The 11 Best Disc Golf Putting Drills and Games

Lebron James. Mike Trout. Connor McDavid. Odell Beckham Jr. Paul McBeth. Now you may know some or all of the professional athletes on this list, especially McBeth. They’re all the best at what they do in their sport. They also have something else in common: all of them use drills to make themselves the best athletes in the world.

As a disc golfer, there are tons of drills to improve all aspects of driving, approaching, and putting. Today we’re going to focus on putting and I’m going to give you 3 reasons why drills are important and show you 11 of the best disc golf drills and games to help you improve your game forever.

3 reasons why drills are important

1. They can drastically improve skills and results: drills are just practice. But “just practice” can lead you to not only improving your skills in disc golf, but the end results of all your efforts on the course. Basically, the better you get, the better your scores are going to be on the course. And that’s what we all want.

2. Drills help to break down complex techniques: drills can be monotonous and boring sometimes, but they help us to take different parts of a concept and break it down into pieces. For example, learning how to throw backhand may seem like a simple windup and throw, but is actually a complex 7 step process that can be learned using multiple different drills.

3. Muscle memory: repetition, repetition, and more repetition. How do you get better at disc golf? Yep, you got it, repetition. Continually practicing over and over again, and making sure to practice things correctly will for sure help you start to crush it on the disc golf course.

The 11 best disc golf putting drills and games

The following 11 drills and games are some of the best ways to improve your putting game today. They’re meant to be a fun way to practice your short game. So good luck!

Drill #1 – “100s Drill”

This easy drill is part drill part super repetitive practice. We won’t bore you any more with this one. Simply grab your discs and go out to the course. Take your discs, and at varying distances, just practice. Practice until you’ve made 100 putts or try the simple “250” variation and don’t stop until you make 250 putts.

For some simple putting tips, check out our post, “The 12 Best Disc Golf Putting Tips for Beginners.”

Drill #2 – “Obstacle Drill”

This next easy putting drill requires you to put an obstacle like a tree in between you and the basket. Now take two shots from behind the obstacle. If you make at least one shot, you can move back a little further. If you miss both, just stay put. Try two more putts. Continue moving back until you’re crushing putts from a good distance away.

You can easily do this on a course, but it is more easily done with a personal home basket. Check out 11 reasons why you need a disc golf basket here.

You can also check out our post, “17 Best Disc Golf Baskets (Get One and Win)”

We got this drill from Discgolfaction.com. Check out their putting drill resource here.

Drill #3 – “Chaos Drill”

This drill is interesting and can provide some much needed cardio exercise if you do it correctly. This drill is not as much about technique as it is about getting your reps in. You’ll need at least four to eight putters for this drill. It’s okay to use mid-range discs if you need more discs. Next, place an even number of discs on either side of the basket at varying distances.

Start from one side and run to a disc on the other side. Throw that disc then immediately run across to another disc on the other side. This will start to get your heart pumping and allow you to just throw the disc at the basket. Sometimes we wrap ourselves up too much in technique and just need to get some throws in. This drill will allow you a lot of throws in just a short period of time.

Drill #4 – “McBeth Putting Drill”

Paul McBeth’s putting drill from an older edition Disc Golfer Magazine is a nice little variation from some of the other putting drills we have in this post.

Start by placing markers from 10 feet out every 5 feet until you get to about the 35 foot mark. You will be throwing 3 discs. If you make all 3, move back 5 feet to the next marker. If you make only 2, stay put. And if you make only 1, move 5 feet closer to the basket to the next marker. Our variation is if you miss all 3 discs, start over from the first marker.

Grab a Discraft Force McBeth Signature Elite Z here on InfiniteDiscs.com to help you out with this drill.

Drill #5 – “Jump Putting Drill”

Team Hucking Aces brings us another great drill specifically to help you with your long-range jump putting. Start out by taking a few discs or mini markers and placing them in a reasonably sized circle around the basket. Don’t use putters because you’ll be throwing those. Now head about 40-60 feet out from the basket. The goal of this drill is to either sink your discs into the basket or land your discs within that prearranged circle around the basket. If you can do either of these consistently, your putting game will improve dramatically.

Check out their video below and click to about the 5:05 mark where this drill starts.

Link to video on YouTube.

