How to Practice Disc Golf

It sounds easy, "Just practice." Practicing is not easy, well, it is but if you're going to practice ... practice.

Practice is the only way to get good at disc golf.

Here's how I practice.

My first rule of practice is to actually practice. I don't do a lot of field work, so my practicing is done almost exclusively on the course. If I shank a tee shot off into the woods because of an early release, I shoot the shot again. If I screw that tee shot up, I might take a third attempt.

I don't go beyond 3 tee shots because I risk losing a disc, or spending way too long looking for discs. It depends on the hole.

If I want to practice scrambling, I might play one of the shanked tee shots. More often though, I play the best shot. I believe that it's important to know what it feels like to play a hole well.

Playing the shank, reinforces what it feels like to play poorly.

What about the scorecard?

I often score my practice rounds, just because doing so forces me to focus a bit more on playing tighter. I would guess that about one in every four rounds, I don't score, and just really focus on making shots and repetitions when necessary.

By focussing on shots, I can spend time to develop stock shots. So that 100 foot forehand upshot might get shot four times to get it just right.

The same goes for putting. Even if I make the 25 footer on the first attempt, I will often putt it three or four more from 25 feet to see how clean and consistent I can drill that putt.

It's all about repetitions and muscle memory. I take time during practice rounds to develop these muscles and to train my body.

Obviously if the course is busy, I just play the round. In those cases, I may even play a tightly scored round where I don't take any mulligans and play every shot where it lands. During those practice rounds, I'm practicing tournament level play.

The week before a tournament, I purposefully play fewer practice rounds. I practice my short game more in the backyard. But the rounds I do play before a tournament, I do score those while trying to get my head into the game, as if it's a tournament. For me, I have a different mindset for practice versus competitive play, but it takes effort to get the mind just right.