State of Disc Golf Archives

State of Disc Golf 2017 Results–Does Practice Really Work?

March 11, 2017 Jace Smellie Leave a comment

In the immortal words of NBA Hall of Fame-er Allen Iverson…”We talkin’ about practice!”

Every disc golfer has at least pondered the question as they’ve pulled late nights in their garage or backyard with a stack of putters and a practice basket. Or they ask it as they throw their arm out at the local soccer or football fields. “Is any of this really helping me?” “Am I getting any better?” I think most folks with any experience in developing a skill or a good habit would agree with the old adage that practice makes perfect, or at least practice makes you better than you were before.

Of course, our analysis of this question today is imperfect, but it is still very interesting to look at how the surveyors rated their own skill levels in conjunction with how often they practice. While there may be some discrepancy between how one disc golfer would rate his/her skills compared to another, I think it is a somewhat safe assumption that those who took this survey that participate in PDGA tournaments (about 3/4 of the survey played in at least one PDGA event last year) rated themselves simultaneously with what division they play in.

So first of all, let’s just look at how good we think we are. Just shy of half the folks who took the survey consider themselves intermediate, while the advanced disc golfers just barely outnumber the recreational and beginner players. So, just shy of 75% of the disc golfers surveyed rate themselves as being below advanced in their skill level. I think that this is a decent reflection of the true state of disc golf, and really most sports. There tend to be more casual participants than serious competitors (probably) because of the work, time, and practice required to compete at a top level.

Now for a look at our practice trends. We asked about practice putting and field work. It looks like putting is the most popular form of practice, which makes sense considering it is the most convenient of the two, requiring the least amount of space. About 60% said they practice putting at least once per week, while only about half of that, approximately 30%, said they do field work practice at the same frequency.

So in playing around with the data I decided to use the one week mark to divide the practice time frames up. In my opinion, practicing your disc golf game off the course at least once a week is a pretty good indicator of taking your disc golf game seriously and of seeking improvement in your game.

So, here is a breakdown of what percentage of players within each skill category answered that they practice putt and practice field work at least one per week. The percentages look to trend somewhat how I would have predicted them, at least in relation to each other. The higher the division, the more that golfers within that division practice at least once per week.

Putting Practice

First, lets break down the practice putting. Again, I think it is important to remember that this is the most convenient form of practicing. 78.8% of disc golfers who consider themselves to play at the professional level practice their putting at least once per week. while each division drops at a pretty consistent 10% from there on out. With the Rec/Beginner division at 51.1%, we know that the majority of players within each division are practicing at least once per week. Of course, we do not know the intensity of each player’s practice routine, but at least they are going out and getting the practice done.

Field Work

Now, the field work is where things get a little interesting. Just under half of professional level disc golfers say they do field work at least once per week. Then between the pro and advanced divisions there is a slightly larger difference (11.6%) than the difference we saw in practice putting (8.6%). Then only about 27% of both Intermediate and Recreational/Beginner disc golfers practice field work at least once per week.

So across the board we see that consistent field work is less common than consistent putting practice, but perhaps the field work is the difference maker for those who feel stuck in the advanced or intermediate skill range? More research would be needed to make a definitive claim. But I definitely find it interesting to see the slightly larger gap between skill levels when it comes to field work.

But at the end of the day, this data just reinforces what we already know–if you practice, you are going to get better. Practice makes perfect. There is no substitute for hard work. Nothing worth having comes easy. Or, one of my personal favorites that I first heard from Paul McBeast McBeth, “Everybody wants to be a beast, until it’s time to do what beasts do.” So go out, work hard, and maybe give the field work a little more time than you have before. Here’s to a 2017 disc golf season where we all find improvements in our game through our practice!

Disc Golf Brand Popularity – 2017 State of Disc Golf Results

March 10, 2017 Alan Leave a comment

Brand Awareness

When it comes to disc golf brand awareness, Innova remains king. While Dynamic Discs and Latitude 64 have taken great strides to increase their popularity and reputation, far more disc golfers are aware of Innova than any other brand.

This graph shows a break down of the overall awareness of brands included in the survey by combining all categories other than the “not aware of”.

