worst putter at a certain level aren't all that far apart. There are probably some 900-rated players who putt as well as a 1000-rated pro (just as there are some three handicappers in golf who can putt as well as a PGA Tour pro). Where the pro toasts them is in getting into putting range. The three handicapper takes an extra 0.4 shots per hole or whatever to get into the position to putt, then only manages to make up 0.5 strokes over 18 holes with better putting.
So the question isn't specific enough for me to give an answer - is the 500' thrower reasonably accurate, or is he literally missing his lines by 15°? How good is the putter exactly? Everyone's got to find the balance that lets them play the best golf, and you can't answer this question legitimately with the basic information given.
But don't underestimate how important power is to scoring well. In golf it's a BIG advantage. Several hard-core statistical articles have illustrated this recently. I wouldn't be surprised if it's similar to disc golf.
Let me put it another way: would you rather make every par putt you ever look at but rarely even see a birdie putts or would you rather six to eight more birdie and eagle opportunities, a lot more drop-in pars, and a few bogeys thrown in there because you're a little wilder with your added distance?
The golf analogy of "Drive for show, putt for dough" is not true. It's quoted all the time, but it's just not accurate. Tiger Woods, for example, in the years he was dominant made up WAY more shots on the field from long range than he did putting.
Power is a huge advantage, for two reasons. One, it lets you reach holes in fewer strokes. If a par three is 400' and you've got 300' of power, the odds of you birdieing it drop to almost nothing (how often you can make a 100' putt). A 400' thrower is going to birdie that hole more often than you.
Second, imagine a 500-yard par four in golf. Bubba Watson hits his driver 340 on the hole and has 160 in, so he hits a soft pitching wedge. Luke Donald hits his driver 300 on the hole and has 200 yards left, and he has to hit a 5-iron or a 4-iron. Not only is Bubba able to drive it farther, but his second shot is closer AND he gets to to power down from the same distance. If those two are playing a 200-yard par three, Bubba's hitting a 3/4 7-iron while Luke is still between 4-iron and 5-iron. That tight 300' hole might require a Saint for the 325' power guy but the 450' guy can throw a putter or a slow, super-stable mid-range disc. In other words, power leads to an increase in accuracy because you don't need to throw as hard, and a 3/4 7-iron is much more likely to be accurate than a hard 5-iron.
Let me put it another way: the best putter and the worst putter at a certain level aren't all that far apart. There are probably some 900-rated players who putt as well as a 1000-rated pro (just as there are some three handicappers in golf who can putt as well as a PGA Tour pro). Where the pro toasts them is in getting into putting range. The three handicapper takes an extra 0.4 shots per hole or whatever to get into the position to putt, then only manages to make up 0.5 strokes over 18 holes with better putting.
So the question isn't specific enough for me to give an answer - is the 500' thrower reasonably accurate, or is he literally missing his lines by 15°? How good is the putter exactly? Everyone's got to find the balance that lets them play the best golf, and you can't answer this question legitimately with the basic information given.
But don't underestimate how important power is to scoring well. In golf it's a BIG advantage. Several hard-core statistical articles have illustrated this recently. I wouldn't be surprised if it's similar to disc golf.
Let me put it another way: would you rather make every par putt you ever look at but rarely even see a birdie putts or would you rather six to eight more birdie and eagle opportunities, a lot more drop-in pars, and a few bogeys thrown in there because you're a little wilder with your added distance?
