how do pros typically practice a course?

[dekdo]

I like to throw a few shots per hole but no more than 3-5.

Then take notes on what works based on the conditions.

 

[medicinalfunk]

determine the conservative play, determine the aggressive play, determine the best play, then apply thusly depending on where they are and the conditions at hand

 

[@CD-]

I think most touring pro level players need to get repetitions in on the course and would follow the same practice routine of a few shots per hole. Typically just identifying the shot shapes that produce the most birdie chances while minimizing risk of penalties/bad lies. Maybe when learning a new course they would play it blind for a baseline score and coming back the second/third practice round and trying out alternate plays if time allows. I think a lot of the touring pros play practice rounds (maybe with $ on the line) with others to see what their peers may be considering for shots as well.

Some players may make a determination to play certain holes for par prior to competition based on how risk averse they are to taking penalties, especially if they didn't manage to play the hole penalty free in the less stressful practice round(s).

Pros should take note of greens/landing zones (for upcoming BH and FH next shots what would be ideal on par 4/5 holes), penalty areas & drop zones, rough/off the fairway conditions, ground conditions (slopes, grass length, dirt patches, concrete, wood chips) and how discs react to them with different speed/spin.

If they have a good weather forecast with wind direction it would help knowing which holes would be headwind/tailwind ahead of practice and bagging appropriate discs.

Also, identify if there is a real risk of losing a disc (water or deep rough) then bagging a backup for the planned disc ahead of time so they aren't stuck during competition without that disc for most of the round.

 

[sidewinder22]

Usually just practice tee shots.

 

[Sewer bill]

I'm not a pro I just pretend to be one and occasionally I'll hurt some feelings off the tee like I am one.

When I play a new course and I'm not rushing like I'm playing that day, I try and feel out the drives to set me up for the most lazy and consistent bird or par depending on what I feel works for me.

If I feel comfy with the initial gap on par 4s and 5s I'll push it with the drive speed and get myself more comfortable with the shot shape of the risky go for it line while making mental notes of wind. Any time I do this I'll also find the safe line and shot shape to play if it's windy or I'm wussing out from nerves.

The big boy pros I have played many practice rounds with do similar stuff except they make putts in practice and tournament play.

Some pros I have practiced with throw absolute nonsense shots off the tee for fun in practice then throw it down with completely different shots in play so I feel like it depends on the course and the environment.

 

[denny ritner]

Watching Brodie/Ezra practice a course, I think their approach (which is probably common) is flawed. They tend to stand on the tee and guess the shots and then throw a bunch of halfway committed shots before walking up to find out how well they guessed.

The secret sauce to previewing a course is to walk the course BACKWARDS, while shooting distances and taking written notes.

PGA golfers have their caddies do this sort of recon the day before they get to the property. Disc golfers generally need to be their own caddies.

 

[araytx]

DO you mean, how do we practice a course for:

• competition
• specific event
• shots like that or similar courses
• something else
• playing blind or near-blind
• playing a course I am familiar with

I'm gonna answer as if it were for a specific tournament AND a course I am nearly blind or don't know details as well.

Watching Brodie/Ezra practice a course, I think their approach (which is probably common) is flawed. They tend to stand on the tee and guess the shots and then throw a bunch of halfway committed shots before walking up to find out how well they guessed.

The secret sauce to previewing a course is to walk the course BACKWARDS, while shooting distances and taking written notes.

PGA golfers have their caddies do this sort of recon the day before they get to the property. Disc golfers generally need to be their own caddies.

Denny is right. The best way for this situation is to walk the holes backwards and take notes. Don't fret about the golfers doing mic'ed up practice rounds; remember that many times their objective is to obtain more followers, not necessarily to show what is best. After getting your notes, shore up the strategy by playing the lines you selected, see if they work and if not re-look backwards each hole and try again until you have the correct strategy for each hole.

Important points to consider -

• although several holes may have multiple options, you only need to know the deets on the aggressive v conservative options on the last 4 or 5. In early rounds and in all but those last 4 or 5 stay with your strategy. There's a reason you decided on it.
  
• If you can get a local to show you the course/routes do it. And when they tell you about how XYZ person plays it, believe them. You'll get way more good info than bad. It doesn't matter if the person showing you is a top pro, just that they 've been at this course many many times. They can tell you how top pros play a course even if they aren't one themselves.
  
• Unless they is no other option try to utilize routes that do not bring OB into play. On a course you've never played, you're better off taking a slightly more difficult shot over IB all the way than a clearer throw that may be over OB all the way. This is because without playing rounds there previously, you don't know how an OB on this hole or that how affects the overall score.
  
