State of Disc Golf Results: Pros and Videos

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Could there be a better start to the 2022 disc golf tournament season than a multiple-hole playoff at the Las Vegas Challenge? While it is fun and exciting to see one person mop up the field by having a spectacular round, it is even more appealing to see a battle between two of the top players in our sport. Whether we watch a tournament live, or wait until the post-produced videos appear on YouTube, a large percent of the disc golf world likes to watch tournaments. As we learned in last week’s blog (HERE), nearly two-thirds of us like to PLAY tournaments. This week we will explore how many of us like to WATCH tournaments. We will also look at how we like to watch them and which players we cheer for.

Humble Beginning

Ten years ago Jonathan Gomez decided to film the final nine holes of the 2012 World Championship (Check out his video HERE). He used one camera, he had no voice-over, no flight tracking, and minimal graphics. That was the humble beginning of what has become a post-produced video juggernaut that is  Jomez Pro.

Since then, numerous brands have joined the fray, and the quality of video production has grown right along with number of production companies. We’ve reached the point where the top video brands will record, edit, and release a video complete with commentary the morning after the round was played. It’s a great time to be a disc golf video junkie!

Watching Pros

Disc golf videos are among the best ways to follow the professional players that we like to watch. Before we explore our video-watching habits, let’s take a look at how many of us follow professionals. It turns out that most of us do. Here is a chart showing the results of the survey question, “Do you follow professional disc golfers”:

It turns out that most of us like to follow top-tier disc golfers. Although most of us choose to follow pros via post produced video, there are other ways to keep up with our DG heroes. Attending tournaments, watching them online live, and watching live scoring are other options we have to follow the pros. However, nothing comes close to watching the post-produced videos, such as Jomez, GK Pro, etc. Let’s look at some more survey results.

Whether we are watching the pros compete or watching them give a tutorial, YouTube has added another dimension to our sport. We have the ability to consume the videos on our schedule, 24 hours a day, all for free. It’s no wonder that the top two choices for following pros are through that medium.

A little more surprising to me is how many people watch disc golf on live broadcasts. On the one hand, it’s a big commitment of time. A live video will last longer than the actual round being played, since they also include pre- and post-round content.

On the other hand, it’s convenient to have a live tournament on in the background while doing other tasks. That is perfect if your work permits you that luxury. Live broadcasts also give you the opportunity to see multiple cards play, since there is so much time that needs to be filled between throws. Plus, it eliminates the chances of inadvertently finding out about the results of a tournament before you get a chance to watch it post-produced.

YouTube Channels

As mentioned above, Jomez Pro has contributed greatly to the production quality exhibited by even the smaller brands. As such, we now have many different channels that we can turn to in order to fulfill our DG-watching desires. In the survey, we asked which tournament YouTube channels you watched in 2021. Although most of you named the ‘usual suspects’ for disc golf video, a lot of you mentioned much smaller channels. First, let’s see how you voted.

 

I think that most of us would have guessed the number one choice, and also would have guessed the top few names on the list. They are the channels that we hear about the most, and who cover the biggest tournaments. And they are all producing quality videos, which keep getting better each year.

Moving past the biggest names in YouTube tournament videos we find smaller brands that are also producing great videos. While some of them are covering local tournaments with players known only to the local area, many are featuring well-known pros. Most include commentary, graphics, and an impressive level of video quality. Although not as prolific as some of the big channels, the videos they do release are fun to watch. Below are some examples of other channels for you to check out:

Penner Productions

Sky Hyzer Productions

SM Disc Golf Productions

Soblue productions

True North Disc Golf Productions

Who We Cheer For

 

Although it is fun to watch the most talented disc golfer compete, it is even more enjoyable when one of the players we are watching is our favorite. Most of us have more than a few favorites, but in our survey we asked which pro is our favorite, and which is our second most favorite. We asked for both the MPO and FPO.

We gave participants a long list of the top rated pros to choose from. Even so, about 2% of us still selected ‘other’ as our choice. Which means there are a significant number of people not on the list that have a lot of fans.

We will start with the FPO, where five-time Paige Peirce received nearly a third of all of the votes. The five-time World Champ is frequently on the lead card and gets a lot of tournament exposure. She also has her own YouTube channel, giving fans an even deeper look at her life. She also knows how to rip a long drive, making her easy to cheer for and admire. Here are the top 10 selections for the title of Favorite FPO Player:

In second place is Estonian pro, Kristin Tattar, with 19% of the votes. Following Kristin, Kona Panis and Catrina Allen each had about 10% of the votes.