While more disc golfers are aware of the long established “Discraft Brand” when it comes to “regularly follow”, Dynamic Discs and Latitude 64 rank higher. Westside Discs ranks #8 for brand awareness, but #5 for “regularly follow.”

It’s interesting to see that while the gap isn’t very big in awareness between the companies, when it comes to “regularly follow” there is a large gap between Innova and everybody else. Discmania, MVP, and Prodigy who rank 6th – 8th were only “regularly followed” by about 15% of the surveyed disc golfers.

Favorite Brands

At Infinite Discs we are able to get a good feeling for which brands are favorable by what sells. It’s also interesting to see which brands people find favorable based on a survey. The results are pretty similar and not surprisingly, Innova is the most favorite brand according to the 2017 State of Disc Golf Survey. The graph between “Favorite Brands” and “Regularly Follow are pretty similar.

It’s interesting to note that the trend over the last few years made it appear as if Dynamic Discs and the Trilogy brand might overtake Innova as most popular, but 2016 saw a significant step back from the up and comers. Through 2017, we are seeing a trend with Innova widening the gap.

I Bag ‘Em

While 75% of those surveyed include Innova among their favorite brands, the number of players that throw at least one Innova Disc is even higher! 83% of surveyed disc golfers carry at least one Innova Disc in their bag. This is 24% higher than second place Discraft where 59% of surveyed disc golfers bag their discs.

An interesting relationship occurs here between “bagged discs” and popularity in that Discraft doesn’t rank nearly as high in terms as popularity as the Trilogy Brands, yet a higher percentage of disc golfers actually throw their discs. This could say something about the quality of Discraft discs and the relationship to their limited marketing efforts.

Limited to an Exclusive Manufacturer

Likely a result of Innova’s dominance in terms of recognition and the number of people that own their discs, when the question “If you could throw discs made by only one manufacturer?” was asked, nearly half (45.5%) of survey respondents said they would choose Innova. One third (32.6%) chose the Swedish manufactured trilogy discs. Only a very small percentage of disc golfers said they would choose any other manufacturer if they had to exclusively throw only that brands discs. Discraft came in third at 7.8% followed by MVP at 6.5% and Prodigy in a distant fifth at 2.7%.

Following Professional Disc Golf

March 9, 2017 Alan Leave a comment

As disc golfers, most of us watch professional disc golf. 85.6% of those surveyed said that they watched professional disc golf at least once in 2016. The preferred method of watching professional disc golf is after production YouTube videos where nearly 94% of those who “watched professional disc golf” participated.

About two thirds of those who watched professional disc golf spent time watching live videos (30.8% less than post production). 46% followed live scoring during tournaments, 70% watched instructional videos or clinics, and 28% attended a tournament where they watched the pros live.

Favorite Professional Disc Golfers

71.4% of those surveyed follow professional disc golfers. At Infinite Discs, we regularly see the impact of professional disc golfers as their “signature discs” regularly outperform sales of ordinary stock discs.

Among those that follow Professional Disc Golfers, Paul McBeth, Ricky Wysocki, Nate Sexton, and Simon Lizotte were the favorites of 2016.

Disc Golf Podcasts

Many disc golfers get their disc golf news and pro information by listening to podcasts. 28.9% of those surveyed said that they listened to at least one disc golf podcast. The most popular disc golf podcast according to respondents is Smashboxx.TV (71%) with the Disc Golf Answer Man (64.1%) close behind. Inside the Circle was the only additional Podcast that at least 20% of Podcast Listeners had tuned into at least once.

Growth of the Sport

Most of the participants surveyed (78.8%) would like to see disc golf grow and become a mainstream sport. Only 4.5% would like disc golf to stay small while 16.7% have no preference.

State of Disc Golf 2017 Results – Play Frequency for Men and Women

March 6, 2017 Todd Durrant Leave a comment

Do Women or Men Play More Disc Golf?

We already know that a lot more men took the State of Disc Golf survey than women. 91.8% of survey participants were men, compared to 8.2% for women. That was a large increase for the women over previous survey years, so the women are definitely gaining ground. There was a large enough sample of the sexes for us to take a look at how gender plays into disc golf participation.

