Disc Golf Putting Drills You Can Actually Score
Seven disc golf putting drills with a score for each, a test to find your make range, pro C1X stats and a simple log to track your progress.
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These are seven disc golf putting drills you can take to a basket tonight. Each one comes with a score you write down, so you can see if you’re getting better instead of guessing. Start with the make range test below. It tells you which distance to use for most of the drills.
Start here: find your make range
Your make range is the distance where you make most of your putts but still miss some. To find it, putt 10 discs from 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 feet (3, 4.5, 6, 7.5 and 9 m) and write down how many you make from each spot. The distance where you land around 85 % is your make range.
How to run the test:
- Mark the five distances with cones, spare discs or anything you have. Measure once with a tape or by pacing, and use the same marks every time.
- Putt 10 from each mark, starting closest. Same putter mold if you can.
- Write down makes out of 10 for each distance.
- Do it once a week or once a month. Same routine, same order.
The first time you do this, the result is usually a drop somewhere. Maybe you make 10/10 from 10 feet, 9/10 from 15, then 6/10 from 20. That drop is where your practice should happen. Putting from distances you always make feels good, but it doesn’t change much. Putting from distances you rarely make mostly trains you to miss.
One round of 10 putts per distance is a small sample. If two tests give different answers, go with the average, or putt 20 per distance.
C1, C1X and C2 in one minute
C1 (Circle 1) is everything within 33 feet (10 m) of the basket. C1X is the same circle minus tap-ins, so putts from 11 to 33 feet (3.3 to 10 m). C2 is the ring from 33 to 66 feet (10 to 20 m). C1X is the number most players use to judge putting, because nobody misses tap-ins.
These are the definitions UDisc uses for its stats, and they’re the ones behind the pro numbers on UDisc Live and the DGPT. UDisc added C1X in 2019 to give a clearer picture of putting skill, since pros almost never miss a tap-in.
For practice, the 10 to 33 feet zone is where you win or lose strokes, and it’s where almost every drill below takes place.
Seven putting drills and how to score them
Here’s the short version. The details for each drill follow below.
| Drill | What it trains | What you score |
|---|---|---|
| Buhr 85 | Volume and rhythm from your make range | Make % for the session at one distance |
| The ladder | Range, and dealing with a miss | Furthest make, and where you finish |
| Around the world | Different angles and slopes on the C1 line | Makes out of 21 (3 laps of 7) |
| 10 in a row | Pressure | Longest streak in 15 minutes |
| Simon Lizotte challenge | Long putts, focus over time | Furthest make in 1 hour |
| Obstacle and straddle putts | The putts you actually get on the course | Makes out of 10, compared to your normal stance |
| Putting HORSE | Pressure with other people watching | Games won |
Buhr 85: volume from your make range
Pick the distance where you make about 85 % (from the test above), and putt a full stack from that same spot, round after round. You’re not testing yourself. You’re getting a lot of clean reps from a distance that is hard enough to matter and easy enough that you mostly see the disc hit chains.
The drill is named after Gannon Buhr, who explains his approach to putting practice in his own video: How to ACTUALLY Get Better at Putting in Disc Golf.
How to do it:
- Stand at your 85 % distance. Use one spot for the whole session.
- Grab a stack of putters. Around 10 is good, ideally the same mold.
- Pick one line and putt it the same way every time. Don’t switch between spin and push, or between flat and hyzer, halfway through.
- Putt the whole stack, count the makes, pick them up, repeat. 10 to 30 rounds is a good session.
Keep the pace steady and don’t overthink each putt. This drill is about rhythm, not pressure.
Makes and attempts for the session, and the make %. If you end above 90 %, move a step back next time. Below 80 %, move a step closer. Between 80 and 90, stay where you are.
The ladder
Start at 10 feet (3 m). Make it, move back 5 feet. Miss, move forward 5 feet. Keep going for 20 putts.
This one teaches you to reset after a miss. It’s easy to get tight after two misses in a row. Here a miss just means an easier putt next.
Your furthest make, and the distance you finish on after putt 20. Both should creep up over time.
Around the world
Pick seven spots in an arc around the basket, all at the same distance. Start at 15 or 20 feet (4.5 or 6 m) and move toward 30 feet as it gets easier. One putt from each spot, then walk the arc back. Three laps.
On most courses the ground around the basket isn’t flat, and wind comes from one side. Around the world makes you putt uphill, downhill and with the wind from different angles, which a single spot never does.
Makes out of 21. Write down the distance too, and note which spots cost you putts. If it’s the same spot every time, that’s the one to practice.
10 in a row
Stand at your make range and try to make 10 putts in a row. Miss one and the count starts over.
The first five are easy. Putts eight, nine and ten are harder, because now a miss costs you something. That’s the feeling you get on a putt for par in a league round, and it’s hard to practice any other way when you’re alone.
Your longest streak in 15 minutes. If you hit 10 quickly, move back 3 to 5 feet and try again.
The Simon Lizotte challenge
Start 10 feet (3 m) from the basket with a one hour timer. Every time you make a putt, move back another 10 feet. Miss, and you putt again from the same spot. Your score is the furthest putt you make before the hour runs out. Simon Lizotte posted it in 2020 and a lot of players tried it.
The original is Simon’s own video: MOVING BACK 10 FEET EVERY TIME I MAKE IT!! (1 hour challenge). Ultiworld covered the wave of players who copied it in April 2020.
