Disc Golf Tips and Technique: Putting with Dan Beato (Video)

[masterbeato]

Dan,
The flutter in some of your putts is quite apparent.

What causes flutter?

no finger spring + that is not really how i putt i just wanted to show people what it looks like somewhat with the best of my crappy putting abilities.

Is the wrist supposed to be as open as MB shows in the video? And are there any pros that utilize the short hand putting?

wrist open yes!

short arm putters:
Chris "Critter" Meyer, Minnesota
Timmy Gill, Minnesota
Cam Todd, somewhere in the Carolina's
Shawn Sinclair, Bowling Green, KY
Barry Shultz, WI
Barry and Shawn both release before they fully extend which makes it considered a short arm putting style.

those are all i know of

[Beetard]

Walter Haney had a weird little putting style (saw it on MSDG 04) what would you call it?

Does that guy still golf?

[Toomes]

Walter Haney had a weird little putting style (saw it on MSDG 04) what would you call it?

Does that guy still golf?

I don't really know Walt, but I only see him out maybe once every 2 or 3 months and that's just for a causal round. He doesn't play tournaments anymore.

[masterbeato]

i know of more golfers that have the short arm thing going on but i was just way too f'ing lazy to list any more.

[Puddleduck]

I consider putting to be one of the stronger parts of my game. (which isn't saying much) I almost never miss from inside 20'. But I've struggled to stretch my putts to longer distances without resorting to trying to aim an anhyser line in or time the fade.

I had thought I was doing a short-arm putt, having learned the technique from Blake's article. But watching this video made me realize that I've been extending my arm much, much more ... l've ending my stroke with a straight elbow.

I just tried 30 putts working on finishing my stroke sooner, while the elbow is still bent, with the disc only traveling about 18" before leaving my hand. The first thing I noticed was how much more speed I was getting on the disc as I was getting that 'ejection' from the palm. My accuracy was way down of course, but even from 20' I was easily over shooting the target by 10' - 15' on nice flat putting lines.

I think the longer arm extension was limiting the amount of weight shift that I was transferring to the disc. This adjustment definitely seems like the answer to extending my effective range out to 30'.

It is just a pity that I'm going to have to relearn my accuracy with this modified stroke to get there. But so it goes: one step back to take two forward.

[Beetard]

It does seem that with short arm putting, the timing of the weight shift is easier. As long as I do it, power is added to my putt.

Accuracy will come. For me, it's hard to miss (at least when nothing's at stake)

The only times I'll miss are if I forget to aim or I don't get good wrist extension. Poor wrist extension is often a problem for me on putts outside the circle. As much as I tell myself to just concentrate on the fundamentals, I'll still often try to muscle it and my technique will break down.

[Blake_T]

The first thing I noticed was how much more speed I was getting on the disc as I was getting that 'ejection' from the palm.

you are describing the effects of finger spring and wrist extension/palm push.

[MandShowI]

one thing i noticed with this form..(maybe just because it was dan doing it) the disc becomes more of a ballistic projectile than a gyroscopic one allowing it to fly further straighter and with less fade..

or is that just because dan doesnt normally putt this way and is a freak of nature(and i mean that in the best way possible)

[masterbeato]

i'm just a freak of nature

[MandShowI]

soon we shall film again dan..the rains have come..its only a short time till the pins are put back!

[masterbeato]

dude like......totally riverside!

[Puddleduck]

The first thing I noticed was how much more speed I was getting on the disc as I was getting that 'ejection' from the palm.

you are describing the effects of finger spring and wrist extension/palm push.

Yup. I wasn't getting that with my old form ... exaggerating the short in "short-arm" helped me find it because a very short stroke forces you to focus on acceleration.

[Blake_T]

Yup. I wasn't getting that with my old form ... exaggerating the short in "short-arm" helped me find it because a very short stroke forces you to focus on acceleration.

bingo. you now have 1/2 of the secret of a short arm putting style. the other 1/2 is that the smaller the motion, the more easily/often you can repeat it.

[Puddleduck]

I think I'm discovering the second half pretty quickly as well.

My accuracy has been coming back faster than I expected following the form change. I've been practicing for 1/2 hour a day for three days and I'm already back to 95% at 10' and 80% at 15'. Nothing too stunning but not horribly worse than I was before.

The cool thing is that when I do miss it is now usually because I overdo the extension/spring and miss high. I'm now dinging off the top rim instead of the bottom. Left/right misses are totally gone. (Although those weren't really a problem at these ranges before either).

I'm going to keep working short putts for a week or so and then start slowly moving back. I'm a fan of the Mark Ellis "Practice the putts you can make ... you already have plenty of practice missing putts" approach.

From 15' I am just drilling center chain with no apex to speak of ... but I think once I'm fully comfortable at this range learning to carry that drop into the chains will be my next logical step.

Blake - Am I right that putts out to 30' don't require much more power than is needed for a 15' line-drive ... just a higher apex?

[Jsw]

I worked on trying the 'short arm technique' for about a half hour yesterday. I see the merits right away, it seems to be a very repeatable motion that doesn't have as many variables as a stroke you open your arm up on. It feels pretty awkward but I guess that goes with anything new. My two main problems are:

1. Acceleration; it seems like this technique would be capped at about 20 feet before you would have to start tinkering with the mechanics or 'opening it up' a bit. I could wrong but, it feels a bit like I'm 'hand cuffed'.

2. Flutter; Anyone have any tips on getting rid of this? Could you explain 'finger spring' a little more? It doesn't seem to effect accuracy much but it looks ugly and I feel like its indicating I have a flaw in my form which might hurt accuracy as I try to increase my putting range.

It was fun to try though, refreshing to try something new, especially with putting. I shall work on it more and see where it takes me.

*EDIT* Blake, any chance of getting a video of you performing the technique? No disrespect to Beato'(did a great job and explained it very well) but I think it would be nice to see someone who has mastered it in action, as apposed to someone who uses a different putting technique when he plays trying to imitate it.

Thanks for the video though - its a relief to me because I'm a 100% visual learning, its difficult for me to read something and execute it with confidence because I always second guess myself. I tried to practice short-arm putting when I read it a few months ago and I was doing it way wrong