Want to know where you can stand (or kneel or crouch or...well, you get the idea) when you're throwing a disc golf disc according to the most widely accepted rules in the sport? You've come to the right place.
Post Navigation
- What is a foot fault/stance violation in disc golf?
- What happens when I foot fault/commit a stance violation?
- Who can call a foot fault/stance violation?
- What does "supporting point" mean in disc golf (and why is it important to these rules)?
- On the TEE
-What's the "teeing area" when there's a tee pad (and are the rules any different for weird or short tee pads)?
-What's the "teeing area" when there are just flags, cones, a line, etc. marking the front of the tee?
-Can I start my tee shot outside of the teeing area?
-Do I have to stay on the tee pad after I release my disc?
-Examples of foot faults/stance violations from a disc golf tee - On the FAIRWAY
-What's a 'lie' in disc golf?
-How to take a legal stance when throwing from the fairway
-Examples of foot faults/stance violations on the fairway
-Supporting point out of bounds = stance violation - At DROP ZONES
- On the PUTTING GREEN (i.e., inside Circle 1)
-Examples of legal and illegal putts in the putting area
-When can I jump and step putt without foot faulting? - I foot faulted and missed a mando or went OB. What do I do now?
Click or tap any topic above to learn more about stance violations – more commonly called "foot faults" – through photos, diagrams, and the plainest language we could come up with. All of the explanations are based on the most current Official Rules of Disc Golf and Competition Manual updates from the Professional Disc Golf Association as of publication (those put into effect on January 1, 2025).
Most of the info is based on rules 802.07 (stance), 802.04 (teeing off), and 806.01 (putting area) in the Official Rules of Disc Golf, which you can find a fully searchable version of in the More tab of the UDisc app.
This is just one entry in our series seeking to help players better understand disc golf rules. If you're interested, you can give others explaining mandatories (mandos), out-of-bounds (OB), relief, and the two-meter rule a read after you've mastered everything below.
What Is a Foot Fault in Disc Golf?
"Foot fault" is the popular but unofficial term for when at least one of a player's feet is in an illegal position when they release their disc. The Professional Disc Golf Association uses the term "stance violation" instead because it's not just feet that can break stance rules.
Anything that supports your body when you release a throw could be in a position that causes a stance violation: Hands, knees, trees, disc golf cart handles, wizard staffs, and so on. Click or tap to jump to more information in this post about "supporting points."
What counts as a foot fault or stance violation changes depending on if you're on a tee, in the fairway, or within 10 meters of the basket (or other target). Click or tap any of those locations to jump to foot fault rules that apply when you're playing from them.
What Happens If I Foot Fault in Disc Golf?
The penalty for a foot fault – and any other stance violation – is one extra throw added to a player's score for that hole and...that's it. The player throws their next shot from wherever the throws lands (except in cases of landing OB or missing a mandatory – click/tap for what to do then).
If the foot fault happens on a throw where a disc lands in the basket, the disc is still in. Again, just add an extra throw to the person's score. If someone putts their second shot, makes it, but gets called for a foot fault, they now have a score of three. And, yes, a foot fault would make a hole-in-one become a hole-in-two on the scorecard.
Now it's example time.
Say you put your disc next to the basket with your first throw, but you receive a foot fault penalty on the throw. Here's how the scoring and play would work:
- Throw 1: Your tee shot lands next to the basket.
- You get called for a foot fault. You'll add one throw to your score at the end of the hole.
- Throw 2: You go to where your disc is (i.e., next to the basket) and putt it into the basket
- Your final score is 3 for the hole. 2 real throws + 1 foot fault/stance violation penalty
- The hole is over and you go to the next hole.
Any time you get called for a foot fault, this is what happens – no matter if it's the first time or the tenth.
You can also take multiple foot fault/stance violation penalties on the same hole, like so:
- Throw 1: Tee shot that lands about 30 feet/9 meters from the basket
- You get called for a foot fault. You'll add one throw to your score at the end of the hole.
- Throw 2: You putt from 30 feet/9 meters. The putt goes in, but you get called for a second foot fault on the putt.
- Your putt still counts, but you'll add a second penalty throw to your score.
- Your final score is 4 for the hole. 2 real throws + 2 foot fault/stance violation penalties
- The hole is over and you go to the next hole.
If you have a memory of these rules working differently at some point, you're not going crazy. We explain what those differences were and when the rule changed in the "On the Putting Green" section.
Who Can Call a Foot Fault in Disc Golf?
