There are hundreds of tips to help you improve your disc golf game. Tips for new players, intermediate players, advanced players, driving, approaching, putting, disc golf technique, strategy, and so much more.
But if there are so many, how do we choose the best disc golf tips that will actually help us work our way up from beginner player to elite disc golfer?
That’s a tough question. But the answer is simple and I’m going to give it to you right now: I’ve picked the top 5 best disc golf tips and put them together for you in this simple, straightforward post. These are the only 5 tips you need as a new player.
Alright, so what are the top 5 best disc golf tips?
The Top 5 Best Disc Golf Tips!
1. Throw the right discs for your skill level
One of the most important tips in disc golf is to make sure you’re throwing the right discs for your skill level. Especially if you’re a new player.
If you’re a beginner, and you don’t play with discs that are appropriate for your skill level, you’ll find the game much more difficult. Because some discs are just too hard for new disc golfers to throw.
Let’s take a look at what kind of discs you might need, depending on your skill level:
If you’re a brand new player, you need beginner-level discs that are super easy and generally fly straight. These discs allow you to learn technique, practice correctly, and improve your overall game, all while having fun out on the course. However, brand new players should stay away from drivers and overstable discs, because both of those kinds of discs are hard to throw.
For some easy disc recommendations, check out this post – The 7 Best Disc Golf Discs for Beginners!
If you’re a newer player or amateur player, you’re looking for easy-to-throw putters, mid-range discs, and control drivers as you continue to improve. As you’re building your skills, and going up in disc difficulty, focus on developing good technique and throwing correctly. That way, you’ll be ready for advanced discs in no time at all.
But before you get to that level, check out the discs in these posts:
The 17 Best Disc Golf Putters for Beginners
The 17 Best Disc Golf Mid-range Discs for Beginners
The 17 Best Disc Golf Control/Fairway Drivers for Beginners
If you’re an intermediate or advanced player, you can basically throw whatever you want at this point. Once you’re a highly skilled disc golfer, you’ll be more selective based on personal preference and shot selection.
But if you’d still like some recommendations, check out the posts below:
The 11 Best Disc Golf Discs for Intermediate Players!
The 7 BEST Disc Golf Discs of ALL-TIME!
The 101 Best Disc Golf Discs in the Game Today!
Lastly, understanding which discs to throw also means learning the disc golf flight ratings (the numbers on a disc golf disc).
If you would rather pick discs for yourself, you can learn how to read the numbers on a disc and pick which discs might work best for you.
The numbers on a disc represent the disc golf flight ratings and tell you how a disc is supposed to fly. The numbers show you the characteristics of a disc including the speed, glide, turn, and fade of each individual disc.
And these flight ratings are important to know for a couple of reasons:
First, because they’ll help you learn how to pick out discs for yourself. I already went over that one.
Second, you need to understand how each disc flies. That will help you know when to throw each disc, what to throw in certain situations or on certain holes, and it will help you start to understand how to use discs for more advanced shots.
Third, learning flight ratings can help you improve your game super fast. Out of all the technical knowledge I’ve learned about disc golf, learning the disc golf flight ratings was probably the most practical, useful information of all. Now, I can look at any disc and almost immediately know how it flies.
For more on flight ratings, check out this post – What Do the Numbers on a Disc Golf Disc Mean?
2. Focus on technique
Learning good throwing technique is one of the most important concepts in all of disc golf. So it’s second on this list. Because if you don’t learn proper technique, you won’t be able to throw discs correctly, which can lead to MAJOR problems down the road.
I can tell you from experience that it’s easier to learn technique and improve than it is to correct poor technique years down the road. That was me so please focus on learning good technique first.
What I mean by good technique is a proper throwing motion with a disc golf disc, focusing on executing all of the steps of a disc golf throw correctly.
Let’s keep it simple – here is how you throw a proper backhand throw in just 7 simple steps:
- Find proper grip: whether it’s a power or non-power grip, find what grip works for you.
- Work on x-step and hip rotation: both parts of technique are crucial for balance and power.
- Good reach back: full arm extension at about a 45 degree angle.
- Look away from line of sight: this might sound counterintuitive, but it will help with rotation and momentum as you move through your throw.
- Strong final step: once you hit full reach back, your foot should plant for the upcoming foot rotation.
- Lead with your elbow: as you rotate your foot come through with your elbow and throw!
