You are standing on the tee. Today you are playing one of the better courses in your area. This hole is a great example of why. The basket is not reachable off the tee. It’s 650 feet away. Good thing you watched that YouTube video last night on disc golf driving tips!

You’ve been working on your distance for occasions just like this one. You are primed and ready to let the disc rip. You can’t wait to impress your friends. You grab your favorite Destroyer. You step up. You crush it like you’ve never crushed it before. You might have even heard the disc squeak, “ouch!” as it leaves your hand!

The rest of the group watches the disc as it sails out past 400 feet. It’s a thing of beauty that skips and flares at the end of its flight leaving you just off the left edge of the fairway. You walk off the tee pad head held high, chest out, and proud of what you just did.

After your display, you kind of scratch your head as you see that one of your friends is holding a Buzzz. Doesn’t she know this is a 600 foot hole? What is she thinking? Well, if she wants to make it easy on you, you’re certainly not going to stop her, right?

You watch as she throws a shot up the right hand side of the fairway. It settles down about 300 feet out and fades gently to the middle of the fairway. Ha! You’ve got her by at least 100 feet!

D’oh!

Now for the interesting part. As you walk up the fairway, your confidence starts to fade. As the disc gets closer, you start to see what kind of second shot you’ve left yourself. The nearer you get, the uglier things look.

When you get up to your disc, you see that you’ve landed in some tall grass that will make a run up impossible on your second shot. The basket is guarded on both sides. With the angle you’ve left yourself there is nothing but trees and bushes blocking any workable line in.

All the good angles are gone from this spot. The harder you look, the worse it gets. It’s going to take a miracle shot to get anywhere near the basket. Looking around, you see that the only spot that has a decent line to the basket is the one your opponent is standing on. She smiles at you and waves.

She is in a perfect position to get up and down. She marks her disc, takes the same Buzzz she threw off the tee, and throws a beautiful straight shot right up to the basket. At most she has a 15 foot putt for a 3.

With your terrible footing, shaken confidence, and lack of a good options for your second shot, you end up in the bushes to the right of the basket. By the time you get out of the bushes and into the chains, you take a 4.

A lot of good that video on disc golf driving tips did you now, right?

Distance shouldn’t be your first concern.

Your first concern, every single time you play, should be getting the disc into the basket in the fewest amount of throws possible. It’s not how far you are going to throw.

[tweetthis]The only thing recorded on a #discgolf score card is your score.[/tweetthis]

That means that when you step up on the tee, there are a lot more things to think about than how far you are going to throw the disc.

In two previous posts, we talked about managing your upshots to leave yourself a putt you had a good chance to make. We talked about reading the green and also reading the wind. The idea was to leave yourself the easiest possible putt.

When thinking about disc golf course management, there is a natural progression of those concepts. Place your drives so that your approach shot is the easiest possible too. At the very least, don’t leave yourself a difficult shot.

If your upshot is limited, you take away your ability to think about what kind of putt to leave yourself. Instead you can only worry about getting near the basket in the first place.

What does the 4x World Champion think?

Paul McBeth recently wrote a Facebook post about people who ask him to play casual rounds to better learn the game. I loved his response. He said instead of playing a casual round with him, they should watch him play a practice round. What do they watch for? Among other things, where he chooses to land his disc and where he throws his approaches from.

The distance your disc travels is only one minor part of where you choose to land your disc. That’s why this week I want to share a quick list of 9 things you should consider when standing on the tee pad. These are the things to think about when picking a landing spot for your drives.

***As an aside… To do this, your field work needs to start focusing as much or more on accuracy and disc control as it does on the actual distance you are throwing.

9 uncommon disc golf driving tips.

