Get Better This Disc Golf Offseason

Ah yes, another disc golf season in the books. How did yours go? Did you achieve the goals you set out to accomplish? Hopefully this past season of disc golf went great for you and you’re looking for a way to keep the momentum. Maybe this past season was a down year for you and you are looking to jump that rating back up to where it was (and then some!). Or maybe you are just looking to get better so you can finally start winning against all your friends when compete. Either way, the offseason is the perfect time to make those strides to becoming a better disc golfer.

Why is now the best time to work on your game? The disc golf offseason is a time of reduced daylight, less ideal weather, and fewer tournaments and rounds of disc golf to be played. That means you won’t be distracted by beautiful days and fun tournaments that typically make it hard to be disciplined enough to put in the work. Drills, exercises, and form changes can be the less exciting parts of the game, but they are also the very things that take your game to the next level. So let’s agree to dedicate these next 3 months to doing the little things that make you a better disc golfer. Below we outline the best way to attack this offseason for the best results.

Review and Analyze Your Last Season

In order to get better, we must first find our weaknesses. I am personally a stat nerd and track all my advanced stats in the Udisc app (highly recommend if you don’t already do that), and so it’s a fairly simple process to look at my stats and see that putting is where I am lacking.

If you don’t track stats, then no worries though, as it’s typically fairly easy to reflect back and figure out where you need to improve. Try and think back on your best rounds — what made them successful? What about your worst rounds of the past year? For me, the shot that stands out the most are my edge of circle putts. If I’m making 25 to 40 footers, I am the happiest person on the disc golf course. Think back on the year and see if any of these things ring true for your weakness

Example Areas of Improvement

• Hitting gaps
• Distance
• Putting approach shots close every time
• Forehand confidence
• Scramble shots
• Rollers
• etc.

It’s important to think about the shots that are costing you the most strokes during your rounds, and not necessarily what you are the worst at. For instance, I am not good at rollers, but learning to throw a good roller won’t save me many strokes at this point in my game. Maybe distance isn’t great for you, but would adding 50ft. of distance help if hitting your lines is what is currently causing frustration in your game? If you can figure out where you are bleeding strokes on the course, you can work to fix it. For me, that is forehand consistency and 30 foot putts. Dial those in and disc golf is going to be a lot more fun next season.

Set Goals

Now that we have completed the difficult part of self reflection, let’s dream about the possibilities of fixing our weaknesses. Setting goals is crucial for a successful offseason because it is what will push you to that next level. Let’s think about those future rounds that will be so much more enjoyable with better disc golf being played. Good goals are measurable goals, so try and think of ways you can easily track your progress toward your goal. For my putting and forehand weaknesses listed above, I want to think of ways to track my improvement with them.

Example Disc Golf Goals:

1. Circle’s Edge Putting Goal = 85% from 25 to 40ft – To calculate this, I will take 10 putts each from 25 feet, 30 feet, 35 feet, and 40 feet for a total of 40 putts. So my goal by the end of this offseason is to make 34/40 putts 5 different times.
2. Forehand Consistency Goal = 85% of wobble free and correct angle forehands – To calculate this I will take the 3 shots that needs this: 1) 5 shots with approach disc from 150 feet 2) 5 shots with fairway from 225 feet 3) 5 shots with driver from 300 feet. The shot counts if it comes out clean and on the flat line. Achieve that 13 / 15 shots 5 different times this offseason and celebrate!

These are just some examples of goals I will be pursuing. You can set the numbers and objectives to what suits your game and what you want to achieve. The same practice can be used on testing your gap hitting percentages. Or maybe you have a certain distance you would like to achieve. The key is to test where you are at now and then set a goal that you can work towards.

Get to Work

It’s now time to build that better disc golfer. There are 3 key areas that, if worked on, will greatly improve your game and help you achieve those goals we just set. Let’s dive into them.

1. Fitness / Mobility

Disc golf is a sport. It requires athleticism, and the best way to improve athleticism is through working out. Fitness levels may vary, but there is almost always room for growth in this area. Taking up a workout plan over these next 3 months can greatly improve your game. And the offseason is a great time to start up a workout plan because sore muscles won’t cost you important strokes on the course.

The offseason is also a great time to work on your mobility. If you can increase and strengthen your ranges of motion, that can be translated that into the disc golf throw. A lot of form issues in a throw are just the body protecting itself from ranges of motion that it cannot easily get into. If you improve the way your body can move, then your body will be able to throw with better form.

