Tag: disc golf school

Disc Golf in a Vacuum- one small facet thereof

by frisbeebrain, posted in DaLearning Curve, disc golf instruction, instruction

Disc Golf in a Vacuum(TM) is the catchy phrase I’ve come up with to describe the bundle of ideas about the mental side of golf that make up my disc golf philosophy. It means many different things in different situations, but in general is all about embracing, appreciating, and learning from each shot we attempt. Before, during, and after. In a vacuum, there are no ‘pars,’ or ’rounds’ or even ‘holes.’ There are only shots. Today, the discussion focuses on the word ‘focus’.

What does it mean, to focus in golf? For me, when I’m able to use my logical brain to pick a shot strategy, then keep my thought sequence exactly as I wanted according to my strategy, I feel I ‘focused well’ on that shot. But it was one thing to realize that focusing on my shot would be a good thing, and another thing to actually do it. It took time; conditioning if you will. I had to train myself to monitor my thought process and weed out those either non-essential to executing the shot, or downright detrimental. And it requires constant vigilance. I still have many instances where a second after releasing the disc I know Here is a quick breakdown of what I think should be going through your head as you set up and throw, and what definitely should not:

Should go through your head
First of all before the thought process of the shot begins, you must already have decided and be committed to your shot. After that, all your thoughts should be limited to those that help you execute the shot at hand. Simple, huh? But I think this discussion is defined better by the next category: what you should Definitely Not think about.

Definitely Not

  • Don’t think about bad things. Negative thoughts have a proven track record of failure in athletic endeavors. In golf terms this means don’t think about possible consequences – once you’ve made up your mind on how to execute a shot, think not a second longer about the why’s and where-for’s. Also, don’t think about past missed shots.
  • Don’t think about the shot before you in any historical content whatsoever- unless it involves positive affirmation (along the lines of ‘I’ve made this shot before and I can make it again’). Don’t think about how long it’s been since you hit a birdie putt. Don’t think about the fact that you haven’t gotten a par on hole 13 for two years.
  • In short, when it comes time to execute the shot, strip it of all external value. It’s just you, and the basket, and the slope(if any), and the wind(if any). There is no context but the present context.

That in my estimation is focus, and it’s also one element of Playing Disc Golf in a Vacuum.

Less Time Makes for Better Golf

by frisbeebrain, posted in DaLearning Curve, disc golf instruction, instruction

I ran a round at DeLa yesterday, in exactly the 1:15 time I was aiming for. The main goal of staying on the fairway was achieved, and the +2 overall score wasn’t great, but wasn’t horrible for a running round. The score is mostly attributable to the hospitality of the threesome I encountered on the third hole. Sure, I was -1 after my birdie on 3, and -2 after another birdie on hole 5, but that’s as low as I got.

Scores aside, though, the one thing that caused me to think in depth was the effect of ‘rushing’ through a round versus taking ones one with each shot. I know that there is the possibility that running between shots for an entire 28 holes of golf on a hilly course can carry with it the fatigue factor, but I’m discounting that element for now. I’m more interested for the moment with the thought process of analyzing one’s lie and shot choices, the time it takes to do that properly, and whether doing it quickly or deliberately produces a better outcome.

I read a book awhile back called Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell. It explores an innate ability humans possess to make snap decisions subconsciously. It also makes the case that we’re often better off going with that first ‘gut instinct’ instead of following the path of research, reason, and logic. Much can be taken from that book and applied to this discussion, and I think golf (both versions) is a great testing ground to prove this theory correct.

When I’m playing a running round and in a mode where I’m trying to minimize mistakes and score well, there is little time to think about anything except what to do on the next shot and how to do it. Starting at the first tee, I throw, run toward my lie, hastily drop my bag, take my stance, then throw again (or putt). Then I run to the next tee, and do it all over again. I literally do all the mental preparation for the next shot ‘on the run’. As far as I can tell, this seems to have no negative affect on my score, and it eliminates the risk of several mistakes that golfers make on the mental side of the game:

  • Overthinking in general can cause us to change our minds when we shouldn’t. Think of how many times you’ve overthought, blown a shot, then exclaimed something like “I should have gone through the window on the right like I wanted to!”
  • The more time you spend thinking about a shot – especially when it’s your turn to throw and you’re at your lie – the more opportunity random thoughts have to creep into your mind. And whether they’re negative impressions (gotta miss that tree), pressure-causing ponderings (I haven’t gotten a birdie all day!), or totally unrelated musings (the Giants better not lose again today), thinking about anything other than the execution of the shot at hand will lessen the chance of success
  • When you’re at your lie, physically ready to throw, with disc in hand, the quicker you throw the better. Often times, when I see someone spend a good deal longer before a putt than normal, I know they’re going to miss even before they throw. I call this stagnation, and I think what happens (aside from what may be going on mentally) is that our bodies are cued up when we get set, and after too much time goes by fatigue and/or stiffness sets in.

So I think I’ve come up with a pretty good hypothesis- the fact that there is nothing to be gained by taking a long time thinking about a shot, and many possible detrimental affects. Now I have to find a reliable method for speeding up the process even when I’m playing a normal-paced round or tournament. Any ideas?

Putting practice, indoors, without a basket

by frisbeebrain, posted in DaLearning Curve, disc golf instruction, instruction, putting

I travel fairly frequently for my job, and I end up spending a decent amount of waking hours in my hotel room. Even when I’m in places that have courses near enough to get in a quick round, I usually just scurry around the course, note it’s highlights despite the fact that it’s no DeLaveaga, then split. When I’m on the road, I rarely get in any putting practice at all.

So one time I pulled out my putters in the hotel room, wedged myself in one corner, and aimed for a reading chair in the opposite corner. It worked- sort of. Trouble was, the discs would often bounce off the chair and loudly smack the wall, Worse, after a couple beers they would sometimes miss the chair altogether and slam the wall like the fist of an unrequited lover. Inevitably someone front desk would then call and ask what the hell was going on in my room. I needed a better mousetrap.

So this week I’m in ‘the OC,’ and I brought with me an adjustable pull-up bar I bought online for $15. I wedged the bar between the walls of the entryway, then draped a hotel towel and part of the bedspread over the bar. After positioning myself as far away as possible (maybe 15 feet), I aimed at one small part of the bedspread pattern and let fly. And guess what? It worked! The discs hit the linens draped over the bars (silently) and fell to the ground (almost silently). So while this exercise doesn’t give me the absolute resolution of seeing a disc come to rest in a basket, I still get to practice the motion of extending my arm exaggeratedly toward the target. That particlar element is important to my particular consistency, and although I don’t know the muscles involved, I’m sure it improves muscle memory and even exercises the muscles themselves more than turning the pages of a book or fondling the TV remove in my hotel room.

There is a thin line between dedication and obsession. Feel free to join me as I straddle that line.

Patience is a Disc Golf Virtue

by frisbeebrain, posted in DaLearning Curve, disc golf instruction, instruction

In disc golf, self-control is paramount to success. This particular virtue comes in many forms, but the one I have in mind today is patience- with your own game, with others, and with everything else that pops up in the course of a round of golf.

Patience seems most important to me during the Winter months, because the weather is colder and the teepads and terrain are often slippery after it rains. When the air is cold discs don’t travel quite as far, which is due to a combination of the phyics of the air itself and our bodies not being quite as loose. And when we’re not properly warmed up and loose, we lose that fluid quality that is so important to throwing a disc accurately and far. Also, if the surface we’re trying to plant our feet on is wet and slick, it adds yet another element that makes executing the shots we have in mind more difficult. The natural result is a greater margin of error, and usually scores that trend upward. Because of this we must remember to be patient, and keep a few things in mind.

First of all, these tougher conditions are just a fact of playing disc golf in the Winter, so we need to adjust our expectations accordingly. For me, a -5 with the course soggy after a recent storm and a temperature? of 38 degrees at tee-off is better than a -8 with perfect sunny weather and dry teepads. Second, the conditions of the course are the same for everyone. No matter who you’re playing against, I guarantee that his or her average score goes up when it’s wet and cold.

I’ve learned to recoginize – either at the outset of a round or after a few hampered throws – when conditions will limit what I can accomplish that day. I then adjust my strategy and expectations accordingly, and try to do the best I can within the new framework of potential. If the teepads are slippery, I sacrifice some distance for the sake of more control since I’m more likely to slip if I go with 100 percent power. If my hands are cold and numb and my muscles feel stiff, I’ll be more conservative with my upshots and putts to make sure I don’t take extra strokes by giving myself unneccessarily long putts.