• Accuracy. Ask yourself how far you can throw accurately. Sure, you might be able to hit the local football field and bomb discs out past 400 feet. The real question is how far can you throw them and have them land where you intend them to?
• Placement. Where do you have the best approach shot from? Does throwing a shorter drive leave you in a better position? Where are the good lines to the basket? You will need to have checked the hole before playing it to know.
• Footing. Where is the best footing to be had? Can you see a wide area that would leave a good approach shot? Where in that area would put you on flat ground with the opportunity for a clean run up?
• Disc Angle. What angle will the disc need to land at for it to get to the spot you pick? Will it need to skip to this spot? Do you need the disc to settle down flat on your chosen location? This will help you pick both the disc as well as the line you want to throw off the tee.
• Ground condition. Will your drive skip when landing? Will it stick? Can it roll away? Is the ground hard or soft? You can do the best job in the world of picking the right spot to throw your second shot from but if you can’t get your drive to stay there, it doesn’t matter.
• Obstructions. What obstructions will be in your way on your approach? If you choose to throw a straight second shot but then realize there isn’t a high enough ceiling to do that, you will be in a tough spot. Ask yourself if you will have a clear and unobstructed second shot.
• Your preference. Many holes will present you with a multitude of possible second shots. Which type of shot do you prefer to throw? If you can leave yourself both a hyzer and an anhyzer approach, which are you better at? Look for the shot that leaves you the best chance for success.
• Distance. Not of your drive, but of your second shot. What distance are you most comfortable throwing? A good example is leaving yourself a longer second shot so that you can throw that shot at full power. Full power shots are more accurate than ones you try to take something off of.
• Ego? Are you making your decision on the tee pad with your ego or your head? It takes a big person to throw a mid off the tee on a 600 foot hole. Make sure you are playing smart and making good decisions. Letting your ego play for you rarely works out well in the long run. Check out this post for more on this topic.

Do your homework.

To do any of this, you have to be familiar with the course. I’m not just talking about having played it before. I mean really knowing the course. Without this type of intimate knowledge, you’ll never be making the best possible decision.

A great way to do this is to walk or play the course backward. Look at each hole starting at the basket. Take a hard look at the lines in to the basket. Then walk out to those spots and look to the tee. You’ll be surprised at how much more clearly you see the hole when doing this. This drill also gets you out of “play mode” and into “observation mode”.

If you can, take notes. Jot them down. Even if you never look at them, the simple act of writing them down or recording them in your phone will help them stick in your memory. You won’t have long during a round to make these decisions. They need to be made before you even start playing.

Execute.

Think before you throw. Instead of getting up to your second shot and then dealing with an unknown, try to make your second shot one you wanted and planned on. If you have your plan of attack down before you start, all you have to worry about at that point is execution.

Most people, when they search the web or YouTube for disc golf driving tips, they are looking for more distance. I totally get that. Who doesn’t want more distance? But what good does that distance do if it doesn’t help you score lower?

Anyone can try and throw far. There’s a million tips out there on how to do that. Not everyone can score well. For that it requires a different set of tips. I really believe that if you go out and execute the 9 points above, you will get lower scores.

Often the most important shot on harder and longer courses is your second shot. Make it work for you, not against you! Don’t believe this works? Take a minute and watch Paul McBeth or any other top pro play. There isn’t a drive they are throwing where they aren’t thinking about what their second shot is going to look like.

Do you like these tips? Do they help your game? If so, make sure and subscribe to the blog. We’ll make sure you never miss a post. You never know when one tip ends up changing your game for the better forever!

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“I’m the perfect disc golfer. I’ve learned all I ever need to know about disc golf and have nothing left to add to my vast knowledge of the sport. When it comes to putting plastic discs into baskets surrounded by chains, I’m the undisputed master! Kneel before Zod!!!”

As much as I’d like to be able to say all that, it’s just never going to happen. (although I have been known to yell out that last part every now and again). I’ll never master disc golf.

If you have dreams of someday reaching that level of skill at disc golf, I’ve got some bad news for you. It’s just never going to happen. Don’t be mad, I’m just the messenger. Facts are facts. You’ll never master the sport.

Despite what some people proclaim on disc golf forums, Reddit, and Face Book, no one has reached, or ever will reach, that level. No one.

[tweetthis]#Discgolf, it takes minutes to learn and a lifetime to realize you’ll never master it.[/tweetthis]

This is where the wise statement below from Lao Tzu comes in. As travelers on the road that is disc golf, we must first realize there is no destination. We will never “arrive”.

Instead, we have to understand that it’s the trip itself that contains all the fun. It’s the daily struggle to get better. It’s the regular rounds with friends. It’s the awe of the occassional perfect throw. Those are the joys of our sport.