You can be called for a foot fault or other stance violation in three ways:
- Having a person in your group (group = the people you are playing each hole with during a round) say it happened and a second person in the group (or a tournament official who saw the throw in person) confirm their call.
- Having a tournament official who sees the throw in person say it happened. No one in the group needs to confirm this call unless the tournament official happens to be competing in your division. In this case, the official can only weigh in if they are playing in your group, and their opinion would have the same importance as a normal player's.
- Saying yourself that you committed one. This call doesn't need to be confirmed. However, if you call yourself on a foot fault and your group believes the call is incorrect, your call can be ignored.
The thing above about a tournament official "see[ing] the throw in person" is pretty important. A tournament official can't use photos or videos to determine whether a foot fault happened, only to clarify rules related to course markings (e.g., OB or mando lines) or to investigate allegations of player misconduct (foot faults and other basic rule violations don't fall under "misconduct"). If they don't see a throw live, they are not allowed to make a stance violation call per 1.12.H in the Competition Manual.
Additionally, a group can't retroactively make a foot fault call based on videos or photos – it either happens at the time of the throw or never.
Finally, there's no need for a group majority for a foot fault to be called. It takes just one call and one confirm for the call to stand in most cases. Should this cause any debates on the card, it's best to bring them up with the TD before turning in your round scores.
What's a "Supporting Point" in Disc Golf?
A "supporting point" is "any part of the body that is, at the time of release, in contact with the playing surface or any other object that provides support" per the Official Rules of Disc Golf. This very important definition is somewhat hidden away in the rules for teeing off (802.04.B).
Knowing what counts as a "supporting point" is essential for understanding foot faults and stance violations.
Put simply, if you are using any body part to keep yourself steady at the point you release your throw, it's a supporting point (the rule also applies to artificial supports like crutches). Most often, a thrower's only supporting point or points are one or two feet touching the ground or tee pad at the time of release, like in this photo:
However, there may be situations where a hand, knee, or other body part is used. A person could also lean or hold onto a tree or other object when they throw. The images below show some examples of supporting points that might not be immediately apparent.
In both images, the circled hand is providing support to the player. If the hand remained stationary at the point of release, it would be a supporting point. The left image demonstrates that things other than the ground, like a tree, rock, post, etc., can create supporting points and have to be considered when taking a stance. The right shows that more than feet can support a person on the ground.
Also, one of the above images shows a stance likely to result in a stance violation when the disc is thrown. Read on to find out which one.
Understanding Foot Faults from the Disc Golf Tee
Every hole in disc golf starts with a tee shot. There are two requirements for a legal throw from the tee:
- At least one supporting point inside the teeing area when you release the disc (more than one is fine, too)
- No supporting points outside the teeing area when you release the disc
While those rules sound easy enough, there's plenty to unpack about them. Keep scrolling and reading for a full overview or clear up a burning question about staying foot fault free on the tee by clicking/tapping below:
- What's the "teeing area" when there's a tee pad (and are the rules any different for weird or short tee pads)?
- What's the "teeing area" when there are just flags, cones, a line, etc. marking the front of the tee?
- Can I start my tee shot outside of the teeing area?
- Do I have to stay on the tee pad after I release my disc?
- Examples of foot faults from a disc golf tee
What's the "Teeing Area" When There's a Tee Pad in Disc Golf?
Rule 802.04.A says that "a teeing area, or tee, is the area bounded by the edges of a tee pad, if provided." That means if a hole has a tee pad, the tee pad's edges define what's the teeing area and what isn't – no matter how big, small, or oddly-shaped the tee is.
The photos below show examples from the wide world of disc golf tee pads. In each case, the edges of the tee (i.e., where concrete or turf ends) define the "teeing area."
You can throw from any position on a tee pad (its back, its front, either side, in the middle of it) as long as you have at least one supporting point in the teeing area and none outside of it when you release the disc.
What's the "Teeing Area" in Disc Golf When There's No Tee Pad – Just a Line, Flags, Cones, Etc.?
Sometimes there's just a line showing the front of a disc golf tee. The line can be solid like paint on concrete or a strip of wood or imagined between two points like marker flags, stakes, or cones.
No matter if the line is solid or imagined, the teeing area goes "three meters perpendicularly behind the designated tee line" per rule 802.04.A. In other words, always imagine a rectangle that's three meters/just under 10 feet long and only as wide as the line created by the flags, cones, paint, etc. – like in the exampe below from a disc golf course set up at Monarch Bay Golf Club in California.
Again, you can throw from anywhere within the three-meter-long rectangle as long as at least one supporting point is in it and no supporting point is out of it.
Do I Need to Start My Throw on the Disc Golf Tee?
