1. Begin by selecting your approach disc. If you have a few, grab all of them. 
2. Take about 20 steps away from your bag. You’re now about 50-60 feet away.
3. Hit your bag with your discs. (Probably should have added to remove valuable and fragile stuff)
4. When you hit it from 20 steps, switch to forehand/backhand. It’s important to get this locked in when you’re behind a tree.
5. Once you’ve done this, move back to 30 steps and hit it with both forehand and backhand.
6. Move back to 40 steps and repeat.

1. Put the bag about 100 feet away from you. The 3 throws you’ll be working on are Hyzer flip, Flip up to anhyzer, and holding anhyzer.
2. Start with Hyzer. Stand so that you’re on the left side of the bag 100 feet away. Work on throwing the disc out on a hyzer so that the disc passes on the right side of the bag in the air and finishes on the left side of the bag on the ground. This should be a normal throw and the easiest one for you.
3. Now you’re working on the hyzer flip to anhyzer. Staying on the left side of the bag, throw a shot that passes on the left side of the bag, and finishes on the ground on the right side of the bag. This may take a few attempts.
4. Holding Anhyzer the whole way. Now you’re going to move to the right side of the bag. Throw a shot that passes on the left side of the bag and finishes on the right.

1. Pick 2 of the same disc, this is important for consistency. So if you have two of the same driver in the same plastic, it helps.
2. Know about how far you throw with them and go to that distance. Example: I throw the Wraith 350 consistently, so I take my Wraith out and walk about 120 steps away.
3. Throw your normal drives but release directly at your bag. Let the disc do all of its own natural flipping and fading.
4. Watch as your disc (probably) drifts to the left and lands. Now use your pointer fingers, and point your right one at your bag, and your left one at where the disc game to rest.
5. Rotate your body so that your left index finger is now on your bag.
6. Look at where your right finger is, for your next throw release there.

This is a rudimentary way to find out how much fade your disc is capable of giving you at the end of a flight. Since so many people release at different heights and different angles, it’s impossible for me to say “aim 50 feet to the right with your Wraith” unless we’re in a lesson together and working on a repeatable release point.
Do this drill a few times and it will help you find an aiming point when you’re next on the teepad. This drill is a little hard to perfect because I believe we all go through growth during the disc golf season. The wind affects the disc a lot here. And if you have lots of glide on your driver you’re going to get a further fade with more variability.

These drills offer you challenges, a chance to spend more time with your discs, and they don’t require you to use any gear you don’t already have.
It’s a win win all the way around in my book. Spending a little time in an open field with your bag doing something other than max distance driving is a great way to start converting more tricky holes into pars and birdies.

If you have any questions about these drills please let me know. I may do a video series on drills in the future on the trainzwholesale YouTube page. Let me know if these drills work for you!

As always, please don't expect progress to be linear. If you and your friend do these together and suddenly they're getting better and you're stuck, your time will come. I believe in everyone who goes out there and practices.

May your discs miss all the trees,
Andrew Streeter #70397

A few weeks back I intentionally seasoned a DX disc, then tried to bring it back to stable. All discs have a lifespan, even my favorite ones.
So I try to make sure when that day comes that I have something ready to go. I also throw Champion blend plastic most of the time, so I know that I have several years with a disc unless I lose it in the woods/water.

I hope that this blog helps you find a go to driver to help your game. If you’re having trouble finding something stable and that gets you distance, you can always reach out in the comments.

If you’re just excited that the I-Dye Wraith is back at trainzwholesale, then you’re not alone. I’ve been emailing Innova every few months for YEARS to see if they’d bring back my favorite plastic. I’m so excited to have some new discs to add to my bag. I hope you find the disc you’re looking for.

May your discs miss all the trees,
Andrew Streeter #70397

1. How far is the hole?
2. Is there enough air space for me to throw my furthest shot?
3. What’s the most important part of the shot, forward or to the side?
4. Do I have the right discs to accomplish what I want to achieve?
5. What’s the ground play like?

#1. How Far is the hole?

With my best distance driver I’m able to throw a comfortable 300 foot forehand shot with my Wraith. I know about where it’s going to go and how it will finish. If I start stretching it out to 325 or 350 by powering up I lose lots of control and make mistakes.

The forehand shot is for accuracy and distance. But it should be a very accurate shot. Find your distance either by measuring with UDisc, or a Bushnell Rangefinder.

Turnover shots can go further for me with more accuracy at long distance. I can hit 350 feet with my backhand turnover with a Leopard3.

So if the hole is far away I’m more likely to use a turnover because that’s a longer shot for me.

#2 Is there enough air space for me to throw my furthest shot?

The great thing about the forehand is that it can go super low to the ground. In a sport that sometimes has limited airspace I find the forehand is my best shot in the woods because of the versatility of the throw.

I tend to make smaller mistakes with the forehand, so I prefer it when there’s lots of trees involved. I’m a conservative player in tournaments. So I often opt for the choice that leaves me the best miss.

If you’re in a situation where you have lots of room to move the disc from side to side (like hole 12 of the Hawk at Sabattus) I recommend you go with the turnover for distance. Get the most distance you can safely get.

#3 What’s the most important part of the shot, forward or to the side?

This is important when deciding my shot because my forehand goes forward, my turnover goes more to the side. So if it’s a real hard dogleg without much distance I’ll throw a turnover shot.

If I have to go forward for most of the flight and just end a little bit on the right side. I’m much better off throwing a forehand that goes straight for most of the flight.

#4 Do I have the right disc to accomplish what I want to achieve?

If I’m playing an unfamiliar course, do I have the right discs for the big turnover shot? I always carry a few forehand discs with me so I can usually throw that. But sometimes there are tight turnover shots that are very slow. I don’t always carry the midrange I might be most comfortable with for that shot.

#5 What’s the ground play like?

The way a forehand thrown disc spins is the opposite direction that a backhand thrown disc spins.

So when the disc hits the ground it’s going to move a different way.

A forehand disc tends to skip to the right when it hits the ground. I believe this is because the disc is naturally moving from left to right.

Backhand discs spin clockwise for the right hand backhand thrower. When they hit the ground they tend to either pop up or cut roll if they’re still coming in hot to the green.

If I’m trying to get further to the side with something like a skip shot, I throw a forehand. If I want something that may cut roll a big I throw a backhand.

Now that we have all of the points covered I want to look at 3 popular holes at Sabattus.

Hole 12 of the Hawk.
Hole 18 of the Hawk.
Hole 13 of the Eagle.

These are all holes where I think you can make a reasonable case for either the forehand or backhand shots.

Hole 12 Hawk.

It’s a long hole so I’m always more inclined to throw a long turnover shot.
The most important thing is to get to the right in my opinion. Straight just brings you further down the hill. You only need to carry past the corner trees, and that’s a hundred feet before it opens up.
There are no trees in the way on the left side of the tee, so you can swing it wide and miss the trees on the right.
The ground play is a field. So you’re not going to skip with a driver and the disc will come to rest pretty close to where it lands.