Maybe the weather is great, but you still start poorly. No problem! One of the great things about golf is the fact that each hole gives you a fresh chance to do something good. One of the biggest mistakes a golfer can make is to let the last shot influence the next shot (or hole). Don’t feel that you need to ‘make up for’ the bogey you took throwing OB on hole 6 by going for a risky birdie run on hole 7. Be patient, and evaluate the risk/reward of each shot based on its own merits.

Although it isn’t really what this article is about, patience with the other things you can’t control is also very important. If you find yourself getting antsy waiting for someone to make their shot, or the general pace of play on the course that day (this is especially common during tournaments, of course)? try to relax and enjoy the moment. A watched pot never boils, as they say, so let your eyes wander to something else on the course, like another group putting out, or even a bird in a tree. If you have a tricky shot coming up, use the extra time to give that shot more consideration. Most people don’t have as much trouble noticing and dealing with external issues, though. Much tougher is the ability to recognize and properly handle what’s going on in one’s own head. That’s the kind of patience that is harder to devlelop.

A good example of this was my experience at the DeLa monthly last weekend. I started on hole 1, and right away noticed that the cold weather combined with an injury I had to noticeably reduce my distance off the tee. I then realized it affected my putting touch as well. I told myself that par would be good enough as long as I felt so cold and stiff, and proceeded to get par on each of the first 11 holes. A couple birdies just sort of came to me on holes 11 and 12 (good things come to those who wait, after all), and after a double on 13 and a birdie on 15 my score was -1. I still didn’t feel right, so I remained patient and kept playing conservatively. Then my patience began to pay off.

With 18 in the long left position, I threw a great turnover drive (I ‘m a lefty) and based the hole. More importantly, though, I noticed that the temperature had risen a bit, and my stiff hip had loosened up as well. I ended up at -6, including birdies on 3 of the last 4 holes, and tied Jon Baldwin for first in the Open division. The thing I felt best about wasn’t the 1st place finish- it was the fact that I was able to recognize what I’d be able to accomplish that day, then maximize my potential within that box. That kind of round – a patient round with a happy ending – really feels good afterward. And it just happened to be good enough to win.

Twist and Shoot

by frisbeebrain, posted in DaLearning Curve, disc golf instruction, instruction

How to shave strokes off your score by opening your mind and twisting your body (and I’m not talking about meditation or yoga).

I know it?s a stretch (that was truly an accidental pun), but whenever I have a shot that is difficult and requires me to throw through and around things, I purposefully think of the old game Twister. You see, I?m willing to contort myself any which way to get the best chance at the best shot for the situation. Otherwise, I might get lazy and sometimes try to execute a slightly lower-percentage shot just because it?s ?easier? to get to. But more to the point, lazy or not, I think we often don?t see all of the options on each shot. Ours brains tend to focus in on the most obvious choice and settle for that. You can save strokes simply by opening your mind enough as you size up each shot to see all the options in front of you. For me, this is where the game Twister comes in.

When I have a tough lie, I picture myself keeping one foot behind the marker and stretching the other foot out in different directions. Then I check out the possible routes from each position, from the skip-shot I release barely inches off the ground to the floater aimed at an opening between branches. Switch foot, repeat. Often just by doing that, or even picturing myself doing it, I see a route or and/or an angle I didn?t see at first. Obviously, it takes practice to the point of intuition to be able to do this in 30 seconds or less. But if you, like me, are not gifted with scary skills or distance, it’s worth it.

Angles
If you’re not yet open to opening your mind when considering all the different openings for your throw (whew!), consider the following about how much difference a few inches can make:

One of the great and unique challenges of disc golf – as opposed to stick golf – is the amount of potential obstructions between you and the target. Even when you?re close enough to putt (and especially at DeLa) you?ll find yourself with low hanging branches, tree trunks, bushes, etc., close to where you want to throw.