The only time during a tee shot where the location of your supporting points matters is when you release the disc. That means you can run up before a throw starting from anywhere you like.
For example, this is a perfectly legal tee shot from professional disc golfer James Conrad, who starts his run up outside the defined edges of the turf tee pad:
Do I Need to Stay on the Disc Golf Tee After My Throw?
Nope. The point of release is the only time where the location of your supporting points matters on the tee. That means that once the disc is out of your hand, you can put down supporting points wherever you like.
See how professional Nate Sexton releases the disc while on the tee but, once the disc come out, steps far off the front of the tee pad to catch himself – all perfectly legal:
Examples of Foot Faults from Disc Golf Tees
Here are two examples of a throw from a turf tee pad with defined borders: One that's legal and one that's a foot fault:
The left image shows a legal stance because the player has a supporting point (right foot) in the teeing area at the point of release and no supporting point outside of it.
"Hold on a second – what about that left foot?" you might be thinking.
It is not a supporting point because it's not, well, supporting anything. It's hovering in the air at the point of release, so it's not breaking any rules.
The right image shows an illegal stance because the left foot is touching the ground. It is supporting the player and outside the teeing area at the point of release, which is a foot fault.
To drive these points home, take a look at two more examples:
Imagine that these two photos show positions of a foot at the point a disc is released. The end of the turf is the end of the tee.
The left image is a legal stance because, though the foot overhangs the front of the tee, it isn't touching the ground and providing support to the player. Think of the toe of this foot being just like the lifted leg in the previous example.
The right image is a violation because parts of the foot are outside the teeing area and clearly providing support to the player.
How Do Foot Faults Work on Disc Golf Fairways?
You have foot faulted or committed a stance violation on a disc golf fairway when...
- ...you have no part of a supporting point touching your lie when you release the disc (802.07.A.1).
or - ...any part of a supporting point is closer to the target than the front of your lie when you release the disc (802.07.A.2).
or - ...any supporting point is out-of-bounds when your release the disc (go to our post on out-of-bounds rules if you don't know what that means) (802.07.A.3)
Wondering what a "lie" is? We cover that immediately below.
Jump to answers to other questions by clicking/tapping below:
- What's a "lie"?
- Where can I legally put supporting points when I throw from the fairway?
- When have I foot faulted/violated stance rules on the fairway?
What's a Lie in Disc Golf?
Per rule 802.05.D, unless you're at a tee or a drop zone, your "lie" is a 30cm x 20cm rectangle starting at the back edge (i.e., the edge farthest from the basket) of the disc you last threw or a marker disc. A legal throw requires you to have a supporting point in contact with your lie.
This is a basic illustration of how a lie behind a full-sized disc could work:
When you place a marker disc down, you put its back edge in front of your disc's front edge (see photo below). The lie is then a 30cm x 20cm rectangle starting at the back edge of the mini.
Yes, this means every in-bounds throw allows you to choose between at least two possible lies, which can lead to interesting questions we cover in the putting section later on.
Additionally, it's worth throwing in here that markers can't be full-sized discs. They need to between 7 centimeters and 15 centimeters in diameter and no taller than 3 centimeters per the PDGA's Technical Standards.
Where Should My Foot or Other Support Be When I Throw from a Disc Golf Fairway?
Let's dive a little deeper into the rule saying you need just a part of a supporting point within your lie to make a legal throw from the fairway.
That means that, yes, other supporting points or parts of the same supporting point can legally be outside the lie – as long as they aren't in an out-of-bounds area or closer to the basket than the rear edge of your disc or marker. The image below helps show what we mean:
Again, it just takes a part of a supporting point being in the lie at the point of release for a throw to be legal. So just a toe in the lie and the rest of the foot out? Totally fine. Part of a foot behind the lie and two knees and the other foot down outside the lie? You're good – almost as good as this flick from a legal stance taken by pro Adam Hammes:
Notably, a knee or any other body part can also be a legal supporting point partially in the lie – not just a foot.
Like with tee shots, it's also legal to run up outside your lie before you release and for a supporting point to come down in front of your lie after you release. You can see both in this perfectly legal fairway throw by pro Missy Gannon:
What Counts as a Foot Fault or Other Stance Violation on a Disc Golf Fairway?
There are three big don'ts when it comes to throwing from the fairway in disc golf:
- Don't put any part of a supporting point closer to the basket than the rear edge of your disc or marker before you release a throw.
- Don't throw without having at least a part of a supporting point in your lie.
- Don't have any supporting point in an out-of-bounds area.