All of these factors lead me to think that a turnover shot is my best bet. I have the space and distance to get there for a better approach shot.

Check out the video of the hole if you'd like to see what I'm talking about.


Hole 13 Eagle.

This hole has a left to right fairway that ends on a hill. What really adds an element of difficulty to this shot is the hill.

It’s nearly impossible to get something to turn over the whole way and still reach the top of the hill since you’d be throwing up the hill.

The possibility of cut rolling all the way deep into the bushes is real if you land on the hill with some speed. But if you throw a forehand you’re going to check up into the hill and stop.

The most important part here isn’t distance, but accuracy. It’s a 2 shot hole no matter how you slice it. So this is why I tend to recommend the forehand play to folks.

Here's the video of me explaining and driving on the hole to demonstrate the shot.



Hole 18 Hawk

The first thing to look at on this hole is that it’s not just distance out from the tee pad or out to the right. It’s a real mix of both.

This hole is reachable with either a backhand turnover or a forehand shot. I’ve seen (and thrown) everything from a high speed driver to a putter on this shot.

Hole 18 has plenty of airspace on the left side of the fairway. You can swing something out straight or cut it inside. There’s nothing hampering you from hitting the gap other than your mind after 17 holes.

This hole is one of those where I don’t think there is a “best shot” forehand drive or backhand turnover. You can throw a turnover the whole way with some glide and get to the basket, or you can throw a forehand and either stall the shot out to have it dip to the right or skip towards the hole if you opt for a lower shot.

Here's the two ways I play the hole.



Finding a turnover disc for you.

If you’re looking for the right discs for turnovers I recommend something with high glide, and more turn than fade.

Think of your arm speed when choosing your disc!
You won’t be able to flip over a high speed disc to get the full flight if you’re not able to reach that arm speed. Going down in speed to get a big turnover shot is a great way to get your desired shot.

I have some suggestions for you based on your arm speed. I can throw 11 speeds, but you’ll often see me throwing my Leopard3 or Mantra for turnovers because I like the extra torque I can apply to slower discs without my shot stalling and hyzering out.

7 speed Leopard3
8 speed Archangel
9 speed Mantra
11 speed Mamba

If you’re looking for a forehand disc.

You can either go utility forehand with something like the Firebird/XCaliber for guaranteed fade, or you can go with something like the Eagle or Sidewinder for a smoother forehand shot that teaches you flat release.

I’ve got a great blog on starting your forehand shot journey if you’d like to read it here.

Hopefully the next time you come up to a hole that plays left to right you can consider some of my questions to help you determine how best to play the hole for you.


May your discs miss all the trees,
Andrew Streeter #70397

1. Wash any dirt out of the cracks. I want it to look almost new. This should help get it all back together.
2. Heat a piece of metal (like a knife) with a lighter and heat the slight gouges. Push it together to get rid of the gouge if possible by fusing the plastic back to the original shape.
3. Use sandpaper to sand the disc back to smooth where I can. Going to get all around the disc. I believe I conform with PDGA rule 813.01B2 on sanding discs. Since I’m only restoring the natural disc shape.
4. Use heat from a window to warm the disc and try to morph it back to regular shape.

1. The weight is the same.
2. The flight path should be more in line with what I expect from a Firebird.

1. Now time to fix that plastic. I mean, it goes without saying but if you’re using a lighter and heating up metal, please be careful.
2. As it turns out, the gouge was not deep enough to warrant getting my knife blade hot. So instead, I cut it off. That was about the size of a grain of rice. It was easy and took about 3 seconds. I didn’t weigh the disc at this point because there was no way the little piece I took off could weigh even a gram.
3. Sanding.

I started at 120 grit. I had some leftover pieces of sandpaper from when I was drywalling. It’s pretty coarse and a good start at removing the plastic around the edges. It certainly took off the bigger pieces. But it did leave a rough surface that I didn’t enjoy holding all that much.

Step 4. 220 and 320 grit paper sanding.

The 3rd round of sanding and cutting finished. The Firebird looks like it’s still got some life left to it. Yes there are still uneven edges to it, yes there are scratches on it. But the disc fundamentally looks better.

My last step is heat from the window.

I’ve used this technique before with warped discs. Sometimes when I take a disc out of my bag and put it away it gets squished by something in the garage. I find that putting it on my dashboard or in a window for a day or two usually brings it back. The sun rejuvenates the plastic somehow (science, I guess?) and brings it back to what it was before.

Did sanding my disc affect the weight?

Not one bit. Throughout the time of this experiment I wanted to make sure I knew what I was dealing with at all times. So I weighed the disc before I did anything, after the tree hits, and after I restored the DX Firebird.

I kind of expected a gram or two of difference after the cleaning process. Since I’ve always thought that hitting trees would replace the weight of the plastic with dirt, I’ve never really cared all that much about a gram or two in weight fluctuation. But I figured the dirt filled the missing plastic.

Now what you really care about. Can I bring this disc back to life?
Let’s find out.

Compare that to last week. When the disc was significantly more understable.


There were some other throws with it off camera. The Firebird is still flippy enough to where I’d call it a flippy disc. I'd compare it to a Valkyrie or a slower Sidewinder at this point.
Glad I parked the 335 foot hole with it though. That’s probably further than I can get any other Firebird I own to fly by a long shot. 

Results:

After warping a disc, you can get some stability back to the disc. But you won't recapture that overstable flight path the disc started out with. So for seasoning a disc it's really similar to seasoning your food. If you add too much salt you can try to add an acid to your dish or use a potato to absorb the salt in a sauce. But it'll still be a little over seasoned.

To "fix" your disc you'll need to do the following steps.

1. You need to remove the rough edges.
2. Get rid of the gouges.
3. Sand with coarse paper.
4. Sand with finer paper.
5. Find a way to get it back to its original shape.

Hopefully this blog helps you save a disc that's lost a little bit of its life. Let me know if you have any other tips or tricks on how you might save a disc. It's worth the 10 minutes of work for me to save the $9 cost of a DX disc, and I hope it is for you too.

If you're interested in a DX Firebird, consider snagging one from us here.

May your discs miss all the trees,
Andrew Streeter #70397

 

It’s a 175 gram overstable disc. After test throwing in a field it’s got no turn and plenty of fade, I can say that this disc flew exactly like I expected it to. I threw it both forehand and backhand to make sure.

I’m more of a Discraft Predator thrower in this slot for my bag. But those don’t come in baseline plastic (that I know of). So I’ll rely on the Firebird to be a good testing dummy because it has a somewhat similar flight.

Will it take a single throw to become flippy? I doubt it.