Drill #6 – “Cone Drill”

Grab a pack of sports cones here off of Amazon and space them out about 5 feet apart starting from the basket out. Once you have all of these ready, start at cone number 1. If you make a putt, you move back to the next cone. If you miss a putt, you move forward to the cone closer to the basket. Continue trying to make as many as possible and moving back until you can make a putt from the last cone.

Variation: as you get better, space the cones out further…say, about 10 feet apart. The tenth cone could be 100 feet away! If you can sink putts from that distance, you will crush any competition on the disc golf course.

Drill #7 – “Stress Putting Drill”

This drill is another exercise-infused drill and is brought to you by Team Hucking Aces. This drill makes you place about 7-8 discs in a circle around the basket.They should be about 10-15 feet from the basket. Before you throw each disc, you have to complete a set of 10 pushups. You can also substitute for crunches if you want.

Start at the first disc and complete 10 pushups. Now move in a clockwise motion to the next disc to your left. Repeat the pushups and putting until you have putted all the discs into the basket. All of this will give you putting practice and a little bit of a workout. Lather, rinse, and repeat again for best results.

Check out the drill here in the video below by Hucking Aces starting at the 3:45 mark.

Link to the video above on YouTube.

Drill #8 – “Stack Drill” or “10 in a Row Drill”

The stack drill is a very simple drill that you can do with about 4 to 10 discs. I usually use around 10 discs and call this drill “10 in a row.” Yes, it’s just about that simple, too. Whatever amount of discs you’re playing with, you should aim to get that many in a row in the basket. I call it the stack drill because you’re going to take your stack and try to sink in every disc from a specific spot. Once you nail every putt, backup a little bit and change where you’re standing. Start from about 5 feet out and move back to where you’re consistently sinking all of your putts from 30 plus feet. If you can get consistent from 40 or 50 feet out, you will improve your overall putting game dramatically.

Grab some cheap Innova Aviars for this drill here on Discgolfunited.com.

Drill #9 – “1v1 Game”

The 1v1 game is one of my favorite games/drills within disc golf to improve your putting. It was shown to me by a couple of very good disc golfers as a way to get better at putting and enjoy a cool little game while you’re hanging out with other people. It can be highly competitive, which can be a great thing for you as you develop and improve the specifics of your disc golf mechanics. Or it can be a chill little improvement game while you drink a few beers with your buddies.

In this game, it is you versus everyone else that is playing. While you can play with more than two players, it is recommended as a one player versus a second player game (1v1). There are actually two ways to play as well. If you’re not as good at putting, start with two discs at around five feet from the basket. You and the other guy playing have two putts to make one putt. If you both make at least one, move back five feet. Throw again. As long as both of you make at least one disc, move back five feet. First person to miss both will lose the game. If both players miss, first to make the next shot will win.

The harder version requires you to make both putts to move back. As long as both discs are made, move back five feet. First player to miss a putt loses. It can be tough as you move out to 30 feet or more, but it will train you to be competitive and to make longer putts with ease. Give this one a try!

For some good competition discs for this game, check out the Dynamic Discs Judge on InfiniteDiscs.com.

Drill #10 – “Ring of Fire Putting Game”

A putting game commonly held in conjunction with a tournament where participants get in a circle around a basket, then all putt simultaneously. Those who make it retrieve their disc, move back a few feet, and continue putting until there is one winner. There are not usually flames involved in the disc golf ring of fire.

You can check out this putting game and a few more here on wkcdiscgolf’s website or check out the quick video below.

Link to video on YouTube.

Drill #11 – “H.O.R.S.E Putting Game”

Almost everybody has heard of the H.O.R.S.E. game. It’s a very popular basketball game and is used with other sports as well. Essentially, a player makes a putt in any fashion. Let’s just say that you flip the putt between your legs and make it. The next person has to make his putt in the same way. If they make it, you keep playing. If they miss, they get a letter like “H.” You keep playing until one person gets all the letters in H.O.R.S.E. If you get all the letters, you lose.

Check out this awesome explanation of H.O.R.S.E. here on Horseforchange.com.

Want more drills?

If you’re looking for more drills for approaching, driving, and everything else, check out our awesome drills post called, “The 50 Best Disc Golf Drills to Change Your Game Forever,” here on the blog.

Thanks for reading, disc golfers!

Don’t forget about the book!

We’ve got a great beginner guide called, “The Disc Golf Player’s Manual,” that you can check out on the sidebar or at the bottom of the page. We crunched together a ton of great information for the beginner to learn and go love the game of disc golf. Grab a copy today!

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