Disc Golf Catch-All

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I'm not sure how much interest there is for Disc Golf in these forums but I created this thead to avoid cluttering up the Ultimate Catch-all

I played Ultimate through high school and college. Afterward I played allot of pickup games with my friends but as we get older it has been harder and harder to find enough people to get a big enough group together. Then we discovered disc golf a couple years ago and we have been hooked since. I went from having a $20 starter set to having 15 or so discs which is too many to fit in my bag!

For those interested in giving it a try, most discs fly quite differently from your standard Ultimate discs so I highly recommend watching some of the Discraft Disc Golf Clinic videos.

Also DGCourseReview is the go-to place to find info about courses.

I haven't played in several years but I did help out a little bit with the building of this course:

http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course...

It was a young man's eagle scout project.

Played -1 at Will Rogers today in OKC.
I'll get some pics of my discs and maybe a video of a drive after I move to Austin next week.

MacBrave wrote:

I haven't played in several years but I did help out a little bit with the building of this course:

http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course...

It was a young man's eagle scout project.

It looks like a great course. It's not easy to score above a 4 on DG course review. I'm always envious when I see wide open launches. In the Boston area we deal with allot of heavily wooded courses and the ticks that accompany them. That one looks like it has a good mix.

I purchased a couple Champion Blizzard discs a little over a month ago (Destroyer and Teedevil). I bought them at the lightest weights I could find 130 - 133 to see what the craze was all about. Due to a busy schedule I have only been able to use them a few times but I thought I would post a few thoughts.

-They are so light that it almost feels like you are trying to huck a piece of cardboard.

-With a solid throw, they will go far....

-And if they land in the water, I have heard they float! (I have not tested yet)

-I'm pretty sure the 130's are the lowest they go and the discs are super understable compared to their champion / star counterparts. I flip the Blizzard Destroyer about the same as a beat up Champ Valk. So if you thinking about getting one go up a bit in stability and speed from what you normally throw. I have heard the 150's have a bit more stability but I would like to try one before investing in another disc.

-OR Get a disc only slightly faster then what you normally throw and put about 80% effort on it. It will go a similar distance and save you some arm strain. It may be a good disc in the bag for the occasions where you go 2 or 3 rounds.

I recently played for the second time at a work outing, and damnit, now I have another hobby to try and find time for.

What a great way to spend a day.

Any general tips for a newcomer to the game would be appreciated.

gizmo wrote:

I recently played for the second time at a work outing, and damnit, now I have another hobby to try and find time for.

What a great way to spend a day.

Any general tips for a newcomer to the game would be appreciated.

Throw a putter. Throw a putter on every hole less than 250 feet. Hell just throw some putter rounds. Nothing gives you time to see the flight and thereby analyze your form like a putter.
Your first 3 discs should be a putter, a mid and a fairway driver. Fairway drivers go FAR. You will not need some warp speed driver for a month at LEAST. (my suggestions are yeti pro aviar, buzzzz and teebird but really there are a lot of answers to each disc). In terms of weight, putter in 173-175, mid say 170-173 for now and fairway driver 167-170. You don't need a heavy weight initially. You'll need those later for wind fighter discs.
Uh....check /r/discgolf on reddit. Their sidebar has a bunch of super useful links.

gizmo wrote:

I recently played for the second time at a work outing, and damnit, now I have another hobby to try and find time for.

What a great way to spend a day.

Any general tips for a newcomer to the game would be appreciated.

Along with what Boogle said check out the Discraft Clinic videos in the OP to see proper technique and form. The best way to make your score go way down is practicing your putts.

Drive for show, putt for dough.
And those discraft clinic videos are awesome.

Thanks guys, I will do that.

Not sure if anyone has heard of the toboggan course at Kensington park in Michigan. It is put in for about 2 and a half weeks each summer for, I believe, some sort of national event. It's currently in, and it's stupid hard. I shot a 25 over par yesterday. The conditions were rainy, but I guess there has only been one round ever recorded that was under par. The course comes out I believe next Friday, so if anyone is around the Detroit, Toledo, Ann Arbor area, go hit it up.

I will have to hit that up when I am passing through, I will have to drag you along TK.

I play almost every week. Mostly at Hoover Dam and Alexandria

Also, we totally need to find a way to get out and play in Hocking Hills during Pencon.

