Ted Hegemann, Author at Infinite Discs Blog

Best Disc Golf Putter of 2022

January 18, 2022 Ted Hegemann 244 comments

Best Putter of 2022

	Sales Rank	Rating	Fan Vote	Average
Discraft Zone	1	2	1	1.3
Infinite Discs Alpaca	2	3	3	2.7
Axiom Envy	5	5	2	4.0
Gateway Wizard	3	9	9	7.0
Dynamic Discs Judge	6	15	5	8.7
Innova Aviar	4	17	8	9.7

The final rankings for the best putter are very close to the sales rank for the past year. The Zone took the number one spot in both Sales and Fan Vote. There were a lot of comments about the Zone not being a putter, but rather a throwing disc. However, the category includes putt and approach, so we didn’t make a distinction. Check out the best putters list by clicking the links above.

For most recent data check out this article for the best disc golf putters of 2023.

The Top Selling Putter

Although the Pandemic is still in full swing, the supply chain is slightly better than in past months, so the sales are a little more indicative of the popularity of discs, rather than sales based on whatever discs might be available. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the top sales for putt/approach discs for last year. These are ranked only against other putt/approach discs, not all types of discs.

Top Putters By Sales
Rank	Disc	Manufacturer
1	Zone	Discraft
2	Alpaca	Infinite Discs
3	Wizard	Gateway
4	Aviar	Innova
5	Envy	Axiom
6	Judge	Dynamic Discs
7	Pig	Innova
8	EMac Judge	Dynamic Discs
9	Warden	Dynamic Discs
10	Roach	Discraft
11	Praxis	Thought Space Athletics
12	Pilot	Streamline
13	P Model S	Prodigy
14	Pure	Latitude 64
15	Ruin	Infinite Discs
16	Link	Discmania
17	Luna	Discraft
18	Banger GT	Discraft
19	Penrose	EV-7
20	Rune	Viking Discs

New Brands, New Molds

In addition to the unprecedented growth in the numbers of disc golfers in the past few years, we’ve also seen an explosion of new manufacturers and molds. This gives us more options to choose from and takes a little bit of market share from the historically popular putters. In 2020, we posted a list of the best putters and Discraft held a third of the top twenty discs. This year, although Discraft still maintains the top spot with the most molds, their number shrank. They now hold 20% of the top 20. Additionally, nearly half of the manufacturers in the top 20 only have a single mold. Here’s a look at number of molds by manufacturer:

Manufacturer	# of Molds in the top 20
Discraft	4
Dynamic Discs	3
Infinite Discs	2
Innova	2
Axiom	1
Discmania	1
EV-7	1
Gateway	1
Latitude 64	1
Prodigy	1
Streamline	1
Thought Space Athletics	1
Viking Discs	1

Top Rated Discs

One of the tools we use to determine the Best Putter for 2022 is the individual disc ratings on our website. It gives us a picture of our customer’s opinion about the disc over time. Customers can rate a disc on a scale from 1-5, and comment about what they like or don’t like about a disc. It’s a great tool to check out when considering which discs to buy. Here is a list of 20 of the top-rated discs, along with the customers rating.

Disc Mold	Customer Rating
Praxis	4.93
Zone	4.90
Alpaca	4.87
P Model S	4.86
Envy	4.82
Pilot	4.81
Link	4.78
Rune	4.76
Warden	4.74
Wizard	4.73
Pure	4.73
Pig	4.68
Roach	4.66
Luna	4.65
Ruin	4.64
Judge	4.62
Banger GT	4.59
Aviar	4.44
EMac Judge	4.40
Penrose	4.38

The Age of These Putters

If you follow the sport of disc golf very much you’ll probably notice that several of the discs out of the top 10 are very new to the disc golf world. It is impressive that such new molds are competing for the title of Best Disc Golf Putter against tried and true classics. Maybe they will be the classics of the future, or maybe they are hyped molds that will fade into oblivion in the near future. We’ve seen that in the past, where a mold becomes popular due a a particular player, only to slow down in sales once the marketing ends. Only time will tell how popular molds will be in the future. Still, we wanted to look at the ages of the molds and see which ones have earned their way onto the list by virtue of years of sales. The newest kids on the block are the Emac Judge and the popular Alpaca. On the other end of the lifespan spectrum is the Aviar, a mold that has been around longer than a lot of current disc golfers. The average age of all the top 10 molds is about 10 years old. That age would be three years newer were it not for the Aviar. Here is a list of the top 10 molds and the date they were PDGA approved:

Disc	Date Approved
Aviar	1-Jan-84
Wizard	9-Jan-02
Pig	20-May-08
Zone	28-May-08
Judge	7-Dec-12
Warden	14-Oct-13
Envy	12-Jan-14
Roach	30-Nov-15
Alpaca	16-Nov-20
EMac Judge	5-Jan-21

Fan Voting

We asked you to help us out with our list of the best discs, and you let us know! Here is the list of best discs as taken from the comment section. Many of you had trouble narrowing it down to one mold. However, when we added the results, the top discs were clear. Here is a list of which molds you voted for:

Rank	Mold	Percent of Votes
1	Discraft Zone	17.0%
2	Axiom Envy	9.9%
3	Infinite Discs Alpaca	6.3%
4	Discmania P2	6.3%
5	Dynamic Discs Judge	5.8%
6	Latitude 64 Dagger	5.4%
7	Discraft Luna	4.9%
8	Innova Aviar	4.0%
9	Gateway Wizard	4.0%
10	EV-7 Penrose	3.6%
11	Kastaplast Berg	3.1%
12	Dynamic Discs Emac Judge	2.7%

The top 12 molds were divided among 10 manufacturers, which is unusual. Percentage-wise, however, Discraft captured more than a fifth of all the votes. Still, it’s good to see the putter love spread among manufacturers. Here are some of the comments we received about the top disc, the Zone. :

David – “I love the zone, it’s my favorite disc/ most used disc. I find myself really liking the Eve 7 Penrose as well”

Josh D – “I have trouble believing the Zone is a putter. If it was “what’s the best approach disc” then no question.”

Tyler – “The Zone will stay at the top because it’s so reliable”

We counted all of your comments, then randomly selected one commenter to win the $50 gift card. The winner is Aaron D, who was notified via email.

We Still Want to Hear From You

Let us know YOUR best putt disc. Comment below to let us know which putt/approach mold you find yourself using more than any other in your bag! How does your selection compare with the putters on our list?

Best Discs

Introducing TD Extraordinaire: Mook

November 11, 2021 Ted Hegemann Leave a comment

Mook with his custom spotter’s sign

Brandon “Mook” Merzlock

One of the best aspects of disc golf to me is attending tournaments. Reuniting with people I’ve played with before and meeting new people adds another dimension to the sport. Cheering on friends adds to the enjoyment. Although there are many things that differ from tournament to tournament, such as format, tier, location, layout, and payout, there is one thing they all have in common: someone has stepped up and was willing to run a tournament. Usually more than one person. I would like to introduce to you someone who has stepped up more than anyone I know.

If you’ve played a disc golf tournament in Idaho or Utah in the last couple decades there is a good chance you’ve played in a tournament run by Brandon “Mook” Merzlock. Mook has been playing and running tournaments for nearly 20 years. He currently owns Mook’s Infinite Tour and the Infinite Discs St. George, Utah store. I asked him about his experiences running tournaments. Here is our conversation.

When did you run your first tournament? Did it turn out like you thought?

The first event I ran was in 2004. It was the Portneuf Open. It turned out to be more work than I originally thought, but the event boasted a 225% payout so it had great reviews. By the way, a 225% payout in 2004 brought $200 to first place in the Open division. I think the registration fee was like $25.

What made you want to run your first tournament? Is that what still drives you?

The local club president Steve Larsen thought I would be a good tournament director. He encouraged me and helped out with some aspects of the event. I was enthusiast about growing the sport. That is what has driven me since day one. I loved disc golf since the first day I heard the Frisbee hit the chains. That’s all I wanted to do. That is still what drives me. I love this sport and am relentless in my vision to help it grow.

How many tournament have you ran?

This week I will be running my 108^th tournament.

How much time does it take for you to run a C-tier? (From planning, until it is completely finished)

I wouldn’t classify the time that it takes to run an event by the tier. I’ve run non-PDGA events where I had to set up a temporary course from scratch. That took a long time. I ran a night Halloween tournament for 10 years that was the time demanding event I ran every year. I would tell tournament directors that there is no black and white answer on how long it takes to run an event. Just make sure you have the time and the resources, and after that it will be more work than you thought. Now, there are so many tools to help you run your event. Something like a Match Play or NADGT event can be very simple to run.

What is the biggest tournament you’ve run?

I’m running the 4^th Annual Infinite Discs Red Rock Classic with 200 players this week. That would be it.

What is the most satisfying tournament you’ve run, and why?

There isn’t one event I can think of that I could say “That was the best tournament I’ve run”. The next tournament is the most satisfying tournament I run. Seeing disc golfers fill my events is the most satisfying of all. We don’t do it unless the players show up.

What is the biggest challenge when running a tournament?

Patience. The complaint I have heard from tournament directors over the years is the lack of respect and appreciate for what tournament directors do. We receive complaints no matter how good the event is. We have players who blame us for their bad play and it drives tournament directors away. Be patient. It helps to have thick skin.

Are you in favor of having TD’s make money from tournaments? What would be a fair amount for someone to receive for running a C-tier?

Absolutely! Most TD’s want the best payout ever and donate all funds to the event which is honorable. I have always treated myself to something from tournament funds, but it’s always some cheesy like a new laminator or OB stakes to make the next event easier to better. I don’t think you should base your pay off of the tier. Some of the most frustrating things to do is find sponsorship for the event. If I was going to run a C-Tier event, I don’t need any sponsorship to fulfill the required 85% payout. So, I would say this, take a percentage of all the sponsorship you have raised for the event. That’s where the work is at. Say 10-15%. If I raise $10,000 in sponsorship it doesn’t seem far-fetched to take a $1500 paycheck to me.

If you could send a text/email to every disc golfer on earth who will be attending a tournament, what message or advice would you give?

READ THE INFORMATION THE TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR HAS PROVIDED BEFORE ASKING QUESTIONS OR ATTENDING THE EVENT.

If you were interviewing a TD, what question would you ask that hasn’t been asked in this interview? What is your answer to that question?

