Last week in the world of disc golf, I played in my club’s weekly bag-tag competition, early A.M. as usual. The “flex start” format allows groups to play throughout the day. Because we use Udisc for scoring, that enables players to keep an eye on the scores not just when they are playing but before and after, as well.
Club members who play in the afternoon can watch the scores to see how the course is playing that day— and make note of the current score to beat.
It works the other way for me and my Breakfast Club buddies. If I shoot at least a decent round I’ll check back occasionally on my phone to see how it holds up. If I shoot a really solid or great round I’ll watch to see how long it stays on top of the leaderboard or at least in the top 5.
This is a pretty great enhancement to casual competition, and thanks to Udisc it gets even better. Their live scoring features let us follow other groups’ scores hole-by-hole, so after playing a clean round (other than that roll-away triple bogey) on a very tough layout, I watched and waited. After moving up and down on this list as new players started and others finished, I ended up pretty much where I expected.
The early morning rounds are special anyway, regardless of the associated competition of bag-tags. Birds are chirping and the course is mostly empty. We’re out there together, three or four of us, eschewing our warm beds and embracing (on this day) a blanket of fog in the air and water dripping from every blade of grass. It’s more than disc golf. As my mom would say, “It’s an adventure!”
Speaking of adventures, a company called Humbo asked me to share their list of the best disc golf destinations in the world. Let me know if you agree. What did they miss? Which ones have you visited?
Bag-tag Thursdays are about growth. One day my friend will emerge from his disc golf cocoon as a beautiful, 950-rated butterfly!
Before I share a few “disc golf makes good” stories, as is my custom, I want to share why I do it. I’m hoping people pick up on the common themes that permeate these accounts of growth in our sport. More often than not they involve people volunteering, donating, and sharing their expertise because they appreciate disc golf so much they feel a kind of obligation to share it.
For instance, thanks Brad Silvers and others the town of Howland, OH has Tiger Town Disc Golf Course, while Trigg County, KY used restaurant tax money and a host of volunteers to build its new 18-hole course. And then there’s Alex Dowley, assistant tennis coach at Albion College in Michigan. He’s doing what he can to grow disc golf there, where will may someday be the HEAD disc golf coach!
For those who didn’t see the cool buy o’ the month, here it is again: The handy-dandy product that serves as a stylish car seat cover, disc golf practice target, and beach towel— just not all at once.
The grommets enable it to be hung up, and the regulation size basket for aiming will hopefully reduce the times someone asks why you’re launching Frisbees at a towel. Get one before they’re gone!
Finally, this week’s disc golf news from the Canadian Front. Moosejaw is getting another 18-hole disc golf course, because one is never enough. My friend Brett in Saskatoon will play them both and report back. Have a great holiday weekend. Let freedom, and disc golf chains ring! And remember those who made it possible.
Last month in disc golf . . . The Masters Cup and a School of Disc Golf corporate gig forced me to skip several FrisbeeGolf Fridays. I hope it didn’t leave too much of a void in your lives. Onto some news from the front lines of disc golf!
Nothing like watching the world’s best, up close and personal. Photo by Bill Allen from the 2023 Masters Cup presented by DGA. Can you spot me? Hint, I am NOT the spectator with a Ph.D. That would be my friend – and Ohn’s husband – Justin.
A 9-hole course was just installed on the VA Medical Center campus in Chillicothe, Ohio, and it will soon be a full 18 holes. This idea just makes so much sense, let’s hope the trend continues.
As some know, I am a member of Team Infinite. Over the years, they have come up with some interesting product ideas.
I like this one because it reminds me of bedspread setups I created in hotel rooms over the years to help get in my disc fix. It’s a giant towel with a full-size basket on one side, with grommets for hanging.
Practice putting for an hour in the sun, work up a sweat, then pull the target down and take it to the lake for a swim. I’m in!
Now, I’m not sure why, but many of my favorite stories about disc golf culture these days are coming out of Canada.
From Midland a senior disc golf group called 60 and Hyzer is cleaning up after others, and in Centre Wellington a local man is making a strong case for a publicly-funded course in the township. Even local publication Guelph Today contributed with some solid reporting.
Yet again from Canada — although this practice takes place on courses everywhere — a story about a form of memorial unique to disc golf. Seeing one of these on the course somehow makes me feel sad and good at the same time.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the globe, the Phillipine News Agency just announced the first disc golf course in Manila, where the sport can be played year-round. Expect big things!
