To play pro one should be able to.......

[nexah3]

Accuracy and Consistency. I like to call it the 10% rule.

If you throw a 300' drive, you should be within 30' of where you wanted to end up.
If you throw a 400' drive, you should be within 40' of where you wanted to end up.

Same goes the other way.
100' Approach, 10'

That and 90% inside the circle.

 

[Tpro]

I have a friend that said once you have all the shots you turn Pro. Then the difference between a good Am and a Pro is being an Am you can wait and play solid and the rest of the field will come to you. Playing Open you have to go Take it!

 

[badsmurph]

Yesir

 

[billnchristy]

How about being able to accept and acknowledge that a lot of people put in a lot of unpaid effort so you can turn around and whine about this temporary hole not being fair or last year's payout being bigger on an internet forum?

 

[MrFixIt]

How about being able to accept and acknowledge that a lot of people put in a lot of unpaid effort so you can turn around and whine about this temporary hole not being fair or last year's payout being bigger on an internet forum?

Heehee! :clap:

 

[jmhoekst]

good points but putting can also be a talented, non-practiced skill

Exactly. And not just putting, either.

Look at somebody like Cale. He is a natural athlete, playing Shortstop with Joe Mauer when he was younger, having professional athletes in his family tree. He has been on record saying "I don't think too much about technique, I just visualize the shot then execute it." Wow.

Then on the other hand, you have somebody like Tanner Duncan who works very hard with lots of practice and training. He's a promoter of doing many other activities to improve your athleticism and it shows. He's a phenomenal disc golfer, also.

EDIT: Proof that both methods work, Cale beat Tanner by 1 throw at the CCO in MN last weekend. 4 rounds of 18 plus a final 9. That's a sliver of a difference.

 

[Widdershins]

Fill in the blank (copy and paste)

To be a legitimate pro these are some benchmarks

Make % of putts from 20 feet and % of putts from 30 feet

Be able throw ft in an open field


List the throwing styles mastered to be competitive:


feel free to add anything else...this is an exercise in fun I don't need a lecture about mental approach, playing with pressure, knowledge of rules etc...I am just curious what everyone sees as the benchmarks that make someone a PRO Putter or Pro Distance or Pro mastery of shots

Its for fun and to create discussion

The answer depends on what the definition of Pro is. At any given event about 2/3's of the Pros will not cash. So in order to donate all it took was the entry fee.

So let's set the bar a bit higher. What does it take to play Pro and cash often enough to keep hope alive? To keep practicing, to keep coming back it takes hope. A lot of players move to Pro and fade back to Amateur or drop out of the tournament scene. Without hope few players stick around just to donate.

Putting is the most important shot and it is what most defines Pros from Ams and separates cashing Pros from donators. Inside 20 feet a solid Pro misses more putts to basket flaws than misfires. Inside the circle a Pro has to hit at least 80% to have a chance to cash. Cashing Open players will hit more putts outside the circle than they miss inside it.

Driving distance is less important than accuracy. If an Open player only has 400 in golf distance then they need really good accuracy. The advantage to having more power, say 500 feet compared to 400 feet is being able to comfortably hit 450 and cash deuces in that range. Bonus power opens up wide lanes or high gaps and takes tight tunnels out of risk.

More than stats though, the head game is critical to surviving as a Pro. Pros in a region get to know each other and develop a pecking order. If a Good Pro is on your card and believes he should beat you it is amazing what he can do to make that belief a reality.

 

[jesusfreak]

Be able to putt 95% from inside 20'. Nobody should be missing those in Open, unless you are me

Average 1.5 putts between 20' and 40'. This goes towards putting percentage on the first putt and the second. Part of being a consistently great player is avoiding three putts at all costs while still make a fair percentage of longer putts.

Be able to hit a 10' wide area 100' out on your driving line, and a 20' wide area 200' out on your driving line. Being able to hit your driving line precisely will keep you on the fairway and get those few extra feet towards the basket that earn extra birdies.

Be able to land within your "gimmie" range on a 300' wide open shot, and every other range extrapolated from this figure. My and most people's gimmie range is 10', ie the spot where you just can't miss and if you do it is because you didn't care or a bee stung you. That means at 50' I need to consistently be within 2' of the target. At 400' I need to be within 13' of the target. Keep in mind that a pro gimmie range would be greater than 10'. Target accuracy is important and combined with drive line precision is what generates birdies.

Know how to judge shot distance within +/- 5' and how long each of your discs are. Playing pro means playing tourneys, which means playing temp holes. You need to be able to hit the distance precisely on a shot you have never thrown before.

I don't care if you can throw every style but you need to be able to get every flight path out of your discs one way or another.

Thats what I can think of right now.

^this