For the selection of our second most favorite FPO player, the list looks nearly identical, but with different numbers. Here are the top 10:

 

Turning to the MPO division, we see a familiar name at the top of the list. Paul McBeth has been a major player in the disc golf world since winning his first world title in 2012. Like Paige, Paul is often seen on the lead card of a tournament, giving us more opportunities to see him in action. Here are the top 10 most popular MPO players:

 

Just like the FPO division, the top 10 list of second most favorite MPO players is just a slightly rearranged list of the Most Favorite. Simon Lizotte takes the top honors for this list.

That wraps up this look at our consumption of disc golf tournaments, and the players who motivate us to watch. Comment below and let us know if your favorite player made the list. Also let us know about YouTube channels we missed.

Check back next week for more State of Disc Golf results.

New Disc Golf Disc Releases

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Another week has come and gone, and we have some new releases to introduce. Not as many disc releases as the previous weeks, but there are some other disc golf items. There is a new disc mold, and some new equipment that may just fit your needs.

New Disc Mold

The Lone Star Discs Warbird has recently been approved by the PDGA and has found its way onto our shelves. You can check this mold out in the link above. This is a new 12 speed distance driver. It offers high glide and a reliable fade. It is somewhat similar to a Destroyer, though, I found it slightly easier to throw than a typical Destroyer. It is quite capable to handle power, and easily handle wind.

The Warbird is a long distance driver. As an overstable driver with a high amount of glide, this can handle headwinds or power. Proving to be a long distance bomber of a disc. The Warbird fits in between the Curl and the Bowie.

Disc Golf Equipment

The Cascadian DG Lie Towel is quite the unique towel. It is designed to illustrate the lie wherein you may place your foot without incurring a foot fault. Not only is the size functional, I find it nice in the fact that it is smaller than other towels – it doesn’t get quite as dirty hanging off my bag. But its size limits its abilities to dry/clean discs as well.

The Cascadian DG Lie Towel has two functions. This high quality sublimated towel works well to dry and clean your discs. In addition to this, the towel works to help you visually comprehend the PDGA regulated lie (20cm X 30cm). Simply lay this towel on the ground behind your disc/mini marker. Then, anywhere on the towel is where you may plant your foot for you next throw.

 

Disclaimer: Due to the elastic nature of textiles, the dimensions are a good approximation of a regulation lie.

The Hive Firefly Glow Vinyl makes any disc a glow disc. These vinyl stickers are pretty awesome and useful. I like to put one on the top of the disc and on the bottom, just in case the disc lands upside down. The stickers glow pretty good, very similar to the MVPs Eclipse 2.0.

Are some of your go-to discs not in a glow plastic? Firefly Glow Vinyl from Hive is here to save your night rounds! These glow vinyl stickers attach easily to any disc and provide a level of glow that, when exposed to UV light, will light up and glow. The glow is strong and bright.

 

Once you’ve finished your round, feel free to peel the Firefly Glow sticker off and place it back on the sheet for your next round. These Vinyl stickers are reusable! Each sheet has 46 stickers (23 small hexagons and 23 hexagon rings) – definitely enough glow stickers for your entire bag!

 

Focus Friday Discraft Drone

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Friday is back! And along with it comes the great Focus Friday. This week, we are focusing on a Discraft mold, the Drone. And the savings on this mold are pretty hefty. With the provided discount code, FOCUSDRONE, you’ll get 30% off all the drones that your heart desires. So, head on over to our website to check out the selection of Drones, and use the promo code to save 30%. This code is only active over the weekend . . . and, Monday.

Discraft’s Drone

The Discraft Drone is an extremely overstable midrange – one of the most overstable midranges on the market. Discraft designed the Drone to deflect wind, which makes it an overstable disc. Due to this, it is extremely consistent regardless of most weather conditions. The Drone will always fly straight and then fade hard. Making an insanely reliable and versatile approach disc. You can use this disc for short flex shots, to get out of a tricky situation, or to simply go right or left. These attributes make for a one of a kind disc.

The Drone makes for a great fit for the utility disc slot. This slot needs a disc that is always dependable, regardless of the weather conditions. A disc that you can trust to hook right/left – even if you are in a bad lie and can’t throw properly. Or simply something that has a mind of its own – that regardless of human error, the disc will always fade. I have yet to find a throw that it did not fade.

Cool Stamps Too

Right now there are a lot of cool stamps on these discs. You should check them all out, there are a lot of favorites: cool bear, parachute penguin, a chameleon, and a special edition drone. Over the weekend, all of these drones are 30% off with the promo code. Even the Ledgestone editions. So head on over to our site to pick your Drone(s) out.

