Where to work first?

[MOTHERBRAIN]

Greetings to all. I'm fairly new to the game, so I thought I'd ask for some advice from the more experienced players here. I've been bitten hard by the disc golf bug, and I've got a few discs and a bag and I've played several rounds. I'm pretty consistently shooting between 25 and 30 over through 22 holes.

My question is, what part of the game should I really focus on improving first? A poor drive can set an entire hole up for failure, but a good drive and upshot aren't worth a whole lot if you can't sink the putt. Since all areas of my game are more or less equally lacking, what do y'all think should be my initial area of concern?

 

[tamahawk]

Hey, welcome to the sport of disc golf, and welcome to DGCR! As a new player, I would suggest taking time to familiarize yourself with the site and all of the available features. DGCR is full of amazing resources, so find them and use them. Any questions, feel free to ask. The people here are great and very helpful.

All aspects of the game are equally important. I would try to develop a practice routine that allows time to focus on driving, approach, and putting. Like you said, a bad drive can leave you without an approach, a good drive and an approach shot that lands 50ft away leaves you with a low percentage putt, and putting an approach shot 15ft away and missing the putt, well, they all are basically the same result, extra shots added to your score.

With driving, the BEST thing to do is find an open field (e.g. football field, park, etc.) and working on throwing. This will put the emphasis on your throwing technique and results of your throw. I can't practice on a course because I have to play if I'm there. Field practice has really helped me a lot. Plus you can throw a lot more shots in a lot less time.

Putting, start close to the basket with putts you know you can hit. Maybe start 10ft away or so, and build confidence in your putt. Confidence is one of the most important aspects of putting. It will take some time, but your efforts will pay off.

What type and weight discs are you throwing, and what are you putting with?

 

[DiscJunkie]

Putting.
Most benefit, doesn't require lots of muscle.
"Drive for show, putt for dough.

 

[jesus]

Start around the basket and work your way out.

 

[Fore]

Chalk another one up for putting and approaching!

 

[swellerdiscgolf]

A good putter will beat a good driver any day, and it is something you can do in your backyard. Pick a tree if you don't have a basket, and pretend that is the basket. Learn your comfort level at putting, and be confident that your upshot will land there everytime. On your drives, try not to throw the disc through the nearest tree. Let the disc do the work. What you lose in distance, at first, you'll make up for in accuracy.

That being said, check out instructional videos on youtube. Dan Beato, and Mark Ellis have some great ones.

Also, like Tamahawk said earlier, DO NOT hesitate to ask questions here. Everyone is really cool and very helpful.

 

[Roc1Time]

Putting.
Most benefit, doesn't require lots of muscle.
"Drive for show, putt for dough.

Exactly

 

[billnchristy]

Putting for sure, and I will elaborate...

Let's take a round of PP360(A game where you throw 10 shots at 5 distances from 2 locations) and break it down...A PP360 round has 100 putts, hopefully a round will only have 18 but no more than 36 putts. So one practice round can net you 5 rounds of golf's worth putting.

Then we look at our stats after a game...lets say this is your outcome:

10' 100%
15' 95%
20' 70%
25' 66%
30' 44%

Now, if you can drive to 10' from the pin every hole then no worries, don't practice putting anymore because you will birdie every hole and go on to win world championships one day.

You can see that your chance diminishes greatly the farther you get away.

I would also reccommend approach practice too...lets say you only get 100' from the pin on your drive...you need to be able to get it within 10-20' on your next throw to continue with high percentage shots.

 

[Guurn]

I'd say the midrange game. Once you get pretty good at your Buzz or Roc you will have to develop your putting. On many holes you don't need a driver anyhow and you should be starting to get closer to a par game. Plus your throwing technique will develop and that will really help you start working the driver.

 

[borndasaur]

Putting wins tournaments.

 

[solomon.trenton]

Putting.
Most benefit, doesn't require lots of muscle.
"Drive for show, putt for dough.

Start around the basket and work your way out.

