We've launched the new forums! Read more here

Disc Golf (Frisbee golf)

93civiccpe said:
I have not played a round in a long time but it is funny timing as I'm meeting a friend for a round tonight. We don't get to hang out much anymore but when we do he loves to play. It is interesting as I previously played more disc golf than regular golf yet over the last 5-6 years that has completely flipped. I don't compete in disc golf anymore (I used to play tournaments) but do enjoy a casual round from time to time.
Click to expand...

Hope you had a good time. I am very much the opposite - I have a lot of history with ball golf, having played for about 20 years and semi-seriously for about 10, whereas disc golf I've played very casually (I'm talking like 3-5 rounds a year, with no practice) since discovering it in college. Have never been able to throw with proper technique and generate any decent torque or distance but I'm really looking to work on it. It's not a big monetary investment which is nice.

Pretty cool that you used to play competitively! I'm always really impressed when I see someone come along and park one next to the basket from 300-400 feet away, and I'm guessing you see a LOT of that and more with competitive groups.
 
I played while on vacation with my son. He has been playing while in college and loves it. We played in a park in Sarasota and had a ball. He could care less about golf golf and I enjoyed playing disc with zero concern with how well I did.
 
I play disc golf usually once or twice a week, but only started playing last year. Much like golf I like getting outside and being in nature and some of the course here in MN are pretty sweet walking.
 
My friend had to postpone until next week unfortunately due to a family issue which came up. So maybe we play next week.
 
We just moved to a new house and there is a 9 hole course within walking distance. Its pretty plain jane in an open field but its also not very busy.

I ordered a couple discs and took my two kids to try it out. They absolutely loved it! bonus points that its a 2 mile walk to and from, including walking 9 holes. We went out and bought some more discs so they each have 2 (long and short) to use. We have been about 4 times this week so far.

Its a great way to get outside, walk the dog and even the wife can do it.
 
Nicegy525 said:
We just moved to a new house and there is a 9 hole course within walking distance. Its pretty plain jane in an open field but its also not very busy.

I ordered a couple discs and took my two kids to try it out. They absolutely loved it! bonus points that its a 2 mile walk to and from, including walking 9 holes. We went out and bought some more discs so they each have 2 (long and short) to use. We have been about 4 times this week so far.

Its a great way to get outside, walk the dog and even the wife can do it.
Click to expand...
Disc selection is key. And if they are younger make sure they try the 150gr class discs as they are easier to throw farther. I haven't played much over the past couple years but that may be changing with my daughter starting to get really interested in it.
 
93civiccpe said:
Disc selection is key. And if they are younger make sure they try the 150gr class discs as they are easier to throw farther. I haven't played much over the past couple years but that may be changing with my daughter starting to get really interested in it.
Click to expand...


they are 9 & 7. my 7 year old is not athletically inclined at all. He is more into horses than anything else. My 9 year old will try anything and just wants to be good at whatever he does lol! I will look into the 150gr discs as my youngest struggles to throw any distance.
 
Nicegy525 said:
they are 9 & 7. my 7 year old is not athletically inclined at all. He is more into horses than anything else. My 9 year old will try anything and just wants to be good at whatever he does lol! I will look into the 150gr discs as my youngest struggles to throw any distance.
Click to expand...
If you let me know what brand discs are sold locally I can let you know good starter discs. The numbers can be confusing at first. I'm happy to help as I've introduced many to the game back when I was competing in tournaments
 
93civiccpe said:
If you let me know what brand discs are sold locally I can let you know good starter discs. The numbers can be confusing at first. I'm happy to help as I've introduced many to the game back when I was competing in tournaments
Click to expand...

We have a secondhand sports store with a pretty good selection. Innova seems to be the most available. I currently have the following:

Mine:
Tern
Valkerie
Nova

9 year olds:
Beast
Dragon

7 Year Old's:
Dragon
Mako3
 
There is a course set up at a park two blocks from my house but I have never played disc golf. Might need to change that this fall. See a descent amount of people out there playing when driving by or walking the dog by the park.
 