Have you checked out our new booking site? It’s also a great place to pick up unique disc golf gifts and merch. There’s not a lot there yet, but you can find some clearance items you won’t find anywhere else. There is even a shirt from the show Discmasters that I hosted with Nate, Val, and Avery back in 2011.
Finally, for those who have been asking, Idio just announced the release of the next generation of their Syncrasy disc golf shoes. They also acknowledged some customer feedback and listed specific improvements made to the new shoes. According to the company, “We have been listening and adapting. This year we have improved our bonding process, hardened the rubber for longer life, and improved on our waterproofing.”
My tester Syncrasys have indeed begun to let some water in after an epically wet winter, but otherwise they’ve held up well. I look forward to seeing the new ones and appreciate that is never satisfied.
That’s enough for now. Disc golf season is in full swing everywhere, so get out there and enjoy!
College Disc Golf, Air Force Disc Golf in Japan, Jack Tupp on Amazon, and the Ground-Up Approach to SAving Strokes.
Last week in the wind-whipped world of disc golf, the College Disc Golf National Championship went down pretty much as expected. WPI (Worcester Polytechnic Institute) finished a respectable 8th, between Kentucky and Texas A&M. Meanwhile, Lenexa, KS finally opened a course 20 years in the making. Officers at the Yokata Air Base in Western Tokyo did not blink, and within days announced their own new disc golf installation.
Meanwhile in the world of School of Disc Golf, aka, Play DisGolf, Inc., aka, me, I was surprised to learn my book Three Paths to Better Disc Golf is only two ratings shy of 100 on Amazon. (I had no idea! You see, I’m pretty shall we say “hands off” when it comes to my social media marketing — eh-HEM, Slacker! — and not as up-to-date on these things as I should be.) If you’ve read the book, post a review and help it hit triple digits!
I want to share a few snippets from past reviews as feedback like this is extremely gratifying and humbling at the same time.
“I did not expect how many of the suggestions just clicked – reflections of things I know to be true from my work and personal life that I had simply never applied to my recreational passion – disc golf. So far my scores are trending in the right direction, but more than any of that, practicing “disc golf in a vacuum” has allowed me to enjoy my time on the course even more. Highly recommend!”
“This is an awesome read, Being new to the sport I was a little confused about some aspects of the game. The author makes great sense and is simple to understand. If you take your game seriously you owe it to yourself to check it out.”
“I’ve read several of the most popular disc golf books and this is by far my favorite. Excellent treatment of the subject and from someone who can actually write!”
Those were some of my favorites, each for a different reason. I even liked the lowest-rated review, which simply said “Be the Disc, Danny.” An association with one of the best movies ever can’t hurt, right?
I also have deep ties to Michigan Disc Golf (what’s up, WinniCrew?), and this campaign to build an epic course and honor a legend is a perfect example of why and how disc golf has come so far and ain’t slowing down! Help ‘em out if you can, especially if you’re near the Upper Peninsula.
Our private course is showing signs of a mini-super bloom, and the season for teambuilding events and group activities is getting started. Contact me directly if you’re interested in booking a date or learning more.
Hole 7, looking back to the tee.Basket of Hole 5 in the Hazard Island location.
This week’s flashback post from the blog is a 2-Parter. Big mistakes can obviously cost you big-time, but lots of little things can add up fast. Knowing how to adjust to the vagaries of the terrain, or taking a Ground-Up Approach to Saving Strokes is key.
Part 1 focuses on up/down and left/right slopes, while Part 2 addresses varying tactics based on varying playing surfaces. Just to tie this week into a neat little bow, these are also chapters in that book I mentioned.
May your weekend include time to throw discs and enjoy their flight.
World record in nz, disc golf lingo, disc golf philanthropy, and the march madness winning coach practices disc golf?
Last week in the warm, furry underbelly of disc golf, a new distance world record was set. Seven year old Sarah Wadsworth of New Zealand launched their disc 62.07 meters, or a little more than 200 feet. Sources are unclear on whether it was a chuck or a huck.
