Flight numbers. Who, exactly, came up with these things? I feel like at the disc factories they have their own version of the sorting hat from Harry Potter. As they make each new disc, they hold it under the hat and the hat says… Speed 14, house Innova!!! Then all the other discs cheer and hijinx ensues.

OK, maybe I’m being a little harsh. I actually do have a pretty good grip on what they are “supposed” to mean. The problem is that the numbers are based on one particular speed and type of throw. If you don’t happen to throw that exact way, the disc won’t fly “by the numbers” for you. And you have exactly two chance of that happening… Slim and none.

This makes buying discs based on the flight numbers an almost useless practice. Sometimes you’ll buy a disc and it does what the numbers say it should. Many other times, it’s like the numbers on the disc are some kind of not so funny inside joke that the folks at the factory are laughing hysterically at.

So why is it that some discs you buy fly exactly like the numbers say they will and yet so many others don’t? The answer lies in large part with your arm speed. The first step in finding discs that work for you lies in figuring out the nexus between arm speed and disc speed. To do that, let’s begin by defining the speed rating of a disc.

What is Disc Speed

We’ll start by dispelling a myth. A speed 14 disc does NOT travel through the air faster than a speed 10 disc. You can only throw a disc however fast you can throw a disc. You don’t magically gain more arm speed because you picked up a Nuke instead of a TeeBird. Both will leave your hand at exactly the same speed if given identical throws.

So if “speed” doesn’t have anything to do with how fast a disc flies, what the heck does it have to do with?

Speed means two things, one much more important than the other. The less important is a measurement of drag. In other words, the higher the speed number, the more aerodynamic a disc is. That aerodynamic shape means it will maintain it’s speed longer due to less drag on the disc.

A blunt edged mid range with a bead like a Roc will slow down much faster than razor sharp Missilen. If a disc maintains its speed for a longer period of time, it “should” have a longer distance potential. The key word there is “should”. Whether it goes farther or not completely depends on the other much more important thing the speed rating means.

There is one critical thing you should know about a disc’s speed rating. It’s a measure of how fast you need to throw the disc to make the other flight numbers come true. In other words, the glide, turn, and fade ratings on a disc are only accurate when the disc is thrown at or above its speed rating.

Soooo…. If you throw a speed 14 disc at speed 14, it will fly like it’s supposed to. If you only have a speed 11 arm, it will not. If you pick up a speed 11 disc and throw it with your speed 11 arm, that disc should then fly like it’s supposed to.

This is what answers our earlier question… Why do some discs fly like they’re supposed to and most others don’t? It’s because a lot of the discs out there don’t match your arm speed. If you have the previous mentioned speed 11 arm, you should be able to make all discs speed 11 and down fly as they’re designed to. You may have to power down on the lower speed discs, but you should be able to make them work. Put a speed 12 or higher in your hands and that’s where they will stop doing what they are “supposed” to do.

OK, so it took almost 700 words to get here, but we are finally at the point of this article. The magic question that, if answered, will unlock the world of disc numbers for you….

Arm Speed

Unfortunately you can’t go to your doctor and have an arm speed test done. There is no radar gun used to measure arm speed on a scale of 5 to 15. You can’t ask one of your buddies, “Hey, Frank, check out my disc throwin’ arm. It’s like a speed 13, right?”

Fortunately there is a simple solution.

We need to reverse engineer our arm speed based on what the discs we throw do when we throw them.

Here’s how you do it in 6 simple steps.

1. Grab a stack of drivers in assorted speeds
2. Go to a practice field
3. Throw drivers
4. Whichever drivers fly like their numbers are at or below your arm speed
5. Drivers that don’t are above your arm speed
6. The highest speed rated disc that flies like it’s supposed to tells you what your current arm speed is

Hopefully you are a picking up what we are putting down… When the disc stops doing what the numbers say it should, you might be punching above your weight. There are, however, some caveats to this rather simplistic approach…

 Disc Speed Variables

First, you have to be able to throw discs cleanly for this to work. If you can’t go out to a field and drive stable putters over 200-250 feet without flutter, you first need to work on your form.

The reason for this is that poor form will always make a disc fly differently than its numbers. Issues with nose angle, release angle, wrist roll, and countless other problems can wreak havoc on a disc’s flight. If you can’t throw with proper form, this arm speed test will be lost on you.

Second, your arm speed will fluctuate over time. It can even vary day to day. One day you could be poking along with a speed 8 arm and the next day everything clicks and you are throwing at speed 12. Knowing what discs are working for you on a given day is a huge competitive advantage.

Third, I want to make sure no one reads this article and comes away thinking they shouldn’t ever throw discs above their arm speed. That is not the case at all.

Throw What Works

My arm speed sits between 11-12 typically. Speed 11 and 12 discs fly a lot like their flight numbers say they should for me. Faster discs do not. They fly considerably more overstable for me than their numbers say they should.

But sometimes I need an overstable disc! My distance driver of choice into the wind is the WestSide World. For many faster arm speed players, the World is not a good choice into a headwind. For me, it is.

