If you’ve ever stood five feet from the basket, gripped your disc, taken a deep breath, and then—clang—hit nothing but chains and despair, this one’s for you. Choosing the right disc golf putter is basically the difference between strutting off the course like a hero and Googling “Can I legally set my putter on fire?” at 11 PM.
Let’s break it down like adults who still occasionally eat cereal for dinner.
Why Putters Matter More Than You Think
Your driver gets all the Instagram glory. Big throws. Wide stances. Cool slow-mo videos with dust flying. But your putter? That’s the unsung hero. That’s the disc you’re actually scoring with. And yet, most of us treat picking a putter the same way we treat choosing a brand of paper towels—“Eh, this one looks fine.”
Big mistake. Your putter is the disc you’ll throw more than any other. It decides whether your scorecard looks respectable or like you accidentally kept track of how many mosquitoes bit you.
The Three Big Things to Consider
1. Stability
Do you want a putter that flies laser-straight, or one that gently curves like a ’90s rom-com plotline?
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Overstable putters fight the wind and fade left (for right-hand backhand throws).
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Understable putters are flippy and forgiving, gliding right.
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Stable putters go straight—like, painfully, boringly straight.
If you’re new, start stable. Don’t get fancy yet. You don’t need a “specialty” putter when you still forget which pocket you shoved your mini marker into.
2. Plastic
Putters come in every plastic blend from soft and gummy (like throwing a pancake) to stiff and premium (like chucking a manhole cover).
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Baseline plastic = grippy, cheap, wears in faster than your favorite hoodie.
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Premium plastic = durable, slick, lasts longer, but may slide out of your sweaty suburban dad hands.
Confession: I personally like baseline plastic. When I’m lining up a 20-footer, the last thing I want is my disc slipping like a greased-up Frisbee at a frat party.
3. Feel
Flat top? Beaded rim? Deep dish? This is where your hand basically tells you, “Nope, not today.” Some people swear by a beaded rim for added control. Others think beads are the Crocs of disc golf—functional but should they exist?
Here’s my advice: go to a shop, hold like ten putters, and buy the one that feels like it was forged specifically for your hand by disc golf elves.
The One-Putter vs. Many-Putter Debate
Some players carry one sacred putter and throw it for everything. Drives, upshots, putts, life crises. Others carry six identical putters because apparently disc golf is Pokémon now.
Me? I carry two. One for putting, one for throwing off the tee. Because I don’t trust my putting putter to survive tree collisions. Spoiler: it won’t.
So Which Putter Should You Buy?
Here’s the truth: there is no magical, perfect putter. (Except for mine. But good luck prying it out of my hands.)
The right disc golf putter for your game is the one you’re comfortable with, the one you’ll actually practice with, and the one you won’t immediately blame for your lack of skills.
Start with a stable putter in baseline plastic, something that feels good in your hand. Then, go outside and actually putt with it. A lot. Like, a lot a lot. Because no amount of witty blog posts can replace standing in your backyard and missing 100 practice putts before dinner.
Final Thoughts
Choosing a disc golf putter is like dating. You’ll kiss a few frogs, lose a few discs in the creek, and eventually find “the one” that makes you feel whole. And then, right when you’re comfortable, you’ll shank it into a tree and question all your life choices.
But that’s disc golf, baby.
So grab a few putters, test them out, and when you find the one that clicks—buy three more of the same mold, because you will lose one in a bush behind hole 7.
Ready to level up your shirt game? Check out Tee Shop USA’s Disc Golf Shirts Collection—because if your putts don’t impress your buddies, at least your shirt will.