According to Udisc, Morley Field in San Diego is the most-played disc golf course in the world. After an improbable run SDSU last week lost to UConn in the NCAA men’s basketball title game. According to these fools UConn coach Dan Hurley practiced disc golf right after the game, but he’s really just tossing . . . you guessed it . . . a Frisbee.
This week’s flashback is to a post about disc golf lingo— one of my most popular ever. It’s also a chapter in The Disc Golf Revolution, right between “The Complexities of Disc Flight” and “Disc Golf on the Road.”
Loudoun County must be LOCO about its disc golf community.
Local disc golf clubs like the Trumbull County Disc Golf Association not only routinely provide the necessary labor and funding to build new courses (go to Play Discgolf on Facebook and search #newdiscgolfcourse to see a ton more). They also raise funds for the community, and every winter clubs around the world host “Feed the Hungry” events. Shout out to the LoCo Disc Golf Club in Loudoun County, VA, first off first the cool spelling of your name, but also for being a shining example of disc golf’s philanthropic nature. 40k is not chump change, and they do it again and again!
Playing early morning rounds has always been part scheduling necessity for me and part preference. The course always seems more beautiful and dramatic at first light. And speaking of drama, my favorite arch nemesis is back, and he wants my tag!
Hole 2 long at DeLa: Do NOT miss your line.
DeLaveaga is set in The Long for the upcoming Masters Cup, and pretty much every hole requires skill, precision, and nerves of stainless steel.
This scrubby oak on hole 4 at DeLa is known as the Catcher’s Mitt, and that drive was most definitely a strike.
Enjoy your weekend, especially any disc golf you get to play. It’s a gift!
I’ve received a few queries asking why a newsletter that usually opens with a line about the wide world of disc golf is called FrisbeeGolf Friday. There are numerous reasons that I will share over time, but let’s start with two. The first can be defined as onomatopoeia. The word frisbee sounds like what it is, which is extra cool when you consider that is was selected rather than created.
In the History of Disc Golf chapter in The Disc Golf Revolution, I ask which sounds better: “Let’s go play flying disc,” “Let’s go play Pluto Platter,” or “Let’s go play Frisbee!” When most of the world thinks flying disc, it thinks Frisbee, which is my second reason for the newsletter title. I am publicly asserting that the word frisbee (notice I didn’t capitalize it) has become a genericized trademark. Want proof? Google “frisbee golf” and see what comes up.
For those who didn’t know, the only reason our sport was called disc golf in the first place was basket inventor and PDGA founder Ed Headrick’s need to respect WHAM-O’s trademark and branding. If the word frisbee is no longer protectable, I say, say it. Frisbee Golf!
A guy in Utah found healing in disc golf, so he came up with a way to pay it forward. The Breaking Chains group in Taylorsville, UT is part support group, part fresh air and exercise, two things crucial to those battling addiction and mental health issues. The founder hopes to expand in Utah and then nationally.
In Wadesboro, NC students of Anson High School’s sports and marketing class will be organizing and running an upcoming disc golf tournament.
Photo courtesy of Peter Ascuitto
I’m writing a post right now with the working title of “Less is Less,” the idea being that you can shave strokes off your game by doing less on any given shot. Watch for that soon, but in the meantime here are a couple from the past that also touch on the idea that we can lower our scores by playing smarter as well as playing better.
Both are also chapters in my book Three Paths to Better Disc Golf. Get a signed copy from me here, or get it on Amazon.
I wrote last week about the value of a midrange that anyone can throw straight, citing the Wombat3 as the best example.
Wombat3
Earlier this week I aced hole 8a at DeLa with my Star Wombat3, a short, tight hole I’ve played thousands of times but never aced. The only reason that disc found the chains last week was because it kept pushing forward when my other discs all faded at the end. It was a nice surprise and perfect illustration of how this disc is different.
Short, tight holes often require straight-flying, slow discs.
That’s it for this week. Get out there and have fun!
Last week we found lots of good stuff in the cracks and crevices of the disc golf world. The 2023 World Happiness Report came out, and get this: The top spot goes to disc golf-crazy Finland; the top 10 include more leading disc golf nations; the top 20 “happiest” countries all have disc golf.
Draw your own conclusions.
Ads for the Austin, TX chapter of the First Tee program ran during last weekend’s Disc Golf Network broadcast. I found that interesting. First Tee is a ball golf-based youth program where participants learn life skills along with golf skills. It is run by the World Golf Foundation, the trade organization for the golf industry.
