What is disc golf?
Disc golf (sometimes referred to as: disk golf, folf, frolf, frolfing, or frisbee golf) is just like regular golf (ball golf) except that you play with frisbees and baskets instead of balls, clubs, and holes. Disc golf is a very fun disc throwing sport in which players try to complete the course in the fewest amount of shots as possible. The player with the lowest score (usually after 9 or 18 holes) is the winner. The biggest advantage disc golf has over ball golf is that it is much cheaper to play because it does not require you to buy an expensive set of clubs and equipment, plus, most disc golf courses are free! Another advantage disc golf has over ball golf is that it is more fun and easy to play a round by yourself. In fact, a lot of people can play a 30-minute 9-hole round before work or even during a lunch break. Disc golf is a very fun game to play, very affordable, and a game the whole family can play together. Disc golf is a game that everyone should try because it is so much fun, and it is hard to beat the adrenaline rush and feel of satisfaction that you get after watching the flight of an amazing shot or when you sink that long putt!
How do you play disc golf?
You play disc golf just like ball golf except with different equipment. All players take turns throwing their disc (aka frisbee) near and into a metal disc golf basket. The goal is to throw your disc into the basket in less shots than your opponents. Whoever has the lowest score after completing the course or set number of holes (usually 9 or 18) is the winner.
How many discs do you need to play disc golf?
You can play disc golf with as few as one disc (a putter). It is recommended to have at least 3 (a putter, and midrange, and a driver), and that is why starter packs are a good way to jump into the sport. Professionals usually carry around 20 discs in their bag give or take a half dozen, but I think the best complete bag includes:
2 putters for putting
3 putters for throwing (understable, straight, and overstable)
1 overstable approach disc
3 midrange (understable, straight, and overstable)
3 fairway (understable, straight, and overstable)
3 distance drivers (understable, straight, and overstable)
at least 1 roller disc (this is typically a very understable fairway driver)
… so the minimum disc golf bag to cover all shot types is about 14 give or take a few.
P.S. some people like to have flatter and more stable midranges, fairways, and distance drivers for their forehand shots. This is because forehands typically have less spin than a backhand throw and the disc will turn more (be more understable) than the discs they use for backhand. Also, flatter discs tend to feel better with a forehand/sidearm grip.
How is throwing order determined?
Throwing order from the tee is determined by who scored the best on the previous hole (if scores were the same then you resort back to the same order on the previous hole or holes. After all players tee off (aka throw their initial shot), throwing order is determined by who is still farthest from the basket. Whomever is farthest out from the basket always throws (even if they threw the previous shot).
Where do you stand when throwing?
You can throw from anywhere on the tee pad for your first shot, and you can even start your run up off the tee pad. For your subsequent shots you should first either throw from directly behind your disc or mark the disc with a mini-marker directly in front of your disc in a direct line to the basket. From this mini-marker or your disc’s current lie, you need to have your foot inside a rectangle that is 20cm wide and 30cm deep (7.87 inches wide by 11.81 inches deep). No point of contact can be in front of the lie or mini-marker until after your shot. You can land in front of your lie or mini-marker after your shot except when putting inside of circle one.
What is circle 1 in disc golf?
Circle 1 is any area within 10 meters (32.8 ft) of the basket. Inside of Circle 1 you cannot extend any point of contact past your lie or mini-marker before or after your shot. To avoid a foot fault in Circle 1 you must display balance after putting and before moving forward past your mark.
What is circle 2 in disc golf?
Circle 2 is any area within 20 meters (65.6 ft) of the basket. There are not any rules specific to putting or throwing in Circle 2. Circle 2 is just for your reference to help you gauge how far away the basket is for your putt.
What are the official disc golf rules?
The official disc golf rules can be found on the PDGA’s website. PDGA stands for Professional Disc Golf Association.
What are the (unofficial) house rules to disc golf?
If you are not playing competitively in a tournament, some important disc golf rules and things to be mindful of are:
- Don’t take your score too seriously because disc golf is really fun, and you can easily lose sight of that if you are too concerned with your score.
- Let the person with the lowest score from the previous hole have the tee box and throw first (bad luck if you don’t).
- Always let the person farthest from the hole throw (exceptions if your friends don’t care and/or you are trying to play quickly).
- A lot of people play “two off the tee” (two shots off the tee on the first hole) especially if your first shot is really bad.
- Also, a lot of people will allow one mulligan at some point in the round (only if agreed upon when beginning the game).
- I think it goes without saying, but don’t call foot faults in a friendly game.
- Always abide by the Disc Golfer’s Code (know it and throw it)!
