describe your putting style

[dflaschiii]

When I first started playing a pro Scott Stokely stopped by my local course of Turkey Creek in Iowa City and besides impressing me with his super powerful backhand and forehand, he gave me a word of advice on putting that went something like this: "Find a form that works and just practice it over and over and over... there is no perfect putting form, most people have thier own particular style... it's more a matter of practice..."

I remember this advice because my putting form does not follow many of the suggestions that pros give. I do not put my index finger on the rim of the disc, its tip is on the flight plate instead. I don't square my shoulders to the basket, they are at a 30 degree angle and my backswing ends at my left hip. I don't hold the disc level, it hangs from my hand at a 75 degree angle and hits the chains at an angle.

It seems to me that unlike driving form, which there are general fundamentals and definite principles that one must follow in order to get distance and accuracy, putting seems to be a matter of specific styles and tastes. So I was wondering what other people's distinct putting traits are, especially in regards to different grips and the placement of the index finger.

I'm particularly confused by a passage in Blakes putting article: "A good sign that your grip is stable and in a position to get a clean release with maximum control is if you can lift your thumb off the disc and still hold the disc and vary its angle." Can I see a pic of this grip because I have do not understand how to achieve that. For my drives, yes, but on putts, no way. If my thumb goes, the disc will fall out of my hand.

[Blake_T]

i putt with a fan grip, and with that you use the fanned fingers to hold the disc up.

as for putting styles, i do not agree with his mentality.

for someone who has never played basketball, it's easier to learn to shoot a grandma between the legs shot than it is to shoot a proper jump shot, but that doesn't make the grandma shot a good way to shoot, nor something that should be practiced for hours a day to master it.

[presidio hills]

that's a good point, blake. hopefully scott meant something more like... don't be too self conscious of your putting style. since there's a lot of putting styles that seem to work for certain people.

i've been told more than a few times i have a really wierd putting style. i think it's because of how i rotate my wrist... from disc aimed at the ground on the down swing to a roll of the wrist till the disc is flat on my up swing. i've changed my stance and the amount of upper arm lifting vs. elbow extending over time. i used to use almost all upper arm and no elbow extension... now i like having a little of both. i take a bit of time to relax everytime i putt, more than most. i release the disc flat with a little nose down and i play the disc's drop (as opposed to going straight at it). i would say over all i'm confident with my putting, which isn't something all players can say... time will tell, though.

[Weebl]

I use a fan grip as well, squared shoulders, 'reachback' is at my hip and maintains the discs orientation. I putt right at the spot where I'm aiming, bee-line if you will. Depending on the situation I vary nose angles and the power of the putting stroke. What I always feel best doing though is best explained on 50' putts without worry of a fast green/dropout. My putt's apex is at the top of the basket, slight nose up and it goes straight at the chains... If I miss I have no more than a 15-20' putt to recover from.

[zealot]

kenclimo.com has a great article on putting. push putts made me soooo much better.

[Eric O]

Between the two articles here at DGR and Climo's page, all the fundamentals of pitch putting are pretty well covered. Using that information as a starting point, combined with lots of practice and observing the best local players, achieving good putting results has been one of the easier parts of the game for me to develop.

Minimizing potential variables in the putting mechanics goes along way toward improving consistancy.

One thing that helped me while practicing is to keep at it even after fatigue sets in 30-40 minutes into the routine. Everything starts to get sloppy for a while when the muscles get tired, so you have to focus extra hard on good clean form. Once you can sink 30-35 footers regularly when you are tired, putting on the course feels effortless.