🥏 Welcome to the third post in this series on improving Disc Golf Putting! You can read the first post introducing this series here.

  
This series is tailored for intermediate level players so we won't cover much in the way of beginner concepts and I assume you have knowledge of the jargon.

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In the last post, we talked about strength as the foundation for successful putting. From experience, I know I couldn't fully develop good putting form until I had the strength built in the right places. Let's talk about why and how.

Before we get in to details, putting form is highly subjective. No two people agree. Only you can decide what is the right form for you. And it may change over time and space.

I like that.

Have you heard of myelin? Also known as white matter? It's a fatty substance that builds up around our nerve fibers as we repeat a motion or thought pattern. It acts as insulator and accelerator for our internal communication pathways from our learning efforts whether it's for motor function or cognition.

This is why we get better with practice over and above strength training. Why we can get better at painting or coding or throwing a disc. In fact, it is the formation of myelin along specific pathways that creates the specific skill, and the more we repeat, the more myelin builds on that same pathway. More myelin results in a faster & more reliable signal.

While we can't feel myelin building, we can feel when the circuit isn't firing properly on the putting green. The result is a chunder. A term I heard Kevin Jones use and the perfect word that fits the situation when we are well inside our comfort zone but weakly doink it off the front of the cage.

It happens most often when we are already having a bad game or when we lose focus. One of the worst feelings in DG. We will revisit this when we talk about fatigue and mental game, but I believe this is a failure, not from lack of physical prowess, but from signal breakdown.

Myelin is indiscriminate. It builds on the pathways we direct. If we practice good form we improve our game. But, if we practice poor form, we reinforce that and our putting game stalls. In fact, it makes it harder to establish good form later as the poor-form pathway will be faster until we myelinate the good-form pathway to a greater degree.

Myelin lightens mental load. We don't have to think as much about our putting once our putting form pathways are myelinated, freeing up space for other decisions.

There are methods that build myelin faster than simple repetition, that is, there is a better way to practice.

Now that we have the strength, and before we go on to rapidly build our myelin for putting, let's be sure we are choosing the best form for ourselves and we have the right model(s). Let's be conscious about our choice because there are tradeoffs and changing after we've built myelin is more difficult.

In the main, putting is a narrow skillset. There are the two basic forms of Push and Spin, each with their advantages and disadvantages. After that, there is simply modification of stance for obstacles or terrain variations.

We will always need the Spin putt for low ceilings and head winds, but, Push may be the better alternative as your primary form. I will one day make the full case in a separate post, but here are my reasons for choosing Push as mine:

But, I leave it to you. Either form, find your model, someone with a classic form for consistency. It helps to have someone to observe and look for the little things that can make a difference when we are struggling.

My first choice was Hailey, but I couldn't execute that form until building the strength from the repetitions for putting league, so, I turned to Calvin. I love his form. And his results.

I was having difficulty with accuracy with all types of putts. Studying him one day I realized he leans forward from the waist and I wasn't. In fact, I was leaning away from the basket as though afraid of it. Now, when I lean forward from the waist, and stand tall with the follow-through, everything goes better. Especially accuracy.

I still use a form akin to Calvin's inside 15' or so, but need my legs & core beyond that for accuracy. Now I'm working on mimicking Hailey's form again.

If you are looking for spin putters with classic and uncomplicated forms, the first who come to mind are Chris Dickerson and Heather Young. More unassailable putting results.

Whatever your choose, I do recommend watching tutorial videos by the better players & coaches. I like the DD Beginner's Guide and Physics of Flight series, they are well done. Here are two links to videos on putting:

This last one I picked up during the putting league from all the reps. It feels great when it goes in. When it doesn't go in, it reminds me to take a moment and figure out what went wrong so that I have a chance to fix it next time.

One of the best outcomes from this putting league for me was the mountain of repetitions I put in to improve performance. It's brought my strength, form, and confidence a long way. I am now to the point that most of my misses are due to a hiccup in form and I can feel the failure in the signal when it goes awry. After all the reps and a better form, I like putting a lot more now.


Next Time: A Better Way to Practice

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