Q – What are the keys to running a successful event?

A- Transparency and consistency.

General

Review: Apex Disc Golf Hand Warmer

October 27, 2021 Ted Hegemann Leave a comment

Since we play disc golf year round here in Northern Utah, we end up playing many months of the year in cold temperatures. Knowing that, I’m always on the lookout for products that keep my hands warm during the colder months of the year. When Infinite recently started selling the Apex disc golf hand warmer, I was excited to try it out and see if it would be something that would help keep my throwing hand warm when the temperatures started falling below freezing. I was VERY happy with the results of my testing!

When the temperatures start to dip here in Cache Valley, we slowly start adding layers, covering bare skin, and seeking devices to warm us when we’re playing those chilly winter rounds. There are a few options out there for keeping our hands warm. There are the disposable hand warmers, catalyst hand warmers (Zippo hand warmers, for example), and rechargeable electric hand warmers. Although I like the disposable type for their effectiveness, I prefer not to keep spending money all winter long.

When Infinite first got the Apex hand warmer, I immediately started testing it to see if it was something that I could use for the upcoming winter months. Here is a breakdown of the features of the warmer.

Four LED lights to indicate the heat level of the warmer
Four heat setting that you can scroll through with the push of a button
Two USB ports for charging a phone or other item.
Soft pouch for holding the warmer
Micro-USB charging cable

To test the Apex, I just turned on the warmer and set it to the lowest setting. Then I put it in my pocket and timed until I noticed it stopped producing hear. Then I charged it up and tried it on the next level. By the time I got to the third level, it was actually a tad too warm in my pocket. Plus, I wanted to test the Apex in conditions that were more like how I would be using it: in the cold. So, I put the warmer inside my Rovic Mitten and put it in the freezer. A thermometer in the freezer indicated temperature ranged between 2-7 degrees Fahrenheit. On the fourth level, I just set the warmer inside the freezer, then checked it every half hour or so. Here are the results of the testing.

As I mentioned above, the warmer also has USB ports that can be used to charge things like cell phones. To test that, I charged my iPhone from 60% to 100% to simulate charging it enough to use it. Then I set the Apex to level two and ran it until it died. Even after charging the phone, the warmer lasted 9 hours!

One of the down sides to the Apex hand warmer is how long it takes to charge. It isn’t something you can charge for an hour before you leave to play disc golf and expect it to stay warm the entire time. It takes over seven hours to fully charge using a 2 Amp wall charger. That isn’t a big deal if you remember to charge it the night before you’ll need to use it. However, I did want to test it to see how long it would stay warm if you forgot to charge it until you were getting ready to play. To do that, I ran it until the battery died, then charged it for an hour. Then I set the heat to level 2 and timed how long it lasted. It only lasted about an hour and a half.

Long term testing

The only issue I’ve had with the Apex so far is with the four LED lights. Two of them are slightly dimmer than the other two. I don’t know if they shifted inside the case, or if they are faulty. That doesn’t affect the performance of the warmer, it just makes those two lights a little more difficult to see in sunlight. The LED’s were all functioning properly when I first got the warmer and I noticed the change a couple of weeks after constant use.

I will keep testing the Apex warmer to see how long it keeps working. I’ve only had it for about six or seven weeks, using it nearly every day. So far, it keeps on heating like it did when I first got it. I’ll keep testing it and update this blog after I’ve used it for another couple of months.

Even with the Apex I’m still not looking forward to winter disc golf. But it’s nice to know that I will stay a little warmer because if it. It’s a product I highly recommend checking out. The Apex hand warmer lasts a long time and produces some amazing heat. Check them out here:

https://infinitediscs.com/Products/Accessories/18399/Apex-Disc-Golf-Electronic-Hand-Warmer

General

Team Infinite’s Kade Filimoehala

October 20, 2021 Ted Hegemann Leave a comment

Kade Filimoehala:

The Quest to Win the Junior World Championship

How old were you when you started playing disc golf? In the 2021 State of Disc Golf survey the average age that we started playing disc golf was around 27 years old. In the next couple of blog posts, we’ll take a look at two players who started playing disc golf in two extreme age groups: under 12 and over 70. They are both Team Infinite players who are active in disc golf and who recently competed in their respective PDGA World Championships. In this blog we’ll start with the younger player, Kade.

Heading Into Junior Worlds

Kade Filimoehala played in the 2021 Junior World Championships in July of this year. It was the culmination of a goal set years ago when he first attended Junior Worlds. Although he was excited to be competing in Championship, he also a little nervous entering the tournament. He was the highest rated player and this was his last chance to win the tournament.

Adding to his nervousness was a first round result that was less than he hoped for. To be more accurate, it was a great round of disc golf. But it put him a little further outside of first place than he wanted. Kade knew he had his work cut out for him if he wanted to take the top spot for the tournament. But, before we get to the results, let’s get to know Kade a little better.

About Kade

Kade lives in Northern Utah, in the community of Kaysville. His name is Tongan. He is one-quarter Tongan and his grandpa on his dad’s side is full Tongan. Despite having numerous courses within a fairly short distance of his parent’s home in Kaysville, he stumbled onto the sport on a family vacation in Idaho. They were at Lava Hot Springs and noticed some disc golf baskets at a park near the hot springs pool. He and his family visited a local sporting goods store and picked up a few Echo Star Destroyers and played the course. That is where his passion for disc golf began.

