Playing catch is fun.
Maybe that’s how you fell in love with frisbees. Growing up, I remember throwing a Discraft Ultra Star back and forth with my cousin at a nearby church parking lot in his neighborhood.
By that time, I’d already discovered disc golf and had become obsessed, so the activity wasn’t my introduction to the game. It did, however, keep me excited about disc sports, in general.
Even today, with my kids, it still does.
Here’s what’s perhaps coolest about playing catch, though …
It’s an invaluable skill in disc golf. Only, instead of playing with a buddy, it’s the basket. In fact, you might’ve heard this before out on the course or during a Disc Golf Network broadcast:
“It’s a simple approach from there – just play catch with the pin.”
The concept stems from something you’ve (likely) noticed in your own game:
- It’s easy to be accurate playing catch with a friend at the park.
- It’s harder to get up-and-down with a golf disc from 75 feet.
Crazy, right?
To help rectify the issue, screw focusing on the subtle intricacies of getting that approach putter of yours to tap-in range, so you don’t have to putt. Instead, simply play catch with the basket.
And it makes sense …
When playing catch with a cardmate, without thinking, you dial-back the pace of the disc and control the angle at which it meets your target, as well as focus on getting it to fall out of the sky.
Human beings are living, breathing entities with thoughts, feelings and emotions. They also bleed, so the last thing you want to do is take off one of their heads with a children’s toy. But the second you swap out a comrade for an inanimate object, things start to get squirrely – and fast.
Ready to make things right?
Be it from 50 feet or 150 feet …
Keep the wrist above the elbow.
Whether from a standstill or accompanied by a baby walk-up, start your throw with your wrist above your elbow. No, there won’t be much of a difference between the two, but there should be just enough of one to result in a floaty, nose-up approach that rests gently under the basket.
You know, like you’re playing catch.
Don’t take it from me, though …
Here’s Paul Ulibarri teaching (and demonstrating) this EXACT technique:
Disc golf is as much mental, as it is physical. Oftentimes, all that’s needed to strengthen a weaker part of your game is a simple shift in mindset. Playing catch with the basket is a great example.
It works.
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