need help switching to pitch putt

[the invisible tree]

After much practice with my old style I could never get the consistency that I want. I'm trying to switch to the Feldberg style pitch putt and am struggling. The main things causing trouble. The disc always flutters. I've got almost no control of the trajectory of the disc. I think this putting style has alot of potential as I'm almost always on line and am even sneaking a few of those wounded ducks in the basket on my second night of trying this. Anyone have advice?

[didihitatree]

You are probably keeping your arm too stiff and/or two slow.

The trick is start with your weight shifted a little further back than maybe shift your weight and release faster than you are used to. It's really a flick shot from your shoulder. It has to be fast, and compact. You cannot control the trajectory by trying to lob the disc higher, which is everyone's initial instinct.

This is not 100% accurate, but it helps me to think about it like this: All of your horizontal distance comes from the weight transfer and quick upper arm acceleration via the shoulder hinge. The height comes from your hand when kinda spring it off your fingers. The small bit of rotation you need comes from a clean release off your hand.

In other words, don't think about your elbow or wrist snap at all. They play no role in the shot other than being relaxed and letting the power flow through them. Everything that needs to happen occurs within the first foot or so of your motion. The shoulder is really the main hinge from your body weight shift to your hand.

The disc does have a greater tendency to wobble off your hand if you don't get a clean release. But as you noticed, the shot always goes very straight even when you mess up a bit. I wouldn't worry too much about an initial bit of wobbling as long as the disc gets there.

[Blake_T]

work on accelerating the disc... start slow and get progressively faster.

work on ejecting the disc from your fingers.

a good drill to learn the feel of ejecting the disc is to try putting with 2-3 putters stacked on top of each other.

also, it is easier to master finger spring without using a follow through (yes, just stop your arm).

[Toney]

I use this putt exclusively. one thing I do is point my thumb at the target at the end of the stroke. In this way I minimize wrists flips. if I don't pay attention to the thumb pointing, the disc tends to error right or left.

Pitch putts in general erro up and down, which is what you want. Losing them right or left usually means you're flipping the wrist too much.

Also, always find a link to aim at, ideally a bit to the right of the center pole, since even a pitch putt has some spin that can send the disc off left. I know, Climo claims he can putt with no spini, but I've never been able to achieve this.

Regarding aiming at a link, the mind wants a small target to direct things. Big targets (such as the whole basket) create a situation your brain doesn't know what to do with. Your hand can end up wandering in somewhat more random ways with a bigger target. Lots of sports are like this, by the way. once you release the disc, don't take your eye of the link target. You'll be amazed when the disc actually hits the very link you were looking at. When the disc doesn't hit the link, you'll feel something odd in your mechanics that caused this. Freaky, I know. But it works for me.

toney

[Blake_T]

Climo putts with some spin. you always have to putt with spin. what he teaches is to NOT try to spin the disc, but this has often been mis-interpreted and passed on by people as attempting to putt with no spin.

do not try to spin != try to not have any spin.