The first few distances go fast. Somewhere past C1 it slows down, and at C2 distances you can spend a long time on one spot. That’s where most of the practice happens. You’re throwing a lot of long putts, and you have to keep your form together while the clock runs.
A few practical notes:
- Bring as many putters as you have. Walking back and forth to the basket eats the hour quickly.
- Past 50 or 60 feet most people switch to a jump putt or a short approach throw. Decide beforehand what counts for you, and stick to it so your scores stay comparable.
- A realistic first score depends a lot on your arm. Don’t compare with Simon. Compare with your own last attempt.
Your furthest make. If you want more detail, also write down the time on the clock when you made each distance. Beating your time to 40 feet is progress too, even if the furthest make stays the same.
Obstacle and straddle putts
On the course, you rarely get a clean putt from a flat spot. You’re behind a tree, on a slope, or next to a bush you can’t stand in. Practice those putts on purpose.
Find a spot where a tree or a bag blocks your normal stance. Take a straddle stance (feet side by side, facing the basket) or step out around the obstacle. Putt 10 from 15 or 20 feet.
On a putt from inside 10 m (33 feet), you have to show full balance behind your marker disc before you move toward the basket. Falling forward is a stance violation and costs a penalty throw (PDGA rule 806.01, Putting Area). So practice staying balanced after the release, also from awkward stances.
Makes out of 10, and the same number from your normal stance at the same distance. The gap between the two is what you’re trying to close.
Putting HORSE
For two or more players. The first player picks a spot and a type of putt (a straddle, a push putt, a putt from behind a tree, whatever). If they make it, everyone else has to make the same putt. Miss, and you get a letter. Five letters and you’re out.
It’s the only drill here where someone else is watching and waiting for you to miss. That’s closer to a tournament than anything you can set up alone.
Games won. It matters less than the other scores. The point is the pressure.
What is a good C1X putting percentage?
Among touring pros, the best C1X putters in 2024 were at 93.33 % in MPO (Paul Ulibarri) and 84.29 % in FPO (Silva Saarinen), according to the DGPT’s 2024 putting stats. For amateurs there is no reliable published benchmark, so your best reference is your own number from a few weeks ago.
The same DGPT article lists the best C2 putters. James Proctor led MPO at 36.09 % and Ohn Scoggins led FPO at 28.94 %. The year before, Gannon Buhr finished at 40.4 % from C2, which the article calls staggering.
Two things are worth taking from those numbers:
- Even the best miss. The top MPO C1X putter missed about 1 in 15. If you miss one 25 footer in a round, that’s not a crisis.
- C2 putts are mostly misses. At the very top of the sport, around a third go in. Practicing C2 is useful, but most strokes are won or lost inside 33 feet.
Round stats and practice numbers aren’t the same thing. Putting 10 from 20 feet on a quiet evening is easier than one putt from 20 feet on hole 14. Don’t be surprised if your round C1X sits below your practice make range. Track both if you can, and look at how they move rather than at the gap.
How to track your progress
To see if the drills work, you need to write the scores down. The simplest log is a table with four columns. Fill in one row every time you practice, and look back at it every few weeks.
| Date | Drill and distance | Makes / attempts | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1 | Buhr 85, 20 ft | 170 / 200 | 85 % |
| Oct 3 | Around the world, 20 ft | 16 / 21 | 76 % |
| Oct 5 | Simon Lizotte | furthest make 40 ft |
The numbers in the table are examples, not benchmarks.
A few rules that make the log useful:
- Same drill, same distance, same setup. Changing three things at once tells you nothing.
- Write it down right away. Makes you “remember” later are usually a little higher.
- Look at weeks, not sessions. One bad evening is noise. Four weeks in a row going the same way is a trend.
- Redo the make range test once a month. When your 85 % distance moves back, move your Buhr 85 spot with it.
Paper and a pen in your bag works fine. If you’d rather log it on your phone, the Buhr 85 and Simon Lizotte drills in Discaddie’s Practice section save every session and show your make % by distance over 30 days, 90 days or all time.
You can do the same with your drives. Here’s how to measure how far you really throw.
FAQ
How often should I practice putting?
Short and often is easier to keep up than long and rare. 15 to 20 minutes three or four times a week is a good place to start. Your form gets sloppy when you’re tired, so a two-hour session on a Sunday gives you fewer good reps than it sounds like. If you only have time for one drill, make it Buhr 85. For a weekly plan that also covers drives and approaches, see how to practice disc golf alone with a plan.
How do I practice putting without a basket?
Putt at a target. A tree trunk, a chair, a spot on a fence or a towel hung up in the garage all work. Focus on the same things you would at a basket: same stance, same release, same line every time. You won’t get a make %, but you can count how many hit the target out of 10. A cheap portable basket is worth it if you can, because it gives you something to score.
How many putters do I need for putting practice?
Enough that you don’t spend the session walking. Around 10 is a good stack for most drills. More is nice for the Simon Lizotte challenge. Use the same mold if you can, so every putt feels the same and your make % measures you, not the discs.
What distance should I practice putting from?
Mostly from your make range, the distance where you make about 85 %. Run the test at the top of this article to find yours. Mix in a few long putts with the ladder or the Simon Lizotte challenge, but do most of your reps where the result is close.