In the end, I firmly believe that disc golf disc flight numbers should only be used as the loosest of guidelines. Knowing what discs match your arm speed is one of the rare ocassions where the numbers might be helpful.

The real lesson to be learned from flight numbers is that you should just get out and throw as many different discs as you can. What works for you is what you throw, what doesn’t is what you pass on. After that, it doesn’t really matter what the numbers say anyway.

[tweetthis]Throw the disc that works for you.[/tweetthis]

You know what works regardless of your arm speed? Subscribing to this blog! From noodle arm to He Man Beastmaster and all arm speeds in between, you can all enjoy the regular stuff we post here at Mind Body Disc!

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Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The post Does Your Arm Speed Match Your Disc Speed? appeared first on Mind Body Disc - Disc Golf Blog.

Did our previous post on distance leave you itching for more? The wait is over. Here is part 2 of our examination of the importance of disc golf distance.

How Much Distance is Enough?

This is really the $20,000 question, isn’t it?  How much controlled golf distance is enough?  How much do you really need?  Sure, another 10 feet would always be nice, but at some point you are chasing something that doesn’t actually help your score.

The first thing you need to do is take an honest look at your game and your score card.  Where are your extra throws coming from?  If you can only throw 200′ with accuracy, but you 3 putt every basket, you really need to learn to be OK with 200′ for now.  I know it’s boring, trust me I know.  But putting practice needs to come first in this situation.

At some point, distance will become a priority.  200′ isn’t far enough to be helpful if you want to play competitive golf.  That begs the question, how far is?  Part of that answer has to do with the courses you play.  Part of it has to do with a point of diminishing returns.  Part of it has to do with disc golf course design in general.

Without getting into too much complexity, I want to throw a number out there…

If you can do that, it’s time to stop killing yourself.  It’s time to stop buying so many new discs.  It’s time to work on other parts of your game.

Just imagine if we all spent as much time on other aspects of disc golf as we do on distance!  How much better would the rest of our game be?  What if “field work” became an hour or two spent on 200′ and in approaches?  What would that do for our scores?

Why 350′?  Because if you add a solid putting circle to that, that means that you have an strong opportunity to deuce any hole 380′ and shorter.  Think about your local courses.  If you deuced all the holes 380′ and shorter, how well would you score?  My guess is that you’d be lights out.

If you were solid at 350′, would there be the occasional hole that an extra 30′ would help you with?  Of course there would.  But there wouldn’t be enough of those holes to warrant allotting your disc golf practice time and effort to distance over other skills with more scoring potential.  And, on these longer holes, if you had an accurate throw out to 350′, you’d be putting for three on holes as long as 700′.  My home course has a hole that’s almost 900′.  I can tell you for sure that no one is winning any match because they reached that hole in 2.  Getting there in 3 is just fine 99% of the time.

[tweetthis]How much distance do you really need in #discgolf ?[/tweetthis]

Am I saying that 350′ is some kind of golden number?  No. Please don’t take it that way.  Your number could be 340′ or 360′ or 375′.  What I’m saying is that it doesn’t need to be 400′, 450′, or 500′.  I honestly think that the mid 300’s is the optimum range for most of today’s courses.  That, to me, is the sweet spot.

There is another thing about the 350′ mark.  You can’t get there with bad form.  Simply throwing harder, using more arm, or grunting louder typically caps out at about 300′.  I’m not sure why, but the 300′ plateau seems to be the one that requires some type of form improvement to break.  To go much past 300′ means there are certain fundamentals that need to be used.

Distance Comes When You are NOT Working on Distance.

Wait, what?

I’ve written several posts about working on inputs and not outputs.  Distance is an output.  You simply can’t go out to a field and will yourself to throw farther.  It doesn’t work that way.  What you can do is work on the things that result in distance.

A few years back, I destroyed my back.  I couldn’t play for almost two years.  When I was finally able to start playing again, I had to throw from a stand still for about a year.  I couldn’t throw hard and I couldn’t try to throw far.  If I did, I was headed back to excruciating pain that I wanted no part of.  Most of the time, I was throwing putters.

That one year of throwing putters from a standstill was the single best thing that ever happened to my overall distance.  Turns out that the form needed to keep a putter from coming out of your hand fluttering like a housefly on meth is the same form you need to throw a driver far.  The same skills needed to keep the nose of a mid range down so it finishes straight are the same skills needed to keep the nose of a driver down so it can fly farther.

In other words, time spent on other disc golf skills will naturally translate to distance anyway.  So why not work on those instead?  Can you throw a putter off the tee?  Do you have a solid stand still shot?  Can you throw a stable mid and have it finish straight?  Can you throw a disc straight at all?  This list could go on for a while.

Work on those things first.  Work on those thing most.  First, they’ll noticeably improve your scores.  Second, they’ll make the game a lot more fun.  Third, they’ll help you beat your buddies, even the ones that throw further than you.  Lastly, they’ll help you throw farther without having to think or worry about it.

Does Distance Matter at All?

Yes.

