So in the first lesson I gave advice on “Getting to know” your discs and asked players to reduce the number of discs in your bag to closer to 15 discs than 24. While I know most probably didn’t take the advice or at least haven’t yet,,, hopefully some of you got out to the field to throw your discs and get to know them. By throwing shots in a field as opposed to on the course you get a chance to really try things you have never tried before and get a the back-to-back reps needed to hone in on ALL the different shots needed to have a well rounded game. Confidence in your discs and the shots required during a tournament is something that will certainly improve your game. If you’ve taken the advice and are working towards reducing the number of discs to a more manageable amount , your on your way to lower scores and having more fun.

Today I want to give a offer a quick routine for putting practice.

Even though putting is a lot less physical than driving I recommend a good stretching routine before every workout or round and we will get to a stretching routine soon, for now use what you know and just try and get all of your muscles loose.

For the serious disc golfer getting ready for a tournament, I suggest ONLY training with a basket that catches very well. Throwing too many putts into a poor catching target could actually hurt your game and your confidence in making putts.

Ok here we go putting routine 1.0 !

Take all of your putters and start by throwing 20 shots ( not your putting stroke, but a backhanded toss) into the basket from 5-10 feet. I know this may seem silly but the reason is simple, I want you to see how well the chains catch the discs and seeing 20 or so throws hit chains and stick will help you develop confidence it a good firm chain hit.

Ok start from about 12 feet and do a little rapid fire without going through your routine, but with a close resemblance to your stroke. This is an important part of the practice routines that helps with technique and should be incorporated into your practice sessions religiously.
Whether that is spin putting from your between your legs or from your chest or a pendulum swing push putt, do this in a more athletic nature at first as opposed to the slowed down version of your actual putting routine, get a total of 40 -50 throws in ranging from 12-24′ in sets of 5 from 12′,15′,18′ and 24′ to get the muscle memory going.

ok go back to about 12′ from the basket and go through your putting routine with each disc ( 20 shots) hopefully you have at least 10 putters which will make this a lot easier and more time efficient.

Step back to 15, 18 and 24 with 20 putts from each going through each shot with your full routine.

ok so now you’ve thrown about 120-150 putts and your feeling pretty good about your putting inside 24 feet and you want to start hitting some monster putts.
Too often I see players practicing mostly 30-50 footers and hitting a low percentage right before the round. I’d prefer you hit 90% form inside 24 right before you start taking that kind of confidence into the round.

At this point I know you cant help it and you want to hit some big putts, so spend 10-20 minutes in the 24-50 range and get it out of your system. I suggest waiting but my expereince tells me most are not going to just practice 12-24′ putts WITHOUT putting the 24-50.
BUT,,,,
Before you start throwing the longer putts i want you to try something, step back up to 15 feet and throw ( not your putting stroke but a back hand throw) about 20 shots into the chains, now step back to 24 and throw 20 again,, what did you notice, was the backhand throwing motion just as effective as your putting stroke?

If your not successful with this backhand toss from 15-24 feet i suggest working on this a bit and then we will move to 24′ – 50′ and then on to approaching and laying up from 50′-150′. You should limit the time spent on the 30-50 foot putts until you really have the under 24′ putts success rate at 80-90%.

I want to help new players with developing a practice routine — so here’s lesson number one.

There are many shots in disc golf and they all require practice in order to improve on them.

Today I want to help you “get to know the discs in your bag”!

Lots of newer players to the game will typically have about 25 discs in their bag.
Try as I may, I have had a hard time convincing players to reduce the number of discs in their line up. In my opinion it is extremely difficult to really know the flight characteristics of 25 different discs and have the confidence throw every one of them with accuracy.

With that said … i suggest you start by reducing the number of discs you use for tournament play to 12-15. Chances are no one will do this. After all, you invested hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars in your discs and you feel compelled to use all of them.

So … take your big bag of discs out to a soccer or football field (that hopefully has short grass so you don’t spend your time looking for the discs) and start with a little stretching and loosening up.
If you have a partner, passing a catch disc or softer putter, back and forth, from about 50-100 feet is perfect.

Ok … your loosened up and ready to get to really know your big-bag-o-discs.
I suggest starting by throwing putters at 50% power — which should equal about 150-foot shots. Work your way to mid-ranges and then drivers for the first set of throws.

Start by trying to throw mostly straight or flat shots. Repeat the same style of throws for all of the discs in your bag, down and back or 2 reps.

On the next set of throws start imagining shots that you would use each disc for, whether that’s a turnover, hyzer, sidearm tomahawk etc.
Repeat this for at least 4 reps.
Ok, so now you have 150 or so throws in and your getting some good feedback.

Now try and see what other shots you can do with your discs that you typically do not do.
Like try hyzering your turnover discs and turnover your hyzer discs. Maybe work on throwing different heights or trajectories with your putters and mid-ranges … see what they are capable of in terms of glide and carry. Practice outside of the box.

Wind down this practice session by picking out your top 10 favorite discs — or the ones you have the most confidence. Give them 4 more reps (40 more throws), simulating the shots you would use those particular discs for during a round.

It is important that this practice session take place on a field and not on the course.