Cheeto1016 wrote:

I will have to hit that up when I am passing through, I will have to drag you along TK.

I play almost every week. Mostly at Hoover Dam and Alexandria

Also, we totally need to find a way to get out and play in Hocking Hills during Pencon.

I think we are doing a little double's tournament.
If I have my way, there is buy in and ace pot too.

P.S. What color/weight teebird do you want Cheeto? I remember I owe you one for some reason. I have 2 red in ~172 and one light purple in 175. All star plastic.

I have no idea why you would owe me one at all, but I of course would have to choose purple

I am not hardcore enough (enough though I do play a lot) to know weights and things. I just play to have a good time! hehe

Cheeto1016 wrote:

I have no idea why you would owe me one at all, but I of course would have to choose purple

I am not hardcore enough (enough though I do play a lot) to know weights and things. I just play to have a good time! hehe

There really isn't too much of a difference between 172 & 175. They are both in the "heavy" range to me. Lighter ones will glide a little farther but have more trouble in head & side winds. Teebirds are such great discs in any weight though.

EvilDead wrote:
Cheeto1016 wrote:

I have no idea why you would owe me one at all, but I of course would have to choose purple

I am not hardcore enough (enough though I do play a lot) to know weights and things. I just play to have a good time! hehe

There really isn't too much of a difference between 172 & 175. They are both in the "heavy" range to me. Lighter ones will glide a little farther but have more trouble in head & side winds. Teebirds are such great discs in any weight though.

There is about 3 grams of difference....I know, I know.

boogle wrote:

There is about 3 grams of difference....I know, I know.

Well, I think the more important difference is which disc have you hit the least trees with

EvilDead wrote:
boogle wrote:

There is about 3 grams of difference....I know, I know.

Well, I think the more important difference is which disc have you hit the least trees with :D

I thankfully got through the I can't throw accurately stage in Oklahoma, where it's lightly wooded.

Come play up here in Michigan...its stupid crowded with trees

Chabuda wrote:

Come play up here in Michigan...its stupid crowded with trees

Yep, same here in Massachusetts. The majority of the courses around me are built within the woods. It is very helpful at converting overstable discs to understable.

Well I'm posting in the thread I wanted to mention that the Maple Hill course and its owners are awesome. I lost my wallet there on Sunday and sent them an email. I went back on Monday and they had found it and were holding for me.

I just got this email back from them after saying thanks..

"Hey Chris,
The guy who brought your wallet back was a first time player at Maple Hill from out of the area.
He felt bad it was misplaced and hoped it would get back to you. So, I gave him a BIG high-five and told him he was very cool and it would most certainly be returned.
We are glad it all worked out. We'd like to think it's because we have the best disc golf customers on the planet.
Thank you and hope to see you again, out here in beautiful, sunny Leicester, MA.
-David"

It's too bad the guy is from out of the area b/c I owe him a disc and a beer.

Glad I found this thread! For the second time in a few years another hobby of mine (geocaching) has taken me to an area with a disc golf course. The first time, I tried to get my wife to let me buy a disc and have at it but I got vetoed. Which is pretty bad considering the approx. $10 initial investment.

Anyways, there is a park close by that we were geocaching at a couple weeks ago and I was watching some people play disc golf. It was about this time that I found this thread. So I think I'd like to give it a shot. I've ordered a couple discs (without bothering to ask for permission) an Innova Aviar P&A and a Discraft Comet, and am anxiously awaiting their arrival. So anxious I actually picked up an Innova Shark on Sunday.

So at this point I guess the only question I have is this: Do I just throw myself into the pool and hit the course or should I find a soccer field and familiarize myself with my discs?

Out of curiosity, do folks have recommendations on discs? I live ~10 minutes from this course. Figure that close, it'd be nice to spend a morning out there every now and again.