I polled my coworkers and their responses were 1, 5, and 10 throws before the firebird became flippy.

Then I asked the internet. If you're on Twitter, give @PlaySDG a follow and be a part of disc golf conversation. 


Here’s how I ran the experiment.

1. Throw the disc at a tree from 10 feet. After 5 tree hits, take a picture of the disc.
2. Throw the disc in the field twice to test stability. (Basically I throw it from a teepad, then back to that teepad).  Note if the flight changes in any way. 
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 until the disc becomes flippy.

I define “flippy” as a disc being so understable that it becomes unreliable. So when this Firebird no longer comes back when thrown hard and flat, it will be unusable.

After the first throw I took a sizable chunk there. So I threw the Firebird again in the field and it was still overstable. But that chunk had me worried that this test might be over quickly.

After 5 throws the disc had slightly warped. But the piece of plastic hanging off after the first throw had fallen off without me picking at it.
I threw the Firebird and it’s still just as beefy. There’s no glide, no turn, so I went back to it.

After 10 throws the disc seemed… fine? It was throwing the same, and even with the slight warping I was seeing it wasn’t affecting the flight. It was still going 250 feet straight and then dumping in a hyzer.

I was hitting the tree quite hard. I chose this tree because it’s thick, on a 210 foot par 3 so it doesn’t usually get hit with anything powerful, and there are a couple trees behind it in case I missed. But I started to feel bad for the tree and hitting the bark in the same general spot a bunch of times. And after 10 throws into a tree, the DX Firebird was completely normal in flight.

This disc was making me look like a jabroni. So If you SMELLLLLLL

For all non WWE fans, I threw this disc into a rock.

Rocks have sharper edges, are much less forgiving, and I won’t potentially hurt them. But it’s also much harder on the disc.

That probably looks familiar to some folks. The rock chewed up my Firebird like the tree could not. The disc bent itself back to flat, and I was throwing it with plenty of force into the rock. So we’re at 10 throws into a tree and 5 into a rock. The Firebird was still pretty much the same, maybe slightly glidier.

Nothing drastically changed until my 25th throw into a rock (35th throw overall)
The DX Firebird had a real bend in the crease where the flight plate meets the rim. I had started throwing overhand shots downwards onto the rock like a madman. Apologies to whoever saw me on the course looking like a crazy person.

The Firebird now had some turn to it. I threw it 4 times in the field and each time the disc would come out flat, turn, and then fade at the end.
We were finally making progress!
But the disc was still reliably hyzering at the end of the flight whether I threw it on forehand or backhand. So it didn’t fit my definition of flipping over quite yet.

I took a break for a day and let the disc rest as well. Because repeatedly throwing a bunch of overhangs into a rock isn’t the best thing for your elbow and I wanted to be able to throw the next day.

Here’s a video of the next 5 throws and the flight path of the Firebird afterwards.

It’s taken a lot of hard throws to get this disc to finally be flippy. If you ignore the fact that I made sound effects, you can see I'm throwing the disc fairly hard. I think the real moments when the Firebird started to change its flight paths were when I started to hit the rock, and then I bent the flight plate with the force.

Did the disc lose weight? Is that why it may be understable?

So this is something I was wondering about. As discs get those nicks and dings in the plastic, and as they shred on rocks, they would lose weight right?

Well my Firebird weighs exactly the same before and after. Could it be the dust/dirt on the disc and in the cracks? It's possible but unlikely that it amounts to the same exact 175g the disc did before. To lose significant weight I bet you'd have to sand the disc pretty thoroughly. Or take much larger gouges from it and clip them.

How has this blog changed my views on DX and baseline plastic?

It’s pretty similar to how I’ve felt before. I’m still always going to recommend putters in DX plastic and I think that mids in DX or baseline blends offer players lots of grip. It’s cheap, comes in a lot of different weights, and I don’t think you can beat the grip of a seasoned baseline blend putter in your hand.

As for drivers, I think DX has a place in the game that I didn’t fully understand before. Seasoning a flippy premium plastic driver takes a long time. I’ve got some discs that are 3 years in the bag that are still holding their flight paths. And I love to have at least 2 flippy high speed discs in my bag for when I run into a tailwind shot.

Sure, DX discs are going to beat in faster. They’re going to break occasionally when you smack a tree/rock at high speed. But they’re a lot more durable than some people, myself included, have given them credit for. If you don’t throw overhand shots into a rock directly in front of you, I imagine that DX discs could last a while. I was trying my best to abuse this disc, for science. And you folks probably hit the trees less frequently.

There was also a sweet spot around 15 throws into the rock where I got a full flex flight throwing the Firebird flat. I wish I had recorded that throw, because that’s the kind of flight that keeps you going if you’re having a tough round.

Give DX discs a shot.

May your discs miss all the trees,
Andrew Streeter #70397

That quote has always been a source of motivation for me when I write. Whether it’s competing in NaNoWriMo, writing blogs, writing essays, it’s a quote I’ve always felt applied to me. At this point, I guess I’m not an amateur anymore because I do get paid to write. So I can't sit around and wait for inspiration, I have to go out and get to work.

So I can either sit around and wait, or I can get going. But what if there was a way to increase my motivation at the time? You don’t have to sit around and wait for inspiration, what if you can... force it a little bit?

This week in the blog I’m going to help you with some motivation. Some positive reinforcements are on their way to make sure that you get the motivation you need. The American Psychology Association defines “Motivation” as “The impetus that gives purpose or direction to behavior and operates in humans at a conscious or unconscious level.” and
“A person’s willingness to exert physical or mental effort in pursuit of a goal or outcome.”

I want to help you with disc golfing by giving you a purpose.

1. Getting better at a specific skill that you choose to practice.

I want to increase your willingness to exert physical effort.

1. By giving you motivational content.

I believe that this blog will meet both criteria for you.

I used to use a website called ifeelunmotivated.com to find random inspiring videos to motivate me. Now that website no longer exists. Some real estate companies bought the domain name. Sounds like they were motivated to sell that domain for money after working hard to get clicks.

So I’m making my own version of the website in this blog post, and I’m sharing it with all of you. Because every once in a while I need a little motivation to write a blog, go do a workout, whatever it is.

Some of the videos are speeches, some are movie moments, others are sports stories. And I've dedicated a section to poetry because if anything will make you feel ready to run through a brick wall, it's poetry.

I’m not going to tell you what it is you’re going to click on for a link, because I want you to take a risk.
Also that’s how the site used to work, you just click next and get a new video, poem, or poster to inspire you.

I’ll break them down into sections, and mark the ones with objectionable language NSFW for folks who don’t like that sort of thing. Or those of you who are looking for a little motivation while at work.

