Anyone else putt with a driver ?

[DiscSlinger1]

I've only been playing for about 3 months, but I find that I am much more consistant while putting with my Champion Beast than with my putters...( which are a Soft Banger GT and a Pro-D Challenger. ) Maybe it's because when I first started I did'nt have a putter, so I learned to putt with my driver, but I find putters to be like bricks..., the Beast just flies better, slices through the air, and has the nice hyzer finish on longer putts that I like.
Now, having said that I do not want to continue to build on a bad habit if it truly is one. Is there a real advantage of a "putter" over any other disc that you find works well ? Thanks for any advice...

 

[JR]

At one point early in my career i got the best results using a Valkyrie as a putter. Now that i've recovered from surgery and gotten some arm muscles and speed i don't need drivers or mids. They are too fast for me and blow by far. Also sklpping if they aren't stopped by the basket. One thing beside arm speed (loosen up totally in the throw to gain more arm speed -goes for derives too) to make the putters fly far enough is to reach back lower like Locastro and raising the arm in the throw while snapping the wrist and finger spring. Feel is an issue so maybe a thin putter like Innova XD or Latitude 64 Spike could help too. Tall putters tense up the muscles and cause slips more easily than thin putters.

A wacky reach back/jump putt hybrid with a light mid distance record for me is about 210'. If i didn't jump putt but threw from as much reach back as i can have while still maintaining legs in position for a jump putt i could throw even farther. But that is not my goal. Gaining accuracy with limiting blow by distance is. Enough distance for putting? I'm more accurate in approaches in this way to about 150' than with regular approaches but i haven't practiced those as much until this summer and i'm gaining after a few form tweaks. A regular jump putt with putter distance record is unknown because i haven't measured it but i think it is about 100'. If you bend the knees a lot and leap forward hard you can jump putt quite far. If you reduce the leap power some you won't fly forward but still generate a lot of power gaining a lot of putting distance.

 

[jubuttib]

Putters don't blow by the basket as far when missed, stay on a line better (not having to guess where the fade line cuts into the basket is always a plus. In my experience drivers begin to fade too much for comfort way before you get to longer putt distances.), don't skip as much and are usually overall just more consistent. There is a reason why every top pro uses a putter for putting, and it's not that they're all conformists. Granted, there are some pros who putt with drivers (or so I've heard, never actually seen one), but they're few and far between.

If you like the lower profile grip of drivers give the XD and other low profile putters a try. If you really want that fade and overstable putter (Rhyno, Pig, JOKERi, Zone, Ringer) will give it to you, but I suggest you still try to look for a neutral to slightly overstable putter first (Big bead Aviars, Challengers, Wizards, IONs are all great putters).

 

[GRHE]

As a fellow new player I'm in a similar situation except that I've seen the benefits now of moving away from using the drivers as a crutch on the short range shots. The funny thing about disc golf discs is that we fix in our minds that drivers go farther than putters and we let ourselves develop a comfort zone for our bad habits. The fact is that while we might be able to throw the distance drivers further than the mid range discs right now, we're still muscling the shots and we're not generating the spin and speed that is needed to really throw a disc. An intermediate player should be able to throw a Buzzz or a Leopard 250'-300' before even considering picking up the big distance drivers. An aviar putter can easily be thrown 200'-250' by anyone who knows how to throw with some snap and until we realize that the big discs are actually for the pros and that they're hurting us noobs we'll never actually develop good habits.

As for the topic at hand I can say that you should definitely move away from the faster discs as putters since the actual putters do actually offer some advantages which if you are really serious about improving your game you should seek and develop. Find a putter that feels right and just work with it until you start to see the light. I'm still a pretty hard core noob myself but here's a formula that has worked for me:

-Stop doing run-ups
-Disc down to something just faster than a putter
-Search More Snap 2009 on youtube (or look at the sticky on the forum, would link but don't know how yet)
-Focus on achieving a smooth, consistent release from a standstill

I've added almost a hundred feet to my throws and I'm overthrowing most of the baskets at my local par 3 course using a short mid-range disc. I'm getting way more out of my game now and my putter is the best disc I have for putting. Go for consistency and you'll find that a putter will give the most consistency for putting throws. Hope that wasn't over-answering the question

 

[DiscSlinger1]

Thnx for the input...

GRHE, I drive about 320-330 with my Wraith and Beast. About 275-280 with leopard. So there is a place for the drivers in my bag for sure. However I did dl the videos in the stickys earlier cuz of course I would like to get out to the 400 mark, and do have much to improve on in the way of form and technique . About once every 20 drives I'll accidentally turn one over and launch it probably close to 400 feet, 2 fairways over... but it's not something I can harness and direct on demand. So hopefully these vids will help. I DL'd the 2 snap vids and the training vid by Beato. Gonna study them tonight.
As far as the putters, I can see where the pros of using them are... they tend to be slow and soft, and therefore do not sail past or bounce off the basket very far. I dunno, I do not seem to have those problems very much with my Beast "putter"... unless it rolls. But points well taken and I should probably get a dif putter. I need a slim line one for sure... hate those 'tall' rimmed putters.
Thanks again...

 

[GRHE]

Sounds like you're about to the point that I'm at then and maybe a little further. I just drove a 320 pin at my local course and that was my longest yet. I like the stats that the disc nation website posts for the discs. Each one has an approximate stability and range for the pro, amateur, and noob and as far as I've seen they're pretty accurate.

In reality though all of this is fairly arbitrary since all of the details are really about what brings you the most enjoyment in the game. Most of us are not aspiring to walk the fairways with Nikko and Ulibarri. If you are then the question of whether or not its ok to us a distance disc as a putter is irrelevant. If you just play on the weekends to get out of the house and take a breath of fresh air for a half hour each month then you don't really care if you're throwing star or dx plastic, you're probably throwing an aerobie ring and cracking jokes at the guys carrying thirty discs in a backpack. If you enjoy playing with a distance disc as a putter and it satisfies your want in the game then screw what everybody else thinks. If you are serious about improving and possibly competing here then you'll likely want to watch the pros and imitate them to the most practical level since they've made it and are already successful and amid the various styles of play there will likely be one that suits yours as well. If that's you then find a putter and work on form and consistency. If not then bang those chains with your destroyer and wraith. I personally like the aviar because its what I started with and I'm starting to have some success with it. I would like to try out some discraft putters but there is only one store in my town that sells discraft and I had already spent my initial investment before I found it.

Hang in there, pay attention to these guys on the forums since they know a lot about this game, and watch the players that you relate to the most in order to improve as far as you feel motivated to go.

 

[peteg]

If you've only been playing for 3 months, just get a putter. It will be uncomfortable at first but in a relatively short amount of time you will adjust, you will be capable of making much longer putts, and if you start throwing the putter your game will improve 10 fold. In three more months you will be very glad you did.