Practice Throws: What Counts and What Costs You
You miss a short putt, tap in, and then (purely for therapeutic reasons) slam the same putt into the chains one more time. It feels good. It also costs you a stroke.
Practice throws are one of the shortest rules in the PDGA book and one of the most commonly broken, usually by people who had no idea they were breaking anything. The rule is 809.03 Practice Throw, and here it is in plain English.
Related: Abandoned Throws Explained · Provisional Throws Explained · Match Play Explained · Warming Up Before a Round · Courtesy Violations Explained.
What a practice throw is
The PDGA definition is simple: a practice throw is any throw that is not made as a competitive attempt to change the lie.
In other words, if the throw isn’t you actually trying to move your disc toward the basket on the hole you’re playing, it’s practice. The rule doesn’t care about your intent beyond that. Showing off, blowing off steam, testing the wind with a spare disc, or “just one more” after you hole out all fall on the same side of the line.
The exceptions
Two things are not practice throws:
- Setting aside an unused disc, or returning a disc to a player, when the disc travels less than five meters in the air. Lob your putter back toward your bag, or flip a disc to the player standing next to you, and you’re fine.
- A drop. Taking relief by dropping a disc isn’t a throw at all for this purpose.
The five-meter limit is measured in the air, and the purpose doesn’t rescue a longer toss.
The penalty
One penalty throw. The practice throw itself is disregarded and not counted, so you don’t get to keep a good result either. You simply add one to your score.
That’s it: no warning first under 809.03, no sliding scale. One practice throw, one penalty throw.
What the PDGA’s own Q&A says
The PDGA’s Rules Questions and Answers settles the classic arguments:
- QA-PRA-1: A player lobbed their putter about 3 meters toward their bag. It hit the bag, kicked up, and rolled about 10 meters down a hill. Not a practice throw. It traveled less than five meters in the air; the roll afterward doesn’t matter.
- QA-PRA-2: A player threw a friend’s forgotten disc back to them from about 30 meters away. Practice throw. It went more than five meters in the air, “regardless of the purpose of the throw.” Walk it over.
- QA-PRA-3: A player missed a short putt, completed the hole, then angrily putted into the chains from about two meters. Practice throw. It wasn’t competitive, and it wasn’t setting aside or returning a disc.
- QA-MAT-1 (match play): If your opponent concedes a putt and you throw it anyway “to keep your stroke fresh,” that’s a practice throw, and in match play the penalty is added to the number of throws it takes you to complete the next hole. (More in Match Play Explained.)
Before the round: the two-minute signal
Tournaments add one more layer through the Competition Manual, section 1.05:
- The course is closed to practice while competitive rounds are in progress and at other times the Tournament Director designates.
- At a shotgun start, the two-minute signal means practice has ceased and all PDGA rules are in force. If a horn is used, it’s two blasts; the start signal is one long blast.
- At a staggered (tee time) start, you may practice in any area the TD designates until the starter gives your group its two-minute signal.
- A throw between the two-minute signal and the start of the round gets a warning if two or more players or an official see it. Further throws in that window, if observed the same way, add one penalty throw to your score, regardless of how many throws there were.
The Q&A covers one awkward wrinkle too (QA-CMP-2): if a group mistakenly starts early and then hears the real start signal, they go back to the tee and start over, and none of those early throws count as practice throws, even if they came after the two-minute signal.
Quick reference
| Situation | Practice throw? |
|---|---|
| Re-putting after you’ve holed out | Yes, one penalty throw |
| Tossing your putter toward your bag, under 5 m in the air | No |
| Same toss, but it rolls 10 m after landing | No (QA-PRA-1) |
| Throwing a friend’s disc back from 30 m | Yes (QA-PRA-2) |
| Dropping a disc to take relief | No, a drop isn’t a practice throw |
| Throwing a conceded putt in match play | Yes; penalty goes on the next hole (QA-MAT-1) |
| A throw after the two-minute signal, before the start | Warning first; further throws add one penalty throw |
| Early start, then the real start signal sounds | Replay from the tee; not practice throws (QA-CMP-2) |
Habits that keep your card clean
These aren’t PDGA rules, just good sense:
- Once your disc is in the basket, your disc hand is done. Retrieve, step away, and save the frustration putts for the practice basket.
- Hand discs back, don’t fling them. A short underhand flip is fine; anything you’d call “a throw” probably isn’t.
- Finish your warm-up before the two-minute signal, and put the discs away when you hear it.
- Call it kindly. If someone in your group takes a practice throw, mention it right away so the card is right before it’s signed. Every player keeps an independent scorecard, and penalty throws are noted with the hole score (808 Scoring).
Where to read the rules yourself
- PDGA 809.03 Practice Throw
- PDGA Rules Questions and Answers (QA-PRA-1 to 3, QA-MAT-1, QA-CMP-2)
- PDGA Competition Manual 1.05: Practice Rounds, Beginning Play, Late Arrivals
- PDGA 808 Scoring
Rules checked on 2026-10-29 against pdga.com (809.03 last updated December 31, 2021; Competition Manual 1.05 last updated April 9, 2026). The PDGA updates its rules most years and Tournament Directors can set their own practice areas and closures, so check the current text and your TD’s announcements before you settle a call on the card.