Sports Moments
Motivation #1
Motivation #2
Motivation #3

Speeches
Motivation #1 (NSFW)
Motivation #2
Motivation #3

Movie moments
Motivation #1 (NSFW)
Motivation #2
Motivation #3


Disc Golf
Motivation #1
Motivation #2
Motivation #3

Poetry
Motivation #1
Motivation #2
Motivation #3
Motivation #4

Now get out there and putt.
Practice your drives.
Do what it is that you have to do to achieve your disc golf dreams. I believe in you, you believe in yourself. So get going. Close this window, quit your browser, and go grab that practice basket and your stack of putters.

May your discs miss all the trees,
Andrew Streeter #70397

Our mission is to give you the best disc golf online shopping experience possible. We have received many suggestions over the last year to improve and we listened. We have implemented many of these great ideas giving you the best shopping experience online for your disc golf needs. It has taken months and the features are here for YOU.

Here are a few of the features we have added.

These discs will remain somewhere flat and open. Not under a tree (because bird poop), and since I don’t have a forecast I’ll have to leave them there the whole time unattended. I’ll want to put a rock in them so they don’t blow away. That will lower the overall water retention, but I’d rather have some than none at all because a gust of wind took my putter.

I carry a Sky God II, aka a P2 but this has more functions because of the durability. I plan on making this one my bowl for carrying other small things. Maybe cool seashells to braid my hair with, small berries, who knows. If I’m in need of water this can be the third collection disc as well. 

The P2 will be the absolute lifesaver.

Mid Ranges

I bag the Caiman, Meteor, and MD3.

The Caiman is probably the least useful mid I bag for survival purposes. With a blunted edge that carries most of the weight I believe it will be my fish bludgeoning disc. A rock would function here as well. Since I’ll likely be spearfishing this disc is going to be kind of meh in a survival situation. It’s likely I’ll name the Caiman stamped on the front as a backup friend if I go insane.

The MD3 will be my night light. *Note* Mine is an Innova run MD3.  As one of my 2 glow in the dark discs that I bag this will be what I use to investigate caves on the island. I’ll leave it out in the sun and then explore the cool caves at noontime. It will be my companion at night, and probably the most life saving disc. Or if I venture down a cave and find pirate treasure that’s cursed it may be a life ending disc.

The Meteor and I have been together for 12 years so it’s nice and soft. That’s going to make this disc a perfect pillow for me. I’ll still have a little bit of support with it, but it will let my head sink in. Just because I’m on a deserted island doesn’t mean I don’t need some creature comforts. I don’t like sand in my hair so this is probably the best choice for the meteor.

Fairway Drivers

I bag the Leopard3, TL3, and the Sidewinder.

The 3 Leopard3's that I bag are both tour series. The Uriyah Kelley and the Ohn Scoggins of different years. I think that these are likely to be my hunting discs for small animals on the island. I’ll harness the inner hunter of the Leopard3 and use these to tag small game at 100 feet with accurate throws. At least I’ll try to do it. Of course no one will be around to confirm my amazing shots.

The TL3 is almost see through at this point, and in the champion plastic it has great durability. So I’ll dub this my "Wilson Disc". I’ll paint it and talk to it, maybe yell a little at it when things are going poorly. And I’ll bawl if I lose it, sinking away in the ocean. If I want a floating disc I’d need to add a Blizzard plastic disc that’s under 140 grams.

The Sidewinder is a fairway driver in my opinion. So I put it into this category. It’s bright pink and has a long glide with an S curve. I love it because it’s eye-catching. So I’m making it the dot at the bottom of the exclamation point for the word HELP! That Ellen Widboom Sidewinder 2021 is going to be the reason I’m found.

Distance Drivers.

Wraith (7), Excalibur, and Predator.

The Wraith has been my favorite flying disc for a decade. But the versatility on the island will be tough. They’re likely to be lashed together to create a paddle for my canoe. Which I’ll build out of a tree I cut down. The biggest decision for me will be do I put my 2x ace disc on top or bottom? Other uses for the paddle will be for my scorpion/snake slapper. I’m sure I’ll need to fend them off at some point. The Wraiths can slap to stun, then be turned sideways for a finishing blow.

The XCalibur is going to be my excavator disc. That wide rim with the big dome in the middle will be perfect as a shovel. I can dig myself a latrine, dig myself a little hole where I can bury a pig roast, there’s lots of reasons I’ll have to dig holes on this island.

The Predator is a little stiffer than my other discs. I expect that I'll use this disc for my digging in wet sand. Any time I want to go clamming around the island I’m trapped on, this will be the disc I use to dig with because even when it’s slippery it has that inner rim grip. I won’t lose it in the current.

Well that’s all the discs in my bag. And how I would use them if I ever was stranded on a deserted island. I’ve got fruit gummy snacks, unplantable sunflower seeds, and a Kwik-Stick. So I think I’d probably be all set to survive there for a number of years.

If you can think of any discs I should have for specific uses please let me know in the comments below.

May your discs miss all the trees,
Andrew Streeter #70397

Here’s where the title Practice Putts That Matter To You comes into play. Instead of being 75-100 feet away on my drives I was 40 feet away. This happened on 7 of the holes from the week before. I was getting closer and 40 feet is an achievable putt for me.

By achievable I mean I can hit those, I’m putting from that distance not upshotting/turned sideways to throw.

But, I walked away with the same score as last week because I didn’t make enough of those putts. And because I ran one from about 50 feet, airballed, and missed my comebacker.

So while I put myself in a better position on my drives, I was still getting the same score. And that’s disheartening at first. At the end of the day what really matters is the “total” number on the scorecard (when you’re playing competitively either against yourself or others).

I’m pretty decent at getting up and down from 75-100 feet. That’s because I practice not making it from that distance. I know that it’s a low percentage shot with possible rollaways and misses. So I take away the stress by not running it. Unless it’s late in the round or for casual dubs or something.

So I snagged my Caiman for my forehand, set my feet so I’m only using my arm, swing my arm back and forth a couple of times to get the right angle feel, the right speed , then I pitch up close for a boring putt.

So that’s what I had been doing when I was seeing 75 foot looks.

I was faced with the new challenge of seeing consistent 40 foot looks. I don’t really practice those that often because it wasn’t something I was used to seeing. So this week what am I going to practice?

It’s going to be those 40 footers that I know I need to hit to improve my score!

Now I only have to hit one of them to improve my score. 2 would be great. Do I dream of 3? Do I get mad if I don’t make any of them like last week?

Let’s be realistic about circle 2 putting percentages. The best C2 putter on the DGPT was Cameron Messerschmidt. He made a jaw dropping 38.9% of his putts from 33 to 66 feet.

So if Cameron, the best player statistically, had 7 putts from that distance we could reasonably expect him to make 3 out of 7 of those putts (42%).

I’m not Messerschmidt. And I’m not 2017 Beaver State Fling Champion Ricky Wysocki. Which I still consider to be the greatest putting performance ever.
I’m going to feel good with 1 made putt, great with 2 made putts, and feel like I got away with something if I make 3. If I make 0 putts, that’s going to be on me.