First of all, the number of courses played for female vs. male really showed no difference, with the vast majority playing 10-15 courses in a year. Here is a look at the number of courses played in 2016, as reported by survey participants.

How Many Different Courses Did You Play This Year?

But how do men and women compare when it comes to seasonal play? The following charts show the number of times each of the sexes plays disc golf during the four seasons:

You can see that there are similarities in the frequency of game play, even season by season. It appears that men generally favor the 2-3 times per week more than women, and the women favor that 2-3 times per month more than men. It looks like men play more frequently, particularly when the weather is cold, but the differences are not large enough to make any definitive statement on who plays more per-capita. There are certainly more men playing, but when it comes to how often vs. the smaller number of women, the differences are only slight.

This seems to suggest that when it comes to the two sexes, there may be a difference in number of players, but the level of passion is relatively equal.

Gender in Tournament Play

Let’s take a look at how many women vs. men reported playing in tournaments in 2016. First of all, 31.1% of women surveyed reported that they did not play any tournaments at all. Of those who said they did, this is how many of both PDGA Sanctioned and Non-PDGA Tournaments they reported playing in 2016:

So, for the women, it looks like it non-PDGA tournaments are favored, and the vast majority of tournament-playing lady’s played in the range of 1-5 tournaments in 2016. The 2-3 tournaments choice was the highest spike, especially for non-PDGA tournaments.

Now, let’s look at what the men said. First of all, only 27% said that they don’t play tournaments, while 73% said that that they did play at least some tournament in 2016. Right way, we can see that a larger percentage of disc golfing men play tournaments than do the women. Here are the charts for number of PDGA Sanctioned and Non-PDGA tournaments for the men:

Though the number of players differs greatly, the general tournament quantity curve is fairly similar between the sexes. Again, most men who played tournaments played in that 1-5 tournaments range, with 2-3 being the most popular response in the survey.

The similarities between the charts again suggests that the women surveyed are not shying away from tournaments. They like to play, and they like to compete. But the number of female competitors is much smaller. But that competitive spirit should continue to bring more competitors and a higher level of play to events with time.

All in all, we’re encouraged at the growth of disc golf when it comes to both sexes, and we’re encouraged by the level of passion shown in both casual play and in competitive play from both the men and the women. We expect that the difference in numbers between the sexes will continue to narrow with time, especially as very talented women are beginning to take the spotlight in professional disc golf tournaments.

State of Disc Golf 2017 Results – Who Took the Survey?

February 17, 2017 Todd Durrant 2 comments

The time has come to start taking a look at some of the data from the 2017 State of Disc Golf Survey. The data will be analyzed and shared over the course of the next few months. By way of introduction, let’s break down the demographics of who participated in the survey.

With nearly 10,000 disc golf players surveyed, this year provided, by far, the largest pool of individuals that we’ve surveyed since beginning the annual State of Disc Golf survey. That level of participation really helps us to gather some very pertinent information and helps give a realistic snapshot of the disc golf market. However, when looking at results, we do have to realize that people who participate in this kind of survey are people who are passionate enough about the sport to take a few minutes of their time to share their opinions. In our estimation, there are a good number of casual players who do not participate in such surveys. Those more casual players may not be entirely represented in the results.

Male vs Female Survey Participants

Of those surveyed, a whopping 91.8% were male, leaving only 8.2% as female. Does that truly reflect the balance of men vs. women in the game of disc golf? Though it might actually be a fairly accurate representation, we can surmise that simply less women are passionate enough about the game to take a survey (as mentioned above). But it would probably be an accurate statement to say that among passionate disc golfers, only 1 out of every 10 is a woman.

Age of Survey Participants

Looking at the age of those surveyed, we were happy to see a very wide spread. Though the age group that participated the most was the 30-35 demographic with 22.6%, other age groups ranging from 18 all the way through 60 were quite well represented. For those of us inside the disc golf industry, that is a very healthy statistic– to see that passionate players exist within all age groups. There is ground to be gained in the 17-and-lower age group, but that again could be an example of a group of people who are not interested in taking online surveys.

