Powering Putts with Weight Shift

[Whiz]

So, I have been messing around with my putting style as I always do when a tournament is coming up (hey, it has worked ).

With that said, I have been trying both a Felberg and a Cam Todd style. The one thing I have always found that helps with a Cam Todd style is to try putting with a belt around your torso and over the upper arm of your putting arm. This forces you to EXCLUSIVELY putt with weight shift and finger spring. While I was working on this I had a huge revelation about how weight shift transfers power to the putt. I imagined a spring or piston going through my back foot and leg and all the way up into my FRONT shoulder. In order to transfer the power to your arm/wrist/putter you have to extend the back leg and push the front shoulder forward (using the imaginary piston) before you spring your wrist. Your shoulder goes forward over and in front of your waist and the putter and THEN you spring your wrist and fingers.

Obviously we all do this to one extent or another but understanding how you are doing can lead to increased focus and a better putt. This also demonstrates that you can have a more powerful putt by bending you back leg more and getting lower over the back leg before shifting forward. The feeling, especially for a long jump putt, is like starting a race from a standing position. You get your weight down and back over that bent leg and then explode it forward. I hope this helps someone else with their putting. Good luck!

P.S. To transfer the power of the weight shift to your putt you HAVE to make sure your shoulder extends forward toward the basket BEFORE your arm/wrist/finger spring happens.

[Rogue9]

I too have been messing with my putt lately because my putting was jacked up. I also realized I needed to consciously make sure my shoulder started lower so I could bring it up to "pop" my disc out. It helped alot.

My question though is this: In the spin vs push thread someone said Feldberg is against spin. I can't seem to get any sort of distance on my putt without some spin, unless i really loft it pretty high. Using finger spring, and my fore arm I still get a moderate amount of spin. So far this has not produced any real long blow bys though. Is this still a push putt? is it a spin putt? Should I care as long as I don't get long blow bys?

[Whiz]

I think Felberg's point is that you want to minimize the elbow opening. You do get the disc to spin but I think (someone can correct me I am sure) that the traditional spin putt is dominated by the elbow opening BEFORE your wrist and finger spring and the disc releases. If you read Blake's writing on the push putt he emphasizes a quick release before the elbow opens.

[Rogue9]

ok, thats what I thought and makes the most sense from experience.

[jubuttib]

Yeah, push putt generally tries to minimize wrist and elbow movement so that there is very little sideways movement in the throw. When this is achieved you only have to worry about missing high or low.

Spin putting on the other hand is closer to the "fling" you get in a normal throw. The best part about this sort of putt is that there is very little up and down movement, even on longer putts, but due to the elbow and wrist movement there is a greater chance to miss left or right.

Feldberg really advocates that people master both, and use them accordingly. Push putting excels in the ring, where it's still easy to reach the basket without much loft, and you can gain the benefit of improved sideways accuracy. From longer distances it's much easier to generate the power required to reach the basket with a spin putt, especially if you have a low ceiling. Even Dave says that he only push putts from like 40' in, after that he needs to start incorporating more spin to his putts.