That’s the simple and honest answer.  How far you throw is an important part of your overall game.  It’s also probably the most fun part of the game.  It’s why we unload our entire bags on long or down hill holes.  It’s just not the most important part of the game.

Not even close.

My entire goal in writing this 2 part post (part one here) was to try to get you to reframe the importance of distance in your game.  To put it in its place.  To hopefully get you out on the course working with your mids and putters.  To maybe alleviate some of the frustration many of you feel because you can’t throw it as far as you’d like to.

Look, we all want to be able to bomb a driver out over the horizon.  Some of you can already do that.  Some of you are on your way to being able to do that.  The rest of us need to learn to be happy with what we have and just go out and enjoy the game.

There are a million ways to win at this awesome sport.  Distance is but one of them.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The post Did Someone Say More Distance? (Part 2) appeared first on Mind Body Disc - Disc Golf Blog.

Tyrone Biggums wants crack.

My 6 year old niece wants candy.

Chicago wants a football team that doesn’t suck.

None of those people want those things more than disc golfers want more distance.  If you took the quest for more disc golf distance off of social media and out of the disc golf forums, the internet might implode due to the gaping vacuum you just left.

I get it.  I really do.  I would love to be able to throw 500 plus feet.  But you know what? That’s probably just not going to happen.  At 44, and playing more than 11 years (I wish I’d found this sport earlier in my life), I’m pretty comfortable with the controlled distance that I’ve achieved.  On flat ground, thrown on golf lines, I’m good with how far I can throw.  And it’s usually not even over 400′.

You know what else I’m good with?  Not spending countless dollars on new discs thinking they will improve my distance (instead I spend countless dollars on disc for other reasons!).  Not spending hour after frustrating hour in a field trying to eek out a few more feet.  Not obsessing over who throws furthest when I play with friends (OK, you outdrove me, you’re the man!  How many throws am I ahead by?).  And most of all, I’m totally good with not obsessing over something that doesn’t actually improve my score.

When I look back on my scoring improvements, distance has contributed the least of anything I’ve worked on.  By a lot.  At most, it’s helped me gain 1-2 throws per round over the last 10 years.  That pales in comparison to improvements in approach shots, learning to throw a putter, putting practice, learning a stand still throw, and countless other skills I have and still could work on.

Look, I understand.  You drive a cool car, you own a designer purse, you drive a big truck, your boyfriend has the best job, your girlfriend is in the best shape, you live in a big house, and you can throw the disc further than everyone else on the message board.  This is what humans do.  We try to one up each other in the most flashy, obvious, visual ways we can.  It’s a status thing.

The cruel trick that life plays on us is that a great car, a designer purse, a monster truck, a great mate, and a big a big house don’t actually make us better people.  That same truth applies to disc golf too.  A huge drive without other disc golf skills doesn’t make the score on the score card any lower.  In fact, it doesn’t necessarily make you a better disc golfer at all.

So what’s the deal, as Jerry Seinfeld would say, with disc golf distance?  Why, in a game we play for a score (there’s no spot on any score card for how far you drove), is everyone so consumed with how far they can throw?  That’s a big question, and there are several parts to the answer…

What is Disc Golf Distance?

First, let’s take a look at what disc golfers are talking about when they use the word distance.  It sounds straight forward, but with a little digging, it turns out it’s not.  We’ll start with how it’s being measured:

What doesn’t count:

• If you can throw 600 feet, but it’s downhill with a tailwind, that doesn’t count.
• If you can throw 450 feet and you measured it by pacing it off, that doesn’t count.
• If you’re going by the tee sign, tee signs are wrong most of the time.  That doesn’t count.
• If you are using a smart phone app, that app is probably about as accurate as the original Apple maps app.  Sorry, I’ve checked those measurements with a laser and they are wrong about half of the time.  Not wrong by a little, wrong by a lot.  That doesn’t count. (*Udisc does seem to be accurate IF you let it calibrate correctly… Something a lot of people don’t do)
• If this one time, at band camp, you grip locked a drive and it accidentally went 410 feet, but you haven’t reached a 400 foot basket since, that doesn’t count.
• If your buddy says, “yeah, you can throw about 400 feet”, that doesn’t count.

What does count:

• Legitimate football and soccer fields.  They are on flat ground and have been measured with actual instruments made for determining distance.
• Laser measured distances on flat ground.
• Distance measured with a legit roller wheel on flat ground.

Really anything done on flat ground with a real, physical, calibrated measuring device will work.  If you throw from outside of one end zone on a football field, and your throw goes through the opposite end zone and lands on the back line, you just threw 360 feet.  That’s a real distance.  That’s also not something most disc golfers can do.  Don’t believe me?  If you haven’t tried it before, the next time you are out playing with your friends, stop by the local football field.

Pure Distance vs. Golf Distance

Here’s another thing a lot of people don’t take into account.  If you can figure out how to throw a disc on a very high anny line with the nose down, exposing the belly of the disc to a tail wind, you just figured out how to make a disc go really far.  The problem is that you most likely have no idea where it’s going to come down.  Watch Simon Lizotte break the distance record.  It’s an incredibly impressive feat, but nowhere is there a target he’s trying to hit.  He’s not using that throw on a course during a round.

