Author: Kirk

Kirk was one of the original founders of Infinite Discs.

State of Disc Golf 2015: Most Popular Brands Worldwide

7 comments

This year we had enough respondents to determine which brand is most popular throughout the world. We actually didn’t bother making a map for the most popular brand, because it would look like this:

It’s true, Innova is the most popular brand in every state and region of the world. We knew that Innova was dominant from the responses in the survey, but to find out they were the favorite brand in every region. We are amazed. Even across the country in “Scandinavia” Innova was still #1. Had we asked specific countries, perhaps Sweden would have been Latitude 64.

We know that from interacting with others, they may disagree. We have seen the comments that say “everybody throws such and such brand where I live.” Our response to that is, you may not know everybody in your state that plays disc golf. In some cases, the sample size should be larger to strongly say that we are strongly confident in these results (more specifically, the results below). For example, we awarded no 2nd place in Wyoming because there is not enough data to determine.

Where things start to get interesting is when we look at where the second most popular brands are found in this image:
2nd-Most-Popular-Brand

Here’s what stood out to us from the image above:

  1. This is a colorful map. Many different brands (outside of Innova) are strongly favored in different parts of the world.
  2. The closer a brand is to its headquarters, it tends to be more highly favored in that area.

Legacy is headquartered in California. What is California and Nevada’s second favorite brand Legacy? DD is in Kansas, and is dominant in the midwest. The exceptions start to come with MVP, where disc golf manufacturuing is

Before you comment:

To understand how Infinite Discs has come to conclusions in this article, please read our State of Disc Golf 2015: Introduction post. After you understand the statistics and methodology of the survey, feel free to post.

State of Disc Golf 2015: Popularity Around the World

11 comments

We had some fun digging much deeper into the data to do some per capita comparisons and are super intrigued by what we have found. According to the data, Maine has more disc golfers per person than anywhere else in the world! Below is information about how popular disc golf is in each state, and region of the world.

For the images below, we did not make a world map, just a United States map. The shades of the lettering on the actual name of the territory (such as Canada) indicates how popular disc golf is in said area. For exact details, scroll to the bottom of this post; we published the number of responses from every region. Africa, South America, and Antarctica were not options in the poll; they will be included next year.

Where today's disc golfers are (number of respondents/ divided by population). The more popular areas are shaded darker.

Where today’s disc golfers are (number of respondents/ divided by population). The more popular areas are shaded darker.

Disc golf popularity according to Google Trends. This graph adds validity the previous graph, by comparing search data to where respondents are located. The graphs look incredibly similar.

Disc golf popularity according to Google Trends.
This graph adds validity the previous graph, by comparing search data to where respondents are located. The graphs look incredibly similar.

Region # Respondents Population in Millions
Respondents per Million
Alabama 62 4.78 1.30
Alaska 21 0.71 2.96
Arizona 57 6.39 0.89
Arkansas 33 2.92 1.13
Asia 4 4,427.00 0.00
Australia 30 23.3 0.13
California 353 37.25 0.95
Canada 151 35.16 0.43
Colorado 132 5.03 2.62
Connecticut 37 3.57 1.04
Delaware 15 0.9 1.67
District of Columbia 1 0.6 0.17
Europe 67 722.38 0.01
Europe – Scandinavia 133 20.12 0.66
Florida 134 18.8 0.71
Georgia 133 9.69 1.37
Hawaii 7 1.36 0.51
Idaho 52 1.57 3.32
Illinois 174 12.83 1.36
Indiana 107 6.48 1.65
Iowa 82 3.05 2.69
Kansas 101 2.85 3.54
Kentucky 67 4.34 1.54
Louisiana 29 4.53 0.64
Maine 50 1.33 3.76
Maryland 40 5.77 0.69
Massachusetts 124 6.55 1.89
Michigan 273 9.88 2.76
Minnesota 148 5.3 2.79
Mississippi 26 2.97 0.88
Missouri 146 5.99 2.44
Montana 11 0.99 1.11
Nebraska 20 1.83 1.10
Nevada 17 2.7 0.63
New Hampshire 36 1.32 2.73
New Jersey 32 8.79 0.36
New Mexico 18 2.06 0.87
New York 101 19.38 0.52
North Carolina 232 9.54 2.43
North Dakota 9 0.67 1.34
Ohio 157 11.54 1.36

Before you comment:

To understand how Infinite Discs has come to conclusions in this article, please read our State of Disc Golf 2015: Introduction post. After you understand the statistics and methodology of the survey, feel free to post.