The Discount Code

You can select your disc by clicking here. Simply add as many Drone molds to your shopping cart as you want, then BEFORE you click to checkout, look below the shopping cart. Right below the shopping cart is a box for Discount Codes. Click there and paste the code, FOCUSDRONE, into the box. Then proceed to checkout and you’ll get the discount.

Here is a screenshot to help you out, though it doesn’t necessarily show a Drone in the cart – it’s just a generic visual to help you find the discount code box:

We hope that you love throwing the Drone. If you’ve thrown the disc, feel free to share what you think of this midrange. And if you’re ever looking for other discs that are on sale, check out this link. Or read through this blog post to see all of the ways that you can save money here at Infinite Discs.

 

State of Disc Golf Results: Tournaments

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Once again, tournament season is upon us. We’ve already seen the top pros battle it out on some of the first big events of the year. For those of us that love to watch the pros compete, this is a great time. We have video of the tournaments that have already taken place, and the anticipation of our favorite locations yet to come. We’ll explore the State of Disc Golf survey results revealing our interest in watching and cheering for professional disc golfers in a future blog. For this week’s blog, let’s take a look at OUR participation in tournaments.

Playing Tournaments

Along with the pros returning to the tournament scene, those of us who enjoy participating in tournaments are also getting busy checking out the local and regional competitions. Not only have I signed up for several upcoming tournaments, I’ve also scheduled dates for when registrations open, to make sure I can sign up before they fill up. (I would like to explore how many tournaments reach capacity and how fast in future surveys.)

I’m somewhat hooked on tournaments and try really hard to make sure I attend my favorites. Not everyone feels the same about competing, which is why we asked questions about tournaments in our State of Disc Golf survey. We asked WHY you attended tournaments, if you did, and which kind you attended. We also asked what keeps you from playing in tournaments, and what it would take to make you start.

 

There are a variety of reasons why we play disc golf, and regardless of the reason, many of us enjoy the competitive side of the sport. There is something about our nature that makes us want to compete. I’ve noticed that for many of us, participating in an event fills that need, even if we don’t think we can win. Others DO want to win and will take steps to make that happen. Still others are completely fine playing casual rounds alone, just competing to beat their own records. Let’s see what the survey reveals.

 

Tournaments: Yes or No

 

Let’s look at the first tournament-related question, “Did you play in at least one disc golf tournament or event in 2021?”

 

Although over half of us say we played in a tournament, I expected that number to be higher. Since there are so many casual tournaments and events, which bring out people who ordinarily wouldn’t play in more serious tournaments, it just seems like there would be more of us competing. We’ll look at why people don’t compete later, but for now let’s look at the types of tournaments we attend.

What Kinds of Tournaments?

Of those who indicated that they did play in a tournament in 2021, we asked which type of tournaments they played: sanctioned or non-sanctioned. Of the 4,476 people who played a tournament last year, 75% played in a non-sanctioned tournament, and 81% played in a sanctioned tournament.  Here are some graphs showing how many of each type of tournaments we attended.

 

Why We Compete

 

Personally, I like the social aspect of competing. There are a lot of people in other areas that I only see at tournaments. It’s great to reconnect with them. And to compete against them. Most of us have a few reasons for playing tournaments. Let’s look at the survey results to see what some of those reasons are.

 

About 3/4ths of us enter a tournament for the competition. Seems kind of obvious, but that still leaves about 27% of us who don’t care about competing. The second most popular response is to try new courses. A third of use listed that as a reason for competing. Although I agree with the response, and it is definitely on my list, It surprises me that the percent is that high. Most of the tournaments that I play in are at courses I’ve already played. It’s kind of rare that I compete on a course I’ve never played before.

I like the third most popular reason people list for playing in a tournament, which is for the prizes or payout. Over 73% of us want to compete, but only a fraction of that number are doing it for the winnings. It makes me think that these same people would be competing with their buddies in a casual round if they weren’t playing at a tournament. Our species likes to compete!

No Thanks!

When I talk to people about tournaments, the number one reason people give for not competing is because of their skill level. They assume that everyone else at a tournament will be better and/or more experienced. I expected that to be a top reason selected in the survey. It turns out that it was the second most popular. The number one reason is because of time, or the lack of free time. Most sanctioned tournaments are at least two rounds, which is a big time commitment. We asked the people who said they don’t play tournaments what reasons they have for not playing. Here are the survey responses.

