2020-08-16 Spinner Putting and Tomahawks Hardly a single hole was playable when I hit the Goettingen course in the evening. All crowded with people. Thus I did some putting practice. First on hole 1's basket. Then on hole 7's basket, practicing the 10m uphill putts (equally unsuccessful than before). Later on hole 6's basket. Recent tournament video coverage came to my mind, especially James Conrad's and Andrew Presnell's hard and straight putting lines. And I remembered the importance of spin. My putts often have rather low spin (not as bad as when I began to play disc golf, but less spin than many other players). Now I realized that I don't tuck my wrist all the way in before I propel the putter out on release. My backhand drives had improved when I started to swing the wrist in just before it snaps out on release. The same I now tried on putting: ensuring to curl the disc fully in before throwing it out. I haven't done that before. The difference was noticable in- stantly. The disc flew with less flutter, straighter and longer. Suddenly I could make longer putts. After some practicing I hit 10m putt after 10m putt! -- What! 8-O Sure, if I missed I was faced with longer comebackers as well, but still, that was a revelation. My grip changed several times, not really being sure how I want to grip it. This needs more practicing. Clearly, this is no final result, but it is a first step into something new ... room for improvement! :-) Later I gave hole 10 a go. First I threw a P3 drive down through the gap. Then I threw a Hellfire tomahawk (!) -- yeah, right, no thumber but a tomahawk -- over the trees to the same spot. These lines could solve my hole 10 problem. From there I can attack with a Hellfire forehand hyzer over OB, skipping back in bounds towards the pin -- a pretty safe shot. The reason I don't throw tomahawks is grip related. For forehands I use Nate Sexton's grip: the finger pads of index and middle finger on top of each other, both fingers tucked in to rest right opposite of the thumb for a better pivot point. This grip gives me good releases for my forhands, meaning that my forehand is a reliable part of my game. But for tomahawks this grip is awkward. It just doesn't work with the different arm position. Now I discovered that when I use a normal two-finger-grip, the base of the index finger can form the pivot point with the thumb, not relying too much on the finger pads. This way I threw the said tomahawk, that worked out pre- fect. That's a second step forward I made today ... only because the course was crowded and I got creative in the time I spent there. http://marmaro.de/discgolf/ markus schnalke