A Great, and Nearly Bad, Day

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Yesterday I was throwing a quick round at Shorewood Park, and I decided to throw a few discs on my favorite hole in the park (#9). This is a short hole over a foot bridge, approximately 200 feet long. The fun part about this is, that it almost needs to be a straight line because you only have about a nine foot wide path through the trees. I was throwing well up until that point and I figured it was a slow day, why not try for some Aces?

Needless to say I did something I had never done, nor seen, before. I got two Aces in a row (back to back). The first one was the white disc (on the right in the picture), which is a KC Pro Roc (I had stated in my previous post "Know Thy Bag and Discs" that Rocs are my favorite discs. The second (blue on left) is a First Run Star Cro; both discs are made by Innova.

I was really excited and happy with my throwing. This would make aces # 28 and #29 for my Ace total. I went to collect the discs that I threw, that were not in the basket, and noticed one thing: I was missing a single disc. This always seems to happen once the foliage grows around the course. Then I noticed that not only was I missing a disc, but I was missing my favorite disc. My Glo Roc. My go-to disc. The first disc my hand automatically goes to on the tee-box at every hole. 

Normally if I lose a disc, I will spend approximately five minutes looking for it, and then give up. I have all my discs labeled on the back with my name and phone # (another future topic) if anyone finds it. Almost all the discs in my bag are replaceable with extras in a box in my garage. This one...was not one of those. I walked around the brush, likely poison ivy, and weeds for 25 minutes. The good news is that I found it...finally. This was also after three groups had played through while I was looking. 

My throwing was off for the rest of the round because I had cooled off. But the day was great because I left the course will all my discs and two new Aces. Good Day = 3 / Bad Day = 1

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My new putting grip!

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When it comes to putting my concept mirrors that of Happy Gilmore: getting a hole in 1 (Ace) is so much easier than putting, I should just try to do that every time! (And I do)

This has always been the worst part of my game. My long game saves me a lot because I can park most drives right by the pin or within about 20 feet. But further than that, I struggle with my putting. I have tried a lot of different types of putts, grips, and styles to try and find one that works for me. Recently I have come across a form that helps me a lot. Since this has been working for me, I wanted to share it with you in hopes of helping your short game.

The form is really just a change in the grip that I have been using. It just goes to show, that a slight change in something that seems small can really help improve your game. By changing to this new grip I am averaging about a 95% accuracy for putts within 20 feet (previously I was around 70%). And it is also giving me about 70% accuracy for 20-40 foot putts. It may not seem like a huge improvement, but it truly helps my game. When I play any course I play by tournament standards which means I consider every hole a par 3, regardless of distance. This helps me gauge how well I'm doing on that hole: whether I can ace, birdie, par, or go over. This is my measuring system; if you prefer to play by the signs go ahead, but it's just easier than trying to keep track of all the listed pars for an entire course. If you just play a par 3 for every hole, you know from start to finish an 18 hole course is always going to be a score of 54 (18 x 3 = 54).

Now on to the new style. I have attached two pictures of the grip that I am currently using from the top and bottom view. I have found that when I grip the disc, if I put more pressure between where my thumb is holding and the mid point on the pointer finger this gives me more stability in the putt. This means that it isn't wobbly coming out of my hand, nor in flight. See the picture below for a better idea:

This disc is a heavier (hard to find, if even still in production) Glo Champion Aviar from Innova. The increased pressure in this area makes for a solid flight (assuming there is limited wind resistance). On the underside of the disc you will see that the fingers are pressed along the surface to again create stability. This covers more of a surface area, and helps to keep that flat flight. See below:

It looks a little awkward just because of how my wrist is bent. If you are holding the grip right, you will feel like you are pinching the disc between your thumb and pointer-finger. If you don't feel like there is a lot of pressure there, you're not holding it firmly enough. With the release I put on just a small amount of anhyzer (reverse spin) so it can keep a straight line. I also pick a specific area that I want to aim for. Starting out I used to pick a single chain-link to aim at. Some times I can keep that focus, most of the time I can't. Now I pick an area of space for aiming, more like a single strand of chains that are hanging. Since I am right handed, the natural flight of my discs turn left. So for shorter putts I aim to the immediate right of the pole behind the chains. The farther away I am, the more I move my aiming focus to the right. This gives the disc room to break to the left during it's flight, but still hits my target.