First Trip to Worlds

Although Kade’s disc golf career essentially began as a 10-year-old on a humble 9-hole course in Idaho, something happened later that had an important impact on his game: He attended a PDGA Junior World Championship in 2018. His performance there landed him toward the back half of the pack. But that fueled his desire to come back to the tournament, and win!

Though not satisfied with his finish, his experience in Emporia that year was positive. “Junior Worlds is such a well-run tournament and it is so fun to play with people my age,“ he said.

Competing to Improve

Kade played in numerous regional tournaments in 2019, mostly as an Amateur, winning some and slowly improving his rating and his skills. He also returned to Junior Worlds, finishing slightly better than the year before.

In 2020 Kade started playing more in the open division, even playing in numerous DGPT events around the country. He gained a lot of experience. He also got to see what it was like to be a younger player in a group with older competitors.

“Now I don’t get treated any differently,” said Kade. “But when I first started playing disc golf tournaments, I sometimes wasn’t handed the scorecard, and the other three guys just did the scorecard for me.” That’s something for the rest of us keep in mind, too. Especially since we’re seeing more amazing young players entering the pro ranks.

During that year he won a few tournaments as an Open player, but declined the cash payout, as is the prerogative of an Amateur player who wants to maintain their Amateur status. He still had in mind his goal to win the Junior World Champion title that year. Then, unfortunately for his plans, the pandemic hit and it got cancelled.

Getting Ready to Win

Undeterred by the cancellation, Kade continued to play as much as he could and continued to grow as a player. His MPO wins for that year included two B-tiers and a C-tier event. And his rating continued to climb.

This year, 2021, found Kade back playing competitively, this time exclusively as an MPO player. He competed at many local, regional, and a few DGPT events in preparation for achieving his goal to win Junior Worlds. Then, in July of 2021, Kade returned to Emporia to make the attempt.

As mentioned in the opening of the blog, Kade was less than impressed with his start at Jr Worlds. In his words he, “didn’t play my best that first round.” But, he did what everyone should do after a bad round, he focused on what he needed to improve for the next round. It worked and his next round was much better.

Meeting a Hero

At the Peter Pan Course in the second round Kade shot a 1028-rated round, which moved him from 14^th place to 4^th, and he made it onto the lead card. Something else special happened that round: Fellow Team Innova player Ricky Wysocki followed him and watched him play! That was special for Kade because Ricky has always been a hero to Kade. “Ever since watching the 2012 World Championships, my favorite disc golfer has been Ricky Wysocki,” he said. Following the round Ricky invited him to dinner with Innova team manager Joe Rotan.

Finishing Strong

The third round of Junior Worlds was another round that wasn’t his best, but wasn’t horrible either. He maintained his place on the lead card, and even moved up a spot to third place. After that, he started the pick up speed.

Round four was another 1000+ rated round, and in rounds five and six Kade shot the hot round! Shooting some amazing disc golf he was able to coast into the final round with a 7-stroke lead. Even then, he didn’t let off the gas and shot the hot final round en route to a 9-stroke lead and the championship!

It was a great week for Kade. Not only did he win the championship, he won the long drive competition with a throw of 555′. Plus, he took first in his division’s Double’s tournament with his brother Andrew, another rising star.

Kade, left, and his brother Andrew

Turning Pro

The win at Emporia was a memorable event for Kade. It was the achievement of a goal he had set years earlier and the results of countless hours of practice and competition. It also put him in a position to make a big career decision. Should be remain an amateur, or become a professional? It was an easy decision for him.

“I had set a goal to win Junior Worlds and because I accomplished that I felt like I was ready to move on,” said Kade. Plus, he was planning on attending college a few months later, so he didn’t know if he would have the time to train properly for Am Worlds. So, he turned pro.

He is glad he did that. He has already finished near the top in a few tournaments, and was actually able to take cash for his efforts.

“It felt great to get rewarded for good play and feel like I’m competing for something more than a trophy and a good round rating,” he said.

His Future in Disc Golf

Although he doesn’t know exactly where disc golf will take him, he still has goals he will be working toward. Those include achieving a rating of 1030 or higher by 2023, make a DGPT Elite Series lead card, and finishing a DGPT tournament with 100% C1 putting. Given his history, he will likely see those goals fulfilled, too.

Pro Tips

Since he started playing when he was fairly young, he knows the challenges that face younger disc golfers as they rise in the ranks and play with older players. He was asked what advice he would give to someone starting out in the sport, who want to play competitively.

“Don’t be afraid to speak up and take a turn at doing the scoring,” he said. “Also, don’t be afraid to speak your opinion on a close call. It is very easy to conform to what the rest of your card is saying. As a young player playing with adults, it is important not to be intimidated, and let your card know what you think regardless of what they are saying.”

When things go wrong during a round, he has a tip that really helps him.

“I immediately start thinking about the next tee shot. I think about the disc I’m going to throw, the angle I’m going to throw it on, the wind, and where I want the disc to land. That seems to help me move on.”