Disc Golfers Married vs Single

The majority of those who took the survey are married, with just more than half, at 56.2%. Single came in at 37.2%, and the widowed / divorced / separated group came in at 6.6%. By the way, as of 2015, roughly 55% of all Americans over the age of 18 were married, so the players surveyed fall pretty much within the national average.

The Employment Status of Those Surveyed

When looking at the employment status of those surveyed, the vast majority are employed for wages, with a few being self-employed. There is a sizable group of students that took the survey, but thankfully, not too many are unemployed or unable to work.

So, why do we ask these basic questions in a disc golf survey? Though things like gender, age, marriage status, and employment be only be marginally interesting statistics on their own, we use this data help determine other factors which are more pertinent to the growth of the disc golf scene. For example, it might be interesting to see how marital status factors into disc golf practice time. Do married players get less putting practice and field work? Do single players play in more tournaments? Does the job situation or marriage situation factor into the amount that players spend on disc golf? Does the age factor into tournament participation or willingness to travel for the game? Once we start looking at some of the more interesting survey data, and then break it into categories based on these introductory questions, it becomes even more revealing. That is the kind of data we’ll start looking at in future weekly State of Disc Golf 2017 blog posts, so stay tuned!

How Do You Feel About Disc Golf Tournaments?

September 21, 2016 Alan 2 comments

Several years ago I was online looking for some information about the county I live in and stumbled upon an announcement of a disc golf tournament scheduled at a local course. At that point I learned two things: first, there was a disc golf course in my county. And second, disc golfers had tournaments! Until then I had only played disc golf a few times a year, and had no idea there were competitions. I ended up playing in that tournament, and met people that I’m still friends with today. When a local club was formed a bit later, I gladly joined.

Since then, I’ve become addicted to disc golf and a big part of the attraction is the tournaments. I love the atmosphere, the competition, the camaraderie, and often times the travel. Judging by the survey results for the Infinite Discs’ poll, there are a lot of other people that love tournaments, too. And some that never play tournaments. In this blog post we will look at the survey results surrounding tournaments and some of the reasons we do or do not play them.

To play, or not to play a sanctioned tournament

Let’s start by talking about sanctioned tournaments. A tournament sanctioned by the PDGA is different than other tournaments. The rules are stricter, participants are required to be PDGA members or buy a temporary membership, they are usually longer (more holes and/or held for more days), and typically cost a bit more. Many of us like the added rules, making the atmosphere at a sanctioned tournament a bit more serious. The payouts are also usually better than at non-sanctioned events. As PDGA members, we also get the benefit (or sometimes the detriment) of getting a rating from sanctioned tournaments so that we can compare our skill level to other disc golfers.

Over half of the survey respondents played at least one sanctioned tournament last year (53%). Of the 1,850 who played in at least one, the largest group, 472 people, only played in one sanctioned tournament. The next largest group (347) played between 6-10, and the third largest played two sanctioned tournaments. A significant number of us (110) played in 16 or more tournaments. It would be interesting to know who in the survey played in the most sanctioned tournaments, and how many!

An unsanctioned tournament is more like a club tournament. Although most of the basic PDGA rules are followed, it is up to the tournament director (TD) to decide which rules will be enforced and which will be relaxed, such as marking a lie close to the basket. These tournaments usually have fewer rounds and are mostly single-day events. TD’s don’t have the same requirements as a sanctioned tournament, such as fees and added cash to the purse. Therefore, the unsanctioned tournaments usually don’t cost as much nor pay out as much.

Lower entry fees and no PDGA membership requirements may have contributed to a slightly higher number of people who played in unsanctioned vs. sanctioned tournaments. The survey results indicated that 2,083 people, or 60%, played in at least one unsanctioned tournament. Over half of that group played between 1-3 unsanctioned tournaments.

