Course Strategy

Reading the Landing Zone

Aim for where the disc lands, not just the basket.

Why it matters

A disc is not finished when it lands. On hard ground it skips, on a slope it runs, in wet grass it stops dead — and the difference between those outcomes is routinely thirty or forty feet. Players who plan only the flight are planning two thirds of the shot.

How to do it

Look at the ground where the disc will land before choosing the shot: hard-packed, wet, sloped, leaf-covered.
Plan the skip. A disc arriving flat and fast on hard ground will travel a long way further than it landed.
Favour the safe side of any trouble, so that a miss finishes somewhere you can play from.
Choose the landing zone that leaves the next shot you want, which usually means straight and uphill rather than short and sidehill.
On downhill landings, expect considerably more run-out than you think and aim shorter.

Common mistakes

Planning the flight and ignoring what happens after it lands.Walk up and look at the ground, particularly on an unfamiliar hole. The landing is a third of the shot.

Landing on the trouble side of the basket because the line was marginally better.Pick the side where a miss is survivable. The cost of a miss should drive the choice, not the quality of the best case.

Treating all ground as equal.The same throw finishes 40 feet apart on baked dirt and wet grass. Check the surface, then choose.

Key points

Plan for roll and skip after it lands.
Favor the safe side of trouble.
A good landing zone sets up an easy next shot.

The drill

Drill · Predict the finish — 18 holes predicting where each drive will STOP. Before every drive, say where you think the disc will come to rest — not where it will land. Then check. You will be wrong a lot at first, mostly by underestimating skip and roll, and the habit of looking at the ground is worth several strokes once it is built.

Watch: How To Hit Your Landing Zones — David Konoplev