No, this isn’t a blog post about Phish, although I can’t wait to see them on tour this summer! I think there are two things that separates great players and just average players. I think these two things really impact your scores and practicing both will lead to improvement. I’ve noticed the players that are hittin birdies more consistently practice the two things I’m going to mention in this post.

One Throw to Rule Them All

When golfers change clubs they aren’t changing their swing, they’re changing how far the ball will travel. Obviously, putting and approach is different in both golf and disc golf, but drives and fairway shots are what get you easy birdies. Knowing your discs flight path when thrown straight and flat will yield better results than adjusting your throw for every single driver or midrange, even your putters when you’re chicken em 200 feet.

Practice keeping every single on of your discs straight and flat and take mental notes of each flight path. You will increase your situational awareness when you understand what each disc can do for you. Once you’ve gained that understanding, not by just reading the numbers but through seeing the flight path, you can start tweaking it when you need it. Until you know how that disc flies when thrown straight and flat, any adjustments to your form are anecdotal.

This is especially important on drives. Of course, you’re going to adjust power, height, and angles when you’re throwing thru/around obstacles, but those situations will become easier to navigate the more you know how your disc flies when you keep it flat.

Let the disc do the work!

Stop trying to force your discs to fly a certain way when there’s probably a disc out there with a flight path that will do what you need. This is the first thing, I believe, that separates good players from the average ones.

Putt Like You Mean It

The second thing that will change your game from average to good, maybe even great, is putting with intention. Duh, everybody putts with the intention of getting their disc in the basket. I mean really go for those chains, don’t loft your putts hoping it floats towards the chains.

Attack the chains with authority. Lofting your putts leaves too much room for error. Why leave your putts up to chance? The consequences for firing one at the chains aren’t much worse than floating one towards the basket. It might chain out, it might hit the basket, or you could miss it completely. Aim small, miss small. If you miss you miss, but its better than selling yourself short and only trying to get your disc close to the basket, because when you hit, it’s probably a birdie.

When you throw at the chains with power and purpose you start to gain confidence in your putts. Because you threw it like you had every intention of that disc hitting chains and falling into the basket instead of tossing a disc, hoping that it lands in the basket. It should go without being said, but don’t fire your putter like a bullet out of your hand at the chains if you are significantly outside of C2. If you are at C2 or closer, then send that puppy home.

You will also get a better sense of when your putter turns or fades at longer distances with more power behind your putts. Just like the first separator, throwing your putter flat and straight yields the best outcome. Whether you make the shot or not, you learned how that disc reacted with that power behind it. Take a second shot at the chains if you do miss it. Find what you need to adjust, and try it again. This is why it’s nice to have two of the same putter in your bag. Make that second attempt to reassure yourself you can hit chains from that distance and next time you’re in that position you will have the confidence to sink the putt.

Oh yea… PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE these two things and watch your game improve exponentially.