Hi Everyone!
It was amazing to see so many junior disc golfers out here today. In case anyone missed the clinic this morning or anyone would like to review the content, I’ve summarized the notes below. I was a bit nervous and rushed through the content so there are some extra tips below that I also forgot to mention. :)
I’ve also included some bonus discount codes at the end for disc golf gear, and wanted to shout out a free disc golf clinic organized by North East Women’s Disc Golf: Next Saturday, October 21, 11am, there will be a FREE beginners clinic at Clement Farm Disc Golf Course in Haverhill, featuring local pros Jujee Ferdella and Kim Kisil who have been playing disc golf for a combined total of about 20 years! Coffee and snacks will be served and they will do technique reviews and talk about tournament etiquette, and mental game.
Basic PDGA Rules:
- To complete a hole of disc golf you must get your disc to rest in the target basket
- You must count each throw you take to complete the hole and enter your score on the scorecard.
- Usually scores will be recorded at the next teepad at the start of the next hole by whomever has volunteered to keep score; Best practice is to have 2 people use the pdga live scoring which will notify you if there are any conflicting scores to be resolved right away.
- The PDGA scorecard will list the tee order after scores for the last hole are entered.
- After each throw, the furthest player out will be next to throw.
- You must take your next throw with your supporting points from behind the disc or mini, no other part of your body can be resting anywhere in front at the point of release; an example of what you cannot do is lean on a tree in front of you, but you can lean on a tree behind you!
- Imagine you have a piece of paper behind the disc or mini where you must plant your foot (or hand, knee, elbow, headstand, etc.)
- You can follow through and step forward after your throw except when you are within 10 meters (33 feet) of the basket. Once you are inside the 33 feet circle usually marked by whiskers on the ground, the special rule is you cannot follow thru in front of your disc or mini after putting within this circle. If you do what is called a falling putt, you may be assessed a penalty stroke by your cardmates.
- During competition, you cannot do extra practice throws
- Also you cannot bend trees or plants out of your way, you must play around them.
- Certain holes will have areas marked as out of bounds, and when a disc comes to rest in the out of bounds area, you should mark the spot where you disc was last in-bounds as where you should take your next throw, plus one penalty stroke. So your final score will be how many times you threw, plus how many times you took a penalty stroke.
- If you go out of bounds, you can place your mini 1 meter away in any direction from where you crossed the out of bounds line.
- There are certain cases where you can take relief without penalty and adjust where you throw from, such as if your disc is in a puddle of water, or near out of bounds, or to get away from dangerous obstacles such as barbed wire or hornet nests.
- On hole 2 there is barbed wire by the rock wall, you can move your mini 2 meters perpendicular away from it with no penalty stroke.
- After it rains there can be puddles and you may not want to get your feet wet, so if your disc is in a puddle, you can take your throw from the further edge of the puddle that is in a straight line away from the basket from where your disc lies with no penalty stroke.
A few tips to help you have a good round, even if you may not be getting your best scores:
- In any sport you play, it is important to prioritize: Safety and Good Sportsmanship
- Getting hit with a disc can really hurt and in really bad cases could mean a trip to the hospital. Always make sure you are clear to throw, and if you accidentally throw in the direction of people or where people might be, you yell ‘FORE’ so people have a heads up of what’s incoming.
- Always better to be safe than sorry. Some hikers can be walking through and not aware that there is disc golf happening. Some who also may not be able to hear, or see if the sun is in their eyes, so if you are not sure or not comfortable, you should wait until the fairway is clear.
- Another important aspect of safely is making sure you are properly warmed up before your round to reduce the risk of pulling any tight muscles. A pulled muscle can be serious and result in a long time of not being able to do fun activities. Make sure you warm up your disc golf muscles with some gentle exercise like jogging or marching in place, light twists as if you are doing your reach back for your backhand and forehand throws, side lunges to warm up your weight transfer for backhands, forward lunges to warm up your weight transfer for forehands, and some squats to warm up those straddle putts.
- Being a good cardmate means watching each other’s throws to see where they land so you can quickly locate discs and determine in some cases any out of bounds disc placement; especially in the fall when discs can be lost in the middle of the fairway under leaves. During a tournament if you lose a disc, you have to go back to your previous throw and rethrow with a penalty stroke.
- Letting faster groups play through, no matter what the size of the group, if they are faster than you, and there is no one in front of you, you should let them pass you by asking if they want to play through on the next tee, then waiting for them at the next tee. In tournaments this does not apply to other cards playing in the tournament unless the TD specifies it is allowed. But if the course is also open to casual players, then you should allow the casual players to play through if your card is playing at a slower pace.
- On a windy day like today, if you are not confident in your putt, get your disc as close to the basket as you can before throwing your putt.
- During a tournament round, throw the shots you have practiced and are confident in. Don’t get yourself in extra trouble by trying something new that you haven’t tried before. During practice is when you would try new things.
- Night before a tournament, eat a nutritious dinner, check the weather and prepare your gear and have a plan for breakfast and lunch for tournament day so you are not rushing in the morning to get ready.
- Day of the tournament, eat a nutritious breakfast, check the weather again and dress accordingly, pack a lunch if you are playing 2-rounds (sandwich, snack, fruit, hot tea or hot chocolate in a thermos if it is cold out).
- Bring sunglasses or a hat to keep the sun out of your eyes and bug spray for mosquitoes and ticks.
- Make sure you prepare a snack and full water bottle with electrolytes to stay energized and hydrated during the round. Remember to take a sip of water every few holes, this will help you stay focused during the round.
- For extra tournament prep, do 1-2 practice rounds, write down a game plan for each hole, practice your game plan, figure out the layout of the course such as parking and where the restrooms or water refills may be.
- Get to the course early to stretch and warm up putting and warm up a couple holes; the last hole and the first hole are good options since these have a huge impact to the start and end of your round,
- My favorite tip is to start your putting warm up close to the basket, like 8ft away. Once you have this initial confidence, you work your way further back, 15ft, 20, 25, etc.
Bonus discount codes:
Upperparkdiscgolf.com; Discount code for 15% off: DC15
Doomsdaydiscs.com; Discount code for 10% off: dreamcrusher
Beastdiscgolf.com; Discount code for 10% off: DCHEN