You could do both. While it seems dumb at first, you should only be using a putter and maybe a mid. Once you are getting your putter out to about 100 feet maybe work in a fairway driver (I'm particularly partial to the teebird).
To give you some reference in terms of distances with disc types, I would play in Intermediate 2 by the way and about the low middle of that group.
Putter ~200ft. Probably can work it out to 250 with some flex on it. (Makes a big S instead of a long straight throw)
Mid range ~250-300ft
Teebird ~350
SL, Beast ~ 370

Note as you go up in speed, each disc will need less height to work with. So on an open hole, I can bomb a midrange (I like the Buzzz, also KC pro Rocs are popular, Shark is also solid) off the tee.
If I need to keep the shot low of cut wind, I might shoot lower with something higher speed like a fairway driver or a fast driver. Check the r/discgolf subreddit beginners guide. Its good.

Most importantly, have fun, be nice at the course and if someone looks like they know what they're doing and seem nice, ask for tips.
I learned a lot of my wind adjustments by talking to the locals at the OKC courses and its served me well to be able to think with the wind in terms of shot choice.

AnimeJ wrote:

Out of curiosity, do folks have recommendations on discs? I live ~10 minutes from this course. Figure that close, it'd be nice to spend a morning out there every now and again.

So the basic set would be putter, mid and fairway driver. Start off with the first 2, add the driver in once you are getting smooth, flat flight.
Putters = Pick one that feels good. My suggestions are Gateway soft Magic (actually quite stiff) or a Yeti Pro Aviar. I like my putters a touch light at 171, but most like 175g putters.
Mid ranges = Two big ones are Buzzz and KC Pro Roc. I like 173-175 here. Probably 170-173 is a good weight range.
Fairway driver = Any stable, straight flying fairway driver will do. I'm partial to the teebird (I carry 2 in different stages of wear). Mine are 171 and 172, probably can go lighter say 165-172 if you aren't in Oklahoma style winds. I like star plastic for my teebirds, or KC pro plastic is nice.

Those 3 discs will rock say 85% of all shots. Once you are getting into it you can start having discs in different stages of wear that fly different, and some understable and overstable molds for anhyzer and hyzer shots respectively.

Check some youtube vids on form too. And most importantly keep on discing!

boogle wrote:

I thankfully got through the I can't throw accurately stage in Oklahoma, where it's lightly wooded.

*cough*

Grumpicus wrote:
boogle wrote:

I thankfully got through the I can't throw accurately stage in Oklahoma, where it's lightly wooded.

*cough* ;)

Like 80% of the time
I also enjoy longer holes on lightly to moderately wooded courses.

boogle wrote:

While it seems dumb at first, you should only be using a putter and maybe a mid.

Doesn't seem dumb at all considering the courses I'm looking at playing...

Schenley Park
Phillips Park

I'm looking at red tees and most holes are under 250 and even if I move up to the whites only 2 holes crack 400. I'll definitely be throwing putters.

Really, embracing the putter early man, you're going to have a good time.

So, I went out tonight and bought a basic set on the sort of cheap. All DX discs, 175 Teebird and Roc plus a 177 Avira. When I throw them right, I love them, straight, true and they go really well. Just need to get out and chuck em on a football field to get the motion in, but can definitely tell when I'm getting it right vs getting it wrong.

I actually did go out after buying them to the course I linked before and had a blast. Very, very heavy woods, lots of crazy obstacles. The 8th hole actually tees off across a shallow scummy creek. I only had time to play the first 12, but definitely plan on heading back after getting throws down.

All you really need is a star(plastic) destroyer. It goes far and has a sweet name.

Chabuda wrote:

All you really need is a star(plastic) destroyer. It goes far and has a sweet name.

Heh, its one of my favorite discs, and not just because of its name! Although I don't think a beginner would be able to generate the arm speed required to throw it well.

AnimeJ wrote:

So, I went out tonight and bought a basic set on the sort of cheap. All DX discs, 175 Teebird and Roc plus a 177 Avira. When I throw them right, I love them, straight, true and they go really well. Just need to get out and chuck em on a football field to get the motion in, but can definitely tell when I'm getting it right vs getting it wrong.

I actually did go out after buying them to the course I linked before and had a blast. Very, very heavy woods, lots of crazy obstacles. The 8th hole actually tees off across a shallow scummy creek. I only had time to play the first 12, but definitely plan on heading back after getting throws down.

If you keep at it and enjoy it enough to add more discs to your collection go with a premium plastic for your drivers. They can take much more of a beating and the disc won't warp when you smack a tree right off the launch.

I stick with:
Innova: Star, Champion
Discraft: Z, ESP