Get Some Sweet Swag

A fun and popular type of tournament is the specialty tournament, or sponsored tournament. I call them themed, because many of these tournaments have specific, unusual types of play. Disc golf manufacturers sponsor these tournaments and use them as a vehicle to let disc golfers try their product. Popular tournaments of this type include the Birdie Bash, Trilogy Challenge, and the Ace Race. Participants of sponsored tournaments get two or three new discs, plus a bunch of swag from the tournament sponsor, and only those discs may be used in the tournament. The format of the tournament varies, depending on the manufacturer. Some examples include:

–Ace Race, where the holes are typically shorter than usual, which is good because you only get one throw to make it in the basket! You get to record metal hits, which is when you hit the basket but it doesn’t go in, and aces. The person with the most aces wins, with metal hits used as a tie-breaker The Ace Race is sponsored by Discraft, and the disc mold is a new one that will be released later in the year.

–Vibram Birdie Bash, where a similar approach is found, but instead of one throw, you get two tries (on a par 3 hole) to make it in the basket. An ace (eagle) counts as five points, birdies counts as two, and a metal hit counts as one point. The person with the most points wins.

–Trilogy Challenge participants get a disc from all three Trilogy manufacturers, Westside, Dynamic Discs, and Latitude 64, and must only use those three discs. The discs consist of a driver, midrange, and putter. A regular tournament is held and the lowest score wins.

Sponsored tournaments are a great opportunity to try out new discs, get some swag, and play a tournament, all for about the cost of the discs. Winners get discs, bags, etc. Nearly two-thirds of survey respondents played in a sponsored tournament last year. The most popular was the Discraft Ace Race, followed by the Trilogy Challenge.

What’s Your Excuse?

When I looked at survey results of all of the tournaments mentioned above (sanctioned, unsanctioned, and sponsored) I found that 29% of respondents (1,006) didn’t attend any tournaments last year. In my experience, the reasons people have for not attending tournaments usually fall into two camps: tournaments cost too much, or they take up too much time. The survey asked those two questions, and asked about tournament preferences, to see if we could find out what might be standing between us and signing up for a tournament. Let’s start with the aspects of a tournament that might prevent us from signing up.

In the survey we asked everyone to rate their level of agreement to the statement that tournaments are too expensive. We can assume that if respondents remained neutral, they didn’t agree with the statement and don’t consider expense to be an issue. Therefore, let’s look at those who agree or strongly agree with the idea that tournaments are too expensive.

When asked to agree or disagree with the statement that tournaments are too expensive, about 86.2% of us either remained neutral or disagreed with the statement. That is an interesting statistic, since the cost to enter tournaments varies significantly. Locally, I’ve seen tournaments range from $5 (for club events) to well over $100 to enter. The more costly the tournament, the better the players pack for amateurs and the better the payout for pros. I’ll talk more about payouts and costs later. With over 86% of us satisfied with the price of tournaments, that only leaves about 13.8% of us who agree that tournaments are too expensive.

Since most tournaments consist of several rounds of disc golf, with some over several days, we wanted to find out how many of us agree with the statement that tournaments take up too much time. Again, counting those who remained neutral as not having a problem with the amount of time, the results were similar to the previous question. Only about 14% of us agree that tournaments take up too much of our weekend.

How Long Will It Go On

Since 29% of respondents didn’t attend any tournaments last year, I would expect the number of people who either find tournaments too expensive or feel they take up too much time, to be closer in number to 29%. And that it pretty much what happened. Only about 3.1% of us felt that tournament were both too expensive AND took too much time, which leaves about 24% of us who have one or the other issue with tournaments. Which accounts for most of the 29% of us who didn’t attend any tournaments. HOWEVER, that is only adding up the numbers without looking at the sources of the numbers. When I looked at how many people thought tournaments are too expensive or take too much time, but still attended at least one tournament, I found that 12.4% of us fall into that category. We could make a couple of conclusions from that data. Either those respondents don’t like the cost or time commitment, but played anyway. Or, they played in tournaments that didn’t have expensive fees or last as long as bigger ones.

The survey also asked if we prefer single- or multi-day tournaments. Again, counting those who either responded neutrally or didn’t answer the question as not having a problem with how many days a tournament takes, the results are as follows. There were 16.4% of us that didn’t like single-day tournaments, and 21.7% of us who didn’t like multi-day tournaments. The largest number of respondents were those who remained neutral or didn’t answer the question. However, 31% of us do prefer single-day tournaments and 16% of us favor multi-day tournaments.