Learning and Teaching

In addition to Ricky Wysocki, Kade has other pros that he looks up to, including Drew Gibson. “Drew’s backhand is what I have used to model my backhand.” In watching Kade throw, the similarities are apparent.

Recently, Kade started making himself available to teach lessons. He’ll show up to a session with a video camera and radar gun, then proceed to observe, record, measure, and give tips that will help that individual improve their game. When asked for the most common mistakes he sees people make, Kade said it usually has to do with upper body.

“The most common mistake I see is rounding. It usually stems from having an ultimate background, or when people try to throw really hard a lot of the time, they pull their shoulders through too fast. It causes the disc to lag and usually causes a massive power and accuracy loss.”

In His Bag

As for what Kade has in his bag, it’s no surprise that he throws Innova and Infinite molds. Here is what he throws the most:

Driver: Innova Destroyer

Fairway driver: Infinite Exodus

Midrange: Innova Roc3

Putter: Infinite Alpaca

Conclusion

From his start on a small course in Idaho to winning the Junior World Championship, Kade has worked hard to improve his skills as a disc golfer. Given that history of discipline and practice, the sky is the limit for this Team Infinite member!

Support Kade by checking out his new signature disc, a Metal Flake Glow C-blend Exodus here:

https://infinitediscs.com/Infinite-Discs-Exodus/Signature-Metal-Flake-Glow-C-Blend

General

Introducing Alfa Discs

September 10, 2021 Ted Hegemann 16 comments

Inspired by Infinite Discs

It isn’t often that people who stop by the Infinite Discs store in Logan, Utah are impressed enough with their visit that they start their own disc golf manufacturing business, but that is exactly what happened to brothers Alexander and Benjamin Eliassen. The pair, who hail from Norway, dropped by our store in 2019 during a family vacation to America. Here is their story.

Made in Norway

If you hop on a boat traveling East from New York City you could navigate the Atlantic Ocean until you got to the North Sea, east of the UK and south of Norway. If you head north on the Oslo fjord to the Drammensfjorden, you could make your way to the Drammenselva River, which flows right next to Hokksund Norway. In Hokksund you will find the Nostetangen Museum, where visitors can learn about how glass was made anciently. You will also find the Haug Church, which was originally constructed in 1152. Hokksund is also home to Alfa Discs, one of the newer disc golf companies, and the only manufacturer in Norway.

Inspired by Infinite

Shortly after their visit to America, and Infinite Discs, Alexander started studying Entrepreneurship and had to come up with an idea for a student project as part of the degree. Remembering the excitement he felt at seeing how successful Infinite had become, he and his brother decided to start the disc golf store they were dreaming about.

The brothers started their business two years ago by selling online and at local tournaments. They started selling only Infinite molds, but soon expanded by added more and more brands, until they had a well-rounded selection of discs. Unfortunately, several months after they started, Covid hit.

Making Their Own Discs

The global pandemic was a double-edged sword in the disc golf world. The sport is perfect for social distancing, and grew significantly. Unfortunately, the increased demand for discs, combined with slower production due to shutdowns and materials shortages, meant that there was a much bigger demand than there was supplies to meet the demand. This shortage was felt throughout the industry, and Alfa Discs was no exception. The owners decided that the best way to ensure they had the discs to sell was to manufacture their own. That’s when they decided to become the first manufacturer in Norway.

The founders of Alfa Discs (L to R): Alexander Eliassen, Christoffer Eliassen, Reidar Finnerud, Benjamin Eliassen

The decision to manufacture their own discs was made in June of 2020. The next few months were spent planning and working out the details to become a manufacturer. After much thought and discussion, the team, which now included a third brother and a friend, decided to make a stable midrange as their first disc. And thus was born the Apollo.

The Apollo

The Apollo is a straight flying disc that can be easily shaped for long, technical approach shots, or for a drive where distance is necessary. The mold was designed to be a good fit for beginners, and experienced players.

Their inaugural mold was named after the Apollo 11 mission, which flew the first people to the moon. That name seemed fitting for the first mold produced. The challenge of starting a new company, then producing their first mold, felt like an achievement akin to standing on the moon for the first time. As for the names of future molds, we will have to wait to see what they come up with.

Alfa discs has two different plastic types. The first Apollo release will be in their Crystal plastic. This is a premium plastic that is extremely durable. In fact, Alfa discs makes their premium plastics a point of pride. They want only the best discs for their customers. To that end, they even inspect each disc to make sure they are perfect. The Apollo and future molds will also be made in Chrome plastic, which is another premium plastic.

Future Molds

As for any future molds, Alfa is keeping the details close to the vest. They suggest checking their website for updates on future discs. They are planning on releasing a few more molds next year (2022), and will be working toward providing a full lineup of molds for their fans.

Even though Alfa is a young company and just producing their first mold, they want to help grow the sport by sponsoring players. Currently, they only have one sponsored player, but expect to add more to the roster as they grow and expand. Their current pro is Morten Brenna. Morten is one of the best disc golfers in Norway. And he loves the Apollo. He qualified for the UDGC, so you may very well see the Apollo flying around Rock hill this year!

Alexander is very optimistic about the future of the sport. Although disc golf is a much newer sport than ball golf, he believes that it could be just as popular as its cousin. He recognizes the role that Alpha Discs has in helping the sport grow, and looks forward to businesses like his having even more sponsored players and increasing the visibility of the sport. He will do his part by providing unparalleled customer service.