Chalk another one up for putting and approaching!

A good putter will beat a good driver any day, and it is something you can do in your backyard. Pick a tree if you don't have a basket, and pretend that is the basket. Learn your comfort level at putting, and be confident that your upshot will land there everytime. On your drives, try not to throw the disc through the nearest tree. Let the disc do the work. What you lose in distance, at first, you'll make up for in accuracy.

That being said, check out instructional videos on youtube. Dan Beato, and Mark Ellis have some great ones.

Also, like Tamahawk said earlier, DO NOT hesitate to ask questions here. Everyone is really cool and very helpful.

Exactly

Putting for sure, and I will elaborate...

Let's take a round of PP360(A game where you throw 10 shots at 5 distances from 2 locations) and break it down...A PP360 round has 100 putts, hopefully a round will only have 18 but no more than 36 putts. So one practice round can net you 5 rounds of golf's worth putting.

Then we look at our stats after a game...lets say this is your outcome:

10' 100%
15' 95%
20' 70%
25' 66%
30' 44%

Now, if you can drive to 10' from the pin every hole then no worries, don't practice putting anymore because you will birdie every hole and go on to win world championships one day.

You can see that your chance diminishes greatly the farther you get away.

I would also reccommend approach practice too...lets say you only get 100' from the pin on your drive...you need to be able to get it within 10-20' on your next throw to continue with high percentage shots.

seventhed. if that is a word.

 

[Dthunderchicken]

Putting for sure. But don't just stand in one spot and throw. You have to break and establish your line with the target. If you can, get several copies of your chosen putter. (Inova Aviar and Gateway Wizard are probably the most popular.) Find a target that you can work around. (I made a target from old pipe and a pool noodle when I first started.) Throw at it from several different positions. If you can, throw up hill and down to the target. I find up hill putts to be the most difficult.

As was already said, work out from the basket. It'll build confidence and allow you to stretch your ability.

 

[zenbot]

seventhed. if that is a word.

It is now. It's published on the internet. Anything you read on the internet is true.

 

[kerplunk]

Putting and approaching. I think a good approach game is often overlooked, and every time you don't put a drive within 50ft of the basket you have an approach. So if you have a good approach, you can almost look at a hole as 2 or 3 approach shots and a putt instead of one big drive that may leave you parked or may leave you further in the rough than toward the basket (chode!).

And for your putts, learn to putt straight at the basket and keep your disc fairly level. Too often I see people tossing these hyzer putts high to the right of the basket and trying to get them to fall in- this is way lower percentage than actually going at the basket. This is where it is also important to use a putter- it should not end up too far from the basket, even if you miss.

 

[Ryan P.]

A good quick read

Hey, I'd agree with accuracy, but for a good, quick read on the reasoning behind this, I'd suggest reading this thread.

http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3742&highlight=accuracy

 

[The Reverend]

Work on your mid range shots first, then putting, then spend a little time field driving.

Long drives will get you birdie ops, but mid-range accuracy will save par.

 

[hatfield57]

I agree that putting wins rounds and a bad drive can kill you, but you can save alot of holes with great mid-range shots.

 

[MOTHERBRAIN]

Thanks to all for the replies and advice. It seems like the consensus is to work on putting first, so I guess I'd better get started! I'm definitely one of those who tends to throw big hyzer putts, so working on getting the disc to fly flat and straight can be priority number one.

 

[TalbotTrojan]

Work on putting definately, but don't just putt. After you get your putting in go out and play a round and work on all the other things as you play. Also the variety will keep you coming back for practice again and again so the best advice is not to focus on one thing in practice 100% of the time but to put in variety. All of that said, putting should still be at least 50% of you entire practice time if not as high as 75%.

 

[treethacker]

Remember - Disc golf is an addiction with no known cure!
One other thing to remember is that it may take sometime to get your game somewhat where you want it to be. Be patient,give your body and mind time to learn what you are trying to teach it to do.
But most of all - Have fun!!