For those that can wrap their heads around this concept, life is a lot more fun. They stop beating themselve up when things don’t go exactly as intended. They understand that each throw is one more step along the road.

For those that can’t, both disc golf and life can get pretty frustrating.

So, if you miss a putt, don’t sweat it, that’s one more step. If you shank a drive, yep, just another step. Find yourself in the bushes? Your moving a couple more steps on down that road.

Oh, and if you get an ace that helps you win a match and crush your friend’s hopes and dreams of beating you that round? Turn, look at them, and yell…

“KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!!!”

Another thing that can help you enjoy this great journey is subscribing to this blog. If you could use weekly tips, inspiration, product reviews, and other awesome disc golf goodies, Mind Body Disc is for you! Just enter your email below and we’ll make sure you don’t miss a thing. We won’t spam you or anything (we like you too much for that!).

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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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One of my readers, Jarrod Job, hit me with this saying the other day. Considering I have my second to last tournament of the year this weekend, I thought it was appropriate.

Since I’ll be spending what little spare time I have getting ready for the tourney, I figured instead of a long post this weekend, I’d just leave this picture right here for you. A little disc golf motivation to get you psyched up for the weekend.

If you are playing in a tournament, I wish you the best of luck. If you are playing with friends may you win with grace and then rub it in a little bit (or a lot). If you are stuck working like I usually am on the weekends, my thoughts are with you.

No matter what you are doing this weekend, remember to punch par in the face. Be better than expected. Perform at your best and above. Make this a weekend to remember!

If you like disc golf motivation like this, make sure to follow us on Twitter and especially on Instagram. You’ll definitely dig what we put out in both of those places!!!

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If you were to take all of the posts about improving people’s disc golf games off of Facebook, Reddit, and DGCR, you’d reduce web traffic from disc golfers by half at least. All that would be left is people bickering about which brand of disc is better or bragging about their 500 foot drives that aren’t real.

One of the most fundamental aspects of improvement in any field is that what gets measured gets managed. Measurement is critical in almost anything you want to do well. Without it, improvement is exponentially more difficult.

Why Measure???

First, how do we know if we are improving if we don’t measure? Do you know your make % from 30 feet? Do you know how far your average 200 foot approach shot lands from the basket? Do you know how many times a round you 2 putt from inside the circle?

If we don’t take the time to measure the things we are trying to improve, we don’t really know if we are improving or not. Even if we notice some improvement, we don’t have a clue as to how much!

Second, without measurement, how do we know the biggest area of opportunity in our game? We might think that driving distance is our weakest point, but then when tracking we realize that 30 more feet on our drive wouldn’t actually lower our score at all.

We might think that putting is what we need to work on because we missed a big putt in competition. But then when we look closely we realize that was the only putt we missed inside the circle that whole day.

By measuring our skills, we get a clear idea of what needs to be “managed” in the first place.

Third, how can we set targets for improvement if we don’t know where we started or how much better we need or want to be? If we don’t measure, then we are left with the very vague “I want to get better”. That’s a very tough target to hit.

Another Benefit…

Now for the bonus. Often the simple act of measuring will produce improvements on its own. Just by paying attention to a particular aspect of your game, that part of your game will naturally improve.

I’m reminded of this past winter when I decided to finally learn to putt. I kept a putting log that kept track of thousands of practice putts over the span of several months. The simple fact that I had committed to myself to make entries in that log every single day is what motivated me to actually practice every single day (that and the fact that I was posting weekly updates here for all of you as well!!!). That, in turn, led to a vast improvement in my putting.

If I hadn’t started to measure, I never would have seen the improvement that I did.

The challenge is to actually pick some things you “think” you need to work on and measure them. Once you do, you’ll know if you really need to work on those disc golf skills or not.

[tweetthis]Measuring your improvement in #discgolf is the only way to know if you are getting better.[/tweetthis]

If you decide that you do, indeed, need to work on those things, now you are well equipped to make improvement. You have a starting point determined. You can regularly compare to your starting marks. You can easily set a goal for improvement, giving yourself a target you can reach for daily.

If you think about it, almost all of you already do this in a broad sense anyway. It’s called keeping score. Your scores going down are how you know that you are getting better at the game as a whole, right? All this is is taking that broad measurement and making it more narrow in focus. Measure specific skills instead of the game as a whole.