Out of all of the above survey results that surprised me the most was the one asking if tournaments are too expensive. I hear a lot of grumbling about the cost of playing in some tournaments, so I thought more people would agree with the statement. I would agree with the grumblers were it not for two important facts: I attend lots of tournaments, and so do many other people, because so many tournaments fill up year after year. Apparently, the market has spoken.

Taking Home Some Loot

Personally, it wouldn’t bother me if the amateur divisions (which is where I play) were a bit cheaper and didn’t have player’s packs. However, based on some of the survey results, I’m in the minority. Player’s packs typically consist of a tournament stamp disc, shirt, or other disc golf swag. Every amateur player gets a pack. And despite my feelings about them, player’s packs aren’t going away any time soon for a couple reasons. First, when tournament directors get disc manufacturers and other companies to sponsor a tournament, they can get products at a cheaper price. That allows TD’s to give out packs that are close to the dollar amount of the entry fee, while only spending a small amount of money on them. They can then take the difference in price and add it to the pro payouts. It’s a win-win because the amateurs get some swag, and the pros get a better payout.

The second reasons player’s packs are here to stay is because it’s fun to get one! Some tournaments are famous for their sweet player’s packs. There is something satisfying about taking home a bunch of stuff, regardless of how we performed. Did you win your division? Did you finish in the middle of the pack? Did you take last place? You get a player’s pack. Not only is there the psychological satisfaction of getting something for your money, there is the fun of throwing a tournament disc or wearing a tournament shirt for years to let people know that you were there. It’s also fun to see other people sporting swag from a tournament that you attended and bond with them.

Happiness Is…

One of the survey results I was most happy to see was how many people played in at least one tournament. As someone who enjoys getting together with folks who like disc golf as much as I do, it was nice to see that 71% of us played in at least one tournament. To me, that means most of us appreciate the sport enough to dedicate a little time and money for some competition. Often times we enter just to challenge ourselves. Hopefully we leave the event with a desire to continue to play and improve ourselves so the next time we compete, we see a little progress. And maybe pick up a win. Or at least have some fun and make good memories with our fellow disc golfers.

More State of Disc Golf Survey Results — PDGA: Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down?

September 19, 2016 Alan 2 comments

When I first heard about the Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA) I was excited to join. I had been playing for a few months and really enjoyed the feeling of camaraderie with the club, so I figured that joining the sanctioning body of the sport would have the same benefits, only on a larger scale. The idea of a ranking system intrigued me, too. How cool would it be to compare my ranking to my buddies’, or the touring pros? Plus, I would save the $10 fee charged to non-members when I played in a sanctioned tournament. I did join the PDGA, and have kept my membership current ever since.

I’ve heard a lot of different opinions about the PDGA, pro and con, and have my own opinions that I will discuss later. I’ll also talk about a good, free alternative to the number one reason why people join the PDGA. But first, let’s look at the poll results.

Half Full, Half Empty

Let’s start by checking out our opinions on membership in the PDGA. We asked if you are currently, or have ever been, a member of the PDGA. Slightly less than half of us, 49.3%, are or have been members.

While that part was not surprising, based on what I see in the sport, the next question had some interesting results. Of the 50.7% of us who are not members, nearly half of those said they intended to join this year. If that amount of people really do end up joining, that is an encouraging sign for the future of the sport. We didn’t ask why people plan to join, but I suspect they are interested in playing tournaments and want the savings and the ratings that come with membership. That means a growing number of us are taking the sport seriously enough to get involved in competitions. As I’ve mentioned on previous blogs, I like that idea.

Something Old, Something New

It’s always fun to see how long people have been members of the PDGA. Members with less than five-digit PDGA numbers are way outnumbered by the rest of us. So, we asked people when they joined the PDGA. Over half of member respondents joined in the last two or so years (2014 to January 2016). The sport is growing! A little over 5% of us joined in 2000 or before.