The rest of this section deals with #1 and #2 while stance violations due to contact with OB has its own (click/tap to jump to it if that's what you're looking for).
Check out some basic examples of don'ts #1 and #2 in the illustration below:
The front three shoes all have parts of them that are beyond the rear edge of the disc, so they would all be foot faults no matter where other supporting points were.
The back two shoes have zero contact with the lie. So if either of them was the only supporting point at the time the disc was released, the player would foot fault.
Here are other examples of stance violations to look out for:
The above is just a basic demonstration that both feet must be farther from the basket than the point where your lie starts. Note that the line is slightly curved because...geometry:
Know, however, that the farther you move from the basket, the less pronounced the arc gets. Past 35 feet/10.6 meters or so, the curve isn't very visible to the human eye and it's easier to just think of a straight line behind your marker or disc.
Also know that there are rare instances where people will place a foot in front of their lie and lift it at the point of release. While that's legal, for the most part you'll want to make sure your feet are behind your lie when you start your throwing motion.
Here, the player's positioning indicates the line of play and the back edge of the pink disc marks the start of the lie.
In the left image, the left hand is hovering above the ground. As long as it's not touching the ground when the disc is released, there will be no stance violation.
In the right image, if the hand touching the ground remains there at the point of release, it will be a supporting point closer to the target than the start of the lie and therefore illegal.
In these images, the back of the disc indicated creates the lie, and the player's positioning indicates the line of play.
In the left image, the hand on the tree as well as both feet are behind where the lie begins, making the stance legal.
In the right image, the hand on the tree is closer to the basket than the rear of the disc. If the player continued to support himself with that hand when the throw was released, it would be illegal.
Also be aware that the rules state that "once a stance has been taken, the player may not move an obstacle in order to make room for a throwing motion." This means you can't lift or move a tree branch or other obstacle to give yourself a wider gap or to make yourself more comfortable.
In the left image, the player is holding on to a sturdy tree trunk and the contact isn't repositioning the tree in any way, making the stance legal. If the player was bending the tree or manipulating the trunk to change the position of a branch, it would be a violation.
Disc Golf Foot Faults & Stance Violations: OB
To have a legal stance, no supporting point can be in contact with something in an out-of-bounds (OB) area. If you're not sure what counts as OB, have a look at our article on the topic.
It's also good to note that relief areas are considered OB, so you can't put a supporting point in one of those, either – but don't confuse relief areas with casual areas. Check out our post on relief in disc golf to understand all these terms better.
Like at teeing areas, body parts can hang over OB – they just can't use anything in it for support when the disc is released. The two photos below show the difference:
Because players are allowed to take one-meter relief from all OB, it's somewhat rare that this rule comes into play. Still, it's good to know.
Disc Golf Foot Fault & Stance Rules at Drop Zones
Typically, drop zones are places where players go if they've missed a mandatory or not come to rest in an in-bounds area on an island hole. The rules state that drop zones can require the same stance rules as a teeing area or be played like a typical lie (802.07.B). Generally, it will come down to how the drop zone is marked, so...
- ...if a drop zone is a fully defined area like a tee pad (a turf mat, a standalone area of concrete, a rubber pad, etc.), use the stance rules for tee pads.
- ...if a drop zone is just a line marking the front of the drop zone (a painted line or two flags, cones, stakes, etc.), use the stance rules for teeing areas without full tee pads.
- ...if a drop zone is defined only by a disc, marker, or other disc-like object, use the stance rules for either A) fairways (when more than 10 meters from the basket) or B) putting areas (when within 10 meters of the basket).
Disc Golf Foot Faults: Putting
The rules for stance violations change slightly once a player is within 10 meters of the basket, which is called the "putting area" in the Official Rules of Disc Golf. Every rule for throwing from a lie on the fairway applies except the one allowing players to make contact with areas in front of their lies after the disc is released.
Within 10 meters, no supporting point can touch a spot in front of the lie until a player has established "full control of balance behind the marker disc" (806.01.B). The next section helps explain what that means.
Examples of Legal & Illegal Disc Golf Putts Within 10 Meters of the Basket
For some examples of legal and illegal putts inside 10 meters, we'll go to a section of Central Coast's coverage of the 2017 World Championships.
In this video you'll see three putts within 10 meters of the basket in this order: 1) A legal putt from JohnE McCray, 2) a technically illegal putt by Ricky Wysocki (that year's eventual World Champion), and 3) a legal putt from Devan Owens:
Regarding the two legal putts, both players establish balance before moving forward. In the case of the illegal one, the player doesn't establish balance and places his hand in front of his lie to steady himself after releasing the putt.