So what do you need to measure? How much better do you want to get? What goal will you set for yourself based on that measurement? How are you going to improve your disc golf skills?

One way to help yourself improve is to subscribe to this blog. We’ll email you a really swell newsletter every Sunday with links to all of that week’s posts along with unique content that you only get in the newsletter. You’ll love it or your money back!

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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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It’s been really cool to meet so many people. Something I always ask the people I play with is whether they play in tournaments or not. It’s usually a good conversation starter regardless of the answer. I’ve been kind of surprised by how few have ever played in a disc golf tournament.

I always ask why this is. While the answers all seem to vary on the surface, they really boil down to one reason… People don’t think they are good enough.

First, this is a terrible reason to not do something. I can tell each of  you who think this that you are wrong. I played in a tournament this year with someone who had only been playing 3 weeks. If he can do it, so can you.

Luckily, there are lots of reasons to play in your first tournament other than being “good enough”. Here’s a short list, I hope it inspires some of you to check out a local tournament:

1. It’s not about winning. Only one person wins in each division. Does that mean that everyone else all went to their cars and cried? No! Pretty much everyone has a great time whether they win or not. Forget about the winning part for now and just get out and play!
2. Speaking of divisions, skill level is the whole reason they have them. You will be playing with and competing against other people of a similar skill level. You won’t be placed in a group with Avery Jenkins, Ken Climo, and Simon Lizotte and expected to compete. You’ll be put in a group with 3 other disc golfers who also miss 10 foot putts and hit trees just like you (and I) do.
3. Usually, those 3 other disc golfers turn out to be pretty cool people. One of my favorite things about playing in tournaments is getting to catch up with all of the folks I have come to know and love over the years I’ve been playing in tournaments.
4. Even though you will be playing with some fun people who play at or around your skill level, you’ll still get to see what it’s like to play under pressure. It’s a way to test yourself and see how you do. There just isn’t another way to do this. Leagues are kind of similar, but nothing holds a candle to the butterflies in your stomach on the first hole of a tournament round.
5. Because of this pressure, you’ll come away with a very clear picture of what it is you really need to work on. Nothing exposes your true opportunities like playing in competition under pressure.
6. Not only will you be playing under pressure, but you’ll be playing by the rules. Getting in to your first disc golf tournament is a great way to see our great sport played properly and by the book. No cheating your lie. No mulligans. No multiple throws on each shot. For many people who only play casually, playing by the actual rules can be a whole different experience.
7. While you are there, you’ll also get to see some of the local pros play. If you look around while you are there, you’re bound to see some amazing disc golf that you never get to see on your normal daily rounds.
8. Lastly, how will you ever know if you like it or not? You might find out that you absolutely love playing in tournaments. That would open up a whole new world within our sport for you. And if you find out that you don’t love it? No harm, no foul, at least you tried.

There are actually a lot more reasons than just those, but the bottom line is that if you play disc golf, you should play in at least one tournament.

What are you waiting for? There’s plenty of good weather left. Get out there and give it a shot! A great place to look for an event coming up near you is right here on the PDGA website. Then let us know how it was. We’d love to hear about your experiences!

You know what else you should try out? Subscribing to this blog! That way, when you are too busy out there competing in your first tournament, we’ll take care of sending you a weekly summary of what you might have missed! Just enter your email below.

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Stop watching the news…

We live in a paranoid world. According to the news, everyone is out to get you. You need to watch your back and trust no one. Lock the doors and hide your children, the world is an unsafe place full of awful people who will take advantage of you if given the slightest chance.

Ah the good old nightly news. That first paragraph is why I stopped watching the news years ago. No evening news, no newspapers, no news radio, nothing. That’s because I discovered that they are full of crap.

All you see on the news is sensationalized propaganda that’s designed to keep you scared and keep you watching. Stay tuned until the end of our broadcast to see what common household item is killing you right now! Anyone who lives in the real world realizes that 95% of the people out there are good, upstanding people.

That’s one of the many reasons I love disc golf. I’ve met good person after good person after good person out on the course. The world is not full of gloom and doom. The news is wrong.