We Love This, We Love This Not

We asked people who are members to rank the different benefits of belonging to the PDGA. Not surprisingly, most people ranked the personal PDGA number and rating as the top reason for joining. That’s what initially attracted me. The second most popular benefit was the lifetime statistics. It is fun to see our results and compare our ranking to other people’s rankings. Rounding out the top reasons for joining the PDGA was waiving the $10 fee for sanctioned tournaments. What was the least important reason we join? Getting a discount at motels and car rentals was the least popular reason, followed by the swag you get the first time you join, then the quarterly magazine.

No, Thank You

On the other end of the membership spectrum, we asked people who indicated that they were NOT going to join or who were unsure, what their reasons were. Only little more than half of those people responded to the question, with many people giving multiple reasons. Far and away the number one reason for not joining was being content not playing sanctioned tournaments. The exact language of the question read, “I’m content playing recreationally”, but I believe that would include league play and unsanctioned tournaments. Nearly 70% of respondents chose that as at least one of their reasons. Plus, many people who wrote responses in the ‘other’ box had similar feelings about formal competition. The next two most popular reasons for not joining were lack of any noticeable benefit, and the cost being too high.

Why I Belong

A sanctioning body for disc golf is necessary in order to have consistency in rules and formats among players, clubs, and tournaments, and to grow the sport. I want to support that organization and will likely always stay current with my dues. However, like many of you expressed, it seems that my decision to keep current comes down to economics: I know that I will play enough sanctioned tournaments that the $10 savings from being a member will pay for my annual dues. Were it not for that “benefit”, I doubt I would be interested in renewing my membership in the PDGA. Don’t get me wrong, I like the stats and the rating. I just don’t think it would be worth the annual fee.

It’s Free, It’s Good, And It’s Free

This would be a good time to mention the Infinite Discs rating system. It is a free player-rating system that keeps track of your scores and rates both your individual rounds, and your accumulated rating based on the ratings of other users who have played the same courses as you. After you’ve played a certain number of rounds, then your rating is used to rate other players. The more scores that are entered, the more accurate the rating. The player rating system is free to join, free to use, and can be calculated automatically by using the free Infinite Discs scorekeeping app (currently in beta testing).

And Finally…

Back to the PDGA. There are just a couple things I wouldn’t mind if the PDGA changed. First, I would like it if they could switch to digital magazines. Also, I wouldn’t mind if they stopped sending out yearly tags, ID cards, and whatever else we get on an annual basis. Perhaps these ideas might result in a slight reduction of annual dues. And finally, I would like to see a two-tiered membership option. Offer the regular membership, and one that is cheaper, but omits the $10 fee waiver at sanctioned tournaments. That way if people only play a couple sanctioned tournaments per year, they will still get their number and rating. Beyond that, I’m glad they will continue keeping track of people’s stats and ratings, and make sure the rules are as fair as possible. They won’t be able to please everyone, no matter what they do. But hopefully they will continue to offer an organization that strengthens and grows our sport.

The Impact of One Great Throw…Caught On Camera

July 1, 2016 Todd Durrant One comment

Sometimes it is hard to measure the influence that a single piece of social media has on an entire industry or market, but at other times, the effects can be seen almost immediately. The 2016 Beaver State Fling disc golf tournament presented one of those rare moments where a camera was in the right place at the right time, and magic ensued. Professional disc golfer, Philo Brathwaite, approached the tee for an 850 foot, par 5 hole, and managed to rattle the chains on his second throw. Shooting 3 under par on a single hole is extremely rare and is called at Albatross. It is much more rare than an ace (hole-in-one). The video of his throw was posted on social media and immediately went viral. It even made it onto popular television sports highlight reels.

So, what is the big deal? Sure, it was an amazing shot. But amazing shots happen quite often in the disc golf world, where thousands upon thousands of players throw discs at baskets with exciting outcomes. But rarely does the mainstream public get a glimpse of a relatively young sport like disc golf. It’s new to them, so somehow it seems all the more amazing, or even impossible. Retweets and Facebook posts boasted headlines like “Disc Golf Throw Defies Physics!” While those of us who play disc golf are amazed and excited by incredible throws, we know that they don’t defy physics. In fact, it is the physics that makes the discs fly the way they do when thrown the way great players throw them. Professional skill and the laws of physics put Philo’s throw exactly in the right spot.

