Stuck in a Rutt

Hey there folks!
I've been playing pretty pretty seriously for about 2 years now, and I really feel like my game is leveling off. I'm really missing the days when i could see little improvements every time I played. I can drive about 300 ft. and my putting is pretty good, my mid-range shots are so-so. I've brought my average from a +11 down to a +2/+3 but I can't seem to get over that hump. Maybe 4 out of ten drives tend to go a little wild and my mid-range skill isn't consistent enough to get me out of the bushes with a good approach. Bogeys are killing me and Birdies are few and far between. The best thing that ever happened to my game was finding an awesome mentor, but, alas, he's moved his silly ass to the other side of the country. Anyone have some awesome practice tips for improving consistency while I seek a new teacher?

In case it matters, my go-to discs are: Millennium JLS 174g , Valkyrie 175, Wraith 175g for sidearms & Roc 177g

[Ghost]

a few things:

Field practice for the drivers and mids
Midrange only rounds are quite useful. They make you much sharper on your shots.

oh, and you might wanna buy a putter and do 20-30mins of that when you get to the course to warm up

[Alex Smith]

Good ones, I'll try both of those.

[Jamie 'gr8rocshot' Ruane]

Nothing wrong with any of those discs....you got keep pushing....find a league to play in.

Work on your approach game by playing catch...use your putter...or pick up something easier to throw and easier to catch than a Roc...something you can incorporate into your bag.

[nick young]

It depends what you want to do. Do you want more distance? Accuracy? For distance go throw in a field or watch the discraft vids. Possibly change your grip or form. I used to have the same problem. Then i started playing at leagues. It is as simple as this: if you play with people who are better than you you will get better. Going back to leagues for a couple months i was the worst player there. In a matter of one year i have moved from losing am3 every week to winning am1 two weeks ago. By playing with better players i picked up little tricks and techniques from players better than me. Discraft has a video called fasted way to improve or somthing like that. Check that out.

[nick young]

My bad i didnt read the consistancy part. Ooops.

[Alex Smith]

No worries thanks for the advice, I'll try to find that video :)

[Alex Smith]

The only league play I'm aware of in my area is the local club's weekly doubles and singles tourneys. The problems are:
a.) It's a $5 dolalr buy in every week and I've got a family to feed
and B.) A lot of the guys in the club here are competitive as hell and kind of douchey. I play for fun and I've always thought of DG as the friendliest of sports, these guys come close to proving me wrong.

That said, Your advice is great, I definitely want to play with more skilled players than myself and some of the guys in club are pretty awesome so maybe I'll figure it out.

[Sam Smith]

If you don't mind taking advice from your little brother...

I was in the same place you are at year two. I did everything that these gentlemen have suggested. Most importantly though, I committed to the Discraft putting challenge. Mark Ellis talks about winning games with short puts, and he couldn't be more right. I can go out and throw horrible drives and upshots all day long and still score well on putts alone. The funny thing is that one of the things you said to me actually helped me hone my game in a little bit. A while back we talked about playing for par. So, chin up you're on the right path! And always go back to the videos.

http://www.discraft.com/vid/html/mediaplayer.html

[Jim Coonradt]

It's all in the head and that's the hardest part to train. A lot of it is the little things like figuring out how to get that par after you shank that drive. Experience, experience, experience.

[Jim Coonradt]

Well put!

[Jeffery Nugent]

I practice my upshots almost daily, I've got about 200 feet of yard with a big tree at one end and I throw at it, practice as much as possible.

[Brandon Swanson]

A couple of things, but the first is the most important. You've got to get that short game down! It is the core of your game. When you practice... you do practice right? otherwise there's no sense in talking about getting better... do you throw mostly drives or upshots? Get a PUTTER and learn to throw it FROM THE TEE. You'll be surprise how far they go and you'll find they are the straightest discs in the game. Pick up a dx aviar and get going.

Next. If you're maxing at 300' you probably would benefit from lighter discs. Everything you throw is 175g or heavier. Please don't take this as an insult. I can throw 400' and I'm really finding after 6 seasons of disc golf that I really like throwing lighter discs. They are so much easier to control. You don't have to throw your arm out to get them going. I've been throwing discs in the 160-170g range and it has really done wonders for my game. Most people don't acheive their max arm speed with a 175g disc. Oh, and if you're worrying about headwinds, they make overstable discs that are still overstable at light weights...or carry a heavy disc just for this purpose still if you're really concerned.

Last, about the midrange game. The roc. Great disc, but it's fairly overstable at the ranges you're throwing. I'm guessing it tails off pretty hard for you at the end, unless it's really beaten up. Want to get out of the bushes (where you're often stuck with restricted throwing motions) with ease? Pick up something more stable (straight) to understable. The discraft glide, comet, and stratus, or the innova stingray, panther, and wolf would make good choices for these purposes. There are others of course, but those are my picks.

Sorry, I generally don't give advice to people about changing their bag, but I think you might benefit. BUT, your first move is get a putter and learn it from the tee! Then get the understable mid and learn that. If you get that short game under control you'll be at/under par consistently by mid season.