Nicegy525 said:
We have a secondhand sports store with a pretty good selection. Innova seems to be the most available. I currently have the following:

Mine:
Tern
Valkerie
Nova

9 year olds:
Beast
Dragon

7 Year Old's:
Dragon
Mako3
Click to expand...
Those are actually good discs to start. The beast might be a little difficult at first and want to get left quick for a right handed backhand thrower. I would find a putter you each like the feel of as they grab the chains better and on full throws they glide really quick. (Aviars, Soft Magnets, Omega Supersoft, latitude pure are all good examples). When it comes to the numbers, don't be fooled by the first number (speed). The higher that number is the faster it gets through the air. That sounds great, but in reality it means it gets to the ground faster. You need a big arm to throw the higher speed discs with any distance. I would start with discs in the 7-9 speed range. The second number is glide and you are fine with a disc with a higher glide number as they want to stay in the air longer. The third number is turn. The more negative it is, the farther it will turn over to the right early in the flight for a right hand backhand thrower. The final number is fade which is how hard it will come back to the left at the end of the flight for a right hand backhand thrower. (The disc makes an "s" shape in the air when thrown properly for max distance).

In general, start with fairway drivers as new players can often throw them farther than distance drivers. This is primarily due to what I explain above about high speed discs needing big arm speed. The dynamic disc YouTube page has videos showing how each of their discs fly with different level players with different arm speeds. For kids, if you can find 150gram discs they are lighter and easier to throw farther. Once you start flipping your discs over to the right with arm speed and they don't come back it is a sign that you can step up into a faster and more overstable disc. I know I've just typed a ton but if anything is confusing please just ask. It's a fun sport!
 
93civiccpe said:
Those are actually good discs to start. The beast might be a little difficult at first and want to get left quick for a right handed backhand thrower. I would find a putter you each like the feel of as they grab the chains better and on full throws they glide really quick. (Aviars, Soft Magnets, Omega Supersoft, latitude pure are all good examples). When it comes to the numbers, don't be fooled by the first number (speed). The higher that number is the faster it gets through the air. That sounds great, but in reality it means it gets to the ground faster. You need a big arm to throw the higher speed discs with any distance. I would start with discs in the 7-9 speed range. The second number is glide and you are fine with a disc with a higher glide number as they want to stay in the air longer. The third number is turn. The more negative it is, the farther it will turn over to the right early in the flight for a right hand backhand thrower. The final number is fade which is how hard it will come back to the left at the end of the flight for a right hand backhand thrower. (The disc makes an "s" shape in the air when thrown properly for max distance).

In general, start with fairway drivers as new players can often throw them farther than distance drivers. This is primarily due to what I explain above about high speed discs needing big arm speed. The dynamic disc YouTube page has videos showing how each of their discs fly with different level players with different arm speeds. For kids, if you can find 150gram discs they are lighter and easier to throw farther. Once you start flipping your discs over to the right with arm speed and they don't come back it is a sign that you can step up into a faster and more overstable disc. I know I've just typed a ton but if anything is confusing please just ask. It's a fun sport!
Click to expand...


Ive been reading a bunch and everything you've said is in line with what Ive researched. My 9 year old can throw the beast farther than the dragon, when he is focused. It does tend to dive left if not thrown well.

Im having decent success with the Tern but can be inconsistent, as expected.

My putting is horrible, outside 15-20 feet I cant make anything. My wife is amazing at 30-40 foot shots going into the basket!

For now, we are just playing this one course. If their interest doesnt fade away, I will invest in some more discs and maybe try a wooded course.
 
I played disc golf before taking up golf. Back then we didn't use disc golf specific targets. None of those chain looking things were readily svailable yet. We used light poles, tree trunks, and what ever else we could find to use.

Controlling the flight of a frisbee is much easier than that of a golf ball. I think the simplicity of throwing a disc is why I lost interest in it.

On a funny note, I was back in Logansport Indiana a couple weeks ago. We stayed in a relative's rv at a near by park. The park had a disc golf course. I asked the people in charge if I could hit real golf balls, if no one else was there. That I didn't have a frisbee. They said go a head, but don't lose any balls. It was basically a short par 3 course, the chain things as targets.
 
Nicegy525 said:
Ive been reading a bunch and everything you've said is in line with what Ive researched. My 9 year old can throw the beast farther than the dragon, when he is focused. It does tend to dive left if not thrown well.

Im having decent success with the Tern but can be inconsistent, as expected.

My putting is horrible, outside 15-20 feet I cant make anything. My wife is amazing at 30-40 foot shots going into the basket!