What is the disc golfer’s code?
- PLAY SMART – Never throw into a blind area or when players, spectators, pedestrians, or other facility users are within range. Use a spotter.
- RESPECT the COURSE – Observe all posted rules. No littering, graffiti, or abuse of equipment or flora.
- REPRESENT the SPORT – Be positive and responsible. Teach others.
What do the numbers on a disc golf disc mean?
Most companies provide 4 numbers on a disc golf disc to give players an understanding of how that disc should fly when it’s brand new as well as how a player should throw it to get the best results. For a comprehensive explanation please read my blog titled “What do the numbers on a disc golf disc mean?”.
The 4 numbers on a disc golf are SPEED, GLIDE, TURN, and FADE respectively.
Speed is the speed at which the disc needs to be thrown at or exceed in order to do what the other 3 numbers communicate. If a disc is not thrown quickly enough then it will likely not fly the way the latter 3 numbers dictate, but instead it usually will not glide as far, it will not turn as much, and it will fade more. That will make sense after I explain what the other numbers mean.
Speed rating numbers are provided on a scale of about 1 to 15. 1 being slow and 15 being as fast as possible. Technically, this is determined by how wide the rim (or outside) of the disc is with wider rims having faster speed ratings, but practically you just need to know that you need to throw a disc with enough arm speed in order for it to fly properly. Therefore, I recommend that beginners start with speeds lower than 7 (with the exception of perhaps one understable distance driver in the speed of 8-12) to start.
Glide (the second number) tries to convey how far the disc will glide or fly through the air and is on a scale of 1 to 7. 1 being like a brick or ball that tries to get to the ground quickly and a 7 meaning that it creates a lot of lift and tries to stay in the air for as long as possible.
Turn is the how much and in what direction the first part of the flight of the disc “turns” or changes it’s angle. This is the time when the disc is at or above the speed rating of the disc. For right handed back hand (RHBH) throws a negative number means it will rotate it’s angle clockwise. A zero means the disc should not change it’s angle and fly straight. For very overstable discs this turn number can even be positive which means it turns counter clockwise (to the left for RHBH) the whole time until it gets to the ground.
Fade is the forth number and represents how the disc angle will change at the end of the flight of the disc when it is flying and spinning slower than the Speed rating of the disc. For right-handed throwers, backhands will fade to the left (counter clockwise) and for forehands it will do the opposite and fade to the right (clockwise). Similarly to the Turn number. the larger the number the more and faster the disc will fade towards the ground.
What does stable mean?
Stable means that the initial flight of the disc does not change its angle much, and the disc tends to fly straight until it slows down enough for it to fade at the very end of its flight. It means the Turn is close to zero. Note: some people refer to “stable” as “overstable”, so context clues can be helpful. Another way to describe a stable disc is also when the initial turn of the disc equals the fade of the disc as it slows down. Again, meaning that the disc has an overall straight flight.
What does understable mean?
Understable means that during the initial flight of a disc golf disc it will “Turn” (or change it’s angle) clockwise for a right-handed back hand throw. The opposite will happen when the disc is spinning in the opposite direction (ie left-handed back hand throw or right-handed forehand throw). More simply, the initial flight of the disc will turn opposite of the fade which happens at the end of the disc’s flight.
What does overstable mean?
Overstable means that a disc will not “turn” or “turn over” but instead will always be fading in the same direction (and the same direction as it’s “fade” at the end of it’s flight) all the way to the ground. This is very helpful when the disc is moving very fast or in strong winds because it will try to get to the ground dependably instead of flying off course in an undesired direction.
What is the best glow plastic for disc golf discs?
MVP/Axiom’s Eclipse 2.0 plastic is by far the best glow plastic on the market followed by Kataplast’s K1 Glow Plastic. These two leave all the other glow plastic in the dark (pun intended).
Check out this image of 7 top glow plastics after 5 minutes of being in the dark (you can see the Eclipse 2.0 plastic outshining the rest easily):
Is disc golf harder than golf?
Disc golf is hard, but it is a little easier to pick up than ball golf. This is because a little difference in a golf club swing yields a much different result than with a disc golf shot. That being said, they both can take a really long time to develop a proper swing. The great news about disc golf is that you can go out and have fun in your first round throwing less than 100 feet unlike in ball golf where you might be losing golf balls constantly on your first round.