So now it’s time to go out and find what looks you’re routinely getting and to practice them. If you’re consistently getting 18 foot chances and not converting most of the time it’s time to practice those putts. If you’re missing 8 footers on an elevated basket, practice those.

Make some notes about your last round and see if you can find where you can improve in the putting green. Don’t just try 10 footers, 20 footers, and 30 footers over and over again if you’re consistently seeing putts from one distance more frequently.

This advice helps if you’re playing the same course regularly. I get to play in a Tuesday night league where we usually play from the same tees each week. Putting practice should occur frequently, and if you do you'll lower those scores a couple strokes. Who doesn't love a 55 instead of a 57?

May your discs miss all the trees,
Andrew Streeter #70397

This recipe will make enough seasoning for 4 fairway drivers if you get them not max weight. If you’re seasoning max weight discs or distance drivers it’ll only make 3. 

You will need a smallish bowl. Don’t use that pie plate you’ve been dyeing discs in for two years. I use a bowl that’s big enough to hold 2 cans of Progresso Macaroni & Bean soup if you’re an expert in surface tension.

I also want you to know that I measured the ingredients for this for the first time in my life. Disc seasoning, like all seasonings, should be made from the heart.

(This is all you’re going to need. No, not the coffee or turnip, or pineapple.)

Now for all of the pictures of me adding the ingredients into a bowl. And wearing blue sneakers. Because there's a lot of rules to kitchen safety, and wearing close toed & slip resistant shoes is pretty high up on that list.

1 cup Dark brown sugar
2 Tbsp Dried Basil
2 Tbsp MSG (Can substitute salt)
1 tsp Onion powder
1 tsp Smoked paprika
1 tsp White pepper
1 tsp Fresh cracked black pepper
1 tsp Chinese 5 spice

If you want this to stick to your discs I recommend probably 2 egg yolks and a cup of bread crumbs. Mix those all together in your bowl and let them marinate overnight before throwing.

If you want sweet heat on your disc, a teaspoon of Cayenne pepper works well. But I was making this disc seasoning for a friend who is afraid of spicy shots.

If you made it all the way through to the end of the blog,
Happy April Fools Day

While they all come from the Teebird mold, they’re different (even if it’s .1 cm) and they fly differently because of that.

The Innova Teebird (1999) is famous in disc golf.
If you read my blog about the most used discs in world championships (where I really should make a better graph).
It was used in 60% of the bags of disc golf world champions between 2000 and 2021.

Why? Why was this disc used by so many champions? What makes the Teebird special?

Well not only has Innova been around a long time, and sponsored a lot of incredible players, but it’s been a disc that pro players continue to bag today.

The Teebird is stable to overstable and it handles both the backhand and forehand shot equally well. You can crush it out there around 350 if you’re a big arm. It doesn’t have that swing from side to side to give it big distance. It kind of goes out there, stables up and slows down, then it glides towards the ground. That’s what it does time after time. Overstable discs tend to have a more repeatable flight path.
As it beats in it loses a little of that overstability and becomes a straight shooter, and then finally it can be a slow turnover disc. That depends on how much you hit trees and rocks, it also depends on how hard you throw, and the angle of release.

That’s why the Teebird is so popular. It’s functional in a lot of ways, and for a long time. I tend to suggest folks try this disc when they’re complaining about discs flipping over on them. It’s available in DX, Star, Champion, GStar, and Color Glow right now. That’s another reason why it tends to be chosen by folks from all over. A Teebird is always available, and has been present in disc golf for almost 25 years.

The Teebird3 is the faster, less glide version of the Teebird. The 3 on the end means it’s a lower profile disc. Think of discs like the Roc3, Leopard3, Mako3, Aviar3 compared to their counterparts. You get those flatter tops that give the disc additional stability and slightly less glide.

What the Teebird3 offers is less glide, with slightly more speed. So it gets down to the ground a little quicker which is great if you have a big arm. Pros can throw discs that don’t glide and still get lots of distance out of them.
It’s why when Ricky Wysocki was sponsored by Innova a couple years back, he was throwing the Teebird3. He’s got 360’-420’ of power with a fairway driver that doesn't have much glide or turn to it. But the disc always got down and stable for him instead of getting away.
If you have big distance and are okay with sacrificing some for additional control, you’ll find the Teebird3 is a great choice over the Teebird.




The Innova TL was the first offshoot of the Teebird discs to be produced (2007). I don’t know what the TL stands for.
I’ve heard the following names
Teebird Lite
Tight Lines
Teebird + Leopard
(Now according to Innova’s page)
Less Overstable
Longer.

It doesn’t really matter what those letters stand for. What you need to know about the TL is that it’s a straighter flyer than the Teebird. You go further and end up more central than the Teebird.

What’s the catch? Why wouldn’t I just go further and more straight all the time?

You do get a little side to side movement. If you’ve read my blog about getting more distance, you’ll remember that for a disc to get a full flight it needs to move side to side and get that hang time. Look at any distance competition you’ll always see that moving from side to side is the optimal way to get more distance.

The TL has more dome than the Teebird. It’s going to swing a little bit (-1 turn) to the side and then go forward and slowly fade back at the end. If you’re someone who throws about 300 feet I think the TL is a great choice for you. It’s going to get you more of a straight finish and more distance. If you find that overstable discs are too much for you, try a little less stable.

This disc hasn’t received the same fanfare from pro players that the Teebird, Teebird3 or TL3 have gotten. I think that’s because it’s the least stable of the four discs I’m examining here today. But I’m not a touring pro, so I don’t mind the extra glide and turn the TL has.
As a 7 speed it feels average in speed. As a 5 glide it’s average for a driver. As a -1/1 turn and fade it’s not doing a whole lot.

That’s what we want our shots to be so often in this sport though. I see newer discs like the Hawkeye, FD, and Essence get a lot of hype from folks. But the TL doesn’t seem to get the love, I don’t have an answer why that is. Maybe it’s just because it’s an older mold?

The last disc we’re looking at today is the Innova TL3 (2017). If you’re wondering what the 3 is doing at the end of the TL it’s because they’re lower profiles of the same mold. They’re flatter, a little more overstable, and a little bit faster.
If you’re interested in a Dave Dunipace podcast interview about what makes the 3 the 3 you can read it here.

The TL3 has been hyped by plenty of pro players. It’s what I think is the straightest, longest disc in disc golf. I compare it to a longer Mako3.
There’s no glide though. As a glide rating of 4 I think it could even be a 3.5 with how little it wants to carry on the wind. It’s not as bad as a Firebird, but it’s not going to carry at all.