If you can throw a huge distance line, good on ya!  It’s fun to do and it’s fun to watch.  It’s also almost useless in a round.  There are very few, if any, occasions to use that skill out on the course.  On any good course, you’ll actually need some control.

That’s where golf distance comes in.  That’s the distance you can throw and have some type of idea where the heck the disc is actually going to land.  Throwing 400′ on a pure distance line that’s 80′-100′ in the air is impressive. Throw the disc 400′ on a golf line that’s 20′-30′ off the ground and lands next to the basket and you are what the kids these days call a “baller”.

This is the distance you want.  This is the distance that matters.  This is the distance that takes throws off of the score card.  And again, if you can throw 350′-380′ on lines like this, that’s something most disc golfers simply cannot do.

[tweetthis]Distance without control is useless.[/tweetthis]

To be continued…

This is a huge topic. When I saw that this post had reached over 2200 words, I decided to break it into two parts. The next post will be out on Thursday. There we will address just how far you should be able to throw to play great disc golf. Until then, let us know in the comments what you think. How far can you throw? How long did it take you to get there? Would throwing further get you lower scores or just make you feel better about your game without lowering your score?

If you don’t want to miss out on anything, including the second half of this post, make sure you are subscribed to the blog. We’ll email you a sweet disc golf newsletter every Sunday along with links to everything we’ve put up here on the site that week.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The post Did Someone Say More Distance? (Part 1) appeared first on Mind Body Disc - Disc Golf Blog.

We’ve spent a lot of time talking about course management here on the blog. We’ve talked about improving your putting by throwing better up shots. We’ve also talked about improving your upshots with better placement of your drives. It’s a vast topic with a lot of nuance and detail. I like writing about it. You like reading about it. We could all get a lot better by actually doing it.

There’s no doubt about it. Better course management leads to lower scores.

[tweetthis]Better course management leads to lower #discgolf scores[/tweetthis]

But before we get too much further into course management, we need to back up a step. There’s something we need to cover first before we can ever expect to manage the course well.

Great course management begins with knowing what the best shot is in any given situation. It’s knowing what to throw and how to throw it so that you put yourself in the best possible position for your next shot.

Knowing what’s needed is good. There’s a certain confidence that comes with standing out on the course and knowing exactly what you should do. As GI Joe used to say, “knowing is half the battle.” (for all you old school cartoon folks who knows where this comes from, you need to know that this exists!!!)

Unfortunately, what GI Joe said doesn’t help us execute. If you know the shot you need to throw, but can’t throw it, it’s almost worse than not knowing in the first place!

There is knowing, and then there is doing. It does you absolutely no good to know what to do if you can’t do it.

Sure, you can try to throw a shot you aren’t practiced at. But we all know how that usually turns out, right? Rarely is that going to end well.

How many times has this happened to you? You’re standing at your disc. You know the shot that is needed. You’ve seen other people throw it before. You even have an understanding of how to throw it. You might have even tried it a couple of times before. The problem is you don’t really have this shot in your arsenal.

When it comes to course management, there’s a catch…

If you don’t have the shot you need, you can’t throw it. It’s as simple as that. And that leaves us with the question of how do you fix it so that you never find yourself with this problem?

Disc Golf Practice.

Here we make a really good case for disc golf practice. But not just any old practice. We need shot specific practice. We need practice that is tailored to the shots we are going to see while we are playing.

Do you have a hole on your course that requires a long turnover shot? That’s what you should be working on out in the field.

Do you have a course full of low ceiling tunnel shots? Start doing your practice inside of a tunnel with a low ceiling.

Is your home course open and full of nothing but spike hyzers? Make sure you have that shot dialed in.

What do I usually see when I watch people doing field work? Usually, it’s someone out on a football or soccer field working on distance. They have their bag of discs and they are hucking them up and down the field, end zone to end zone.

Typically they are just trying to push their distance out a bit further. There is usually no goal other than adding extra length to their throws. If there is some aspect of form being practiced, it is usually related to getting the thrower more D.

What people are not usually practicing is individual shot types or shapes. They are not envisioning real world situations they might face (or have already faced) out on the course.

A big part of course management is being ready to manage the course in the first place. Distance has little to do with that. Shot shape and type are much bigger players.

More important than distance.

What if the best shot for a particular situation is a high anhyzer, out around an obstacle? One that flexes back to flat and sits down without skipping or rolling? Oh, and thrown with a putter? Hopefully, we have practiced that shot and are ready to throw it.

I mean REALLY practiced it.

Last summer, a friend of mine and I decided we needed to work on this exact shot. We grabbed a stack of 5 putters each. We went to a local course and picked out two baskets about 300 feet apart with a big tree between them. We then threw putters back and forth from basket to basket using a high anhyzer line around that tree.

We did that for about 3 hours that day. Then another 3 hours the next day. Later on, I put in another couple of hours by myself on my home course. We must have thrown that single shot hundreds of times. Just that one type of throw with that one type of disc.

I can guarantee you that both of us throw that shot with confidence now.

