DO NOT develop a putting routine!
Photo credit: DGPT
Putting is a thorn in the side of many disc golfers. It is a maddening task because it seems so simple; it’s such a short little throw, why can’t I hit the target? I throw much longer throws with seemingly much greater accuracy. It is also maddening because putting is so much more mentally demanding than physically. Confidence will make far more putts than any particular technique.
One of the most common pieces of advice I see on improving putting is, “Develop a routine, do it the same way every putt!” This is a reasonable piece of advice if for no other reason than many pros employ this technique; notably Chris Dickerson and Dave Feldberg. It also works for a lot of amateurs as well. But I want to argue against this piece of advice in this article. I want to lay out the reasons why a putting routine, (or any kind of pre-throw routine) may be hurting you a lot more than helping.
First I’ll talk about my credentials. I don’t have a lot of credentials. Honestly, I am just a regular, run of the mill, 930 rated MA1 player. But I can say with complete honesty and being as objective as possible, that I am a good putter. At least, putting is the strongest part of my game and for MA1 I’m a good putter. I practice putting a lot and feel that I have really honed in on what putting is all about. I don’t want to sound like I’m bragging so I will be the first one to say that I more than make up for this putting ability with a very weak mental game and rampant inconsistency off the tee.
Now that that’s out of the way let’s look at why a putting routine does seem to work for a lot of people. In order to make good disc golf throws, the body has to be relaxed. This is as close to an objective fact as you can get. Good throws come from trusting your body and your muscle memory to do what it’s supposed to without having to think about it. For the people who swear by a putting routine, what’s happening during this routine is they are turning their mind off. Their mind goes into complete autopilot and the body takes over, and the routine is the sort of transition period for this to occur. Once the motion of that routine starts, they know that they don’t need to think anymore, they can just let the putt happen.
So why doesn’t a putting routine work for some people? If you have tried to develop a putting routine and have found that it made no improvement, or maybe even made your putt worse, then unfortunately, the routine is probably doing the exact opposite of what it’s supposed to. I find myself in this camp. Every time I have consciously tried to do the same thing every time, I suddenly find myself unable to do it. While the routine is supposed to allow you to turn your mind off, you are instead thinking about the routine itself and worrying about doing it correctly. You get tense and end up being way more concerned with doing your routine than with making your putt!
So what is the alternative? Here is what I recommend: chase the feeling and only the feeling, of a perfect putt. You know that putt that you throw maybe once per round or once per five rounds that is just perfect? Edge of C1, plenty of spin, dead center, you knew it was in as soon as it left your hand. You know the exact putt I’m talking about. I recommend chasing that feeling until you can replicate it. Practically speaking, I would get 12 to 20 feet away from a basket (whatever you would consider just longer than a tap-in) and putt until you get one of those perfect ones. From that distance it shouldn’t take you too long. Once you’ve thrown one, think about the feeling. How did it feel coming off of your hand? What did it look like flying through the air? How did it make you feel emotionally when you realized it was going in? Odds are, you won’t really be able to put into words any of these feelings. And that is exactly the point. Then, chase that feeling. Literally try to replicate the physical sensation that the perfect putt gave you coming out of your hand. Don’t worry about what your hand or arm is doing, or where your feet are, or anything like that, focus only on throwing a putt that feels the same. As you are working on this, let your body deviate. Your body knows what it’s doing and can be trusted a lot more than your mind. So what if one putting stroke is a little different from another? As long as you are achieving that same feeling, then the putt is probably going in, so who cares what the stroke looked like?
Here is the crazy part of all this: if you successfully chase that perfect putt feeling and really get it nailed down, then your putting stroke will probably be exactly the same every time. Ironically, you have basically developed an effective putting routine. When Chris Dickerson and Dave Feldberg started doing their routines, I highly doubt that they consciously said to themselves, “I need to get a routine before every putt and make sure I do it exactly the same every time.” Through years of practice, they figured out how to throw good putts with consistency and it results in what manifests outwardly as a routine. The routine is a symptom, not a cause.
And this is really the crux of this article. I have nothing against routines. I am not saying “Make every putting stroke different! Never do it the same!” Here is my big overarching point: trying to develop a routine to improve a poor putt is putting the cart before the horse. If you instead chase the feeling of a perfect putt and worry about the result and nothing else, then a routine will probably come.