Ads for the Austin, TX chapter of the First Tee program ran during last weekend’s Disc Golf Network broadcast. I found that interesting. First Tee is a ball golf-based youth program where participants learn life skills along with golf skills. It is run by the World Golf Foundation, the trade organization for the golf industry.
When researching my book, I interviewed the WGF’s then-executive director about the possibility of First Tee including disc golf in its programs since disc golf is so much more accessible. She made it clear that the golf manufacturers who funded First Tee would not let that happen. But that was in 2015. Maybe this is a sign of things to come- or maybe the head of the Austin chapter of First Tee received a stern phone call. In any case, the Revolution continues . . .
Speaking of DGN, kudos to the producers for making better and better use of the drone cameras. Getting that “5,000-foot” perspective really makes a difference.
Our #newdiscgolfcourse spotlight of the week comes from Quincy, IL. David Morgan, director of golf at the Westfield Golf Center, said “They (disc golfers) don’t have a long course in the area apparently, and so now they can have competitions and stuff like that.” Do they not have golf tournaments in Quincy? It reminded me of this great moment from Corporate Spokesperson history after Madison Bumgarner and my SF Giants won the World Series. Good “stuff.”
Here’s a quick tip. A truly straight-flying midrange disc is useful for maybe more than you think. If you’re challenged to get a disc to turn in a certain direction, sometimes it’s better to throw a shorter (or longer) straight shot than force it. The Wombat3 is a perfect choice for this purpose because it goes straight and finishes straight regardless of power, even if released with hyzer. If you can’t make that tight dogleg, play station-to-station instead. If you have trouble hitting low tunnels, a Wombat3 is good for both.
A client recently gave me this really cool gift, a handcrafted mini disc that features pressed alder seeds. I have no business relationship with Treasures of the Forest– just wanted to share them with my readers. Judging by the site, their stuff is in demand, but they add pieces each week and take custom orders that can include organic material you send them! Check out their Facebook page, too.
If you missed last week’s FGF, I shared a new instructional post on optimizing the use of eye-body coordination and mentioned I had an upcoming tournament. I won the tourney, and employing the eye discipline discussed in the post was a major reason why. Check it out!
Before you return to your own daily “stuff,” please take 60 seconds to sign this petition. The already semi-approved course would be in a part of the Bay Area that has no disc golf (how can they be happy?!), and the site is fabulous. Thank you!
Last week in the wide world of disc golf, another brave disc golf club declared its intention to turn straw into gold– and you can help! I particularly like the idea of converting Bellingham, WA mall dwellers into disc golfers. As the Disc Golf Revolution continues, disc golf is expanding into a new market- New Market, Alabama, to be precise.
From Taupō, New Zealand we learn of the North Island Championships, where more than 200 players will compete. I love this uncredited image from the story, and that basket! The chain assembly looks solid but the cage appears ready to break some hearts.
Due to shipping costs, disc golf course builders in more remote locations need to create their own, locally-produced baskets.
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My extended test of the world’s first real disc golf shoe continues, and they’re holding up great. Check out my first three months’ review– if you want to give them a try, now is a great time. In honor of Women’s History Month, Idio is knocking $44 off the regular price of $129.99.
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Watch. Where. You’re. Throwing! The latest instructional post on our website is about the role our eyes play when putting and driving, and it can be summed up with those four words. Learn how to best use these powerful pieces of human technology.
Our new booking site is also a great place to pick up unique disc golf gifts and merch- or it will be soon. There’s not a lot there yet, but you can find some clearance items you won’t find anywhere else. There is even a shirt from the show Discmasters that I hosted with Nate, Val, and Avery back in 2011.
Wish me luck this weekend as I compete in the Enduro Bowl at DeLaveaga. It’s 58 straight holes (2×29 holes), and the course is bound to be a slog.
My 2019 Enduro Bowl trophy was this cool ring. Go Team!
How to focus on your goals. literally. with your eyes.
Summary: Making full use of your eyes can dramatically improve the aim and consistency of your drives, your putts, and all throws in between. Read on to learn Why, Where (as in, where your eyes should be in any given situation), and How (as in, how to make any necessary changes).
Merriam-Webster defines the term eye-hand coordination as “The way that one’s hands and sight work together to be able to do things that require speed and accuracy (such as catching or hitting a ball).” Or tossing a disc at a target.