That’s the big thing about the TL3, it’s not going to give you that long extra distance finish that the TL does. As much disdain as I have for the phrase “point and shoot” that’s exactly what a TL3 is made to do.
If you have a big arm like Eveliina Salonen then you can get all the distance out of a disc you need. So you don’t need extra glide carrying you forward the same way the Teebird or TL do. If you do need a little extra carry from your disc, there are other options than the TL3.

What the TL3 offers is just a straight flight that gets down to the ground. I do think that it struggles after 325 feet and becomes slightly flippy. But for me it’s a great choice to throw when I don’t want my shot to glide and I have to hit a gap the whole way.

If you’re looking for an overstable disc that finishes with a hook, get a Teebird.
If you need an overstable disc that doesn't glide at the end, get a Teebird3.
If you’re looking for an S curve but straight glidey finish, add the TL to your bag.
If you want to point and shoot, no movement or glide, throw your TL3.

There’s a lot of options from a single mold that’s been modified slightly. It always amazes me how .1cm can change things in disc golf. If you are looking for any of these shot shapes in your bag be sure to check our selection. I linked the whole collection on our site so you can see the different plastics and stamps as well.

May your discs miss all the trees,
Andrew Streeter #70397

Challenges can be fun, and quantitative and competitive if you want them to be. I remember spending hours in my college dorm room with my roommate Ryan playing a speed run challenge in Call of Duty Black Ops II. We’d constantly play the same minute-long challenge over and over again until we’d beaten our previous time. It got so that cutting 0.1 seconds off your time was worthy of a text to the other person with your new record.

That was practice for a video game that we played together. It made us more accurate and faster, but it was fun to do too.
Challenges are just fun drills that make you better at the sport you love. And if you played any sports in rec, or high school, and even college we used to do drills every single practice.

I notice from the dates these challenges were posted on YouTube that many of these were created in the early days of the 2020 pandemic when social distancing was heavily enforced. The folks playing disc golf on the pro tour are understandably competitive. With a pause in their tour they found a way to create lots of content for their social media channels and ways to compete with each other at the same time.

I want to make a few points before I list out all the cool challenges I’ve seen pros on YouTube complete.

1. Progress isn’t linear.
   You don’t magically get better just because you put in more time. Magically getting better takes something like a pact with a supernatural being and multiclassing into Warlock. 
   In real life, sometimes you get worse at a skill, then you get better at whatever it is you’re practicing. Maybe you will get better right away and then it disappears. “Embrace the suck” will always be my motto for practicing disc golf. It gets better, give yourself time, an honest effort and you’ll see consistent improvement.
2. Compare yourself to the pros for fun.
   Every time I take a lesson with a touring pro, watch them throw a round in person, or watch them play a course I’ve played, I remember that they’re the top 0.0002% of disc golfers. (Top 50 players in the 250,000 history of the PDGA. They’re statistically probably better than that because it’s unlikely someone was the greatest ever and never played competitively, so the denominator is definitely greater.) Don’t get hung up on their numbers if you can’t come close.
3. Warm up before these challenges.
   Some of these are quite strenuous in nature. Don’t decide to do the Parked challenge the day before a tournament. You may say “I’m good” at a certain point, and that’s fine too.

Let’s get on to the challenges.

Parked challenge.
Players have to land a disc within 11 feet of the basket from 200 feet, then move back 20 feet once you make it. You have 30 minutes. This challenge is best done with 2 people so you can have someone verify you made it in the circle.
Simon Lizotte

Ricky Wysocki

Moving Back Every Time I Make It Challenge.
This challenge involves making it into a basket. You have 1 hour and every time you make it, you move backwards 10 feet. Sure we all make 10 footers, 40 footers after a few tries, and even the occasional 70 footer. But how far back can you go in an hour?
Brodie Smith

Simon Lizotte

Paige Pierce

Paul McBeth & Nick Carl

DMP Challenge

Players have to throw a Driver, Mid, and Putter as far as they can and combine all three. This reminds me of the Punt, Pass, Kick that the NFL camps put on for kids.

Double G

Simon Lizotte and Casey White

Ezra Aderhold

Seppo Paju

Mile Challenge
This one was the most popular by… a mile. Sorry.
How many throws does it take to reach a mile in total distance? Some folks used UDisc’s distance measuring tool, others opted for the Bushnell Rangefinder. If you want to see raw power and great distance form, these videos are great to watch. Pick their brains for the discs.

Eagle McMahon

Eagle McMahon Sidearm

Simon Lizotte & Casey White

Drew Gibson

Brodie Smith 

Garett Gurthie

Albert Tamm

Thomas Gilbert

Ezra Aderhold

Oskari Vikström, Lauri Lehtinen, Samuel Hänninen

Dialed In With Bushnell Challenge
Can you pick a distance and hit it? If you’re not practicing something similar to this, you should give it a shot and see how accurate you are. It’s always great to know if your midrange is hitting 200 or 300 consistently.
This is an example of a great sponsorship tie in that I hope to see more of in disc golf (so touring pros can make a good living). It makes so much sense, and it’s why you see pros actually using these on tour. Some of these challenges have slightly different rules they play by, but they’re all in the same spirit.

FPO 

Simon Lizotte, Ricky Wysocki, Drew Gibson, Eric Oakley, Paul McBeth, Garrett Gurthie

Ezra Aderhold

These challenges hopefully inspire a new way for you to compete against yourself and your friends while building your disc golf skills towards a goal. I tried to find as many of these challenges with athletes that I could, apologies if I missed any pros who did a YouTube video. I enjoyed watching disc golfers push themselves to the limits, and I hope that you give some of these a shot.

May your discs miss all the trees,
Andrew Streeter #70397

There have been a few disc golfers I know who have passed away. It is always devastating to the disc golfing community when we lose someone. This week I want to talk about options for folks about what to do with discs when they die. Loved ones are often excited to get discs back that belonged to their disc golf loving friend/family member who is no longer with us.

On Thursday afternoons I call all the lost and found discs that got turned in that week. Occasionally I call and someone picks up, then they inform me that the person whose disc I’m holding passed away.
The person on the other end lets me know that they want their family members disc back or if they want it donated like we do at the end of the year. I get choked up when those phone calls are made and I usually have to take a break calling lost discs for a few minutes to collect myself. It’s only happened a few times in the 4 years I’ve worked here, but it’s powerful.

Moments like that really got me thinking about myself and my disc golf discs, and what’s going to happen to them. Don’t worry, I’ve got another 70+ years to collect discs, write blogs, miss 15 footers, and smack first tree available in a wide open field. I can’t wait to play in MPO100 someday.

There’s just a lot to think about, and since disc golf is a huge part of my life I thought what happens if I go to the big wooded course in the sky?