A nice attribute that makes disc golf easier to learn is that it is not nearly as expensive. For one, there is a lot less initial expense to play disc golf (meaning you don’t have to buy expensive clubs and equipment – instead you only need a disc or three to get started). Secondly, most disc golf courses are free to play unlike ball golf. However, a few arguments can be made that it requires more athleticism to play disc golf, and finally, there are a lot more factors affecting your disc golf shot as compared to ball golf. For example, there are different shot shapes in disc golf, there are a lot of different discs, the wind plays a big role ; so, learning your discs and shot types as well as reading the wind adds difficulty to disc golf that you don’t have in ball golf.
What is the difference between frisbee golf and disc golf?
Originally, disc golf was called frisbee golf. I consider them to be the same thing, but some refer to frisbee golf as playing disc golf with what you would think of as a traditional frisbee (also called lids by ultimate frisbee players). Fun fact, the main reason that disc golf is not called frisbee golf today is because the word frisbee is actually a trademark of the Wham-O toy company. Modern “frisbees” or “discs” technology is much more advanced and are distantly more disc shaped and aerodynamic so it is somewhat helpful to distinguish between the two.
Is disc golf easy?
Yes and no. Disc golf is one of those things that is easy to get started but very hard to master. It is one of the easier games to start to immediately have fun; so, give it a try! I only had to play one time for it to instantly become one of my favorite games let alone sports.
What is the point of disc golf?
The main point of disc golf is to have fun, but the main goal of disc golf is to get the lowest score and WIN! A lower score is better in disc golf because the goal is to throw your disc into the basket in as few throws as possible. It is hard to beat the feeling of throwing your disc into the basket in one throw. It is also very satisfying to watch your discs beautiful flight pattern through the air.
What is a hole in one called in disc golf?
A hole-in-one in disc golf is called an ace.
Where is the best place to buy disc golf discs?
I encourage you to check out my full article of the 10 best places to buy disc golf discs online which explains the criteria I used to pick them (as well as about 100 other great websites to get disc from). But since you are here, to save you time…
The 10 best places to buy disc golf discs online are:
1. 1010 Discs – This is my pick for the #1 best place to buy disc golf discs because, excluding Everything Disc Golf’s promotions, 1010 Discs has the best prices combined with a great shopping experience and selection. It is super quick and easy to find the exact disc you are looking for and see the actual photo of the disc you will get. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a better place to source your disc golf discs. Oh yeah, and their shipping is also hard to beat. In the US, it’s a flat rate of only $3.50 for orders under $60 and free if your order is over $60.
2. DZDiscs
3. OTB Discs
4. Marshall Street Disc Golf
5. Disc Store
6. Infinite Discs
7. Everything Disc Golf
8. Gotta Go Gotta Throw
9. Disc Golf Store
10. Disc Nation
NOTE: Whenever possible try to support your local shop!
What are the most poplar disc golf manufacturers by market share?
According to an article by cypresspointgolf.com, in 2020 the top 20 disc golf manufacturers in order of popularity were: Innova Champion Discs, Discraft, Dynamic Discs, Discmania, Latitude 64, MVP, Prodigy, Westside, Axiom, Kataplast, Gateway, Infinite Discs, Streamline, DGA, Viking DIscs, Legacy, Millennium Prodiscus, Yikun, and Mint Discs.
- Innova Champion Discs (32.08% of 2020 Market Share) – www.proshop.innovadiscs.com
- Discraft (25.70%) – www.discraft.com
- Dynamic Discs (6.23%) – www.dynamicdiscs.com
- Discmania (5.60%) – www.discmania.net
- Latitude 64 (5.07%) – www.latitude64.se
- MVP (4.86%) – www.mvpdiscsports.com
- Prodigy (4.12%) – www.prodigydisc.com
- Westside (3.34%) – www.westsidediscs.com
- Axiom (2.71%) – www.axiomdiscs.com
- Kataplast (1.81%) – www.kataplast.se
All other disc golf manufacturers had less than 1.66% of the market share each.
What is the most important shot in disc golf?
Putting is the most important shot in disc golf because it is one you use on almost every hole. It might not be as sexy as the big distance shots, but it will allow for you to lower your scores the most.
How does the flight of a disc golf disc change as it “beats in”?
99% of disc golf discs become more understable as they “beat in”. As disc golf discs hit trees and objects on (and off the course) they “beat in”. They become more understable for two main reasons: 1. they tend to become more of a dome or wing shape when they hit trees which gives them more high-speed lift and turn, and 2. they tend to become more aerodynamic because dings on the plastic trap air and reduce friction. Think of them becoming life traditional golf balls. Golf balls have dimples on them to make them more aerodynamic and have less drag. Same is true for discs with “natural dimples” that come from trees. They have less drag and drag ultimately slows the disc and leads to more low-speed fade.