When this happens, try to imagine the line your disc typically follows on the throw you plan. Hint: putts almost always have more arc than you think, so keep that in mind. If it seems likely it will hit something, try to change the line by stretching out left or right, or moving up or down. Especially consider going down to a knee or even sitting down to putt (if the putt/throw isn’t too long). Changing your release point by even a few inches will change the angle and line of your shot significantly, maybe allowing a legitimate run where before there was none. And if you’re good at geometry (I’m not) you’ll know that the two inches difference at the point of release can become two feet of difference after the disc has travelled for 20 feet or so. You may have a low ceiling that forces you to throw the disc on a lazer beam-like line in order to keep it high enough to get in the basket, and those shots tend to be ‘do-or-die’ attempts that zoom their way into 30-plus foot comeback putts. By getting down on one knee, both knees, or even into some kind of sitting position, you’ve bought yourself the few inches necessary to go for that putt without risking an extra stroke if you miss.

If you compete in tournaments or just enjoy besting your friends, employing this advice is an easy way to save a couple strokes per round. Just remember: Twist and shoot!?

Originally Blahged Friday, July 28, 2006- Updated October 25th, 2007

Disc Golf Etiquette

by frisbeebrain, posted in DaLearning Curve, DeLaBlahg, disc golf instruction, etiquette, instruction

In the world of disc golf, many players are unfortunately not even aware of the ‘etiquette’ concept. I’d guess that most players have had no exposure to ball golf prior to discovering disc golf, and everything about our version of the sport is more casual. Most courses have no pro shop, no marshal, no tee times, and feel much more like what they are: a public park where people can come, go, and do as they please.

However, anyone familiar with ball golf knows that etiquette is a big part of that game. Golf is a self-officiated game, with no referees, umpires, or the like to point out when a player has broken a rule or committed an infraction. But ‘golf etiquette’ is specifically concerned with the unwritten rules that have less to do with the scoring part of the game and more to do with respect for the other players in your group and on the course.

According to Merriam-Webster, etiquette is defined as ‘the
conduct or procedure required by good breeding or prescribed by
authority to be observed in social or official life’. In the ball-golf
world, this translates to a universally-understood group of social mores that all serious competitive or even learned recreational players observe. The more casual nature of disc golf means that the rules of etiquette for our sport will differ as well, but we still have to act within unspoken but generally agreed-upon mores.

I personally enjoy a disc golf setting that simulates this aspect of ball golf as closely as possible, and if you’re reading this Blahg odds are that you treat your rounds of disc golf as more than just tossing plastic for a couple hours as well. If that is the case, please read the non-exhaustive compilation of disc golf etiquette guidelines and let me know what you think. Tell me if you agree or disagree, and if there is anything I overlooked (which I’m sure is the case).

In general:

  • Groups should be no larger than five players. If you must play in a herd, be very sensitive to smaller groups behind you and go out of your way to offer to let them play through.
  • If you notice that a group behind you is waiting for your group, offer to let them play through. Everyone should be able to play at the pace they desire if possible.
  • If you notice a player on a nearby hole getting ready to throw or putt, and see that you are in their sight-line, stop moving and talking until they release their disc.
  • If possible, try to grant the requests of other players, however ridiculous they may seem to you (like “don’t talk to my disc” or “don’t stand directly behind me-even if you’re 15
    feet away”. It’s always easier to just take the high road and
    let it go.
  • One big difference between ball and disc golf is the fact that it is common for disc golfers to start on a hole other than Hole #1. This is okay, but if you do ‘jump on’ in the middle of the course, take notice of the groups on the preceding hole(s). It is bad form to start on, say, hole 7 if there is a group putting out on hole 6. That group will suddenly have to wait behind a group that just jumped on, and that ain’t cool. If you do ‘jump on’ in the middle of the course, try to find a spot where you don’t interrupt another group’s flow.
  • If you feel compelled to share etiquette tips with others, make sure to pick your words and tone carefully. Most players are not ‘rude’ on purpose, but out of blissful ignorance. They don’t consciously plan to aggravate you. And they may be disc golfing for the first or second time ever, so try to enlighten them with a smile rather than scold them with a scowl.
  • If you see an errant disc disappear into the rough near you, from another hole, take the time to give the unfortunate thrower an idea of where to look for her/his disc
  • If you find an abandoned disc, attempt to reunite it with its owner. Ask the groups ahead of you if they left a disc behind, then either turn it in to Lost & Found or call the phone number on the bottom.
  • Some obvious ones: Pack ALL of your trash, including cigarette butts; pick up and remove your doggie’s doo
  • Speaking of dogs, keep your dog on a leash, and don’t bring a dog on the course at all if he/she is likely to bark uncontrollably or chase random discs