The 2016 Vibram Open had more camera coverage than many disc golf tournaments in the past, so once again, some awesome shots were caught on camera. A pair of aces thrown over the pond were put together in a vine that was passed around Twitter, again spotlighting the excitement of the sport. Hopefully this will happen more and more as camera coverage improves and the mainstream itches for more highlights.

Take a look at a story from a single observer named Chad, who caught a glimpse of the Philo Albatross on social media. In his own words, as shared in a conversation with customer service at Infinite Discs:

“I came across a link of some guy named Philo throwing an ace at a Beaver State Fling and started watching more videos. I had no idea how big disc golf is.

Spent the rest of the day at work on the Google thing researching disc golf and found out that my little town of Zimmerman, MN built a small 9 hole back in 2010. I had no idea.

So, I ordered a few starter sets (Innova, Dynamic and Latitude) and a bag, ponied up for the expedited shipping. As soon as I got them, I went out and had a blast. Didn’t keep score or anything. Just chucked discs at baskets for about two hours.

I think this is going to be a thing. I’m old, kids are out of the house and I have my weekends free. I’ve been looking for something to do outside since I don’t want to run or mountain bike any more. I had fun when I was out there and there are a lot of courses in the twin cities metro area I’m looking forward to hitting.”

Chad indeed had ordered a box of starter sets, and inside that box was a small flyer talking about the Infinite Discs VIP Club where players can subscribe for a mystery, spotlight disc every month with a unique, collectible stamp. It’s $19.99 for a disc that you may or may not like, but when you’re a big enough fan of the sport, it’s a wonderful adventure and pleasant surprise every month. Well, Chad may be shooting +30 on 18 holes after only a month of play, but he was so excited that he subscribed, just to get a new mystery disc every month.

Another customer service email resonated in the same way, with a young woman from California subscribing just because she felt she had to feed her new “plastic addiction”. She’d only been playing disc golf for a month. What could possess new players to buy collectible discs every month? It’s a passion that is sparked merely by exposure. And exposure is something that has been missing until social media started spotlighting “physics-defying” throws. It has been a long time coming, but that exposure should increase in the coming months and years as the sport grows.

Professional player, Simon Lizotte, has been making trick shot videos for quite some time now, and he is also making a splash in tournaments across the globe. He has inspired a younger, fun-loving crop of new players who see that “golf” doesn’t necessarily have to refer to the boring sport dad and grandpa watched and played in hushed silence. Once you add the discs and an “anybody can play” attitude to the mix, the sport seems fresh and exciting.

Avery Jenkins is a professional player who has left much of the competitive play to become a sort of ambassador for disc golf. He travels the world to host workshops and participate in events that spotlight the sport. The impact that he has in his face-to-face encounters and his presence at events is huge, but the fuel he pours onto the fire through his social media photos and blurbs is even more impressive.

Not everybody can afford to travel the globe promoting disc golf, but when a champion like Avery makes it his career and his mission, and splashes those efforts in a beautiful way all over Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, etc. then the world takes notice. It only takes a few minutes of browsing his social media content to realize that disc golf is not only a fun game, but is a sport that is surrounded by incredible beauty, vibrant variety, and life.

Most disc golf players could tell you that there is a very poor male-to-female player ratio. There are simply more men throwing discs at chains than there are women, but thanks to social media, there is hope! More and more women are seeing that it can be a fun, graceful, and feminine sport. Check out the wonderful photo blog by Discgolfngirl on Tumblr for a gallery of wonderful photography highlighting the women players that are bringing life to the game.

Social media is beginning to explode with disc golf, and it’s bringing new players who are not only interested, but enthusiastic about the sport. We welcome those new players and hope it becomes a lifetime of fun in the great outdoors. While you’re out playing, pull out your camera’s! Take those videos! Shoot those artsy photos of amazing disc golf courses! Take pictures of your friends as they fling those discs, and share them online. The magic happens on the course, but that magic needs to be shared and seen throughout the world.

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