• Practice and plan for differing wind conditions than the one on your practice day. Don't get caught with "I don't know what to do in this wind, when I practices it was totally different."

Good luck to you.

 

[Hanssy]

Ohh, as I know, when the pros practice a course, they usually throw a few shots per hole, like 3 to 5. Then they take notes on what works based on the conditions. So, if it's windy or the ground is funky, they jot it down)) So I bet those notes help them fine-tune their game for future rounds...

 

[Seamus]

Try walking the course backwards and take in the baskets' point of view from the tee.

 

[Ryan P.]

Watching Brodie/Ezra practice a course, I think their approach (which is probably common) is flawed. They tend to stand on the tee and guess the shots and then throw a bunch of halfway committed shots before walking up to find out how well they guessed.

The secret sauce to previewing a course is to walk the course BACKWARDS, while shooting distances and taking written notes.

PGA golfers have their caddies do this sort of recon the day before they get to the property. Disc golfers generally need to be their own caddies.

Do you have sources for this, or a more detailed explanation of the strategy? What does shooting distances backward do? My understanding is that measuring east to west results in the same length if you measure it west to east. I'm asking what walking it backward does that you can't get from walking it forward.

 

[BillFleming]

Do you have sources for this, or a more detailed explanation of the strategy? What does shooting distances backward do? My understanding is that measuring east to west results in the same length if you measure it west to east. I'm asking what walking it backward does that you can't get from walking it forward.

I knew someone who said "you walk the course backwards to figure out where you need to land for each shot. So, for hole x...where do you want to be putting from to sink the ball? Ok, what shot do you need to get to that spot? Where do you need to take that shot from? Okay, now you are there....chipping, whatever onto the green; What club and shot do you use to get to this spot...and where do you want to take that shot from? And do that all the way back to the tee." So, you start from where you want to end up and figure out how to get there.

 

[BillFleming]

Cut most of the quote out...I want to comment about what I left above.

I agree with not really paying attention to the mic'd up rounds as being 'real practice'. Even on the Jomez practice rounds, they have said that they've practiced the course the day before or even for a couple of days.

I wish I could remember which guest it happened with.....but Uli and Jerm had a guest who was not happy with the way the practice round went. The guest thought it would be a 'real' practice round and not just a have fun and get some throws in round. You could see and hear the tension from the guest as they tried to get in some 'real', meaningful practice.

 

[Spectacledbear]

It was Simon Lizotte.

 

[araytx]

Do you have sources for this, or a more detailed explanation of the strategy? What does shooting distances backward do? My understanding is that measuring east to west results in the same length if you measure it west to east. I'm asking what walking it backward does that you can't get from walking it forward.

Ryan, it's not shooting distances that makes the difference when walking or evaluating the holes from basket/green to tee or basket/green to landing zone(s) to tee; it's what you SEE. You'd be surprised at how different and appealing/unappealing lines look like from the angle you get when viewing the hole backwards. Again I'm talking about a course your playing blind or nearly blind when this applies. Because on a course you know well your experience will give you those views of "this looked so good from the tee, then I executed exactly as I thought, yet this next shot is not what I thought I'd have." Where to land when 10 feet may make the difference between having an EASY approach vs challenging approach, the good side of a tight fairway, that branch/overhang that looks "in play" from one view is not from the other (and vice versa), etc., are just a few examples you can find on a nearly blind situation by walking each hole backwards.

I appreciate the question. If you need even more proof of this I can show you on a video.

 

[BillFleming]

It was Simon Lizotte.

Thanks for that. I couldn't remember who it was, but I did recall he was really annoyed that he couldn't really practice.

 

[jenb]

Pros take about 30 discs and drive every one of them off each tee. When casuals show up, they turn in a calm manner and, with a beatific expression, invite them to play through. Then they stand patiently aside. The look in the eyes though …

 

[TiltedFlipCurves]

Pros take about 30 discs and drive every one of them off each tee. When casuals show up, they turn in a calm manner and, with a beatific expression, invite them to play through. Then they stand patiently aside. The look in the eyes though …

If someone's driving 30 discs off tee #1 I'm seeing if there's a different tee I can start at :|

 

[Sheep]

They go out and play the course, then talk privately with everyone about how much the course sucks, to which one of them eventually squeels to us staff members about it and we get irritated because there were legitimate issues we could have addressed a week prior to the tournament, but they never said anything to the staff, so it gets stuck into the tournament play at that point.

I know I'm sounding sarcastic here, but after watching pro's practice holes and play new courses and some other things. I've came to some really ... ugly conclusions.


Pro players want easy straightforward courses that dont present high challenge shots. If it requires you to hit to small of a gap, it's "to hard" and they just call it a poke and hope, or unfair.

