Who Took the State of Disc Golf 2020 Survey
Infinite Discs and the State of Disc Golf 2020 sponsors would like to thank all of those disc golfers who took the survey this year. Your input really helps us to get a great overview of how the sport is evolving and growing. We look forward to sharing the information that we’ve gathered with the public and with the brand sponsors who are providing prizes for randomly selected survey participants.
Some of the 2020 Survey Sponsors:
- Infinite Discs
- ZUCA
- Prodigy
- MVP / Axiom
- Dynamic Discs
- Innova
- Discraft
- Discmania
WHO TOOK THE SURVEY THIS YEAR?
We had 6,541 disc golfers who took the survey this year. As usual, most of the survey participants are based in the USA, though the numbers are growing in other countries as well. Of course, we launched the survey primarily to the market in the USA and it is in English, which may limit the number of people in other countries who are able to participate. Here is a look at the breakdown by state. The map displays a darker shade of green in the states that had the most participants. The color is more faint in the states with fewer participants.
If we remove all of the survey participants from the United States of America, then this chart shows the percentage of remaining survey participants from other countries.
Originally, we had under 4% of survey participants who were female, so we put out a last call request for more ladies to participate. They heard the call and we received a good number of last-minute female participants to give us a better, more rounded collection of opinions and feedback. We finished with 7.4% of participants being female. Thanks ladies!
How Old are Disc Golfers?
Disc golf is known as a sport that is playable by people of all ages. You don’t have to be in your prime to enjoy a round of disc golf. Nor do you need to be particularly athletic. The learning curve is fast and there are discs designed for players at any skill level. With all of that said, let’s take a look at the average ages of the people who took the time to answer the 2020 survey questions.
What Skill Level Do You Consider Yourself?
When a player needs to definite their own skill level, the results can be pretty mixed. Some of us have been playing for several years, yet always consider ourselves as recreational or intermediate at best. Some of us are involved with the sport for a very short time, yet our competitive nature drives us to claim advanced skill levels. When looking at how we rate ourselves, one person’s “beginner” can be another person’s “advanced” depending on the severity of levity of our self evaluation. But it’s still a fun question to ask. We’re always surprised at how many participants call themselves “Professional.” Do they actually make money playing disc golf? We hope so!
Thanks again for participating and we look forward to parsing the data and sharing what we’ve learned! Feel free to leave any comments below.
Todd Durrant
Todd is the Vice President of Infinite Discs and mastermind behind the Infinite Discs VIP Club. He writes Infinite Discs newsletters and works with pros and artists to create a masterful selection of unique discs for you to enjoy.
Next survey it would be nice to add more catagories as to what group you aspire to. I am not a beginner/recreational player, nor am I an intermediate. I am MA70+. Thanks, Paulthrowlong
Hey folks, love this survey every year, and look forward to the results.
One suggestion regarding the rating. You need more categories. Having just 4 pigeon holes people into giving answers that might not be accurate.
I would suggest the following:
Beginner Recreational
Intermediate Recreational
Veteran Recreational
Beginner Tournament Player
Intermediate Tournament Player
Veteran Tournament Player
Professional
This would define your results much more and give a more realistic view of who is playing and what level they are at. Cheers! – Conor
Great job as always with the survey! I love seeing the data that comes out of these surveys. Always interesting.
I would like to suggest possibly adding a rating option that would possibly give a little more insight into skill levels. You could ask if someone is a registered PDGA member or has ever played a sanctioned tournament as a registered member and, if so, ask what their PDGA rating is. No need for PDGA # in order to keep the survey anonymous . Now obviously people could still fluff their answer, but it would be pretty interesting to see.
Anyways, great job and looking forward to the results!
-Colby
I can throw 250 feet on dry land, 850 in my imagination and about 550 on the internet. Does that make me recreational or intermediate?
Professional!
Colby may be right that a rating question might be a better indicator of a players skill level if they are a registered PDGA member, but most players aren’t members. I rate myself as an advanced player because I haven’t won any money playing this past year. The definitions of a professional is that you make money doing the activity. Some that describe themselves as pros may have played pro but did not win money. It has been two years since I won money in a tournament. So I’m an advanced player that age is catching up and now have to have knee replacements because of arthritis, so intermediate players have a good chance of beating me in a round. It has nothing to do with my advanced knowledge and technic experience.
Gender of Participants N/A (Non Alcoholic) 0.4 A statistic, I found most revealing and shocking. This proves disc golf appeals to the masses!