Give this routine a week or two and you will notice that by having a smaller lineup, you will reduce your errors, increase your confidence and give yourself more chances to score. In the next lesson I’ll ask if you reduced the number of discs in your starting lineup. With a manageable lineup, we can get to some more in depth training routines.

The preferred lineup for most top pros will look like this:

There is not one shot in the game that cannot be completed with these discs. To know all fifteen discs requires a lot of off-the-course training and practice.

Having much more than fifteen discs in your starting lineup will most likely compromise your ability to have the utmost confidence with each disc.

Disc Golf is now more popular than even with no signs of it slowing down.
The PDGA has done such a great job of providing an outlet for the competitive adult disc golfer. The collegiate championships will certainly grow the sport at the college level, but not much has been done nationally to create more play among kids under 16.

A few years back myself and other members of our club here in ST Louis, wanted to run more events geared for kids, but the board at the time wasn’t quite sure if bringing kids out to our events was a good idea. Disc golf has been long known for its counter culture side and ” extra curricular activities” that have become the norm. We actually had a vote about trying to attract kids under 16 to play at our events. At the time, the consensus was that our members didn’t want to give up their behavior in favor of more kids playing at our events. There was an effort made to run JR only events, but unfortunately after a few low turnouts the direction was abandoned.

Over the last 10 years there has been a 30% drop in JR play in Ball golf, but more recently the number of kids playing golf has risen and is now on a huge increase as high school and jr golf is more popular than ever,, especially amongst girls.
The PGA has several programs including First TEE and the Drive, Chip and putt competition ( based on the NFL’s punt, pass and kick) and these programs are churning out the young golfers of the future.

Yes we ( disc golf) does have the E.D.G.E. program, but after a closer look this program appears to be more of a marketing program for one particular company. Ive tried on several occasions to donate 500 discs to the program, but my efforts were not welcome.

I feel its time for the pdga or maybe a new group of promoters to spend the time energy and money that is necessary to establish JR disc golf as part of the sport.

I’m writing this blog to start the discussion as whether or not the current organized entities in the sport are ready to do whats necessary to allow kids to play WITH us or is a separate JR disc golf the only way this will work?

Please repost this article on your local club message board or share with your friends on Facebook and twitter and go to our website and vote on what you think is the best direction to head today.

www.gatewaydiscsports.com

Discussing Health: A Fun Way to Stay Fit

Disc golf is going from strength to strength, not only here in the United States, but across the world. Disc golf courses have been opened in countries like France, Belgium, Czech Republic, Iceland, Peru, Mexico, and many more across the planet. While the U.S. still leads the pack when it comes to the amount of courses it has, there is no denying its growing international popularity. This year’s Disc Golf European Open is expected to attract record numbers of players at spectators from both North America and Europe. It is a fun sport that provides a surprisingly high level workout when played, something that is often overlooked by people who take part in the sport on a purely recreational basis. For those of you that are unaware of the health benefits that disc golf can offer, read on to find out more.

Navigating the Course

In a similar way to golf, disc golf is a sport that is played over a large area of terrain. Often the terrain of courses can be hilly, or perhaps they are located in wooded areas. Walking around from hole to hole takes time, and also burns lots of calories. Walking up and down hills, negotiating obstacles in the woods, and looking around to find your disc is great exercise. Every disc golf course is different, with some being larger than others, so the more challenging the course the longer you expect to walk. At a large course you could end up walking somewhere in the region of 3 to 4 miles throughout the entire 18 holes. Just walking around the course provides a great workout in itself, but when combined with the effort required to throw the disc the workout gets even better.

Throwing the Disc

While you may think that not that much exertion goes into throwing a lightweight disc into the air, think again. Ok, so it is not like you are throwing a shot-put, but provides a good workout just by itself. To put it into a little bit of context, it has been measured that someone who weighs 200 pounds will burn somewhere in the region of 550 calories just by throwing a disc around while playing disc golf for 2 hours.

When you put together the walking around and the throwing the disc involved in playing a round of disc golf, it is very likely that you will burn over 900 calories in the process. When the recommended number of calories in 2500 for men and 2000 for women, a simple subtraction reveals that you could burn off a nice chunk of your calorie intake just by playing disc golf for a couple of hours.

A Cheap Way to Keep Fit

Along with all the health benefits that playing disc golf provides, there is also the added bonus of it being a very inexpensive sport. The only specialised piece of equipment you really need to play it is a golf disc, and these can be bought for as little as $10. When visiting a course you may have to pay somewhere between $5 and $10 for 18 holes, and more often than not a free rental disc will be provided. You don’t need any other special clothing, equipment, or training to start playing, just simply find your nearest course and get started.

Improving and Expanding Facilities

As the popularity of disc golf grows, so does the need for more courses around the country. As you can see the health benefits it provides are impressive, and the inexpensive and accessible nature of the sport means it really is suitable for everyone. There is no denying the increasing obesity problem that America is dealing with, and the factors are not just down to too much salt and fat in our diets. Regular exercise is just as important and a balanced healthy diet, and disc golf provides an excellent way for people of any age to stay fit and spend time outdoors. Disc golf courses have the potential to provide years of sustainable recreation with just a little maintenance needed, at a very low cost. What’s more, disc golf courses have very little impact on the nature that surrounds them. Improving, expanding, and installing new disc golf courses in parks and recreational areas across America can only be a good thing.