Best strategies/tips/playing styles

[Vonbeezy1]

The other day I was playing a really good round and a newer player asked me for advice. I told him the best tip I have ever received was "always get within 40 feet of the basket for the birdie putt." Your drive doesn't have to be a bomb or anything fancy, you just need to be putting for the birdie 18/18 holes and eventually you should be able to hit half of them or even more.

 

[ilmcgee]

Kinda the same, but practice putting. Drive for show, putt for dough.

 

[DGHippie]

This is more for beginners and middle of the road players trying to string together consistent rounds. Lay up, lay up, lay up

Don't rely on your inconsistent putting to save par because you wanted to try throwing it in from 100-150 feet out. Just layup in front of or below the basket for the easy drop in.

Don't try to make some miraculous par save after you go OB. Whether it was bad luck or a bad drive, you still went OB. Take the stroke penalty and walk away with a bogey if you can.

Same goes with putts outside the circle. Missing 40-50+ foot birdies won't ruin your round. The 2-3 bogeys you get from trying to hit 40-50+ foot birdies (because you missed the come back putts) will ruin your round.

 

[Magnus_]

This is more for beginners and middle of the road players trying to string together consistent rounds. Lay up, lay up, lay up

Don't rely on your inconsistent putting to save par because you wanted to try throwing it in from 100-150 feet out. Just layup in front of or below the basket for the easy drop in.

Don't try to make some miraculous par save after you go OB. Whether it was bad luck or a bad drive, you still went OB. Take the stroke penalty and walk away with a bogey if you can.

Same goes with putts outside the circle. Missing 40-50+ foot birdies won't ruin your round. The 2-3 bogeys you get from trying to hit 40-50+ foot birdies (because you missed the come back putts) will ruin your round.

I'm an AM1 (AM2 when playing in the US) player and playing "boring" golf has helped me a lot when it comes to playing more consistent rounds. Yesterday I played my best round ever at one of the local courses. I had 16 pars, one bogey and one double bogey (on a par 4). Laying up for par was the key to success during that round. At my level staying close to par during the tournaments will result in a good spot in the standings. Birdies for me are a bonus and once I improve my drives a bit I should be able to get even closer to par and eventually get below par.

 

[roggenb3]

2 things.

1) Do field work.
2) Clear your mind / Leave the field work in the field.

For me at least, one huge key to feeling like I'm 'feeling it' is keeping my mind clear. Once I start thinking about form, or score, or anything other than the line I'm trying to hit, things go downhill. It's tough though, there's a difference between actually concentrating and telling yourself that you are concentrating, if that makes sense.

 

[Pymm]

I'm an AM1 (AM2 when playing in the US) player and playing "boring" golf has helped me a lot when it comes to playing more consistent rounds. Yesterday I played my best round ever at one of the local courses. I had 16 pars, one bogey and one double bogey (on a par 4). Laying up for par was the key to success during that round. At my level staying close to par during the tournaments will result in a good spot in the standings. Birdies for me are a bonus and once I improve my drives a bit I should be able to get even closer to par and eventually get below par.

^^This exactly. I am not as good (best round is 12 pars and 6 bogeys) but employ the same strategy. My goal is always no double bogeys, so I try to limit my bad shots (as does everyone, obviously), and take few chances. I will occasionally get a birdie or two but am always fine with par. At my skill level and with my paucity of experience, I think this is the way to go.

 

[lyleoross]

Search YouTube for Feldberg's tournament strategy video. He talks about mental prep and mind set during a round. Interesting watch.

 

[lyleoross]

It's entitled Technique is only half the battle.

 

[Magnus_]

^^This exactly. I am not as good (best round is 12 pars and 6 bogeys) but employ the same strategy. My goal is always no double bogeys, so I try to limit my bad shots (as does everyone, obviously), and take few chances. I will occasionally get a birdie or two but am always fine with par. At my skill level and with my paucity of experience, I think this is the way to go.

My long term goal and the whole reason why I do field work is to turn my pars into real birdie opportunities and turn the bogies into pars. I always shoot higher rated rounds when I try to stick to my game plan of playing for par instead of going for the birdies by attempting higher risk shots. My rounds yesterday was 910 rated according to the PDGA app which is about 60 points higher than my actual PDGA rating. It's all about ignoring the game plan of the others on your card and stick to the "I play for par" mentality which I struggle with most of the time. Way too often I'm a few strokes behind someone on my card and I start to play like if I can catch up and that's when most of my bogies happen.

 

[pauldst]

All of the above is good. I would add (not substitute):

Try new things. For example, I recently started working with thumbers and rollers. Not very good with them yet--especially the rollers--but have made some cool shots with them and see potential for some great shots in the future.

After you have had time and improvement, retry techniques and discs that didn't work in the past. Recently, I have put back in the bag some discs that I had put away, and now been quite pleased with them, such as the King Cobra and the Roadrunner. I also, after giving up for a couple of years, have gone back to trying to hyzer flip, and have now been able to do that.

Don't give up easily. I can now hyzer flip, but I am going to have to practice it quite a bit in order to master it, which goes back to field work....

 

[corin_brown]

2) Clear your mind / Leave the field work in the field.

This is a good tip. When I stopped trying new, unfamiliar, un-practiced, low-percentage shots during tournaments and played shots I knew I could handle, my results shot up.

Another distillation of this concept: know your abilities well and avoid high-risk, low percentage shots.