 

 

This Year VS The Past

As I mentioned near the beginning of the blog, the data showing the number of people who did and didn’t play tournaments in 2021 surprised me. I see tournaments filling incredibly fast and I see newer players getting into the tournament scene, so the ratio seemed odd. To confirm my suspicion, I pulled up the results of prior surveys to see how they compare to the most recent survey. Here are the results of the question about tournament play for the years 2015 and 2019:

 

 

 

Clearly, we’ve seen more interest in playing tournaments in the past. The pandemic undoubtedly played a part in the lower numbers. It also contributed the larger number of newer players.  We know from the survey results that a good number of people didn’t play because they don’t feel like they are good enough. However, if you look at how fast many tournaments fill up, it is evident that there is a large number of people that want to compete, despite the percentage of people who don’t want that experience.

It is the fact that we do fill so many tournaments that I don’t worry about people who don’t want to play them. Not only are tournaments not in danger of going away, the bigger problem might be that there aren’t enough to go around. Whether or not future TDs need to consider some of the reasons people have given for not attending tournaments remains to be seen.

We would love to hear about YOUR tournament experiences and what you see tournaments looking like five years from now. Post below and let us know your thoughts.

 

 

Focus Friday TSA Votum

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Alright, lets get into this Friday and the weekend with this week’s Focus Friday. It should be a good one. The weather is warming up, the sun is up for longer hours. Spring is almost truly here, I can feel it, and it is exciting!

This weekend’s focus is on the Thought Space Athletics Votum. You can use the discount code FOCUSVOTUM to save 20% off all Votums. Starting from now till the end of the weekend (Monday), this discount code will be active.

TSA Votum

The Votum is a a stable fairway driver that doesn’t offer a lot of fade. Its stability provides a disc that can handle power, but is not too difficult to control. Because of these attributes, this makes for a good workhorse fairway disc. It is said to have straight flying tendencies with a reliable fade at the end. Something similar to a Teebird3.

Overall the Votum is a good stable to overstable disc. it has a comfortable feel to it. The plastic is quite durable and grippy, regardless of which plastic you end up chosing. The flight path of this disc is a favorable flight as well.

The Discount Code

Here is the deal, head over to our website and select the Votums that you want and any other item that you need. Once everything you need is in your cart, you can apply the discount code FOCUSVOTUM and get 20% off all Votum discs in your cart.

Note: After placing your discs in the shopping cart and before checking out, click on the “Discount Code” box under the shopping cart and enter that code. Then proceed to checkout.

Drew Gibson LVC Champion

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Drew Gibson performed wonderfully at the Las Vegas Challenge just two weeks ago. Though, Gannon Buhr did not concede easily to Drew. In an epic sudden death showdown of 4 holes, Drew left the tournament with the title of LVC Champion.

In commemoration of this, we are releasing some commemorative edition discs. This special stamp is a double single foil stamp. One stamp on the front, and another stamp on the bottom. The top stamp indicates that Drew is the LVC Champion, and the bottom stamp is Drew’s wonderful crown logo. They’re pretty cool, we’re excited about these discs and we’re excited for Drew winning as well!

As mentioned before, there are a handful of different molds that have these stamps on them. There are a few different ways on how you can see which molds have these stamps. To see them all, check out this link, this page will show you every single disc that has these stamps on it. Or you can follow the links below, these are to the individual molds:

Right now only the Scepter, Emperor, Exodus, and Falcor are available. Our team is working to get the other molds on as fast as they can. As the day/weekend goes on the other molds will become available. Be sure to check these limited edition discs, and any other disc golf need you may have right here at Infinite Discs.

 

 

 

State of Disc Golf Results: How Often We Play

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As I write this blog in early March, it has been snowing recently and the temperature will approach zero tonight in northern Utah. I suspect there will still be a few local golfers that will still huck today. However, most of us will be holed up inside, waiting for a reprieve from the inclement weather. While we still play disc golf year ‘round here, there are days that the local courses remain empty, or nearly empty. Almost every time that happens, it is related to bad weather.

How often we get out to play can be heavily influenced by where we live and the weather conditions we experience. Extreme temperatures, rain, snow, and excessive winds can reduce our playing time. The level of our desire to improve also plays an important part in how much time we carve out to throw. And of course we all have life events that dictate our free time or lack thereof, such as school, family, and careers.

How Often We Play

In this blog we will explore the survey question that asked how often we get to play disc golf. We’ll breakdown those numbers based on where we live and our skill level, to see if those factors play a part in how often we play. And we’ll look at other demographics, liked age and gender, just to see if we can find any interesting numbers.

The question we asked in the survey was, “On average, how many rounds of disc golf did you play per month in 2021?” The options to choose from ranged from zero to ‘31+’ days. Here are the survey results. The first graph shows the results in raw numbers, and the second graph shows the results as a percent of the total.

