David Feldberg putting clinic

[Monocacy]

That was an excellent video. I have always had trouble controlling the release point on straight-arm putts (same reason I suck at horseshoes), but Dave’s demonstration of pushing the disc forward at the release point made the concept click. I played around with this a bit, and was able to pitch putt with way more power and accuracy than before. Perhaps with practice I can finally get away from spin putting!

[Pat]

That was an excellent video. I have always had trouble controlling the release point on straight-arm putts (same reason I suck at horseshoes), but Dave’s demonstration of pushing the disc forward at the release point made the concept click. I played around with this a bit, and was able to pitch putt with way more power and accuracy than before. Perhaps with practice I can finally get away from spin putting!

do nothing but push putt for 2 weeks. Dont worry how frustrating it is. Dont worry how terrible your scores become.
2 weeks of this and you wont even think about spin-putting it again.

[Monocacy]

do nothing but push putt for 2 weeks. Dont worry how frustrating it is. Dont worry how terrible your scores become.
2 weeks of this and you wont even think about spin-putting it again.

Heh - My putting is pretty inconsistent, so I can't imagine my scores suffering much.

[Pat]

do nothing but push putt for 2 weeks. Dont worry how frustrating it is. Dont worry how terrible your scores become.
2 weeks of this and you wont even think about spin-putting it again.

Heh - My putting is pretty inconsistent, so I can't imagine my scores suffering much.

between holes, I would practice the push putt into trees 10-15 feet away. Tell yourself (and try to believe it) that you are not gonna go back to push putting.

Like Dave said, I havent 3 putted in a very long time.

I also found that I had better results when I am leaning into the putt, just like Dave did in his video.
Try putting with your back straight. (your results will not be consistent)
Now putt with about a 45 degree bend at the hips (a lot better results)

[Monocacy]

. . . between holes, I would practice the push putt into trees 10-15 feet away. Tell yourself (and try to believe it) that you are not gonna go back to push putting.

Deal! I practiced outside this evening in a mild breeze, and I was hitting my practice “basket” (a 2 x 6 board) with pretty good regularity out to 24 feet. Beyond that range I became inconsistent. Still, that’s encouraging progress for the first day.

I also found that I had better results when I am leaning into the putt, just like Dave did in his video.
Try putting with your back straight. (your results will not be consistent)
Now putt with about a 45 degree bend at the hips (a lot better results)

Good tip on leaning in and bending at the hips. Boy, I can’t wait to put together a real practice basket. A Wizard does make a satisfying "thwack" when it hits a 2 x 6, but nothing beats the sound of plastic meeting chains.

[zj1002]

I was doing the drill where you putt and hold your stance then bend down on the knee and pick up the next putter. I am in good shape and that was a good workout for me. great for teaching your body how to balance. after 10-15 of doing that off and on I started to sweat

[Claytoon]

I'm sorry, but I'm still confused as to how this works...I do the 'shoulder push' and the finger spring, but it still just flops out of my hand. When I cock my wrist, even just a little bit, and then go to the handshake position, it spins a little, but at least it stays flat. He says there should be no spin. So which is it.
Also, he contradicts himself. When he keeps showing how you 'push' the putt, he shows his wrist broken past parallel with the forearm. Yet when he talks about how you finish, he shows the wrist straight ahead, shaking hands, still parallel with the forearm. Again, which is it...contradictions are frustrating!
Even with the free vids, I am still going to buy the DVD when it comes out, to get more clarification.

BTW, the end of the video says, special thanks to Tom Schot at World Disc Sports and the Silicon Valley Disc Golf Club, in San Jose, CA. I guess Tom is either the one who filmed it or the one who set the whole thing up.

[zj1002]

Releasing the disc any way should create some spin on it but I could be wrong. The disc coming off your index finger naturally causes spin but very little. again i am no expert but i think i have read that before

[Monocacy]

I'm sorry, but I'm still confused as to how this works...I do the 'shoulder push' and the finger spring, but it still just flops out of my hand. When I cock my wrist, even just a little bit, and then go to the handshake position, it spins a little, but at least it stays flat. He says there should be no spin. So which is it.
Also, he contradicts himself. When he keeps showing how you 'push' the putt, he shows his wrist broken past parallel with the forearm. Yet when he talks about how you finish, he shows the wrist straight ahead, shaking hands, still parallel with the forearm. Again, which is it...contradictions are frustrating!