Winter 2014 Recap & Gift Card Guide

Leave a comment

The Holiday Season has moved so quickly we can’t believe it’s coming to a close. We sincerely hopeful you have a wonderful Christmas, and that 2015 will be an amazing year for you. Within this post, we’ve included a few sneak peaks into 2015 releases.

In this season whirled by you for as well, we have put together this quick guide to bring you up to speed. Within this guide, 90% of products mentioned were announced or released after November 1st! That’s right Business Week, disc golf is not “expired” it’s booming.

Gift Card Guide

This guide is also intended to be a useful reference for those who will be spending their gift cards on or after Christmas. If you haven’t purchased a Christmas gift yet, you are out of time for a delivery. Go here to purchase a disc golf gift card. which is delivered instantly via e-mail!

Let’s check out the latest from the top disc golf brands:

MVP & Axiom

SkullBoy Theory – The most stylish brand meets the most recognized artistry in disc golf. Two stage hot stamping at its finest.
Dri-Fit Teeshirts – Many color options, many sizes.
MVP Polo – Performance polo. Dress professionally while playing professionally (If you have a PDGA# that applies to you).
Hoodies – Super thick 50 cotton, 50 poly. Perfect for keeping you toasty on those chilly days.
Throwback Axis – Artwork from the early days of MVP, on their premium Neutron plastic.
Hats – High quality hats, flex fit, black, red or blue. Besides another color option of orange, is there anything more you could ask for?
Proxy – The Proxy is similar to the Envy, which may be the disc of the year according to the 2015 State of Disc Golf Survey. So far, the Proxy is also off to an excellent start.
Electron Atom – Coming 2015 – MVP’s new baseline plastic, with excellent feel, and an attractive price. We’re guessing you’ll see these in early 2015.
Fireball – Coming 2015
Wrath – Coming 2015
Insanity – Coming 2015
Virus – Coming 2015

Innova

Champion Thunderbird – According to All Things Disc Golf, this is the 2014 disc of the year! Just recently released in Jolly Launcher Champion plastic, but is also available in the popular GStar blend.
Innova 30th Anniversary Big Bead (Glow) Aviar – The Big Bead Aviar is also known as the Aviar Driver.
Innova 30th Anniversy XT Aviar – Has it really been 30 years? As for the XT blend, that came out in 2014.
Christmas Atlas – Ho ho ho!
Christmas Destroyer – Yes, it’s 12 speed. But did you realize this edition is a 25 glide, 20 high speed turn, and 14 low speed fade?
Christmas Roc – Ready for a Pun? Christmas Rocks!
2015 Calendar – These get better every year.

Discraft

Elite Z Heat – The Discraft Ace Race disc is great for newer players, and one of our most popular sellers of the year.
Z Lite Avenger SS – This ultra popular driver for beginners as now even easier to throw.
Z Lite Crank – Last years most popular selling Discraft disc is now lighter. Bomb this baby!
Z Lite Mantis – The popular Mantis, only lighter.
Z Lite Nuke – A Nuke that even average arm players can throw.
Z Lite Nuke SS – It’s a lighter Nuke SS.
Z Lite Surge SS – Feel those air bubbles provide easy distance.
LE CryZtal Buzzz OS – These are limited, but we still have a few left in Stock.
TEASER: Semi-Exclusive Infinite Discs Release (Coming 2015) – Have you ever wanted to throw a Titanium Flick? We’ll have that and more early January!

