Two universal truths — and 7.5 tips — to help improve your putting

By Jack Trageser — Rattling Chains Staff

Anyone who plays golf of any kind understands putting is a big part of the game.

Surprisingly, though, most don’t take the time to develop the systematic approach required to produce real and lasting improvement. That’s good news for those who are willing to do so — assuming you’re interested in having an advantage that directly translates to lower scores and more fun After all, missed putts aren’t fun.

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As the title of this posts claims, we’ll examine 7.5 ways to help you in this regard. First, a good way to start is by recognizing there are two universal truths in regard to putting in disc golf (and ball golf, for that matter):

1. Consistent putting is a major component to consistently scoring well in disc golf.

2. More than any other element of the game, good putting requires a solid, well-developed mental game.

The first point is important if you play tournaments, leagues, or any other type of competition where scores are accumulated over numerous rounds. You may shoot a hot round (where you’re in the zone) every now and then, but unless you consistently make a large majority of the putts, you won’t consistently score well, regardless of how great the rest of your game is.

Everyone can relate to how frustrating it is to have the best drives all round yet end up not having the best score.

The second point is the theme that ties together the tips listed below. Players are different in terms of the physical aspects of putting technique, and what works for one player (grip, stance, form, etc.) won’t necessarily work for the next. Everyone, however, faces the same challenges and can benefit from these approaches.

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And we’re back … we think

By P.J. Harmer — Rattling Chains Staff

It seems like yesterday that we announced a summer break.

In reality, it was more than two and a half months ago. Crazy, right? But now we’re back and hopefully this break will have given us what we had hoped — a good break to recharge and push forward for the long haul.

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We’re not sure how that worked.

See, that break turned into something else — one where we were able to reflect on things a little bit. One where we found other things and such. And one where we put this blog into perspective.

So we’re back, but maybe not as crazy as we once were.

Our goal for this break was to re-charge, write some stories to have a stash and a few other things.

We have a few stories done, some others being worked on and a couple of new writers who should bring some interesting stuff to the table. But our grandeur thoughts kind of fizzled, once the reality of life continued to rear its head.

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Rattling Chains seeking submissions of photos and bag contents

By P.J. Harmer — Rattling Chains staff

As we build content toward our relaunch later this summer, we want to fill up some of our user-generated features.

With that in mind, we’re looking for readers to send in photos for our Photo Focus and the contents of their bags for our “What’s in your bag?” feature.

announcementFor photos, we basically need you to send the image and give us the short story behind the photo — such as where it was, why you thought it made a good photo and any other info. As long as the photo isn’t super edited, we should be able to pull all the techie info from the image, so usually it won’t be something for you to worry about.

As for what kind of images? Anything disc golf. A fantastic view. A cool basket. Discs. Action shots. Anything you can think of when it comes to disc golf.

Our hope is to run this feature every two weeks or so.

If you have any images (you can submit more than one) you’d like to see featured on the site, please e-mail it with the pertinent info to pj@rattlingchains.com.

What’s in your bag?

When Rattling Chains first started, we did a feature where we showcased what people carried in their bags. This is done at many disc golf websites, but often in video format.

All we ask is you send us all the contents of your bag (not just discs) and a couple of images to use with it. Please also include your name, where you’re from and your home course.

The plan is to run this feature every two weeks or so, as long as we have enough submissions.

If you’d like to submit your bag contents for use on the website, please e-mail them to steve@rattlingchains.com.

We hope everyone is enjoying their summer, flinging plastic and rattling those chains!

P.J. Harmer is the founder and executive editor for Rattling Chains. E-mail him at: pj@rattlingchains.com.

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook!

The summer is arriving — time to step back and huck some plastic

By Steve Hill — Rattling Chains staff

In the immortal words of Alice Cooper, “School’s out for summer.”

Substitute “disc golf website” for “school,” and you’ll see what we’re getting at here.

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The staff at Rattling Chains has decided to take a summer break, if you will, to recharge the batteries and make sure we are still bringing you the best disc golf content the Internet has to offer.

Truth is, we feel like we just finished final exams and need to blow off some steam.

With new employment opportunities, family commitments, and the desire to, you know, actually play disc golf, the day-to-day running of the site was turning into a bit of a grind. Since the handful of people behind this site are volunteers, and we all have things other than the site that take precedence, we felt it was important to take a step back, breathe, and get back to why we started things here in the first place.

The end result is, outside of our coverage of the PDGA National Tour, no new posts are scheduled to run starting this weekend until Labor Day.

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Poll 61: Disc golf plans for the summer

Officially, summer doesn’t start until June 21 in many parts of the world. But for a lot of parts, it’s also already feeling like summer.

Well, some of the time.

weekly_pollSummer, of course, is also the time when disc golf really amps up. With tournaments and casual rounds and road trips… it’s the perfect time to be involved in the sport.

So we want to know your summer disc golf plans. More playing? More courses? A road trip?

But we’ll get to that in a moment.

First, let’s check back to last week’s poll when we asked what style of putt you use. As expected, it was pretty split.

The winning form was a push putt, which received 75 of the 226 votes — 33 percent. Following that was a spin putt (56 votes/25 percent) and straddle putt (31 votes/14 percent). After that was the pitch (30 votes/13 percent), then I don’t know what it’s called, but it works for me (27 votes/12 percent). Other followed with 6 votes (3 percent) and turbo putt (1 vote/0 percent).

