Tips for Improving Your All Around Game.

[TalbotTrojan]

I am a very aggressive putter. I never focus on just a link - I focus on the pole in the middle. I try to throw all putts on a straight line - no hyzer or anhyzer. I also use the same stance and throwing motion regardless of distance. I can be pretty deadly out to 30 feet. After that, well, let's stay I am still working on distance.

I'm wondering if you have ever had a tree directly in your path when you are putting before? I had to develop several different styles of putting as well as hyzer and anhyzer putts otherwise there is no way I would be shooting as well on some of the courses that I play. For anyone who knows the Old Spider Hole at Oak Grove in Pasadena, CA you will know what I am talking about.

Also, that pole in the center is very big and goes all the way from the ground to the top of the basket. Focusing on a single chain is a smaller target that will also help with distance as well as accuracy. Not to mention you can probably miss your target by a much larger amount and still make the shot. Sorry to shoot down your rationale, I know it works for some people.

 

[_.-Dut-._]

Dont throw for the basket. Instead find the first gap you need to hit and throw the shot that gives you the greatest success at getting thru that gap. Just by hitting your first gap throughout the course you are going to be well on your way to playing par golf.

 

[Lewis]

Focusing on a single chain is a smaller target that will also help with distance as well as accuracy. Not to mention you can probably miss your target by a much larger amount and still make the shot. Sorry to shoot down your rationale, I know it works for some people.

I've been trying the "focus on a single chain link" putting strategy for a while now, but it hasn't been working like I hoped. Focusing on the center of the pole seems to be a more "comfortable" target for me somehow. I'm not sure why.

 

[zenbot]

What helps me is while I'm walking up to my disc I think back to one of my "great putts". It reminds me that I can be a great putter. The little confidence boost helps.

 

[cc0049]

Couple of thoughts:
Climo says to try to aim for the left side of your disc to hit the right side of the pole. That works for me...and of course you aim for a certain portion of the pole...for me about 2/3 of the way up the chains. I try to keep my putter on a flat line directly at the basket whenever I am able to, so Climo's approach is the one that I have adopted...for now.
When I have to throw a hyzer or an anhyzer putt, I always visualize the path I want my disc to take and I don't watch the basket as I am putting.
No matter what strategy you use, the keys to putting are FOCUS and CONFIDENCE. Both come with patient practice.

 

[Geoffro]

When putting, I like to pick a particular link in the chains and aim at hitting the middle of the disc on that link...no matter how far away the putt is.

I do this, too, and it really seems to help. I would only add that you should be picking a link of chain about halfway up the chain assembly, and off center - to the same side as your throwing hand if you put backhand (if you are a rhbh putter, your disc will be spinning clockwise, and should hit the assembly on the right side, allowing the disc to wrap itself into rather than out of the chains).

 

[sonny]

Couple of thoughts:
Climo says to try to aim for the left side of your disc to hit the right side of the pole. That works for me...and of course you aim for a certain portion of the pole...for me about 2/3 of the way up the chains. I try to keep my putter on a flat line directly at the basket whenever I am able to, so Climo's approach is the one that I have adopted...for now.
When I have to throw a hyzer or an anhyzer putt, I always visualize the path I want my disc to take and I don't watch the basket as I am putting.
No matter what strategy you use, the keys to putting are FOCUS and CONFIDENCE. Both come with patient practice.

I've never heard that Climo tip before and it sounds like excellent advice. So is your advice on patient practice.

There is no question in my mind that building a solid putting game is task #1 in improving your game and the fastest way to shave strokes off your scores. Confidence is so critical in this game and few things will shake that confidence worse than missing a 12' putt. You know you shouldn't miss those! And why did you miss? I submit it's because you didn't practice enough. I used to be one of you guys who complain about how you're a lousy putter. It does not have to be like that. You CAN learn to putt well. Put in the time practicing those putts and keep up the practice regularly. With a regular, efficient practice routine, you can be hitting 90% of your putts inside 25 feet in about six weeks or so. Once a 25' putt doesn't scare you, I think you'll be surprised how much more confident you will feel. You know those 70' upshots you bounce off the bottom of the pole? You'll start hitting those into the chains when you know in your heart a 30' come back shot wouldn't be a problem.

Don't be afraid to play a round or two every month using just your putter. If you've never done this, you really should. Being able to play a good round with only a putter is a sure-fire test for your form. And I don't know of a better way to improve really long putts.

 

[cc0049]

Don't be afraid to play a round or two every month using just your putter. If you've never done this, you really should. Being able to play a good round with only a putter is a sure-fire test for your form. And I don't know of a better way to improve really long putts.

That is quality advice as well. I've been playing for 6 years now and only recently have I been using my putter more for driving off the tee. I have become a believer in the idea of using the slowest disc possible for a particular hole. An errant putter is much more forgiving than an errant driver. Also, putters are so much more controllable.

 

[Tarazarr]

Now I have a specific putting motion I go through before my putts (same as a free throw in B-Ball) but before I found my stroke/technique, i used to walk up to my putter and pick it up imagining that I had just missed the putt and it was now my second attempt from the same spot (you know how you can always make that putt the second time right after you missed it the first time?) I did this to stop "over-thinking" the putt and to stop hearing the voice in my head saying "don't screw this up".

It worked for me until I found my putting stroke and technique. I tried style after style and it took me a year to figure out a technique that just felt right - my putting is getting much much better now that I've found my style.

 

[TalbotTrojan]

I think there is something to be said for being comfortable with the discs you are throwing. I recently threw my two favorite discs into a pond during tournament play, where I could not go back and try and find the discs. A dive by the guys at the course didn't turn my discs up. Then I went and got sick for about five days and coming back has been horrendous. I am not comfortable with any disc in my bag and resorted to throwing some of my discs at trees today, not as part of my round. Everything is flying lower than normal. I am starting to iorn things out, but there are so many times that I have walked up to a shot the past couple of days and said gosh I wish I had that disc that is in the water. At the same time, playing with these discs now is helping me gain some comfort with them so there is that side of it too.

As for something to help you improve your game, I am still convinced that the more different kinds of shots that you know how to throw the better.

I am certain that the more you just get out and play, even if just throwing your discs for a little bit the better you will do.

As much as it might suck, go out and play on the most blustery days that you can. If you can putt well in the wind, think how easy it will be when there isn't any.