It took me quite some time of consistent practice to improve, but this guide should help you achieve results much quicker. Eventually, I did see steady improvement within my game, but not before running into some practice mistakes that were hurting my improvement.
So, below I will be going over common reasons why your putting hasn’t improved, as well as what mistakes to avoid to get the most out of your practice!
Disc Golf Putting Tips
One common saying you might have heard is this:
Putting – Drive for show putt for dough.
Since it’s the easiest way to get better scores in disc golf, here’s my list of the best tips to increase your putting skills!
1. Putt Without Consequence
The first thing most people do when wanting to improve their putting game is to grab a stack of putters, head to the course, and just start putting. That makes sense, you need to put in the time putting if you want to see results. However, I found that following this pattern hurt my putting game instead of helped it.
The quickest way to improve and to see results is to never throw putts mindlessly at the basket! Every putt must be part of a routine and have some purpose behind the throw. This means that you need to come up with some sort of putting routine, no matter how simple.
If you develop a routine and follow through with it every single time you putt, you will improve your consistency.
Having a routine also has the side effect of training yourself to deal with the increased pressure that you may have on the course or in a tournament.
Repeatedly following your routine puts pressure on you that you would have on the course or in a tournament, and gets you into the correct mindset to sink that putt. What worked best for me is to make sure you step away from wherever you are putting before each putt. I follow the routine of throwing my putt, stepping back two steps, and then approaching my mini so that each shot is a new start to my putting routine.
Creating a routine and adding importance to every putt matter will make your practice so much more effective. If you still struggle with this I recommend creating a system to track your progress. There are some handy apps that help keep score of your putts and progress!
2. Use the Same Technique
It’s easy to fall into the trap of changing your technique when you first learn how to putt in disc golf. The best way to improve on a routine or technique is to have one in the first place to improve!
Once you have a putting routine down it will be much easier for you to tell if your technique is a problem, or if there are other issues. This is another common mistake players do which is changing something about your throw if you miss a throw here or there.
Just because you miss a putt doesn’t mean you need to completely throw away your technique. So don’t panic, you might not need to change your grip, try a new stance, or re-work the technique.
If you change your motion after every miss, you are introducing too many inconsistencies to be able to track down. Instead what you should do is continue to putt with the same motion but note where you are missing.
- Is your shot missing to the right most of the time?
- Are you coming up short?
- Is the disc wobbling on release?
After throwing a few more putts you’ll easily be able to tell what part of the throw needs to be adjusted. By going through and adjusting just a small piece of your technique to improve it’s easier to not fall back into bad form. If you change too many things at once there’s no way you’ll remember every change once you’re on the course, so focus on minor adjustments over time!
3. Practice Short Putts
I’m sure everybody here has had that exciting moment happen where you sink a long putt that you thought had no chance. What an amazing moment, so why wouldn’t you want that to happen all the time?
Confidence in putting is key.
If you spend 30 minutes practicing long putts and only make a couple, how confident will you be in your putting abilities?
Don’t spend time seeing yourself miss over and over, find a comfortable distance and start from there. Once you see yourself making putt after putt, you’ll have no trouble moving back foot by foot.
Another issue with practicing long, outside the circle putts is that you would have to put in a lot of time to improve the smallest amount. You could spend weeks working on those long-shot type putts and not see any noticeable difference.
The last reason I don’t practice these much is that you shouldn’t have to attempt them too often on the course. Most of the time you’ll find that you are close to the basket, so why spend hours practicing something that rarely happens?
4. Find a Putting Style That’s Comfortable For You
When I started to work on my putting I spent hours watching videos of professionals putting, guides for putting, and how-tos. The result of it was that I became overwhelmed with information.
- What stance works best?
- Should I use a spin putt or push putt?
- Does it matter if I use a beaded putter or not?
There are so many ways to putt, but a huge mistake you can make is trying to match what others are doing. The most important part of putting is that you are comfortable, and that won’t happen if you copy others.
It’s also tough because there are a few common putting styles that most disc golfers use.
- Spin Putt – When you bring the disc back towards your body and then spin it straight out towards the basket.
- Push Putt – This is when you bring the disc downwards and then swing your arm up and push the disc towards the top of the basket.
- Straddle Putt – A straddle putt is when you have a wider stance facing the basket, and bring the disc in between your legs before releasing.
No matter what, find a stance, grip, and routine that works for you. I do still think it’s a good idea to watch some clips of pros putting because you’ll notice a lot of helpful similarities between them.
5. Fully Commit to The Putt
Do you ever wonder why you might be able to sink 20 putts in a row easily during practice and then miss an easy one during the round? This mistake might not be as apparent as the others above, but this usually happens when you have a problem committing to the putt.
When practicing in the backyard, there is almost no pressure to perform.
This makes it a lot easier for you to maintain smooth consistent form.
The best way to not make this mistake when practicing is to get in the same mindset every time. Practice as if each putt is the round winning chance!
If you ever step up and feel like you won’t make the putt, take a step back and change your mindset!
6. Practice Your Putting With Fun Games
The best way that I’ve found for improving your disc golf putting is by having focused practice, which can be hard to do without structure.
If you have a practice basket at your home it will be easier to play these fun putting games.
Another way that I like to practice is by using the Perfect Putt 360 disc golf app. It is a paid app but I like how it keeps track of your score and lets you compete against your high score each time you practice putting.
Try out a few of these putting games and see if they help you get into a routine and start improving on your inside the circle putts.
7. Focus On Your Release Point
Without a clean and consistent release point, your disc will most likely fly all over the place. If you don’t release the disc at the same point every time, it will be difficult to adjust your putt depending on the putting distance.
Once you lock down your release point you just need to make sure you get a clean release of the disc.
This will eliminate any wobble that you might experience while putting and will make it easier for you to notice what you did wrong if you miss the putt.
Hopefully you enjoyed these disc golf putting tips and will find yourself sinking long putts in no time!