“Our customer is our boss,” said Alexander. “And we will listen to them no matter what.”

The new Apollo was just released and are available now! Check out the link below and get your first run Apollo from Infinite Discs.

https://infinitediscs.com/Alfa-Discs-Apollo

Check out Alfa Discs’ sponsored player, Morten Brenna, PDGA #79859, you can see his Norwegian-language In The Bag video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLqACdLX9IA

Visit the Alfa Discs website here:

https://alfadiscs.com/

We would like to give you an opportunity to win a First Run Apollo from Alfa Discs. To enter, let us know in the comments below what midrange mold that you throw that has a similar flight to the Apollo. Next week we will randomly select three commenters to win an Apollo.

General

How New Disc Golfers differ from Experienced Disc Golfers

May 27, 2021 Ted Hegemann Leave a comment

Rise of New Disc Golfers

As has been pointed out in numerous blogs, podcasts, YouTube videos, and even this blog series, the pandemic has created a boon for the sport of disc golf. A perfect storm of having more time on our hands, the need to socially distance from people, in many cases a bump in income from the federal government, and a sport that is relatively inexpensive and easy to get into has led to unprecedented growth for disc golf. That growth has not been without its pains. Shutdowns, materials shortages, and the increase in demand have led to challenges in maintaining inventory.

Even with the difficulties we are experiencing, and have experienced, it is great to see so many new people embracing the sport we love. Those new players are going to be the focus of this blog. We’ll take another look at how many survey respondents indicated that they started playing last year. Then we’ll look at why they started, how many discs they’ve amassed, and we’ll take a peek inside their bag to see what they are throwing. Finally, we’ll also compare their responses to the ‘veteran’ disc golfers to see what we can learn about them and us.

New To The Sport

Let’s start by seeing when people indicated in the survey that they started playing. In a previous State of Disc Golf 2021 blog we learned that nearly 20% of respondents started playing last year. Here are those results:

Let’s take a look at a few previous years’ survey results to see how the pandemic might have affected the results of the same question (as if we really wonder how it was affected!) Here are the results from two previous years. The chart shows the survey year, and the percent of people who started playing disc golf the previous year:

2015	9.70%
2019	10.20%
2021	19.20%

Given that extraordinary increase in the number of people who joined the PDGA last year, the 19% figure could have been a lot higher and it wouldn’t have surprised me. Still, one in five of all survey respondents starting last year isn’t too shabby.

Introduced To Disc Golf

The follow-up question in the survey was for people who indicated that they started last year, and that question was, “How did you get into disc golf?” I discovered in writing this blog that the spreadsheet format excluded some of the answers in the previous blog, so I ran the data again and here are the accurate numbers for that question:

Just like last time, the number one reason people started playing disc golf was because of a friend. What better way to share the sport than inviting a friend? Close to half of all respondents who started last year were looking for something to do during the pandemic. Over 28% wanted some way to get exercise, while 22% just stumbled onto the sport. Even though the smallest number of respondents found disc golf from seeing it on a sports program, I like the idea that people are intrigued enough from watching disc golf to give it a try.

In Their Bag

Alright, let’s take a look at what the new disc golfers are throwing. Because of the disc shortages experienced last year, I expected the discs in the bags of the new golfers to look like Infinite’s inventory: full of whatever disc golf brands we could get our hands on. It turns out that the typical new-person bag looks very similar to what everyone else’s bag looks like, statistically speaking. Here is the graph of the average bag, followed by the graph for the discs in the average new player’s bag.

For comparison, below is a chart from last year’s survey showing what discs were in our bags. As you can see, the numbers are similar to the ones in the graphs above. That is both the percentage and the overall ranking of the top brands.

Although there are some differences with the new player’s numbers, most of them are pretty close to the group numbers. Many of the statistics are driven by available supply. However, taking a look at last year’s chart for the same category, we can see that they numbers aren’t too far away from what we’ve seen in the past. It will be interesting to see what changes take place in the future, based on what people had in their bags last year. How many people ended up trying new disc brands because that was all that was available? And will they stick with brands they were forced to try?

Give The Gift Of Disc Golf

I was curious to see where new players got their discs, and how many got them from their friends who invited them to play. That would help explain why the charts look similar. According to the survey, 45% of players who started playing last year received, among other sources, a disc as a gift. We didn’t differentiate in the survey between discs that were given by another player versus discs that were received as a present for Christmas, birthdays, etc. Getting a disc from another player might mean they are receiving brands that the friend throws.

One other survey question I want to explore will tell us a little bit about how hooked the new players are on disc golf. We asked how many discs people own. Here is a graph of everybody’s answers:

And here is a graph of the players who started playing last year. Although the new players have the lead compared to seasoned golfers up to the 31-40 discs category, after that the long timers take over as the leader. That makes sense because we have a tendency to increase our disc golf collection over time, whether we are keeping discs we don’t throw, have more wall hangers, or start to collect discs. Here is the graph:

In The Future

It will be interesting to see how the influx of new players affects the sport in the long run. Growth is good and hopefully will compound in the near future. We REALLY hope the supply/demand dynamic will flatten out soon so we can escape the hoarder mentality and be able to buy what we want when we want it.