[tweetthis]Never attribute to malice what can be attributed to ignorance.[/tweetthis]

One of my favorite sayings is “Never attribute to malice what can be attributed to ignorance.” That’s basically saying the same thing as the picture above. If someone does you wrong. If someone hurts you in some way. The first thing to realize is that 9.5 times out of 10, it wasn’t intentional. It might be stupidity related, but it’s usually not on purpose. That means that we shouldn’t react like it was.

People are not out to get you…

If someone coughs while you are throwing, don’t assume they’re messing with you. If they didn’t watch exactly where your disc went into the bushes, don’t blame them if you can’t find it. If some kid in the park picks up your disc because they don’t see you standing 350 feet away, don’t jump to the conclusion that they are trying to steal from you.

And here’s a big one. If someone tells you they got a 4 and they really got a 5, don’t flip out. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve lost count on a hole. As I’ve written about before, I really strive to have a short memory when it comes to score. That means I sometimes mis count my throws.

I don’t do it on purpose. And I really want people to correct me when I’m wrong. I feel kinda dumb when it happens, but I’d rather feel dumb than find out that someone is talking behind my back about how they think I’m a cheater. Honesty and integrity and two of my most dearly held core values. I would never cheat at anything let alone the sport that I love most in this world!

Assume the best…

Go through life on and off the disc golf course assuming the best of people. Honestly, you’ll rarely be disappointed. The neat thing is that even some of the more unscrupulous people out there will not be that way with you when you treat them with respect and expect the best of them.

So turn off the nightly news and stop looking over your shoulder. Get out on the course and meet some new people. If they make a mistake, give ’em the benefit of the doubt. You’ll get upset a lot less and you will all enjoy your rounds more.

Odds are your life as a whole will also be better for it.

You know what else will make your life better? Subscribing to this blog! You’ll get a weekly newsletter with content you can’t find anywhere else. You’ll get links to all the tips and articles we publish each week. And you’ll be entered to win prizes occasionally too! Just enter your email below.

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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.

You guys rock.

I mean that.

I get some of the best emails and comments from the people that follow this blog. They share pictures, challenges, successes, and inspirational stories about their life and disc golf. I love getting those emails.

The other day I got one from someone who had started playing disc golf later in life. They said they needed to get out of the house and their local park had a disc golf course on it. He said that he thought to himself, “If not now, when?”.

If not now indeed. I’m not sure if I’d heard that before or if his story just really resonated with me, but I’ve found myself repeating that saying to myself over and over and over since he said it.

What are you waiting for?

This saying applies to everything, including disc golf. How many of us have been putting things off for years? How many of us have gotten down on ourselves for never doing that thing we always meant to do? Here’s some examples…

I’m going to start practicing putting.

I’m going to start doing field work.

I’m going to lighten up a little bit and put less pressure on myself out on the course.

I’m going to stop buying so many discs and really learn the ones I have.

I’m going to learn rollers.

I’m going to learn a flick shot.

I’m going to learn to throw a putter off the tee.

I’m going to stop making this list because I could literally go on forever!

All we have is now.

Yesterday is history and tomorrow has yet to come. All you have is today. Right now is the only moment you truly control. Think about the things you want from life. Think about the things you want from your disc golf game. Then decide. Which ones will you do now? Which ones will you put off?

I have some advice for the ones you are putting off. Attach a date to them or just take them off your list. There’s not a calendar in the world that has “someday” on it. You don’t have to do everything now, it’s just not possible. But it’s also not possible to do things “someday”. Figure out what’s really important to you and get to work.

Thank you.

I didn’t get permission to share the person’s name who sent me this saying, but I’m sure they know who they are. To them I say thank you. To everyone who has taken the time to write or comment or share my work, I say thank you. Each and every one of you inspire me to do things now instead of putting them off. In that way, each and every one of you has made my life better. Now take this little 4 word saying and apply it to your life. Do things now.

And you know I have to ask, “If not now, when?”

You know what else you should do now? Subscribe to this blog! First, you won’t miss a single post. Second, you’ll get a weekly newsletter with stuff you won’t see anywhere else. Third, you’ll be automatically entered in every random draw type contest we run! You just can’t lose, so enter your email below now!

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The post Wisdom Wednesday – If Not Now, When? appeared first on Mind Body Disc - Disc Golf Blog.