Disc golf is a hobby for some, but I see plenty of people who consider disc golf a lifestyle. People who think about the course when they’re at work, text their friends about plans every weekend, play in 2-3 leagues per week on top of tournaments.
Maybe you’ve heard of ‘Steady’ Ed Headrick PDGA #1, the guy who invented disc golf? He was cremated and his ashes were turned into discs that were sold to help fund the International Disc Golf Center.

I’ve got a few bags, discs (maybe 300 something discs?), baskets, and plenty of other accessories. I started playing recreationally 13 years ago and in that time I’ve amassed a small collection of throwers. I would guess 98% of my discs have hit a tree, I’m in the sport for playing not for collecting or reselling.

I’ve joked before that just in case the ancient Egyptians were right, and you can take it with you. I want to be buried with my I-Dye Wraith that I hit my first ace with. Maybe a couple putters too.

But really, I don’t want my stuff to go to waste. I foresee 3 different outcomes for what could happen. I’d really love to hear other people’s thoughts on this one, and what you would choose to do with your discs.

1. Sell Them.
I mean they’re my property and funerals aren’t cheap. Even if someone sold my discs for $5 each and the baskets for $50 and the bags for $50, that would still fetch a nice chunk of change for folks. It would also give people a chance to get their hands on some inexpensive plastic. It’s an option for sure, definitely the most profitable of the three I’m going to suggest. This takes some time and effort, especially if you’re not sure where to go to do it. Play it Again Sports or maybe a local disc golf club/store would buy all your discs. Or you’d have to post on Facebook marketplace, or Uncle Henry’s, or Craigslist. It’s a bit of a burden for your loved ones.

2. Donate them
I love that Sabattus donates the lost and found section at the end of the year. I can’t tell you how happy these Physical Education teachers are when they show up here and leave with a box of discs for their students. But I already spend a lot of time coordinating getting these discs out to new homes. And many of you aren’t from Maine, which is where Sabattus is and where we donate those discs. So I searched online and there’s another organization that does take discs.
UPlay disc golf already has a way to donate discs. You pay the shipping, but someone will get your discs. UPlay is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that does great work introducing kids to the healthy aspects of disc golf. I’ve met Zoe Andyke a couple of times and can confirm she’s the real deal. She teaches folks about disc golf, how to teach others, and UPlay is a great organization who disc golfers might not know about.

This is from their website that I linked above in “donate discs”.

They teach folks all over the globe how to teach disc golf, donate discs, and teach students.

3. Into the Trash
This is the worst option, and I’m sure it unfortunately does happen.
Right now there’s not a great way to remove the dirt and crud from used discs. Disc golf companAnies that make discs from recycled plastic (other than Trash Panda) are reusing their plastic that didn’t work the first time through a mold. So those 50 used discs in your garage aren’t something that they could use.

I don’t have the right answer for you about what to do with your discs when you die. Everyone is different and everyone has different needs and wants. Maybe you ask your family and friends to keep some, donate some, and trash some, just so you hit all 3 of the points.

Whatever it is that you do with your discs, you should have a plan and let someone know about it. Maybe share this blog with them in a text or messenger app and say something like “Don’t you dare give away my discs to Cole.” Or “Donate everything except my yellow Buzzz that I got 4 aces with. I want that buried with me.”

No matter what your plans are, let ‘em be known to the ones who will take care of it.

May your discs miss all the trees,
Andrew Streeter #70397

It’s wide open and has a long teepad. If you have a Bushnell rangefinder you can go out to your disc and shoot the laser back at the teesign to find your distance.

If you’re not from around here, I recommend going to a football field to range your discs. If you’re throwing more than 300 feet, try going from corner to corner which should be 393 feet from endzone corner to endzone corner. If you’re ripping 400+ feet, it’s time to ask other disc golfers in your area where they practice their long distance drives.

To get an S curve look at the turn and fade of your disc. Let’s keep talking about the Firebird. It has a rating of 0 for turn. It never wants to turn, it’s a utility disc.

The Shryke has a turn of -2, it wants to flip over during the flight.

Now let’s look at the fade. The fade of a Firebird is 4, it’s always going to fade out hard.
The Shryke will fade at 2, it’s coming back, but not quite as hard.

It’s time to add those discs, turn and fade numbers together. The Firebird has a Turn/Fade combo of +4. That means it’s very overstable.
The Shryke has a Turn/Fade combo of 0. It turns just as much as it comes back and fades.

If you’re throwing a Shryke and the disc isn’t going from side to side, it’s because the disc speed is too high.

Everyone has an arm speed that they’re comfortable throwing at. For me it’s 11, I know that I get the most distance out of my 11 speeds. Many pro players throw 12 speeds for their big distance discs.

If you aren’t sure what speed your arm is, here’s one of my most popular blogs to help you determine your arm speed, and how to improve it. Or you can start with the rule of 35. It’s basically your max distance disc is going to be.

Your consistent distance throw/35 = Speed of max disc

If you are sure of what your arm speed is, here are some Innova discs in the 9-13 speeds that I recommend you try for an S curve.

9 - Valkyrie
10 - Beast
11 - Mystere
12 - Tern
13 - Katana

There are 2 different tips that I want to recommend as well. Pointers that will increase your distance on your distance driver throws.

1. Throw lower weights for more distance. You want that disc to get up to speed and one of the easiest ways to do that is to throw a lower weight than 175g.

2. Give the disc time to fly. Throwing understable discs takes some practice to get the height right. But you’ll want to give your drivers more time to turn and come back. If you throw too high it will stall out and lose distance. If you throw too low it will just turn the whole time and not be able to come back and fade.
Practicing getting the height right is something that pros spend plenty of time doing. It’s going to be different for you than it is for me, so take time in a field and you’ll find that height to aim for.

If you’re finding that all of your discs are maxing out at the same distance. Try examining the discs you’re throwing. Make sure that you’re not throwing something too fast, that is has enough glide, and that it’s able to turn for most of the flight before coming back.
I hope that you find a way to get some more distance out of those throws, and let me know in the comments if these tips helped you.

May your discs miss all the trees,
Andrew Streeter #70397

Sabattus is the Maine sponsor for the EURGC and we have been for a number of years. It’s an awesome tournament, and it’s the first major I’d attended.

There’s a million cool things that happened that weekend. Here’s a highlight of some of them.

Seeing a disc golf village.

Do you know how cool it is for every tent to have disc golf related stuff being sold or promoted by disc golfers? It was like walking down a line at the fair, except I cared about every booth. I saw dyes on all sorts of discs, plastic that’s not always sold in Maine, disc golf clothes, a couple of board games, some pins, and plenty more awesome stuff.

Some tour stops have a little area to buy merch, but this was on another level. I think there were 40+ tents out there to visit. This place was packed when lead card FPO/MPO weren’t out on the course. Kids running around putting, bumping into plenty of pros, go visit it will live up to the hype.

Discussing plastic differences in flight with a pro.