After watching my recorded analysis of his driving form, a remote client in New York replied that the issue with keeping his eyes glued to the ground throughout his drive was a habit borrowed from his days playing ball golf. In that sport keeping the head down makes sense. The spot on the ball where the club will ideally make contact is where the eyes need to be in order to do their job.
In disc golf, however, looking down makes no sense at all. Nor does directing your eyes anywhere other than the aiming target. Trying to watch the disc throughout the reach-back or trying to observe some other part of their form are both also popular practices among clients when they first come to me. In all of these cases, the eyes are not being used as they should.
It’s pretty simple, actually: Eyes locked onto a target are sending the brain information that is useful for aiming; eyes looking anywhere else are not. “Wandering eyes” contribute nothing to successful execution. Eyes focused on the wrong thing send information that conflicts with the brain’s understood objective and are often the sole reason for errant shots.
What are you looking at? Watch where you’re going. Watch where you’re throwing!
The website Cognifit.com further defines eye-hand coordination as the eyes perceiving information (visual-spatial perception) that the brain then uses to guide the hands to carry out a movement. We use our eyes to direct attention to a stimulus and help the brain understand where the body is located in space (self-perception). The broader term motor coordination refers to the “orchestrated movement of multiple body parts as required to accomplish intended actions, like walking.”
Or launching a disc golf disc at a target 400 feet away. Multiple body parts, including the eyes, must coordinate to perform even routine disc throws.
To fully grasp the significance of where our eyes are pointed during every millisecond of a disc golf throw, it helps to think of the human brain as a very powerful computer and our various body parts as software and hardware. I provide a couple of comparisons below specific to driving and putting, but the principle is the same:
Your eyes collect information required for proper aim and balance. Prolonged focus on the right thing maximizes their contribution on any given throw.
those driving eyes
For the neural phenomenon of motor coordination to work best, the eyes need to be focused where they can gather the info most useful to perform the task at hand. When driving this will usually be the basket, but not always- especially on holes with doglegs, elevation changes, or any blind shot that prevents even seeing the basket. Pick something specific, though. This amazing piece of human technology works best when you feed it specific spatial coordinates.
I find it helps to think of eye-body coordination while launching drives in disc golf as if I’m a jet pilot firing guided missiles at another jet- at least as depicted in movies. I first”acquire” the target in my sights, meaning I start by locking my gaze on my aiming point- forward, level with the horizon. As I start my footwork, I remember to “lock on” to the target using the motor coordination connection between my eyes and other body parts. The better I can maintain that connection, the better my aim will be.
At this point, I trust the technology and”fire,” doing my best to keep the target in my sights as continuously as possible throughout the throw. On a full-power throw it is usually necessary to momentarily pull the eyes away from the acquired target. That’s okay, if the extra distance you’ll get justifies the broken eye-body connection. Just remember that having your eyes focused on the target 85 percent of the time is way better than 15 percent of the time, and still much better than 50 percent of the time.
I grabbed the below images from a video of Paul McBeth posted a year ago by Tom Manuel. I agree with Bro Heme who in the video’s comment section said that McBeth is the “best combo of power and accuracy in the game.” He (Paul, not Bro) knows exactly when and how to sacrifice a little aim to get the needed power.
Image 1 shows McBeth already locked onto his target. That’s the default, and his eyes won’t leave until Image 4, when turning his hips and shoulders away from the target makes it impossible for them to maintain contact. Note that even then, though, his chin touches his throwing shoulder rather than pointing back in the same direction as his shoulders. If you could see his eyes, you’d see they are rolled to the right in their sockets, straining to re-establish the eye-body neural connection as soon as possible.
By Image 5 – before the disc has left his hand – McBeth’s head is back in position for his eyes to gather and transmit fresh data critical to shot execution. In Images 6 and 7 we see him making an effort to keep his eyes locked onto the target through the release of the disc. This ensures that the contribution of the eyes is maximized and has the additional benefit of helping prevent him from pulling the disc off his line due to imbalance.
Simply by the orientation of his head you can tell that this player is looking at the target in all images above except 4 and possibly 5, at which point his eyes are just reacquiring the target.