Trilogy

Fluid Judge – Putt with this popular putter please.
Fluid Escape – Dynamic Discs most popular driver.
Fluid Truth – You’ve handled the Truth, but can you handle this Truth?
Fuzion Enforcer – What’s special about the Fuzion Enforcer you ask? The limited edition run of Eric McCabe is what makes this one special.
Elasto World – Not for the beginner.
Elast Giant – Also not for the beginner. Who else wants to call this the Frost Giant? We do.
DecoDye XXX – For those who love plastic with style.
Gold Claymore – Super popular midrange. Released just this year, and already available in Recycled, Opto, Gold Line and also…
Frost Claymore – See what we’re talking about?
Frost Diamond – There is no reason not to get beginners into disc golf this winter.
Frost River – One of Latitude 64’s best sellers.
Ranger Bag Restock – It’s difficult to say, but judging by this bag nearly always being out of stock, it may be the most popular disc golf bag of 2014. A few of the most popular 2014 colors are now back! Get them while they’re available.
Latitude 64 Luxury Bag – Revisions were recently made to make this bag even better, and more luxurious than the first version.

DiscMania

CD2 (C-Line G-Line) – Coming 2015
PX1 (Beaded Putter) – Coming 2015

Prodigy

Glow H1 – It glows in the dark.
Glow PA-3 – Tacky, durable, glows in the dark. Is this the best plastic ever?

Accessories

Retrievers – Get your disc out of any situation!
2015 Disc Golf Calendar – Because the first thing you need to say every day, is a disc golf target.
Disc Lights – There’s no need to stop when the sun goes down!
Disc Towels – Because you never realize you need it, until you need it. The question is, were a Boy Scout, and did you learn to be prepared?

Baskets

DGA Mach Lite – Our top selling portable basket will be arriving in black in early 2015.

State of Disc Golf 2015: Introduction

2 comments

Overview

Between December 5th and December 15th, 2014, exactly 5,038 participants completed “The State of Disc Golf: 2015 Survey.” The survey can be summarized as an accurate representation of self-selecting disc golfers.

Accuracy

It is impossible to know how many disc golfers there are in the world right now. A larger survey of random Americans would be necessary to determine the approximate number.

If we assume that there are 1,000,000 disc golfers, this survey has, with 99% confidence, a margin of error of +/- 1.81%. We can also say with 95% confidence, that there is a margin of error of +/- 1.38%. These numbers were found using a simple calculator here.

Methodology

This survey was first published and announced on December 5th by Infinite Discs. It was then posted on Facebook and Twitter by Infinite Discs. After the initial announcement, it was picked up by others and posted and shared in many social outlets, such as Reddit. This survey was also published on the PDGA Facebook page and was e-mailed by the PDGA to those who are included in the PDGA mailing list.

This survey is not truly scientific, as participants were self-selecting. It was published that the survey was just over 10 minutes in length, and $1,305 in prize merchandise would be awarded to random participants.

One may argue that casual disc golfers are not enticed by the prizes, and would therefore not elect to participate in the survey. Therefore, those who participated in the survey may generally be more passionate about the sport. This survey is not a sample of the average American. It is instead a sample of the disc golfer who is involved in the sport to a degree that they would have heard about the survey through any of the means mentioned above.

Sponsors

These sponsors donated prior to the survey closing, but were not announced until after.

  • MVP – $180 in discs
  • Dynamic Discs – $355 in merchandise
  • Prodigy – $220 in discs
  • Aerobie – $150 in discs
  • Vibram – $100 in discs
  • Infinite Discs – $50 in gift cards
  • PDGA – $160 in memberships
  • Innova – $90 in discs

Avoiding Bias

We felt very strongly about avoiding bias in this survey. Through e-mail we discouraged all parties who may be interested in obtaining favorable results from advertising or promoting this survey. We informed manufacturers that if they did promote the survey, they may be accused of obtaining bias results. As far as we are aware, no manufacturer promoted this survey.