Let’s see what some readers had to say.

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Poll 60: Putting style

So how do you putt?

Do you fire it away and hope for the best? Straddle? Push?

weekly_pollMaybe something totally different?

Heck, maybe it’s even something different we didn’t include in the poll?

We’ll get back to that in a moment. First, let’s re-visit last weeks poll, where we asked you if those of you who had a three-day weekend played disc golf over it.

And it sounds like most of you made it a disc golf weekend. Of the 95 people who voted, 83 (87 percent) said they did. Then there were 12 (13 percent) who said they didn’t.

Now let’s take a peek to see what a few people had to say.

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Confessions of a lightweight

It took me a long time to work up to this point, but I am finally ready to admit the truth:

I’m a lightweight, and proud of it.

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In a game dominated by those throwing max weight drivers in search of the biggest distance – and, in many cases, ego – possible, I am man enough to admit that I am perfectly content throwing my Latitude 64 Opto Diamond for most drives. Standing out on the fairway with its hot pink hue and weighing in at a whopping 154 grams, it is now a staple of my game.

In fact, I am building all of my drivers around this weight class for the foreseeable future, and I am quite pleased with the results so far.

It hasn’t always been like this, though. In fact, during my two-plus years of disc golfing, I have taken some bad advice, ignored some good, and felt some pain to finally get to this point.

Let’s start with the bad advice.

When I first started playing, I headed out to league night at my local course – not to play, but to learn. The president of the local club was nice enough to show me around and take a look in my bag, which at the time consisted of an Innova DX Valkyrie and the Leopard/Shark/Aviar trifecta found in the company’s starter pack sold in big box stores.

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Poll 59: Did you play this weekend?

Let’s be serious here.

Well, not so serious.

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Sometimes, these polls will take a light-hearted approach to try and get some discussion going and just see what people are doing in the world of disc golf.

That’s kind of where we’re going with this week’s poll.

In the United States, this past weekend (for most people) was a long, three-day one. With a federal holiday on Monday, that made for some free time.

So we’re curious about those of you who played this weekend and if you have any stories!

More on that in a moment.

First, let’s check back with last week’s poll and see what some readers had to say.

Last week, we asked you how far you would walk or hike to play a disc golf course. Only 73 of you voted, but it was still somewhat surprising how the results panned out.

The winning selection was more than a mile, picked by 25 (34 percent) of the voters. A quarter of a mile (18 votes/25 percent) was next, followed by a mile (12 votes/16 percent), half a mile (11 votes/15 percent) and across the parking lot (7 votes/10 percent).

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Take a moment to remember and thank those who make this day possible

Memorial Day is a day to remember why we have what we have.

Though Rattling Chains is a website that is read in countries around the world, we’re based in the United States and the bulk of our readership is from the USA.

Today is Memorial Day.

Remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice to defend our country.

Many people will have this day off. Some will watch parades, go to cookouts, play disc golf or whatever else.

While you enjoy this extra day, please remember those who made this day possible — the men and women who have fought to protect our freedoms.

This is not a political post. No matter your thoughts about government, wars or whatever else, those who serve in the military protect your right to express yourself as you see fit.

With that in mind, we should take a moment to reflect, remember and celebrate those who have fought — and continue — to defend what we have.

So if you are out playing disc golf today, take a moment to reflect. If you see someone from the military, thank them. This is a day when it should be about that, not about the state of the country or the world.

We’ll be back tomorrow with the poll of the week. For those who have the day off, please enjoy — and remember.

If you have any comments, questions, thoughts, ideas or anything else, feel free to e-mail me and the crew at: pj@rattlingchains.com. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter andlike us on Facebook!

Living life takes on a stronger meaning for Denise Cameron

By P.J. Harmer — Rattling Chains staff

Life’s good for Denise Cameron.

The key word in that sentence? Life.

The 28-year-old resident of Syracuse, New York, is living life the way she wants. She’s less than a year from getting her college degree. There’s an awesome internship set up for the summer.

Denise Cameron has overcome a lot in the past year, but she's kept an upbeat attitude throughout. (photo by Dan Traub)

Denise Cameron has overcome a lot in the past year, but she’s kept an upbeat attitude throughout. (photo by Dan Traub)

Then there’s disc golf. Oh, is there disc golf. She’s coming off one of the best seasons she’s ever had. And, heck, just to throw things into another orbit, she’s even dating 2010 PDGA world champion Eric McCabe.

Life’s grand, it seems, for Cameron.

But if not for things working out in a crazy way, all of this may never have happened.

See, on Feb. 4, 2012, two days after her 27th birthday, Cameron suffered a brain aneurysm. And if not for everything lining up just right, the situation may have not worked out so well for her.

Despite being young and active, this health issue ran in her family. Her mother died at 51 from a massive aneurysm.

Active in the Central New York disc golf scene, Cameron said she started playing in 2004 or 2005, when she still lived in Florida. She moved to New York in 2008 and continued playing.

Central New York, specifically the Syracuse area, is a pretty solid area to play the game. With plenty of courses and a lot of people, it’s rare to not find somebody playing.

“It was a fun thing to go into the woods and throw discs,” Cameron said.

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