The biggest gain from working out and improving mobility, though, is injury prevention. If you want to be able to play more and play consistently, then it is crucial to stay healthy. The disc golf throw can be tough on knees, shoulders, elbows, back, etc. Build up a strong body to be able to take on the movement.

Example Disc Golf Workout Programs

1. Disc Golf Strong – Solid foundation of exercises that help prepare you for the game of disc golf. There is even a good offseason program that they sell
2. Blitz DG Workout Program – This program is probably for the more experienced lifter, but includes lots of great lifts and exercises to build an extremely powerful disc golf body. This one is great for those of you chasing that extra distance.
3. Calisthenics – Sometimes simple bodyweight exercises are all it takes to improve fitness. Pushups, pullups, squats, dips, etc. are all great exercises that translate well into disc golf strength. FitnessFAQs’ HomeHero program is a solid one that will build great core, shoulder, and overall body strength. But just simply committing to doing some calisthenics exercises each day will go a long way over a 3 month offseason
4. Crossover Symmetry – if you’ve ever had shoulder problems, then these bands and the accompanying program will do wonders for you. It comes with shoulder mobility drills and strengthening exercises that are great for shoulder recovery and injury prevention. Great for during the season too
5. ATG Program – “KneesOverToesGuy” has lots of great content and drills for bulletproofing your body and a lot of them work great for disc golf. Knee pain was an issue for me until I started regularly doing the drills in his book. He also has an awesome shoulder routine that has been great for shoulder strengthening. A general full body approach to fitness and mobility that just works well for the sport of disc golf (and life), his program of coaching and drills is a great resource for the offseason.

Those are just some ideas and examples to get you started. Committing to a plan and being consistent is the key. So start small and stay on track for these 3 months so that your body is ready for the season ahead.

2. Form Fixes

Film Your Throw

The next area to improve on is your actual disc golf form. It could very well be that the thing holding you back from better scoring is just some simple form tweaks. Film your throws (and your putt) and analyze your current form in order to best understand what you need to work on. If you can figure out what is causing you issues, then you can know exactly what to work on. Maybe there is some low hanging fruit of an easy tweak to your throw that you can work on this offseason that will really pay dividends in your game.

Find a Coach

Sometimes finding problems is tricky though. So that is why it is recommended to find a second set of eyes in a disc golf coach. The Formero App is an easy way to connect with a coach and get quick feedback on where your form could use some improvement.

Finding the problem is only the first step though. It is almost even more important to know how to FIX the problem. This is where a coach really shines. A good coach will not only highlight what you are doing wrong, but they will provide drills and steps required to fix it.

So this offseason, get some good instruction and start working on that form. Find a mirror and get those reps in. Start slow and get your body used to the proper swing feel. And make sure the form is correct by filming it.

3. Perfect Practice

Finally, in order to really dial in that throw, it all comes down to proper practice. The goal is to get your form dialed in during the offseason so you don’t have to think about it during the season. In order to do that, you need to get the reps in.

You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.

James Clear, Atomic Habits

Get The Reps In

The key to successful practice, though, is efficient practice. Spend the time now to plan out what you are going to work on and how you are going to execute it. Think about the goals you set forth above and create a schedule for you are going to achieve them. And set up your environment in such a way that it is easy to follow that schedule. For me, I have a basket set up in my garage that I do my 40 putts in the the morning and 40 putts at night. For forehand, I spend similar time throwing into the net with the TechDisc, with the goal of getting 20 throws a day with wobble less than 3. The net is set up already so getting reps in is seamless.

Focus Each Rep

But reps alone is not going to make you a better disc golfer. The secret to disc golf practice is making every rep count. Don’t just rapid fire reps to check the box, but spend the time and focus on your form and executing the proper technique. Over exaggerate what you are trying to fix, and film each rep so you can make sure that what you feel is actually real. If throwing into a field, have the desired angle and target in mind and focus on achieve that objective and target on each throw. If every rep is taken with focus, progress is made much more rapidly.

Conclusion

So let this be your encouragement to not squander this disc golf offseason. Start today on taking the incremental steps to improving. Build that foundation with some good exercise and mobility, no matter how small. Get some good feedback on your form and figure out what you need to work on. And then take it to the field or to the net and drill those changes so that you’re ready for next season. You have lots of fun disc golf ahead; use this offseason to make it some of the best disc golf you’ve ever played.