Though today's rules give players a one-throw penalty for every foot fault/stance violation, that's only been the case since 2018. Before that year, the first stance violation resulted only in a warning and a player was allowed to re-throw their previous shot with no penalty (penalties started with any infraction after the first). This is why the commentator says, "Let's be honest – he's just gonna put it in again."
Because disc golf is officiated by players in a group and no one elected to call the foot fault, the technically illegal putt in the video didn't result in even a warning in this case. At the time, this incident sparked many debates about what the truly sportsmanlike thing to do in this situation was.
All that aside, the video helps demonstrate what it means to establish balance (McCray and Owens) and also that placing any supporting point in front of your lie before doing so is technically a stance violation (Wysocki).
When Can I Jump Putt or Step Putt Without Foot Faulting?
If your lie starts farther than 10 meters from the basket, you can always opt to either jump putt or step putt.
A jump putt happens when a player jumps forward from their lie as they putt. The trick is to release the disc while the lead foot is still in contact with the lie but before any other supporting point lands in front of the lie.
Here's an example of a legal jump putt:
That putt, from JomezPro's coverage of a historic 18-under par round from Paul McBeth, was completely legal because the front of the lie was not within 10 meters of the basket. Also, if you watched in slow-motion, you'd see that even though McBeth jumped, the disc left his hand before his foot in contact with the lie (the spot behind his disc) left the ground. This is important because the rule about needing one supporting point in contact with your lie means you can never be entirely in the air when releasing any shot.
A step putt follows the same logic as a jump putt, but it just looks like a player is taking a step forward rather than jumping. Again, the disc must be released while at least part of a supporting point is still in contact with the lie and before any supporting point comes down in front of the lie.
Here's an example of a legal step putt from pro Austin Turner:
A quirk of these rules is that if your disc comes to rest with its front within 10 meters of the basket but its rear outside of 10 meters, you can jump or step putt – but only if you don't use a marker disc.
This is because the rules (806.01.A) say you're in the "putting area" if the start of your lie is within 10 meters of the basket (or other target). In this situation, your lie can start either A) behind the rear edge of the disc you just threw and be outside of 10 meters or B) behind a marker you place in front of the disc your just threw and be within 10 meters.
The image below clears up what we we're talking about:
To recap:
- Putt behind the blue disc and jump/step putting is fine because the lie starts outside of 10 meters.
- Putt behind the yellow marker and you can't jump/step putt because you are in the 10-meter putting area.
Finally, never forget that it's the start of the lie that matters for whether you can jump or step putt. Yes, your full lie goes back 30 centimeters, but if it starts within 10 meters of the basket, you cannot jump or step putt:
What Happens If I Foot Fault & Miss a Mando or Go OB With the Same Throw?
If you commit a stance violation and the throw misses a mandatory (mando) or goes OB, you take only a one-stroke penalty for the stance violation but continue playing by the rules for going OB or missing the mando. Again, don't add the penalties together – it's a one-stroke penalty and that's it.
The reasons for this are that rule 801.02.I says that if a player breaks mulitple rules with one throw, they are only punished with one of the penalties. Which penalty? Either...
- Option A: The one that costs them more strokes
or - Option B: If every broken rule has an equal penalty, the penalty for the rule they broke first.
Stance violations cost one stroke. Both missing mandos and going OB cost one stroke. So you take Option B, which means you take the penalty for the rule you broke first – in this case, almost certainly the stance violation.
"But if I'm getting penalized for a foot fault or stance violation, why do I keep playing by mando or OB rules?" you might ask.
It's because the only penalty for a foot fault or other stance violation is adding one stroke to your score. You still play from the lie established by the throw. Missing a mando establishes that your next lie is either from a drop zone or, if there's no drop zone, from the same lie you just threw from. Landing OB establishes a lie within one meter of where your disc was last in bounds.
If the two-meter rule is in effect, the same logic applies if you land over two meters.
There is one question mark this rule interpretation raises, though. Rule 803.02.E allows players to take penalty-free relief backward along the line of play as far as they like "following a penalty taken for a disc out-of-bounds or above two meters." So, if you foot fault and go OB or land above two meters when the meter rule is in effect, does taking only the penalty for a foot fault mean you can't take that infinite penalty free relief? It's a very in-the-weeds question that's not fully answered in the rules at the moment.
Let Us Know If You Need More Disc Golf Rules Explained
We've been overwhelmed by the positive response to this series and would be excited to continue adding to it. If you have rules you'd like us to cover, let us know in a comment on social media or send a quick e-mail to us at [email protected].
