Putting

Putting Fundamentals

A repeatable putting stroke for inside the circle.

Why it matters

A putt is the shortest throw in the game and the most expensive one to miss: a 20-foot putt that slides past costs exactly the same stroke as a drive into the woods, and you will face far more of them. Everything inside the circle is also the part of your game you can practise in a back garden, without a course, in ten minutes. That combination — high cost, cheap practice — is why it comes first.

How to do it

Set your feet the same way every time. Staggered, with your throwing-side foot forward, is the usual starting point: feet about shoulder width, front toe pointed at the basket, weight even or slightly forward.
Take a grip you can repeat. A fan grip spreads the fingers under the flight plate for control; a stacked grip bunches them under the rim for more spin. Either is fine. Changing between them mid-round is not.
Hold the disc flat and level, out in front of your sternum, with the nose neither up nor down.
Pick one aim point before you move — a single link of chain, not "the basket".
Move the disc back a short way and then push it at the aim point. This is a pendulum, not a swing: the hand travels in a straight line toward the target.
Extend through the release so your hand finishes pointing at the pole, and keep your eyes on the aim point until you hear the disc land.

Common mistakes

Slowing down just before release, usually on a putt you badly want.Commit to the aim point before you step in, then accelerate through the release. A decelerating putt misses low and short almost every time.

Lifting your eyes to watch the result while the disc is still in your hand.Hold your eyes on the aim point through the release. Looking up pulls your shoulders and the disc with them.

Aiming at the basket as a whole.Aim at one link. A target the size of a dinner plate produces a tighter miss than a target the size of a basket.

A different stance on every putt, so the stroke never gets a chance to repeat.Mark your lie, then set your front foot first, the same way, every single time — including on tap-ins.

Key points

Balanced, repeatable stance — the same setup every putt.
Push toward the chains with your legs and core, not just the arm.
Follow through toward the pole; keep your eyes on one link.

The drill

Drill · Twenty from fifteen — 20 putts from 15 ft, then 20 from 20 ft. Same aim point, same stance, same grip for all twenty. Count your makes and write the number down. At 15 feet you are looking for 18 out of 20 before you move back; if you are below that, stay there — a stroke that is not reliable at 15 feet is not going to become reliable at 30.

Watch: How To Putt In Disc Golf (With Gannon Buhr) — Gannon Buhr