Standing at the front of the teepad and focusing your eyes hard on the target before beginning your throw won’t accomplish the same thing— even if you extend the disc dramatically while staring. If you do that, then stare at the ground next to you throughout your throw, or let your eyes passively drift wherever the alignment of your shoulders takes them, the target is no longer acquired, much less locked on.
If you are learning or re-learning the footwork that most like to pair with a full-effort backhand drive, first of all, ask yourself whether that’s a good idea at this point. Assuming the answer is yes (and even if it’s not, yet), you have a couple of much better options than trying to watch your feet or the disc to confirm whether you’re doing things correctly.
You can film yourself and then self-analyze and/or get help from a pro. If you must use your eyes to learn, this is the way to do it. Your eyes already have an important job to do during the throw, and unless you are a chameleon or a four-eyed fish, your eyes can’t multitask.
Learn by feel. Pay attention in detail to what it feels like to keep your eyes straining and neck craning toward the target as you twist your torso away. Learn to stay center-balanced through any footwork, then check the video to see how you did. How does it feel when you do it right? Simply focusing on the feeling of success and failure during and after your throw will help you refine and repeat.
Note: As you see in Figure 5 above, a full-turn drive requires momentarily breaking eye contact with the target. When this is the case, it is important that you don’t wait until your eyes reacquire the target to begin your throw as that would waste the large muscle power of your reach-back and screw up your timing. Instead, learn to treat that fraction of a second when your eyes are forced to come off the target as a blip of static, with the picture returned before you know it. During that blip, the “feeling” you’ve learned will bridge the gap.
the putting trance
Everything I’ve written so far about using the eyes to “throw” a flying disc applies to putting as well. In fact, it’s all magnified! The margin of error on putts is thinner and sharper, and that makes a difference in two ways.
Putting requires exacting precision. Miss by a few inches and you miss the putt
Putting is an unambiguous pass/fail proposition that invites extra mental baggage
Be The Tripod
If the challenge of keeping eyes on the target while driving is like locking onto a 500-mph target while traveling 500 mph yourself, proper eye discipline while putting is like photography with a tripod. The goal is to focus on the exact best place for you to aim (a link of chain, the orange tape) and retain that perfect visual connection through the release of the disc.
Physically this is easier than the eye discipline required when driving. There is way less movement going on (jet vs. tripod), and at no point are you forced to rotate your neck away from the target.
With putting it’s often the mental part that is more challenging, because of the pass/fail thing. It’s easier to get ensnared in anxious thoughts about the results of the putt when there is no gray area. Letting the eyes drift away from the target to the disc is common in this case, sometimes before the disc even leaves the hand.
Even when you’re on the side of a mountain in the Andes surrounded by llamas putting at a makeshift basket of a thin tire and thinner chains, maintain focus with the target. Photo by Jeff Faes.
Breaking visual contact with the target even a fraction of a second too soon can cause a bad miss. To prevent this, lock your eyes onto your aiming point and try to keep them there until the disc reaches the target. As much as possible, keep your head still as well. Think of a picture taken right as the camera gets jolted. Blurry, out of focus. It’s why tripods exist.
The next time you practice your putting (today, right?), focus on your “eye-work.” Are you aiming at something small and specific? When I am in a period of poor mental focus I will sometimes realize I’m aiming at the target in general. Be intentional about your aiming point, on every putt.
Do your eyes stay locked on that aiming point, or do they “unlock” as the disc leaves your hand so you can track the progress of your attempt? I struggle with this in particular, and I’m not sure whether it is due to being emotionally attached to the results or my ADHD. Maybe my eyes get drawn to the movement.
Whatever the reason, I know it’s something that requires constant monitoring, and I know it’ll be worth the effort. Science tells me that keeping my eyes focused on the right thing improves motor coordination. My own empirical evidence backs it up.
The takeaway here could not be simpler. Watch where you’re throwing!
Last week in the wide, wide world, the disc golf revolution continued unabated. A promoter in China contacted me about publishing The Disc Golf Revolution for distribution there. A sizeable market to be sure, but I don’t want any confusion about revolutions. The early translation effort needs work, Yao, but thanks!
From Liverpool, England’s first-ever muni golf course (read: old) has a new director (no, not that Matt Bell), and he announced a plan to add disc golf. A bit west of there, the Japan Open, a former PDGA major, is coming in May. This unique event is played with discs 150 grams or less and has been held every other year (or less often) since 1985.