 

 

 

Over ten percent of us are getting out to play 20 or more times per month, which is a lot of disc golf. If you are playing competitively, you are likely one of the more frequent players. Nearly a fourth of us are playing, on average, at least once every other day.

At the other end of the active spectrum, a tiny percent of us aren’t even averaging one round per month. Maybe from injury? Or an excessively busy schedule? Whatever the reason, at least they were able to fill out the survey!

The ‘one-percenters’ in this survey average more than one round per day. Whether they are going out a couple times per week and getting multiple rounds each time, or playing at least one round per day, they are the lucky ones. Or they are unemployed or retired, or professional disc golfers.

Where We Live

I started the blog discussing the weather and how it affects local disc golf. My first thought in seeing the results is that there may be a direct correlation between where we live and how much we play. Yes, we CAN play in pretty much any kind of weather. We are just more easily motivated to play when the temperatures are above a certain temperature, and when the ground isn’t covered with snow, ice, or mud.

To test my hypothesis, I took all of the southern US states and Hawaii, compared the number of rounds they played per month with the rest if the country. Not an exact science, but there is a reason why many pros gravitate to those states in the winter. Low temperatures and poor weather can still a factor, but winters in the states north of them are colder and have more snow. For the comparison, I took Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, and Hawaii. I compared those to the rest of the states. Here are the results, shown as a percentage of people in each group:

So much for that theory! There were some categories that the Southern states were slightly higher in, and others they were slightly lower. Overall, we can’t conclude that the states with warmer winters get in more rounds. Their hands may be less numb, but they aren’t playing more than the rest of us.

Skill Level

Another aspect of disc golf that I wanted to explore is to see if there is a correlation between our skill level and the number of rounds we play per month. My initial thought is that someone who plays more, gets better and considers themselves as a higher level player. Also, we could say that someone who is as better player may be more interested in playing more to maintain a competitive edge in leagues and tournaments. Below is a chart showing the percentage of each skill level, according to their monthly number of rounds.

 

This time the numbers are more aligned to what I would expect. Professional disc golfers represent a higher percentage of each number category above 15 per month, and is second to advanced players in the 10-14 category. In fact, the skill levels in the categories above 15 rounds per month are in order, from low to high, according to skill level. Conversely, beginners and intermediate players take the top spots in the categories below 10 rounds per month.

 

Conclusion

 

Since we are all active enough in the sport of disc golf that we took the time to fill out a survey, read the results, or both, we all enjoy the time out on a course. Sometimes the number of rounds we play in a month is dictated us and our desires, and sometimes it is dictated by our schedules and life circumstances. Hopefully, this year will see us getting in a few more rounds per month than last. We’ll conclude this blog by comparing last year’s results to a few years ago.

It is rather impressive how similar the results are from the prior survey. In every number category the results are practically the same. With all of the growth we’ve seen recently, and the life-changing pandemic, we are still throwing at about the same amount as before. Perhaps that is a good thing.

Tune in next week when we will look at more survey results.

New Disc Golf Disc Releases – Prodigy Falcor & Reverb

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Another week, and some more time to enjoy life. With this week there are some new disc molds that are coming out this week. Not as many as there have been in the past, but

This Week Releases

Prodigy Falcor

The Prodigy Falcor will be available for purchase on Thursday, March 10, 2022.  The Falcor seems to feel a bit wider than a Destroyer. This disc is quite stable, I find that it does push a little more than I would have anticipated. Even with this nice glide, this disc is still rather quite overstable. Probably a little too much for me though, I don’t have that strong of an arm though.

The Falcor is the first disc in the Cale Leiviska line of discs. This is an overstable distance driver that provides a large amount of glide. Higher speed arms will achieve max distance out of this disc.

Prodigy Reverb

The Prodigy Reverb, feels good in the hand. This disc is a wide rimmed distance driver. Even though it is a 13 speed driver, this is still fairly comfortable to my grip. It is surprising that this is comfortable to me. This thing is quite beefy for me, it flies very straight and then fades hard. I can easily see this thing withstanding a lot of windy conditions. It definitely makes for a great utility disc, for me that is, I don’t have the strongest of arms. Come tomorrow, you’ll be able to get this for yourself tomorrow.

The Reverb is the first disc of of the Kevin Jones line of discs. This is an overstable distance driver with a little more fade at the end. This handles power, deflects wind, and works as a utility driver. The Reverb will hold a line for the majority of the time before the fade kicks in.

Be sure to check these molds out, as well as all of your other disc golf needs at Infinite Discs. Have a good one!

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