Within your own group (these are subjective, depending on what you and your playing partners find acceptable):

  • Stop moving and talking when another player reaches the teepad. He/she may not seem ready to throw, but everyone has their own pace and focus strategy and deserves silence and stillness when it’s their turn. Same goes for putts and to a lesser degree upshots, since you may be standing far apart in the middle of a long fairway.
  • Stay perceptively behind the disc of whoever is out (the player whose disc is furthest from the hole). This one is obvious, but also easy to violate.
  • Don’t talk about someone else’s game unless they bring it up.
  • Don’t talk about your game too much.
  • Don’t talk too much, period. Unless your regular group likes to talk nonstop, of course, in which case- gab away! But keep the volume at a level that doesn’t force other groups to listen to your banter.

That’s all I can think of for now, but I’m eager to hear feedback from others.

Why putting is even more important than you think

by frisbeebrain, posted in DaLearning Curve, disc golf instruction, instruction, putting

My goal with this entry? To convince you how much your entire disc golf game is affected by your putting ability and consistency.

I’m sure even non-golfers have heard the saying “Drive for show, putt for dough.” Well-know cliches are usually well-known because they are so completely true, and this one is no exception. If you need a translation of what the clever one-liner means (or even if you don’t), I’ll tell you- using disc golf terminology: People love to see someone crush a long drive. But if you throw a disc 430 feet on a par 3, 450-foot hole, then miss your 20-footer birdie putt, your impressive drive gives you no advantage over my 370-foot drive and routine 75-foot upshot. As we all know, disc golf scores are comprised of total number of throws, and gimme drop-ins count just as much as hurculean hucks. So that’s the essence of the saying, and it’s very true. But like most homespun homilies, it’s also over-simplfied. Simply put, it doesn’t come close to painting the complete picture of the importance of putting.

How’s this for a picture? Imagine an inverted (upside-down) pyramid. At the top, you’ve got the big, broad end that normally is the foundation of the pyramid. This is your driving game, the throw on each hole that hopefully gets you most of the way to the basket (hence it’s occupation of the broadest part of the pyramid). In the middle you’ll find your upshot/approach shots, and at the bottom – the small, pointy “foundation” upon which the rest of your inverted pyramid is balanced – you’ll find your putting game. Many people will want to flip the pyramid over, seeing their driving game as the base of a good score, since it does the most work in terms of distance travelled between teepad and basket. But you need to see your complete game as building upon a solid foundation of putting. To show why, let’s look at a hole in true inverted fashion- backwards.

If you consistently make almost all your putts inside, say, 25 feet, and a majority inside 30 feet, you are indeed putting for dough, but you’re also doing something just as important: You’re taking a great deal of pressure off yourself on the shots before the putt. For instance:

  • You’ll have more confidence in agressively running for long putts if you know you can hit the comeback putt.
  • When you do rip that killer drive on the long hole and have 30 feet left for a rare, envy-causing birdie, you’ll step up with a positive frame of mind, as opposed to thinking “If I don’t make this putt my killer drive will be going to waste!”
  • On the holes where you find yourself with a challenging upshot, hoping to just get close enough get a look at par, a consistent putting game will help immensely. You’ll be able to imagine a 30-foot radius around the basket and know that if you can get your second shot anywhere within that radius, you can par the hole. This usually provides several alternative routes you can visualize, and takes away that familiar pressure of thinking you gotta base every shot because you have no confidence in your putting game
  • The common thread to all three previous bullet points is confidence vs. pressure, anxiety, negative imagery, and forced conservative play

If you’re now convinced like never before that a better putting game is the key to finally finsihing in the cash in tourneys, taking your friend’s bag-tag, or maybe just breaking par, here are a few obvious but useful tips for getting better:

  • Practice. You hear it all the time, and like anything else, if you don’t devote some regular time each week to improve your disc golf putting, you won’t. It takes a little as 10 minutes a day for a few weeks to see significant gains
  • Use the inverted pyramid concept in practice to build up your putting game. First work on those short putts (15 feet and in) that just kill you when you miss ’em. Practice those until you get to the point that when you have them in a round, you approach them knowing you’ll make ’em, and you do. After that, slowly work your way outward until you’re feeling good about those 30-footers that right now cause your heart to flutter during a round.
  • Watch the players that not only hit most of their putts but seem to do so with confidence and calm. Instead of picking one person’s style and trying to copy it, try to see the basic balance and fluid form that most good putters have in common. Then, during practice, incorporate that good form into your own unique physical abilities

If you use these tips to beat me someday, make sure to let me know. It’ll make me feel a little better as I hand you my tag. Really.

Want to Play Better? Be a Sponge. Absorb, Squeeze, Repeat.

by frisbeebrain, posted in DaLearning Curve, disc golf instruction, instruction

I’m speaking to all disc golfers here, but primarily to those of you who really love to play, maybe even get to play 2-3 times a week or more, but still feel like you could get way better. The Am 2’s who want to (and should) move up to Am 1, and the Am 1’s who want to (and should) start challenging the pros. Of course everyone has room to improve, though, and can hopefully gain some insight from this article.

When you think ‘Be a Sponge’ you probably think I mean something like ‘Soak up all the advice you can’, or ‘watch all the top pros you can.’ While neither of those are bad ideas,
I’m kind of thinking of the opposite ‘sponge’ metaphor. The first thing to do when you want to shoot better disc golf scores is to wring out all the potential you currently have, even as you work to improve and expand your skill set. In any sport, when you hear about an athlete that ‘maximized his or her potential,’ or ‘overachieved,’ it’s usually in reference to someone whose physical game is greatly enhanced by an extraordinary mental game, drive, focus, or all three. Such people squeeze the most out of their physical potential. I’m not saying you have to dedicate yourselves exclusively to disc golf, a fitness
regimen, or anything like that. Just use your head. Figure out ways that you waste strokes during a typical round, and eliminate the waste. I’ll address some specific ways you can do this  here and in a follow-up post, but you yourself know which areas you need to focus on most. Here are some basics to get you started:

Drives

Many disc golf courses play through forgiving wide-open flat grassy park land, allowing you to see the basket you’re aiming for no matter where you land. Other courses –DeLaveaga in Santa Cruz, CA, for instance- are not so forgiving. Therefore at DeLa it is much more important to throw your drive accurately than it is to throw it far. You can save many strokes by not always trying to throw a drive as hard as you can – focusing on a smooth, accurate delivery instead – when your odds of reaching the hole with a birdie-look are small. In fact, if you take this ‘accuracy first’ approach, you?ll be surprised at how quickly your distance improves as well from increased smoothness. Side Note: I first exposed myself (heh-heh) to this concept by reading Golf In the Kingdom by Michael Murphy, an author of local notoriety. It is one of the many golf books I’ve found useful with parallels to disc golf.

Approach Shots

Have you heard the golf term ‘Game Management?’ It refers to the mental side of golf in general, specifically to making smart decisions during a round based on everything you know about your abilities, the course, and the conditions. In disc golf – and especially at DeLaveaga – I think game management comes into play on the second shot more than any other. Either you have some kind of look at the basket for birdie and have to decide whether to really go for it, or you’re in trouble behind trees or down a ravine. Either way, your decision on each shot comes down to the basic risk/reward ratio. If you are not familiar with this term, it is the comparison of the risk on a given shot (disc hits front of basket and rolls down into ravine, hundreds of feet below), to reward (Birdie!) A smart disc golfer considers risk/reward along with his/her own abilities on that day (tired, nursing an injury) when making shot decisions. Sometimes, when I know I’m not in the groove, I’ll play it conservatively simply because I don’t want to chase my disc down into a ravine. But other times the discipline to be able to recognize my limitations and manage my game accordingly means winning vs. losing.