Whats unfair? You're a professional athlete, you cannot hit a 5 foot gap? Is your game really based on grip and rip?

So they will complain and complain about anything that isn't easy enough. or seems like "luck."

Example, hole 3 Music city open. The shot isn't that hard. I've had some heated arguments with others about it, but I put a lot of discs down range on that hole trying things for fun and.. It's a touch shot. This idea that everything needs to be parked and birdied is annoying and needs to go away. It should be a reward for excellent play for you to get a birdy, not a requirement for a hole to be good.

Throw the shot, hit the gap. Done. Suck less.
Could the hole have been better? Yes, Was it playable and birdyable? of course. A lot of the pro practice issues is mindset. They want clear holes that are straightforward. And I get it, I dont' like gimmick holes either. That's fine for your fun local course, but pro dog time is not gimmick time. Like these stupid j shaped holes that are just ignorant and dumb.

Were supposed to be talking about practicing, and I know Im' soap boxing on them complaining, but having done these for the last few years now and watching them practice. I have absolutely no idea what they are doing other than looking for things to complain about how unfair something is. I watch them throw holes and they just grab discs and huck and see what works.

Look at Robby C's video on caddying for brodie. That ... is not how you caddy.
Brodie knows this too! He was pro am in ball golf, he knows what caddies are supposed to be doing!

"I'd rather throw the wrong shot good." The fk is that???

They tried to iron out the shots on the course though and figure out the best shots.

Why are we not attacking this like ball golf yet? Caddy surveys course, "we need to throw to this area here, its 350 feet. to attack the green from the best angle."

 

[drk_evns]

... ugly conclusions.

lol what pros are you practicing with and where? what tournaments are you running/working at the top level where you're seeing this regularly? this is quite a pessimistic view of our sport and the people who play it. there are a lot of players out there spending their lives trying to figure out how to attack these courses in the best way possible (and then doing it).

maybe your own anecdotes don't represent the sport as a whole? maybe the voices online spreading dissent and feedback on the course are skewing your perspective?

 

[Sheep]

lol what pros are you practicing with and where? what tournaments are you running/working at the top level where you're seeing this regularly? this is quite a pessimistic view of our sport and the people who play it. there are a lot of players out there spending their lives trying to figure out how to attack these courses in the best way possible (and then doing it).

maybe your own anecdotes don't represent the sport as a whole? maybe the voices online spreading dissent and feedback on the course are skewing your perspective?

I've been helping run Pro level A-Tiers and higher for 5 years now. Elite series this year, Silver series last year. National Tour Finale the year before that...

I've got LOTS of time interacting with pros on the course during practice rounds. I spend time on the courses prior to the event getting feedback and making sure the course is safe and helping players throw the courses better if they ask questions and need help.

I see a lot of people commenting everywhere about everything, and being around pro players at tournaments is one thing, actually working with them when they are out of earshot of fans is a completely different ordeal.

Players, generally, don't say anything bad publicly. Then like a few years ago Paul talked massive **** about Cedar Hill, which we made easier cause of all the previous complaints about how hard it was, and watched the players eat **** even harder on an easier course. Then complain some more about how there are to many tree's and all us locals just laugh when they walk away because it's really not that hard.

Pro players want straightforward easy holes that don't challenge them to THAT level of difficulty. They wanna get up there huck a disc, and it must be parkable within 1 or 2 shots, or its a garbage hole. They don't like the idea's of holes that don't let you get a birdy or park it on the first shot. They dont see the lines on holes to get birdies, then they complain about it.

It's just hilarious over time to hear the feedback from everyone because some of it is SO dumb. Because I'm listening to a pro dog tell me a hole is to hard that I have no trouble throwing and figured out in 5 or so trys.
Example, MCO hole 3 this year. The hole is easy. "oh its a poke and hope, its to hard."

The part people dont even realize about that hole was I figured it out before the tree that was in the way was removed to make it easier.

It's whatever.
I've worked my ass off to get where I'm at in my community and my knowledge in disc golf in courses, players and coaching.

I honestly don't even give that many ****s if anyone believes me or not at this point. Cause the main purpose of most people is to argue anymore vs listening. And I work so **** hard to try and listen to others, but when you can clearly see most people are more interested in telling you how wrong you are, or just not even serving any level of respect back to you in the discussions.
Its just not worth my effort to give a ****.

I wanna crush at disc golf in everything I do, because I'll never be a top level player. It's not possible. So, I'ma keep crushing it while people talk on the internet about things they don't really know. And I'm not accusing you of that, but Im speaking more in general, Cause people have forgotten how to talk to each other. And its outright sad.