So there it is. My *new BIG secret. I hope this helps your game, as much as mine. Let me know what you think in the comments, and if you have any other ideas to share. 

As always if you like the tips and tricks that I have here, make sure you follow the blog to get notified when the newest posts are published. You can also find me on Twitter and Facebook. Follow me on both for the most up-to date news, and join in the community of "discers". Happy Throwing!

Know Thy Bag and Discs

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I'll admit it, I am one of those people you see with the giant tour bags spilling-over with discs, complete with backpack style straps for easy carrying. On average I carry anywhere between 24 and 26 discs (including 4 different putters). The side pockets are pushing capacity with my golden retriever (I'll tackle in a future post), marker discs, golf balls, sharpies, a towel, a mini clipboard and pencils, a knife, and a lighter. Yup, a complete kit ready for anything that comes my way. See the pictures at the bottom of this post, the only difference is the bag I have is Innova, not Disc Craft; but either one would work.

My golden retriever is an amazing tool that will have it's own post dedicated to it later on, but for now those who don't know what it is, it's for getting a disc out of water. Many people ask me why I carry golf balls (approximately 5 of them) in my bag. Well these have saved my discs a number of times. We've all seen the guy who becomes an instant moron when he gets his disc stuck in a tree (normal) and tries to throw ANOTHER disc to get it down, or better yet a shoe (moron). There was one case where I saw the kid throw his entire bag up to get it down. Then Murphy's Law kicks in and, surprise surprise, they too get stuck in the tree. My secret: golf balls. They are small, cheap (if not free), lightweight, easy to throw, have good weight behind them, and I have never gotten a golf ball stuck in a tree after having to use it. It may seem weird, but I have never had to leave a disc in a tree after I started carrying these.

The other stuff just makes up random things that may or may not be needed during the course of a round. the sharpie is for signing posts when I Ace a hole; marker discs for tournament and league play; a towel for drying/cleaning discs (rain, snow, mud, etc); a mini clipboard and pencils for score cards (the pencils are left over from real golf courses, or mini-golf).

The knife and lighter are always interesting to see what people assume I use them for. In reality they are used for mending damaged discs. When you first start throwing especially, you realize there is some sort of magnetic force that attracts the disc to trees, or even the singular tree that may be on the course. If you are using a softer plastic like Innova's DX, or especially Pro plastic, they gets chips and nicks really easily. I skim off any really bad pieces with the knife. I'll then heat the remaining area with the lighter and smooth it out with my thumb. Voila! The disc's shape is semi-back to normal, and it won't effect the flight pattern because of the drag.

One of the most common questions that I get is: "Do you really use/need all those?". The short answer: "Yes!". I favor Innova discs because I feel like I have the most control over my throws with them, and I am used to their lines of products. This is not to say that I don't throw any other type of plastic, but currently there are 26 discs in my bag and all of them are Innova except for my Flx Buzz by Discraft. There is a large selection in my bag, including 4 putters, and about an even split of drivers and mids. In that group of mid-range discs there are 4 different Rocs, my favorite being my Glo Roc which I currently have 8 Aces with. This is pretty much my go-to disc because I can make it fly any direction or distance I want.

I have so many different discs because I play similar to how real golfers play; I have a possibility for every type of shot I can think of. I have different discs that are for long distance, head wind, tail wind, hyzer, anhyzer, forehand, backhand, etc. I know how each of my discs fly in any situation, and that only comes with throwing them a lot. That is one of the biggest pieces of advice that I can give people looking to play: throw every disc as much as possible.I will have another post later on about Ace runs, and getting primed from those.

Once you understand how your discs fly and are comfortable with them, it makes your game so much more effective. But just like anything else, this takes time and practice. So get out there and throw some plastic. Try different lines, grips, styles, etc. You may be pleasantly surprised and find a new favorite.