 

[ToddL]

This is more for beginners and middle of the road players trying to string together consistent rounds. Lay up, lay up, lay up

Don't rely on your inconsistent putting to save par because you wanted to try throwing it in from 100-150 feet out. Just layup in front of or below the basket for the easy drop in.

Don't try to make some miraculous par save after you go OB. Whether it was bad luck or a bad drive, you still went OB. Take the stroke penalty and walk away with a bogey if you can.

Same goes with putts outside the circle. Missing 40-50+ foot birdies won't ruin your round. The 2-3 bogeys you get from trying to hit 40-50+ foot birdies (because you missed the come back putts) will ruin your round.

That can be generalized to: Play the percentages.

If you run the basket from 100' out, you might make it in the basket 1 out of 50 times. 40 out of 50 times you'll miss but will be close enough to make your comeback putt. And 9 times out of 50 you'll blow past the basket or roll away and end up having to take 2 putts to make it in. So that's 2% birdie, 80% par, 18% bogey if you run it.

If you choose to lay up safely from 100' out, you'll make it in the basket 0 times. 47 times you'll make the comeback, and 3 out of 50 times you'll still miss the comeback. That's 0% birdie, 94% par, 6% bogey.

And it really comes down to being honest with yourself about "is it actually realistic for me to think I can throw it in from here?"

 

[Stardoggy]

1. Putt better
2. Hyzer is your friend

 

[roggenb3]

1. Putt better

I never thought of that...darn, that's brilliant.

 

[m_Krakov]

I always tell newer people to keep it in the fairway.

Sounds suuuper obvious, and perhaps not easy for new players, but we are talking about how to IMPROVE, and I think it plays into the mental aspect more or less knowing your weaknesses and avoiding putting yourself into situations that can cause that weakness to be magnified (much like laying up for an easy putt VS running at it from 80 out and blowing past for another tough look.)

If you're shooting +12 or something like that (or +2, any level of skill really), eliminating one of the errant throws into the woods where you try to do too much can shave a couple of strokes off of your score. I know that if I have a hole where I end up in the woods it always costs me a stroke or two, do that on 8 holes and things can get hairy real quick.

 

[tdschrock1]

A few strategies that have taken me from <900 golf to 950+ golf:

Have a conservative plan and a cocky throw.

Don't be a hero - get back to the fairway instead of running risky baskets.

Don't just practice putting, practice making those 15-20 footers until you hit near 100%

Carry only the discs that you trust. You don't need a huge stack

Talk to your cardmates and have a good time. Total your score at the end. Enjoy the game you are playing.

Scrambling is a fun game too. Don't get mad, get back to the fairway.

Putters are your best friend.

Disc down and know what each disc does best.

 

[bankiebomber]

I like all of the advice posted so far.

Despite practicing I don't consider myself a good putter nor do I have a big arm so last year I decided to focus on practicing upshots and it made a huge difference to my game. It took a lot of pressure off knowing that I was pretty solid with my mids and throwing putters. from 100 ish feet (this winter is about 100 to 200 feet).

Every once and a while I will take my tournament bag out and throw every disc on scrambling lines - try every disc on every type of throw. I have discovered a few shots I would never have thought of throwing with different discs that has benefited my game.

 

[greg_lange]

That can be generalized to: Play the percentages.

If you run the basket from 100' out, you might make it in the basket 1 out of 50 times. 40 out of 50 times you'll miss but will be close enough to make your comeback putt. And 9 times out of 50 you'll blow past the basket or roll away and end up having to take 2 putts to make it in. So that's 2% birdie, 80% par, 18% bogey if you run it.

If you choose to lay up safely from 100' out, you'll make it in the basket 0 times. 47 times you'll make the comeback, and 3 out of 50 times you'll still miss the comeback. That's 0% birdie, 94% par, 6% bogey.

You may know this, but what you are doing there has a "fancy" name.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expected_value

 

[greg_lange]

Use a hyzer approach whenever possible. It's easier to control distance that way. Plus a hyzer can hide mistakes, that is, you can make a less than optimal throw and have it still get close enough more often.

Use the slowest disc that works.

On approaches use an overstable disc with as little glide as possible (use something like a gator).

 

[HERB brooks]

A list of thoughts that have helped my game this past year:
-Slow is smooth and smooth is far, staying in control works much better than trying to gun the disc down the fairway
-Know your arm speed, don't throw high speed discs if you don't have the arm for them
-Using multiples of trusted discs, limiting mold count to a reasonable number (IMO no reason to have more than 12 different molds thats 2 putters, 2 mids, 2 fairway, 2 control, 2 distance, and 2 utility of any kind)
-Practice Putting! Confidence in the circle leads to confident drives and upshots. If you can trust your putting from 30' and in then you can run the basket on second shots, knowing that you can knock down a 25' footer if you get a rollaway or bad bounce.
-Game is 90% mental, don't get focused on the negative. Its easy to get in a funk over a couple bad or unlucky shots in a round. Its like playing poker you can't go on tilt if you are having a rough go of it. Playing relaxed and focused while remembering you are there to have fun even if you have money on the line will yield the best results.
-Assessing risk vs reward... Knowing when to lay up or go for a hero run by using cost benefit analysis. Does the risky line you are about to throw have the potential to cost you more strokes than laying up and going for par? If you miss your line will you have a reasonable 2nd shot or will you be looking at bogey or worse by trying to be a hero? Will a risky line give you a better chance to birdie or save par?