Course Strategy

Know Your Lines

See the shot before you throw it.

Why it matters

Players who score well see the whole flight before they throw; players who do not aim at the basket and hope. The difference is not vision, it is a habit — and it costs nothing to build. Picking a line also forces the honest question of whether you can actually throw it, which is where most strokes are saved.

How to do it

Stand behind the tee and trace the entire flight with your eyes: where it leaves, where it peaks, where it bends, where it lands.
Pick the line you hit most often, not the best one available. Those are different lines and the gap between them is where bogeys come from.
Name the shot before you step on the pad — disc, angle, power, landing spot.
If you cannot see a line, the answer is a shorter, safer shot rather than a hopeful one.
Commit completely once chosen. A line thrown at 80% conviction becomes a different line in the air.

Common mistakes

Aiming at the basket rather than at a line.The basket is where the line ends, not what you aim at. Aim at the gap, the peak or the landing spot.

Choosing the hero line because it is the one that would look best.Ask how often you hit it. Below about half the time it is costing you strokes over a season, however good it feels when it works.

Deciding on the pad, with the disc already in hand.Decide behind the tee. Once you are standing on the pad there should be nothing left to work out.

Key points

Trace the full flight path from tee to target.
Pick the line you hit most often, not the hero line.
Commit fully once you choose.

The drill

Drill · Say the line — 1 full round naming the line out loud before every tee shot. For one round, say the whole plan aloud before each drive: disc, angle, where it lands. It feels absurd for three holes and then becomes genuinely useful — mostly because saying a bad plan out loud is how you notice it is a bad plan.

Watch: How to FINALLY Hit Your Lines in Disc Golf — Gannon Buhr