It’s no secret that practice makes perfect. One method we swear by is the new 1-2-3 putting technique and practice method. This innovative and effective technique developed by the Putting Champion Matt Bell, helps to control the power on your putt with minimal effort.
Whether you find yourself in a casual game or a high-stakes tournament, mastering this practice ensures you have a controlled pace on your putters. Ranging across distances from 12ft to 36ft, the 1-2-3 Putting Practice aims to standardize your putts according to the rotation of the disc.
Understanding your power and adjusting it to various distances is crucial in Disc Golf. This exercise not only refines your strength control but also bolsters your wrist flexibility—contributing to the generation of effective spin. It’s about finding a comfortable rhythm that assures you an advantage for every putt within 12ft or 24ft, a usual competitive distance.
Power vS Spin Control
In Disc Golf, overpowering the putter is a common mistake, leading to unsteady throws. However, practicing the 1-2-3 putting technique lets you realize that you don’t need an overwhelming power for a distance like 24ft. A measured power with a well-controlled pace helps to eliminate spit outs and ensures a higher chance successful putts.
The key of this practice is to focus on the amount of spin of the disc and not just the angle and speed. In order to master the 1-2-3 putting technique, one must count the amount on spins the disc rotates around in the air.
12ft - 1 spin
24ft - 2 spins
36ft - 3 spins
Here’s a video where Matt Bell explains the exercise:
The lesson is taken from Pulsea Disc Golf Academys new putting video course called Advance Putting 3, with Matt Bell.
Here, we prioritize control over pure power, driving home the point that sometimes less is indeed more. By adopting this philosophy, you significantly reduce the chance of misses without sacrificing the required power.
As the name suggests, this is a very advanced thing to think about, but when you are deciding your style of putting, you might want to take this into account. It will help you in the long run to avoid having to learn away from bad habits.
As stated many times, there are generally speaking two variations on a putt - the spin putt and the push putt. This 1-2-3 method applies more when you are more on the push putt side of things, since the spin putt style relies on the glide that the spin provides, and therefore decreasing the amount of spin doesn’t really work in this case.
Extend your Comfort Zone with the 36ft Putt
The final part of this exercise involves challenging your comfort zone. An extended distance of 36ft introduces you to the concept of paced and controlled power. This distance, outside your usual comfort zone, requires you to realize the perfect balance between pace and power, eventually enabling you to consistently score from this range.