Too many times we go out and throw a shot a handful of times and call that practice. Then, when we find ourselves in need of it during a round, we get upset that it doesn’t turn out as planned.

If we want to be good at course management, we have to be able to execute the shots we determine that we need. The first step is loading those shots into our arsenal. That means lots of shot specific practice.

What shots do you need?

The second step is compiling a list of the shots we need. More specifically, the ones we need to play the courses we face on a regular basis.

What we should be doing when playing rounds is making mental notes of what shots we find ourselves most in need of. Then we should be taking those notes with us to the practice field.

A big part of why people don’t practice is they don’t really have a clue what they are supposed to be practicing in the first place. When that’s the case, most folks either just head straight to the course to play a round. Or, they fall back to the old stand by of throwing for distance until their arm hurts.

I’m guilty of both of those, how about you?

One of the keys to getting practice in is to have a plan. It’s knowing what you are out there practicing in the first place. If you have trouble figuring out why you are standing out there on the football field with a bag of discs and a sore arm, try starting with a better plan.

Make a list of shots that you could actually use. Throws that come up a few times every round. Then head to the field and see where you really stand with all of them.

What percentage of the time can you throw each of those shots and have it land where you want? I’d suggest that if it’s under 75% it’s time, dedicate some effort to it. Some serious effort. Like in the anhyzer shot example above.

We could go into a checklist of what types of shots all disc golfers “should” have in their bags. Heck, we might even make that into a post of its own someday (*note to self… make post about needed shot types next week). For now, just make a list of the shots that you use on your home or most played courses.

Now, pick 2-3 of those shots and head out to the field. Own those shots. Make it so that the next time you step out on the course and have to throw one of them, you will have all the confidence in the world.

Once you do this, you’ll be surprised at how much easier course management is. You’ll not only step up to your disc and know what you need to do, you will also have the important skill of being able to do it!

Oh, and bonus… You’ll score better and have more fun too!

You know what doesn’t take a lot of practice? Subscribing to this blog! You actually only need to do it once and then we take it from there. Just enter your email below and we’ll make sure you never miss a post. We’ll also send you a weekly newsletter full of things that will improve your mind, your body, and, of course, your disc golf game!!!

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The post The Disc Golf Practice That Lowers Your Score and Makes Course Management Easy appeared first on Mind Body Disc - Disc Golf Blog.

The missing element in disc golf course management.

Over the last few weeks, we’ve posted several articles on course management. We’ve covered leaving yourself a quality putt after your upshot. We’ve covered putting yourself in position to make a quality upshot in the first place. We’ve even covered how the wind effects some of those decisions.

While that’s a good start, there is an important dimension of this course management equation that we haven’t covered yet. It’s quite possibly the most important part too. It’s what allows you to do those things in the first place. It’s playing with your head and not your ego.

[tweetthis]You can’t let your ego make decisions for you on the #discgolf course.[/tweetthis]

You see, your ego is the one that wants to throw your approach shots at the chains instead of nestling the disc under the basket. Your ego is the one that wants to run that long putt even though there’s water 10 feet past the bucket. Your ego is the one that says all 600 foot holes need a driver off the tee.

Guess what?

Don’t get me wrong. There is a time and a place to take chances. There’s a time to be aggressive. It’s just not every time you have a disc in your hand.

Are you trying to win?

Is your goal as a disc golfer to be the one who threw the most memorable shot of the tournament? Leave your brain in the car and let your ego play the whole round.

If your goal is to win (or at least post the lowest possible score you can), then your brain has to come along. It also has to be in charge. At best, your ego gets to ride shotgun.

Let’s look at that 600 foot hole as an example of what I’m talking about. Most people, regardless of how the hole lays out, will step up to the tee with a driver. This might even be the right approach if you are playing a park style course with zero chance of punishment for a bad shot.

What is probably the better choice, though, is to head to the tee with a mid. 2 controlled 300 foot shots that land within feet of where you aimed put you right under the basket for a drop in 3. There is a saying that I repeat to myself many times over the course of a round…

“There in two is there in two.”

Nowhere on the score card does it say how you got your score. No one hands out trophies at the end of a tournament based on the longest average throw of the event. Lowest score wins. Period.

A great example…

If you play on wooded or technical courses this is especially true. Michael Johansen just won the 2015 Hall of Fame Classic. MJ is one of my favorite players to watch. Especially on wooded courses. He absolutely destroys his competition…. With a Comet.

When he’s in the woods, he’s not trying to eek out a few extra feet off the tee. He’s trying to thread gaps, not hit trees, and land in the spot that gives him the best possible approach shot to the basket.

Meanwhile, his opponents are throwing drivers. They find themselves deep in the woods, scrambling with trick shots and utility discs. There they are, far off the fairway, hoping to give themselves even the smallest look at a par putt.

MJ is the man. If you haven’t watched him play a wooded course, take the time right now to watch this video. Pay attention not only to MJ, but to just how many 500+ foot holes are started with mids and putters.