We also encouraged manufacturers to donate to this survey, to entice respondents to complete the survey. Manufacturers who donated are listed above. Each of these manufacturers and donors understood that they would be listed as a survey sponsor after the survey had closed.

Fans of certain brands, who are bias, shared this survey. Therefore, this survey includes results from bias individuals and groups. This is fine, as the State of Disc Golf finds the bias of fans equally important; we simply did not want fan bias to be unfairly and heavily weighted from promotion of the manufacturer which they admire.

Publication Schedule

We anticipate to have our series of articles published before the end of March, 2015.

Thank You!

The results of this survey are immensely beneficial to disc golf. A survey of this scale allows us, and you, to do more for disc golf. We encourage you to use the data you find in this survey to promote disc golf courses, and to persuade city officials how beneficial this sport can be in your area. We would love to hear about how you use the data.

Welcome Feedback

If you have any questions regarding the survey, please comment below. You may also e-mail support@infinitediscs.com with any feedback.

Infinite Discs Revised – Welcome to 2.0

Leave a comment

You may have noticed the Infinite Discs website has changed. So I’m putting together a quick post to bring you up to speed on what’s new. At Infinite Discs, we’ve been calling our first website 1.0, and the current version 2.0.

This system is for the people that are just as obsessive compulsive about their discs as we are.

1.0 was launched in November 2012, and work on 2.0 began in May of 2013. A year and a half later, it’s live.

Why Did We Launch 2.0?

First of all, we did not do the change because 1.0 version was outdated. It was great, and we received excellent feedback constantly. However, it wasn’t the perfect disc golf website, and that’s our goal with 2.0.

What’s New in 2.0?

Exact pictures of each disc

In the last month, we have cataloged over 14,000 discs. We took each of these discs, photographed it, added all of the other information (color, weight, mold, plastic type), so your shopping can be precise. People ask us daily since the release “Am I really going to receive the exact disc I see?” The answer is yes, you will receive the exact disc that you select.

This cataloging system gives you the benefit of thumbing through every disc, as well as the benefit of our amazing prices.

Advanced sorting system

I have to say, this is my favorite feature of the new site. It’s amazingly slick.

Let’s say you want only blue discs which are manufactured by Innova that are distance drivers and overstable, or glow in the dark discs by Discraft, or pink putters made by MVP that weigh 173-175g; now you can find exactly that! Just select your criteria, our system will sort through every disc as fast as Google searches the entire world wide web, and return results. Simply click “View Individual Discs” and you will see a list of the exact discs you are looking for.

User Profiles

Are you a fan of reviews written by Andrew Belet? Click on his profile and read all the reviews he has written.

Or how about this: Last year you purchased a Westside disc that flew amazingly. This year you flew it in the water, but you can’t remember what the weight of it was. Just view your order history, and all of the information on discs which you have ordered is still there!

This is just the beginning of amazing things you will be able to do with your user profiles. We’ll be announcing other updates on this blog.

What Hasn’t Changed?

Prices

Our prices are still amazing. Yes, taking this much effort to catalogue discs increases cost on our part. The good news is that because of the support you have all shown us, we are able to move enough plastic to keep prices down.

Reviews

We were able to transfer reviews from the old website. However, reviews from the old site need some updating. As you may have noticed, each review has a star rating attached to it. If you have written a review on 1.0, please log in to update your reviews.

You can now also update a review after you have written it.

For Your Information

Finding & Fixing Bugs

There are a few features of this website which are still being improved. Some of them we are aware of, some of them only you are aware of. If you find something that needs to be fixed (such as a typo, or the website crashing), please let us know! E-mail support@infinitediscs.com with anything you find.

Disc Colors

With disc photos, there are a few variables involved. Your screen may show color differently than ours. It is also worth noting that some colors fall outside of the gamma of which our equipment is able to capture. Bright colors may appear more white, and certain shades of green may not appear (blue-green or yellow-green may appear as more blue or yellow).

There’s More

Is there a feature which you have found, but we haven’t mentioned? Let us know in the comments what else you love about the new site! We appreciate your feedback!