Libraries let you check out all kinds of things. Books, videos, ghost-hunting kits, disc golf kits, birdwatching kits . . . A new course in Lapeer, MI will be funded by a tax on cannabis. I can think of 420 reasons why that makes sense. Speaking of new courses, an overgrown golf course in Indiana is being turned into a shiny new disc golf course, and the city is thrilled. The revolution continues . . .
My test of the Idio Syncrasy has entered month 5, and the epic storms here in Santa Cruz have put the grip and of course the waterproof-ness of these disc golf shoes to the ultimate test. Check out my full review here, and know that nothing has changed. So far, so good!
I’m working on a new instructional post about the role of our eyes in various disc golf throws, so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, enjoy an old post from the blog that connects disc golf, the game of kroits, throwing stars, and “Failure!” Video included.
Last week in the wild world of disc golf, Canadian rodeo grounds became a target for a new disc golf course. According to a story in the Penticton Herald, disc golfers in the British Columbia city helpfully pointed out that disc golf can co-exist with other park users, and also noted that disc golfers happily build and maintain our own courses. Anyone near there should let the Summerland Council know you want disc golf at the Rodeo.
Disc golfers in the village of DeForest, Wisconsin can use your help, too. Proposals by village staff to install a couple of small courses have been under attack by the NIMBY’s, and they are still requesting public comment. Take a minute to let them know how disc golf has been good to you. OK, last one on this theme- maybe things get a little tense up North this time of year, but the town council in North Vancouver is also hashing out a dispute between players and neighbors. If you play on this course, have a calm word with these “few offenders” and let them know how much the course means to you.
unique disc spotlight
Rather than being hotstamped, the design on my first run Rask is part of the mold, embossed in reverse on the underside of the disc so it reads correctly viewed from the top.
One interesting perk of being a disc golf blogger for the past 20 years has been the opportunity to review some notable, ambitious disc models. A great example is one of the first offerings of Swedish manufacturer Kastaplast. Their attempt to innovate in the area of drag reduction to create a faster disc was successful. Even the meathook drivers call the Rask a meathook.
I don’t have much use for this disc in my game (I think it was intended to be Thor’s signature fundraiser disc), but it is a piece of functional art. I tried to capture it’s unique properties in these images.
Viewed from the top of the Rask, we can see the design that is molded into the bottom along with the stucco wall behind the disc.
The feature that makes this disc SO overstable is a raised ridge on the underside of the flight plate. Also on the underside is the disc’s branding, molded in reverse lettering. Viewed from the top of the disc the Kastaplast “K” and other writing can barely be discerned.
This is my type of disc golf disc art, and that inner (lip?) is one-of-a-kind.
pro tour thoughts
The DGPT’s 2023 season opener went down in Las Vegas last weekend. Everyone I know who was there raved about the experience, and it looked great live on the Disc Golf Network- with two exceptions, two headwinds, if you will, pushing against the pro game’s steady progress as a spectator sport.
The first is the literal wind, which can make the game very hard to play- and watch. There isn’t much anyone can do about that, but if you like unpredictable twists and turns and lots of missed putts, windy golf is for you. The other is holding top-level competitions on a playing field designed (and used) for a different sport. Some mention the monotony of wide-open holes when criticizing disc golf on ball golf courses, and I know the practical reasons for using ball golf courses for disc golf events.
My issue has more to do with image and perception, and I have the same problem with disc golf events in multi-use parks. When a person who is already predisposed to not yet take disc golf seriously sees our top level pro hours broadcasting events from what looks to be a temporarily repurposed setting (even if it isn’t), they see it as a confirmation of their beliefs.
When the pro tour has enough options that avoid this issue and still meet required criteria for a strong cell signal and spectator accommodation, look for the sport to soar even higher.
new booking site
Clients have been asking us for a way to book lessons online, and we (finally) responded! Our new booking and ecommerce site, giftofdiscgolf.com, lets users find and book open dates and pay for lessons, purchase gift cards, and get started with remote coaching. Soon it will also have a curated selection of cool and unique merch, as well.
last week’s video
I realized after sending last week’s email that I mentioned but didn’t show or even link to the actual video. Here it is, a nice bit of film making that accurately captures the varied entertainment of playing a solo round of disc golf on a challenging course.