Disclaimer: I have less than 24 hours experience with this. Nevertheless . . .

The key seems to be pushing the disc with the heel of your hand rather than spinning the disc with your wrist. Coordinating the leg kick, upper body thrust, and shoulder push just as you release the disc imparts power to the putt and avoids the dreaded floppy disc. I think the wrist goes from slightly closed to handshake position, imparting a touch of spin, but I am not certain.

I hope that someone with more experience in this putting style will correct any misunderstandings that I may have expressed.

[Claytoon]

The key seems to be pushing the disc with the heel of your hand rather than spinning the disc with your wrist. Coordinating the leg kick, upper body thrust, and shoulder push just as you release the disc imparts power to the putt and avoids the dreaded floppy disc. I think the wrist goes from slightly closed to handshake position, imparting a touch of spin, but I am not certain.

DISCLAIMER: I suck at drawing...terribly.

The following pic is bad, but I think (hope) it helps explain my confusion.

The putt on the left ends with the hand in the 'handshake' as explained by Feldberg. But with this, the palm is still parallel with the arm, so while you are 'pushing' forward, there would be nothing behind the disc to push with. So it would have to be done with fingers or something.

The putt on the right is how I imagine a push putt to work. With the hand extended past parallel, so that the palm is actually behind the disc, giving it something to push OFF of. But this is certainly past the handshake position.



I've tried both, and both wobble. The only way I can get it to go anywhere at all, is by wagging my hand slightly closed on the downstroke, and then imparting a small snap (maybe an inch) from that slightly closed position to the handshake position. It seems to be working okay, but feel like I'm cheating the system, and it's still going to allow some misses left/right.

[majorsick]

If anyone has the vids DLed please let me know. I'd really like to see them.

[gretagun]

I'm not 100% sure of this, but I believe it is the same thing Blake is always talking about with teaching people to short arm their putts when learning this technique. You have to accelerate and let the disc "pop" out of your hand. If you move your arm at a constant speed and try to release the disc with this technique, your results will be inconsistent. I get much less wobble when the disc pops from my hand and when I feel like my finger spring is good.

It's hard to reference these videos now, but I belive that is what Feldburg was talking about when Dave D of Innova would tell him he wasn't hitting it hard during tournaments.

[Pat]

timing plays a big role.

keep practicing. "You have to accelerate and let the disc pop out of your hand"

Dave said his wrist is slightly cocked because his front foot is slighty off center as well. his right foot and his thumb and facing the same direction. Think of the disc as a clock. the front of the disc facing the basket is 12. Blake said he starts with his thumb around 1:30 on the disc.

when you get the timing right, the acceleration and abrupt stop and that slight un-cocking of the wrist will be spot on.

[sunspot]

I went out today to try this method. I did horrible. I started to revert back to my old style which is equally horrible. I'll continue to try this out to see if I will have any success.

I wonder what Blake thinks about this style of push putt.

[Monocacy]

. . . Think of the disc as a clock. the front of the disc facing the basket is 12. Blake said he starts with his thumb around 1:30 on the disc.

when you get the timing right, the acceleration and abrupt stop and that slight un-cocking of the wrist will be spot on.

^^^^^
Yes, this is what seems to work for me.

I practiced putting again this evening, and was hitting my target (a 2 x 6 board) with pretty good regularity out to 30 feet or a little further. Most misses didn’t miss by much, which was also encouraging. I can’t wait to try this on a real basket, but with 18 – 24” of snow forecast for tomorrow it may be a while.

Holding the disc around 1:30 (with 12:00 pointing towards the basket) imparted a touch of spin that added about ten feet to my comfortable putting range. Since the putting motion involves no active flicking of the wrist, adding spin this way did not seem to adversely affect accuracy. Quite the contrary, in fact.