Most of the holes we face in disc golf are pretty straight forward. Often, we are trying to get under the basket in one shot from the tee. As our sport matures, we will face more and more holes where it’s our second shot that is king. Unless you are Johnny Mutant Arm, you aren’t parking a 600 foot hole.

Why a driver?

That begs the question of what do you gain by throwing driver off the tee? Why not two midrange shots? Most of today’s mids can be pushed out reliably and accurately past 300 feet. I know I can throw the Truth and the Claymore on most shots 325 feet and in and be very happy with the result. I learned to play disc golf watching Barry Schultz throw Rocs on shots up to 400 feet.

We got a lot of good feedback on our recent posts about disc golf course management. Lots of people chimed in with comments, emails, and other feedback. They talked about learning to throw placement shots. They described setting themselves up for their next shots successfully by thinking before throwing.

All those people have at least one thing in common. They have started to think their way around the disc golf course. They understand that the flashiest shot is often not the best choice. They get the fact that ego needs to be kept in check during a round.

In the end, what your ego doesn’t understand is that accuracy trumps distance in most cases. Your brain gets this point. Your ego fights it. The key is not letting the ego win.

We’d love to hear how you keep your ego in check. When do you decide to let one rip and when do you decide to play placement shots? Let us know in the comments below.

Do you like these weekly tips? Do they help your game? Why not subscribe to the blog? We’ll make sure you don’t miss a thing by emailing you links to every post once a week. You never know when you’ll learn something that changes your game for the better forever!

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Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The post Are You Smarter Than Your Ego? appeared first on Mind Body Disc - Disc Golf Blog.

Putting. It’s where the game of disc golf is won and lost. It’s the one skill that the pros practice more than any other. They might even practice it more than all of the other skills combined. If you are serious about your game, you practice it too. You might even practice more than one kind. Spin putts, loft putts, straddle putts, and turbo putts are all things I see people working on around the practice basket at my home course. There’s one type of putt, though, that I almost never see anyone practice… Putting from your knees.

As I write this, it’s about 11pm and I spent most of today playing in a tournament in Marengo, IL. The Marengo course is a nice mix of open and wooded holes. Lots of challenge and lots of trees. With those trees comes a lot of low hanging branches. Today, those branches made me have to putt from my knees 4 times.

At 6′ 6″ tall, it’s something I find myself doing pretty regularly. But even though I may have to do it more than most, it’s still something everyone should be able to do. It’s a fundamental skill that will help you save throws on your score card.

Recently, we put up two posts about leaving yourself easier putts. One was about reading the “green” around the basket. The other was about considering the wind direction and what type of putt you would most like to leave yourself. If you’ve gone out and practiced that, you’ve found that while it improves your scores pretty quickly, it’s not foolproof. Despite our best efforts, we can still leave ourselves difficult putts.

When to putt from your knees…

Putting from your knees comes in handy in a few instances. The first is the above mentioned low ceiling putts. The second is when you are stuck in the bushes and have to get down on one knee while stretching your opposite leg way into the shrubbery to rest behind your marker. In both cases, putting from your knees is your only option.

If the only time you putt from your knees is in competition, you are doing yourself a disservice. There’s just no reason not to practice it. You don’t need to practice it hundreds of times, it’s just a variation on your normal putt. You can spin putt from your knees and you can straddle putt from your knees. They key is to get down and actually do it a few times.

[tweetthis]You have to be great at several types of putts to be great at #discgolf[/tweetthis]

You’ll find there are a few minor adjustments to be made. Your weight shift will be different. You’ll use more arm. You’ll line up at the basket a bit differently. It will feel awkward and weird at first. Stick with it and in no time you’ll be putting from your knees like a pro.

Now for the bonuses…

The first one is that this skill is a life saver when you are playing in high wind. Getting down low and keeping your putt lower to the ground really helps when it’s blowing outside. The next time you are playing and it’s gusty out, try it and you’ll see what I mean.  You’ll make more putts and your misses will not blow near as far away.

The second one is that this will help you win games of horse (or disc, or pig, or bagger… whatever you choose to spell when playing this putting game). Because almost no one ever practices this putt, you are almost sure to throw your opponents off by putting from your knees.

Here is your challenge. Throw a few putts from your knees during practice this week. Then, when you are playing, look for opportunities to use your new skill. I think you’ll find that it will help you more often than you might think!

Here’s your second challenge for today. Subscribe to this blog so you make sure you never miss a thing! You never know when one of our tips will change your game for the better forever!

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The post The Disc Golf Putt You Don’t Practice Enough appeared first on Mind Body Disc - Disc Golf Blog.

In last week’s post, we focused on trying to get your disc to land as close as possible to the basket. First, your scores will be lower in the long run when you try to land close instead of running at the basket. Second, shorter putts should be easier to make. Shorter putts mean getting up and down more often.

One key to a quality disc golf approach shot

There’s something besides just leaving yourself a short putt that is important. You also want to leave yourself as easy a putt as possible. What else besides distance can impact how easy or hard a putt is? The wind.