Putting

Much of what I just wrote about approach shots applies to putting, in terms of risk/reward. But putting requires special attention unto itself, because until you put the disc in the basket you ‘re forced to keep doing it. Plus, strokes can pile up quickly on the green. On the mental side of putting, I’ll just say for now that you need to first decide exactly how you want to proceed (go for it hard and straight, go for it with a safe lofty shot, or lay it up), then execute the shot decisively. Make sure you know what you want to do, then do it with full confidence and focus. More to follow in part 2, but questions and input are always welcome at jack@schoolofdiscgolf.com.

Patience is a Disc Golf Virtue

by frisbeebrain, posted in disc golf, disc golf instruction, instruction, santa cruz

In disc golf, self-control is paramount to success. This particular virtue comes in many forms, but the one I have in mind today is patience- with your own game, with others, and with everything else that pops up in the course of a round of golf.

Patience seems most important to me during the Winter months, because the weather is colder and the teepads and terrain are often slippery after it rains. When the air is cold discs don’t travel quite as far, which is due to a combination of the phyics of the air itself and our bodies not being quite as loose. And when we’re not properly warmed up and loose, we lose that fluid quality that is so important to throwing a disc accurately and far. Also, if the surface we’re trying to plant our feet on is wet and slick, it adds yet another element that makes executing the shots we have in mind more difficult. The natural result is a greater margin of error, and usually scores that trend upward. Because of this we must remember to be patient, and keep a few things in mind.

First of all, these tougher conditions are just a fact of playing disc golf in the Winter, so we need to adjust our expectations accordingly. For me, a -5 with the course soggy after a recent storm and a temerature? of 38 degrees at teeoff is better than a -8 with perfect sunny weather and dry teepads. Second, the conditions of the course are the same for everyone. No matter who you’re playing against, I guarantee that his or her average score goes up when it’s wet and cold.

I’ve learned to recoginize – either at the outset of a round or after a few hampered throws – when conditions will limit what I can accomplish that day. I then adjust my strategy and expectations accordingly, and try to do the best I can within the new framework of potential. If the teepads are slippery, I sacrifice some distance for the sake of more control since I’m more likely to slip if I go with 100 percent power. If my hands are cold and numb and my muscles feel stiff, I’ll be more conservative with my upshots and putts to make sure I don’t take extra strokes by giving myself unneccessarily long putts.

Maybe the weather is great, but you still start poorly. No problem! One of the great things about golf is the fact that each hole gives you a fresh chance to do something good. One of the biggest mistakes a golfer can make is to let the last shot influence the next shot (or hole). Don’t feel that you need to ‘make up for’ the bogey you took throwing OB on hole 6 by going for a risky birdie run on hole 7. Be patient, and evaluate the risk/reward of each shot based on its own merits.

Although it isn’t really what this article is about, patience with the other things you can’t control is also very important. If you find yourself getting antsy waiting for someone to make their shot, or the general pace of play on the course that day (this is especially common during tournaments, of course)? try to relax and enjoy the moment. A watched pot never boils, as they say, so let your eyes wander to something else on the course, like another group putting out, or even a bird in a tree. If you have a tricky shot coming up, use the extra time to give that shot more consideration. Most people don’t have as much trouble noticing and dealing with external issues, though. Much tougher is the ability to recognize and properly handle what’s going on in one’s own head. That’s the kind of patience that is harder to devlelop.

A good example of this was my experience at the DeLa monthly last weekend. I started on hole 1, and right away noticed that the cold weather combined with an injury I had to noticeably reduce my distance off the tee. I then realized it affected my putting touch as well. I told myself that par would be good enough as long as I felt so cold and stiff, and proceeded to get par on each of the first 11 holes. A couple birdies just sort of came to me on holes 11 and 12 (good things come to those who wait, after all), and after a double on 13 and a birdie on 15 my score was -1. I still didn’t feel right, so I remained patient and kept playing conservatively. Then my patience began to pay off.

With 18 in the log left position, I threw a great turnover drive (I ‘m a lefty) and based the hole. More importantly, though, I noticed that the temperature had risen a bit, and my stiff hip had loosened up as well. I ended up at -6, including birdies on 3 of the last 4 holes, and tied Jon Baldwin for first in the Open division. The thing I felt best about wasn’t the 1st place finish- it was the fact that I was able to recognize what I’d be able to accomplish that day, then maximize my potential within that box. That kind of round – a patient round with a happy ending – really feels good afterward. And it just happened to be good enough to win.