Check back next week for more of the 2021 State of Disc Golf.

What Disc Golf Accessories Do We Own

May 20, 2021 Ted Hegemann One comment

2021 State of Disc Golf

What Accessories Do We Own

One of the benefits of our sport is that it is relatively inexpensive to get started. A beginner who wants to play casually can get a few base-plastic discs and find a course that is free to play. For $20, you could be set for the summer. Even if you opt for premium plastics and a small bag, you could keep your expenses under $50. Compared to ball golf or many other sports, that is a bargain! Plus, that easy entry into the sport contributes to its growth. Even if you are buying discs for the whole family, it’s still a cheap hobby.

Once we’ve been playing for very long at all, we start considering some of the other disc golf related items we could use when we play. A mini marker is a necessity if you play tournaments and even leagues. Towels are nice in case our discs or our hands get damp. Maybe a bigger bag? Or how about jumping up to a cart? While disc golf CAN be played inexpensively, one can also spend a lot of money upgrading to the best discs, bags, and many varieties of accessories and apparel.

For the 2021 State of Disc Golf survey, we wanted to see what disc golf paraphernalia was the most popular. We asked about accessories, apparel, water bottles, and what we use to haul our gear around. Let’s take a look at what items were the most popular.

Accessories

In the survey, we listed popular disc golf accessories and asked how many of them we own. Not too surprising that the number one answer was a plastic mini. Number seven is a premium mini (made out of wood, glass, etc.). Although there were a lot of people who indicated that they own both a plastic and a premium mini. The bottom line is that nearly all of us have a mini of one kind or another. If you play in a sanctioned event, you really NEED a mini. That need, along with the fact that the regularly show up in player’s packs, makes it easy to see why the mini is number one. Here are the results:

When I consider what accessories I own, and what I see my buddies use, most of these numbers look right. There is one that looks glaringly wrong: the ubiquitous water bottle. Less than half of us own a water bottle? It wouldn’t have surprised me if the water bottle were the number one accessory. I know a few golfers that use bladders, similar to the CamelBak. But that doesn’t account for what I consider to be a lot smaller percentage of people who indicate they don’t own a water bottle, than what I see on the course.

More Accessories

Towels and grip enhancers are two more items that I see enough on the disc golf course that it is not surprising to see them at the top of the list. Rounding out the list is an item that we’ve been see a lot more advertising for in the past few years: the rangefinder. I see a lot more of these in use than even a year ago. With less expensive options like the Apex Rangefinder, it is easier to justify getting one.

Water Bottles

Speaking of water bottles, we also asked in the survey what kind of water bottles. Jesse from Trash Panda Disc Golf will be happy to hear that over 80% of us prefer reusable water bottles. (To see what Jesse is doing for sustainable disc golf, check out our blog post featuring Jesse here). Like so many of us have discovered, the double-wall insulated water bottles are the most effective at keeping your beverages cold. Pro tip: you CAN put too much ice in these types of water bottles and end up with nothing but ice after you drink all the liquid. That’s a bummer on a hot day. Experiment with the level of ice to see what works best for your water bottle. Here are the results:

Apparel

Whether you are talking about a sports team, shoe company, favorite band, or YouTube celebrity, many of us like to show our loyalty by wearing apparel from the companies, individual, or groups that we support. It’s no different with disc golfers, so we asked in the survey what branded apparel we own? I would have thought that tee shirts and hats would have been at the top of the list, but I would have bet on hats being the number one choice. Here are the results:

In addition to tee shirts and hats, rounding out the top five are hoodies, polo shirts, and beanies. Personally, I have everything on the list but a branded jacket, shorts, and pants. The percentages listed in the results represent 2/3 of us. Slightly over 33% of us indicated that we don’t own branded apparel of any kind on the list. That’s surprising, given how frequently these items show up in player’s packs.

Hauling Discs Around

The final category we’ll look at today is how we carry our discs. We let people choose all that apply to them, so the percentages add up to more than 100%. Taking the top spot is the popular backpack disc golf bag. We don’t have to play disc golf for long before we have enough discs and accessories to justify getting a backpack bag. They are great for casual rounds and multi-day tournaments. Some golfers even get a cart that can hold their backpack bag, to use on cart-friendly courses. Over 77% of us have a backpack bag. That’s more than three times the second most popular choice, the small bag with a single strap. Here are all of the results:

Only about 1% of us don’t use a bag or cart. And 5% of us use some kind of bag we’ve repurposed for disc golf. Everyone else has at least a small bag. About 20 % of us have a cart of some kind. Only about 11% of us use a large style bag.

Comment Below

What is your most important accessory? The one thing you couldn’t imagine playing disc golf without? Let us know in the comments below and we can see what accessory you value the most.

Disc Golf Stability – How Stable Are Your Discs?

May 14, 2021 Ted Hegemann One comment

The Stability of Discs in our Bags

In our continuing series highlighting the results of our annual State of Disc Golf survey, this week we take a look at the stabilities of our discs. We will also discuss the term stability and how the language of disc golf can be unclear in regards to the stability of a disc. Then we will take a peek inside our bags to see the discs we throw and how stable they are.