When we talk about course management, one of the things that disc golfers have to remember is that the sky is our course. The wind matters as much or even more than the land we play on. If we always keep that in mind, we’ll hopefully find it easier to remember to work with the wind and not fight it.

[tweetthis]The sky is our course in #discgolf and managing the wind is critical.[/tweetthis]

Some people prefer headwind putts. Some prefer tail wind putts (that’s me). Some prefer crosswind putts. Regardless of what you prefer, what if every putt was in a wind that was favorable to you.

Make it easier on yourself

Imagine, if tailwind putts are your thing, that you played a round where every putt was in a tailwind! That would be a huge advantage, right? That is totally in your control. It all comes down to your approach shot and where it lands in relation to the wind and the basket.

This brings us to one of the most common mistakes players make when throwing disc golf approach shots. They rarely stop to think about what the wind will be doing on their putt. They usually don’t think about it until it’s too late and they step up and realize they wish they were on the opposite side of the basket!

Last week we talked about 5 aspects of the area around the basket you should think about when throwing approach shots. Now all you have to do is add this 6th one, the wind.

When you step up to throw your approach, take a quick look at the trees and bushes around the basket. Which direction is the wind blowing? Which side of the basket do you want to be putting from? Remember to try to leave yourself the easiest possible putt.

As we head into fall golf, we’ll all see a lot more windy days. Playing in the wind is something we all have to do (I’ve also written posts about driving in the wind and also practicing in the wind if you are interested). Playing with the wind is something we can all choose to do! Making the choice to use the wind to your advantage is a game changer! I guarantee that it will give you an advantage over most of the other players out on the course.

Something else you can choose to do is subscribe to this blog! You never know when one tip will take your game to the next level. Subscribe by entering your email below and make sure you don’t miss a thing!

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The post Avoid This Common Disc Golf Approach Shot Mistake appeared first on Mind Body Disc - Disc Golf Blog.

Recently, one of our readers, Mickey, reached out and asked us to cover course management. Looking back across all of the posts on this blog (and holy cow are there a lot of them now!) we realized that we hadn’t really covered much, if anything, in relation to this very important topic. This week will be the first of at least 4-5 where we take on the subject of course management. Thanks for the great idea Mickey, hopefully these posts help you and some others play better disc golf!

When we talk about disc golf, the overall object is to get the disc in the basket. The fewer throws that takes, the lower your scores. There is nowhere that more throws are shaved off of your score card than around the basket itself. Whether or not you agree with the old adage that you drive for show, there can be no doubt that we definitely putt for dough.

[tweetthis]Putting in #discgolf is hard if you are always far away from the basket.[/tweetthis]

You hear a lot of people talk about how to improve putting. Most of that talk involves actual putting technique. What is not addressed very often is how to leave yourself putts you have a better chance of making. There are a few things that go into that. Today we’ll be addressing reading the green.

The green is the area around the basket. I usually think of it as the 10 meter circle that surrounds the basket. That’s where you are typically putting from. The closer you can leave yourself, the higher your percentage of putts made will be. That leaves us with the question of what should we be thinking about when throwing our approaches (or even drives on shorter holes).

If you pay attention to these 5 things, you’ll give yourself a much better chance of having a shorter putt. If you always work to leave yourself the shortest putts possible, your score should go down.

1. Is the green flat or slanted?

This is going to tell you what’s going to happen to your disc once it lands. If the green slants away from the direction the disc is coming in, the disc will tend to travel further, skip, and slide more. If it is slanted towards the direction the disc is coming from, the disc will hit that angled ground and have a higher tendency to stop.

2. How long is the grass?

The longer the grass, the faster your disc is going to stop. The short the grass, the more action and skip you’ll get when the disc comes down.

3. Is the ground wet or dry?

Wet grass is slippery. You’ll notice this a lot when you play all day. Your early morning round, when the ground is covered with dew, will see more skips away from the basket. Later in the day, when the ground has dried out, you’ll notice your disc stops a lot quicker.

4. Is there something other than grass around the basket?

If you are shooting into mulch or wood chips, for example, your disc is probably going to stop almost dead in its tracks. Pick your landing spot accordingly.

5. Are there any obstacles around the basket?

If there are trees or low hanging limbs on one side, but not on another, aim for the clearer side of the basket. It doesn’t matter how close you end up, if there are things in the way, you’ll miss more putts.

6. Bonus tip…

Notice that nowhere in these tips have I addressed trying to throw the disc into the basket. Your goal on approaches should always be to slide the disc right up under the basket leaving yourself a drop in putt.

Most of the time, when you see a pro throw in an approach shot, they were not trying to make it. They made it by mistake. The aim should always be to be able to consistently get up and down.

If you can get up and down in 2 most of the time from 250′ and in, you’ll suddenly be able to beat most of the players you could run into. That’s a huge skill to have. Paying attention to the above 5 things will go a long way towards helping you do that.

We left out one major part of managing your approach shots. Make sure to check out this post to see what it is!

If you don’t want to have to remember to come back each week to check for the latest tips, consider subscribing to the blog instead. We’ll send you a swell weekly newsletter with content you can’t find anywhere else. We’ll also send you links to every new post we put up each week! You won’t miss a thing! Just enter your email below.