- Follow through: allow your arm to continue following through the motion after you throw. This will continue the momentum for a complete throw and keep you from getting injured. Simple and easy.
For more on technique, check out the following blog post – 7 Steps to the Best Disc Golf Technique and a Perfect Throw!
3. Become a putting expert
No matter how far you throw, how great you are at approaching, or how smart your strategy is to get your disc close to the basket, you still gotta’ know how to putt. Because as the old disc golf adage goes, “drive for show, putt for dough.”
Distance driving might be awesome, with 400+ foot drives and insane distance discs, but putting is what helps you win and get that dough in the end.
As for putting, I highly recommend that you work on your skills as often as possible. And I’m not just talking about tossing a few discs into the basket after your weekly rounds, but focusing on finding the perfect putter for you, getting an at-home practice basket, and any extra practice using various drills and games.
For more great putting tips, check out this post – The 12 Best Disc Golf Putting Tips for Beginners!
For some awesome putting drills and games, check out this post – The 11 Best Disc Golf Putting Drills and Games!
4. Do your field work
Field work is simple. Find a large field and start working on various parts of your disc golf driving and approaching game.
But don’t just randomly go out and throw. Use your practice time wisely and make sure you’re always working on a specific part of your game like: consistency, accuracy, distance, power, release angles, flights lines, advanced throws or whatever you’re trying to work on that day. You should have a goal every time you go out to do field work.
Field work is important, but it’s just one part of an elite practice schedule.
For more on field work, check out this post – The Ultimate Guide to Disc Golf Field Work: 7 Tips to Use Today!
5. Daily practice
If you want to get better at anything, you have to practice. I mean, that’s a given. Of course you have to practice. Because this isn’t an easy sport.
But if you want to go from good to great or beginner to elite player, you have to practice DAILY. Not just a few rounds a year, or a couple extra putts after hole 18, but committing to a weekly schedule to work on all parts of your game.
If you’re unsure what I mean, here are just a few things that you can routinely work on every week: strategy and rules, field work, learning technique, putting practice, distance work, understanding how to approach, making sure you have the right equipment, drills, and a variety of other skill sets.
For daily practice, here’s a routine that I try to stick to:
Monday – Putting practice
Tuesday – Approach work
Wednesday – Disc golf workout in the gym
Thursday – Technical knowledge & rules
Friday – Field work
Saturday – Full round Sunday – Rest/miscellaneous practice or study
But that’s a hardcore, advanced-level player’s weekly practice routine. Tough to stick to for just about anybody.
If that’s too much for you, or you feel like you’re getting burnt out, try backing it down to 3-4 days a week and see how you do. The key is to stay disciplined and consistent with your practice schedule. The longer you can do that, the better you’ll get.
If you decide to go the competitive route, daily practice is essential. A good weekly practice routine can really amp up your game and take your disc golf skills to the next level. So keep practicing, stay consistent, and you’ll see results in no time.
For more on practicing, check out this post – The Complete Disc Golf Practice Guide: Driving, Approaching, & Putting!
Don’t forget to have fun out on the course!
Lastly, don’t forget about why you’re playing disc golf in the first place: to have fun. That’s probably why you started and it should always be why you go out again.
You may want to get better, and you might want to become a great player, but don’t ever forget to add just a little bit of fun in to everything you do. Because if you forget the fun, you’ll probably burn out. So go have some fun out on the course!
Finally
Hopefully these tips have helped you. I know you’re ready to hit the course, so I’ll make this short:
Disc golf is not easy. So if you want to get better, you’re gonna’ have to put in the work. A few rounds won’t cut it. You have to learn about discs and flight ratings, continue improving your throwing technique, take your putting to the next level, use field work to improve various other parts of your game, and find ways to practice your game as often as possible.
If you do all that, your skills will improve and you’ll undoubtedly become an elite disc golfer.
Related content
The 7 BEST Disc Golf Discs of ALL-TIME [2024 Edition]!
101 Disc Golf Tips to Take Your Game to the Next Level!
What Do the Numbers on a Disc Golf Disc Mean?
Don’t forget to check out the book!
If you’re looking for more tips and tricks on how to play disc golf, check out my book, “The Disc Golf Player’s Manual.” This ultimate beginner’s guide is loaded with over 200 pages of content, helping you to improve your game AND lower score on the disc golf course. Check it out here on my site.