For now, we are just playing this one course. If their interest doesnt fade away, I will invest in some more discs and maybe try a wooded course.
Click to expand...
Putting (like in real golf) is where you can lose a lot of shots. If you get a rubbery putter like the ones i mentioned above they are easier to throw straight. There are a ton of fun games you can play at a practice basket to get better at putting.

One thing i neglected to mention above is that the plastic matters. Two of the same discs that are the same weight but in different plastics will fly differently. The base level plastic by each manufacturer is the cheapest and breaks in the fastest. The more trees you hit, the more understable they get. In the better plastics (like champion or star for Innova) the discs are more overstable than their base plastic equivalent and they break in slower and keep the same flight characteristics longer.
 
Used to work with a guy about 20 years ago that was into it - he gave me about 4 discs in hopes i would go play. There are 3 or 4 really nice courses in town that i believe are pretty highly regarded by the hardcore disc golfers. Might go try it out someday.
 
Last edited:
I'm getting slowly better, but I played a round with a guy I know around here who is a really solid player and learned a lot. He even offered to give me a couple extra discs of his next time we play that he thinks will work well for me. Some of the tips he gave me really helped though - I'm pretty consistently getting to around 200 feet on decent driver / midrange throws now, and once I get better at not nose upping my throws and have the delivery consistency to start doing a run up, I should be able to increase that pretty quickly. Parked a Buzzz right next to the basket for an easy bird on a 180' hyzer hole, and jarred a 40-50 foot putt on the next hole for 2 birds in a row!
 
Practiced with the same guy I mentioned above on driving form and I think I picked up another 30 to 40 feet of distance with his tips. Adding a small "step up" (not quite consistent enough for a big run up yet) actually seems to encourage me to use better form and throw it flatter. My goal as I practice here is to hit the fence at the local baseball field, which we were guessing is around 250 feet - and I got pretty darn close a few times. I'll have to bring my rangefinder next time and see how far it actually is.
 
Doing a league this year and just played my first round in months last night. Peaks and valleys for me as expected - was +17 with 2 birdies, but also a couple doubles and a quad after a brutal rollout into OB. My putting is hot trash mostly, so that needs the most practice. Approaches are right behind. I think with some improvement in those areas I can easily be in the +10 range or even a little better. Distance is still improving but right now I top out around 225-250. Playing more I expect I'll pick some more up with form and consistency improvement.
 
My kids have gotten into disc golf so I just got them a basket to practice with which I'm setting up tomorrow!
 
I played a tougher course than the usual in our league yesterday (complete with an 840 ft hole o_O) and managed my best legitimately scored round yet at +11. Had 2 ugly doubles as I warmed up and had another after losing a disc on the aforementioned 840 ft hole, but also had a great bird after parking a putter throw off the tee about 10 feet from the basket.

I still need to work on not taking the disc back too far inside and robbing myself of power on upshots in particular, but I'm definitely improving! I can get my favorite fairway driver (a Westside VIP Hatchet) out to about 275 or so on a good throw now.
 
I have some buddys that are really into it and travel to play tourneys. Ive tried once and am not very good at all. Cant throw a regular frisbee either though lol🤷🏻‍♂️
 
Dan44 said:
I have some buddys that are really into it and travel to play tourneys. Ive tried once and am not very good at all. Cant throw a regular frisbee either though lol🤷🏻‍♂️
Click to expand...

Just like golf it's way harder than it looks...I think even more so though. It gets this "lol that looks so easy, I throw frisbees at the beach" perception, but with the lines you have to hit and the distances in play, it's definitely a challenge!
 
My kids and family members have gotten me back into disc golf but I don't know that I'll ever get back into competitions again. I did build a short course on our property for the family recently which is tight & technical. The current low score is -2 for 18. I also decided to do some field work the other day and my arm speed isn't what it used to be. I used to be in the upper 400's (feet) distance with my longest shots being over 500ft. This was my longest in the field the other day. I know a lot of it is technique and timing which feels clunky right now but hoping I can get back up into the low 400s.
Screenshot_20220612-172046_UDisc.jpg
 
I’ve played about 6 times over the past 4 months. I’ve discovered that the game is much harder than it looks. I’m terrible at it because i can’t throw a disc out of my shadow and even the short, easy holes it takes me 2 throws to get near the basket. What they call ‘putting’ is also very hard.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top