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For those of you that noticed, this regular Monday feature will no longer be called “Just the Tip”. My goal is to help as many disc golfers as possible. It turns out that anyone on line searching for “just the tip” was definitely not trying to find disc golf tips. Those that searched “disc golf tips” were never directed here. So, in an effort to reach more people, I am reluctantly changing the name.
**Image credit for the “bonus” picture – Frederic Bisson

The post Disc Golf Tips – 5 Things You Should Think About on All Approach Shots appeared first on Mind Body Disc - Disc Golf Blog.

I’m spoiled. At least when it comes to disc golf courses I am. I am lucky enough to live 2.5 miles from an amazing course with 36 holes of disc golf goodness. Squaw Creek in Round Lake, IL is currently rated on DGCR as the best course in Illinois. It’s my home away from home.

Ever since they revamped this course from the mediocre 18 holes it used to be into the 36 holes of championship caliber disc golf it is today, I haven’t had much of a reason to travel or go elsewhere to play. Not until recently, anyway.

One of my goals for this summer was to meet and play disc golf with as many new people as possible. It’s been a very fun summer and I’ve met some very cool people. Some have even become regular playing partners and new friends. Doing this has required me to travel away from Squaw Creek to play. I’m loving it.

What I didn’t realize had happened over the last two years is that I have grown used to my new home stomping grounds. I wouldn’t say I take it for granted, but it has become warm and familiar to me. It’s lost some of that new car smell. What I’ve forgotten is just how good for my game it is to play at a new course.

Here’s a short list of why you should get into the car this weekend and make an effort to play someplace new:

1. It reminds you of what it’s like to be new to the sport again. It puts you on new and unfamiliar ground where you don’t just walk up and automatically grab the disc you always throw.
2. It forces you to throw lines you don’t normally throw. You will be presented with shots that you normally never have to attempt. The more different kinds of shots you have to throw, the better you will become.
3. It allows you to play with people you might not regularly get to play with because they live a little ways away from you. Offering to “meet in the middle” somewhere is a great way to stay in touch with some of your less seen disc golf friends.
4. It makes you use discs you might not normally throw that much. Disc X that never seems to come out of your bag might become your go to disc on a new course. It’s a great way to learn your lesser used discs more thoroughly.
5. It’s fun. I mean come on folks, do I really need to give you a list of reasons to go play a new course?! This in and of itself should be more than enough motivation.

So stop making excuses. Stop filling your days off with other stuff that keeps you too busy. Summer is already more than half over. Make time and plans to go someplace new to play and do it soon! You’ll be thankful and happy that you did.

[tweetthis]Go play a new #discgolf course today![/tweetthis]

You should also make time to read this blog regularly! I’ll make it really easy for you to do that by emailing you a killer newsletter each week along with links to all the new posts. Don’t mis a thing, subscribe today!

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The post Just the Tip – Try Someplace New appeared first on Mind Body Disc - Disc Golf Blog.

“I know why your drives keep going into the woods on the right on this hole.”

“Because this hole hates me?”

“No, turn around.  You’ll see why right away.”

As we walked up the fairway, him to his disc out in the open, me to mine depressingly kicked off into the woods, we both turned around.  At first I didn’t see anything unusual.  But after looking for a few moments more I saw it.  How is it that in over a year of playing this course, I never noticed it?  The tee pad was pointed in the wrong direction!

This hole had usually given me fits.  My drives always seemed to end up heading directly into the trees on the right of the fairway.  I could never figure out why.  As I arrived at my disc, deep in the woods, I peered back at the pad.  Sure enough.  Not only was it pointing the wrong direction, it was pointing directly at me.  No wonder I was always throwing it here, I was just going right down the middle of the pad and never realized that the direction of my run up was making me throw the disc in the wrong direction!

I’ve only played one course with circular tee pads before.  One of the things that I liked about them (the course they were on was mediocre at best) was that they allowed you to line up and tee off in whatever direction you wanted.  With rectangular or keystone shaped pads, the pads subtly direct you in a particular direction.  That’s fine if they point the right way.  But what if they don’t.

Also, what if you want to take a different line?  One that doesn’t go in the direction the tee pad points.  One smart thing to do is first pick your target in the distance.  Then draw a straight line back from it across the tee pad.  This is now the line you want to take your run up on.  It won’t always go in the same direction of the tee pad.

Sometimes it will go from corner to corner.  Sometimes it will go down one side or the other.  Sometimes, it may even start off the side of the tee pad and end up with only your plant foot on the pad.  It turns out this is what I needed to do on the hole that has the pad pointed in the wrong direction.  Once I started doing that, I started keeping it in the fairway.

The moral of the story is that you dictate the direction and location of your run up.  The pad should not be doing that for you.

Another thing that will help you keep your drives in the fairway is to keep up with this blog.  Make sure you are subscribed by entering your email below so you never miss a tip or a trick!

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The post Just the Tip – Sometimes the Tee Pad is Wrong appeared first on Mind Body Disc - Disc Golf Blog.