Learning the Flight Ratings

One of the things we learn about discs when we are starting out playing disc golf is that the flight of the disc is important, and we need to learn about the how ours fly. Depending on how much coaching we got when we first started, a lot of us went for the ‘fast’ or ‘high speed’ discs because we wanted the discs to fly out of our hands at a high rate of speed. Since we were selecting our molds randomly, we undoubtedly ended up with discs that would do nothing but hang a sharp left turn (for right-handed players who throw back-hand shots, or ‘RHBH’). Over time, we learned that discs have a general flight rating and found out that the common four-number flight rating or the single digit flight rating can be used to tell us how our discs will fly. Most of us came to embrace the rating system and would frequently use it to guide our purchases. No longer were we buying discs because of the flight description stamped on the disc. Instead, were now using those flight ratings to help us fill gaps in our bags. No, the flight numbers are not always exactly how the disc flies. But it’s the best we have.

Learning the Language

In addition to the variability of flight numbers versus the actual flight of the disc, the sport’s lexicon has a glaring issue that regularly calls for clarity. That is the issue of ‘stability’. If someone comes into Infinite Discs and tells us that they are looking for a new midrange that is a little more stable, we don’t exactly know what they are looking for until we find out what they are replacing. Is there old midrange worn and too flippy, and they are looking for something a little less understable? Or, are they throwing a Justice that they just can’t get any distance with, so they are looking for something less overstable?

Although typically, what people are referring to when they say more or less stable is ‘straighter’. We would still need to clarify exactly what they are looking for, rather than selling them an Anubis and sending them out to play.

Stability of Discs In Our Bags

For our survey, we wondered what the make-up of people’s bags were as far as the stability is concerned. We let participants decide what is overstable or understable. The same disc has different flights for different people. We broke the categories into disc types: distance drivers, fairway drivers, midranges and putters. We asked ‘What stabilities of discs are in your bag? [for the given disc type]’. Let’s look at the results.

Distance Drivers

The first type of disc we’ll look at is distance drivers. We asked how many of each of five stabilities do you carry, from Very Overstable to Very Understable. Since most people carry a variety of distance drivers, people were allowed to select all stabilities that applied to them. This chart shows the percentage of people who carry at least one of these stabilities. As an example, the survey shows that 69% of us carry a straight/stable distance driver, as show in the chart below. Here are all the distance driver results:

It is not too surprising to see that a majority of us don’t carry the extreme stabilities. Most of us can come close to mimicking the flight of a very overstable or very understable disc, with something close. Even so, that leaves a lot of us that just want that ultra-meat hook or ultra-flippy disc. I broke the numbers down to see what percentage chance we have of carrying discs with the given stability and here is what I found. Naturally, the chart will look similar to the previous one. This just gives us a snapshot of an average individual bag.

One and Only Stability

In looking at the spreadsheet with the data, I was curious about how many of us carry drivers with only one stability. I was surprised at how big the number was. It was a lot more than I see with our club members. Here is the chart with the date:

My first thought was that there were a lot of beginners who just didn’t carry a lot of discs. So I broke the 28% down into reported skill levels and found out that I was pretty accurate in my assessment. People who called themselves Beginners or even Intermediate made up 85% of the people who only have one stability for their distance drivers. Here is the chart:

Control Drivers Stability

Now let’s look at the data for fairway drivers. There were slightly fewer people who carry over and understable discs, and a decent amount more that carry straight/stable discs. The extreme stabilities are the outliers again, with similar numbers to the distance drivers.

And again let’s look at what makes up an average bag with fairway drivers. Again, similar to the chart above. And not a huge difference between fairway and distance drivers.

Midrange Stability

Let’s see if midranges tell a different story. The chart below indicates that there is a bit more difference when it comes to the stability of midranges. Straight/stable mids reign supreme, but with even larger numbers. And mostly at the expense of the extreme stabilities again. Far fewer people throw very understable mids.

Distilling those numbers down we look at the average bag for mids:

The Kon Tiki

With over 27% of us throwing understable to very understable discs, it will be interesting to see the reception for the new understable Infinite mold, the Kon Tiki. I assure you, the timing of this post was purely coincidental! As of this writing, the Kon Tiki is a brand new release

Stability of Disc Golf Putters

Moving on to the category I was most curious about, the stability of putters. As you can see from the chart below, the straight/stable category is closest to 100% of any disc type. Based on the guys I throw with, that seems spot on. So do the very overstable/overstable categories, which represents a combined 70% of us. The ‘very understable’ is the smallest of all the disc types.

Using the information to graph an average bag, here are the results.

I thought the ‘very overstable’ category might be a tad higher, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if it were a lot higher, due to how many people drive with putters, and like them as stable as can be. Like so many categories we’ve looked at, I think people go with the overstable disc and just make it work. Also, putters had the highest number of people who only throw one stability, with 40% of us only bagging one. That includes me and my R-Pro Dart!

There is a look at our bags and the stabilities we carry. There are sub-categories that we could explore, such as the make-up of a pro’s bag vs a beginner/rec player’s bag. But, we’ll have to address that in another blog. Until then, throw what you love!

Comment below and let us know about the stability of discs in your bag. Do you have Very Overstable or Very Understable discs?

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