Eric Oakley taking time to compare his signature Ethos Pathfinders with me from his bag was a cool minute or two. I’m a firm believer in how great the Pathfinder is, and I know from bagging both that his signature run is less stable than the Aura plastic one. It’s always reassuring when someone with knowledge like his agrees with something I feel is right. He also took some time to sign my Eric Oakley 2022 DGPT tour card and was smiling the whole time. The next time I see an EO tour series disc you can bet I’m going to snag it. I was already a fan of his, now I’m a fan for life.

Watching Anthony Barela and David Wiggins throw in the distance contest.

I’ve always talked about how when I went to spectate the 2021 Green Mountain Championship I saw Ricky Wysocki throw an Innova Pig over 300 feet with ease and I knew we were playing different games out there. I’m happy when I push a Wraith that far forehand.

Watching Barela and Wiggins throw over the water, I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. They threw just… so unbelievably far. Barela hitting the 797 foot mark was one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen. I’ve got to invite him out here to see if he can go long on our hole on the Eagle course. Here’s some of the throws from that event. I tried to record on my phone, but they honestly just threw the disc so fast and far I couldn’t film it. And I was yelling most of the time, so no one wants to hear that. Since we were already on hole 18 to watch Gannon take down the EURGC we just had to wait half an hour or so and we got to watch that contest. Whoever came up with ending the event where pros throw discs as far as they can, bravo.

Meeting 5x Juliana Korver.

As I was looking for a coffee stand at 2:30 in the afternoon. I saw the GOAT walk past me to a tent to start selling some JK plastic. I did an about face, grabbed my DGPT Tour cards to get signed and walked over to her tent. She and I talked about how huge the tournament was, and how she was commentating instead of playing, and then she mentioned how much she appreciated the crowds following FPO. I try quite hard not to get star struck, but I absolutely fumbled my words meeting Korver. If you haven’t read why I think she’s the GOAT here’s my blog about it and my opinion on the Climo/McBeth debate.

This isn’t something that happens in other sports. I don’t just meet Zinadine Zidane and have a conversation with him about coaching soccer. Disc golf is still small, and I’m happy to be a part of our community and get to meet many of my favorite players in person at some point.

Took a perfect video of Kristin Tattar’s forehand.

Live coverage and post production is usually focused on you seeing the disc. I blame post production disc golf and the Disc Golf Network for newer players not following through on shots because they don’t see the top pros do it. Then again, their job is entertainment not education, so maybe it’s fine.

I got to see Kristin Tattar throw a forehand on Hole 5. And I was positioned in a great spot to film. I’ve already used this video twice in lessons to show her follow through. While she didn’t end up winning, it was the first time I’d gotten to see her play in person, and that was lots of fun.

If you’re looking for a form to copy, just watch this a few dozen times, practice a whole lot, and throw like a world champion.

Got to check out Another Round Disc Golf in Charlotte.

While I work in a disc golf pro shop and have for the last 4 years it’s always fun to see another shop and handle their plastic. I had heard so many great things about Another Round, so when we were a half hour away, it was somewhere I had to check out.

I loved the TV in the front with a bar that was playing the EURGC live on the Disc Golf Network. The couch and very clean bathrooms were excellent. There was a bunch of tour series plastic everywhere which I fully support as it helps out the pros.

It’s the kind of store you can walk into and before you know it you’re sitting on the couch with a friend, sipping a beer and cradling a small stack of plastic you just purchased even though you told yourself you don’t need any more discs. I wish it wasn’t 972 miles away, I’ll visit again when I’m back down there.

Squatch Bags

I’ve seen them come into the pro shop a few times. I’ve seen pros who use them and love their cooler, and they seem happy to talk about their bags. I’d also seen maybe 2-3 local players who had these bags.

Squatch seemed to be excellent quality and I’m a sucker for that olive green color they come in.

So when I saw a Squatch tent at the EURGC, I went over to see them for myself. I got to meet with Sean Gutermuth for about 20 minutes, he’s the co-founder of Squatch. We went over the bags pretty thoroughly and I was impressed with what they’ve created.

So we’re carrying Squatch Bags here in the Pro Shop at trainzwholesale!

We always want to carry great things that meet the needs of disc golfers. The reason we try to offer so many different molds, plastics, weights in our disc collections, and different bags in our bag selection is that we know everyone wants something different in disc golf.

If you’ve got a disc golf product you think we should carry let us know.

I love hearing about new disc golf products, seeing them in videos, testing them, and checking in with plenty of folks about the idea. We’ve brought in plenty of products you know and love this way. Things like the MeepMeep!, Disc Golf Max Wax, and Birdie Board Game that we’ve carried in the pro shop have all come in because someone mentioned it.

The disc golf was incredible at the EURGC and TPWDGC.

Seeing Paul McBeth throw big drives, Gannon Buhr hit big putts, and seeing Catrina Allen throw a blistering 1028 round on day 2. It’s all so amazing what these pros can do with a disc. I’ll always recommend you see them in person. While I love competing, I think I’ll make some time each year to get to a DGPT event in person and watch. I enjoyed traveling to different parts of the US, local foods, and watching great competition each time.

The crowd was bananas.

This disc golf crowd went bananas when Gannon hit that putt. They clearly turned down the roar so that way you could hear Sexton and Earhart on the coverage.

We went for most of the week, and the early days were exceptional for being able to see everything. If you wanted to see a card drive, approach, and putt you could early in the week. The last couple of days you could either see them drive or putt, because the hundreds of people made walking difficult. The method we figured out was to see everyone drive on one hole, then start walking to the next hole to see it again. If you waited, you weren’t going to see much.

I don’t know how many folks were there, but I’d imagine it was close to 1,000 following MPO that final day.

Some people would stay at one hole all day long and get a great view of everyone playing. I might try that next time so I get to see everyone.

I loved it. I’m pretty fortunate to be able to work where going to an event like this is “work.” If you’re thinking about going to see disc golf in person, here’s how I feel about it.
There’s no “if” I go back to spectate again, it’s just a matter of when.

May your discs miss all the trees,
Andrew Streeter #70397

On the two televisions we have in the pro shop, we’re almost always playing Jomez or another post produced by someone like GK Pro, Central Coast, DGN or others. While I strive to make sure we’ve got 50/50 MPO and FPO on tv, the algorithm often takes me to Jomez.

In January of 2022 I counted all of the views from 2021 on Jomez’s channel. My basic breakdown was

• 48 million views
• 357,000 subs
• 224 videos with about 216,000 watching on average.

We all know that disc golf has been growing at a crazy rate. Would you believe me if I told you that Jomez viewership shrunk by a crazy amount in 2022?

• 37 million views ( ⬇️23%)
• 418,00 subscribers ( ⬆️15%)
• 229 videos (grew 4 videos) with about 165,000 watching on average (⬇️22%).

I even double checked some of the numbers from their 2021 videos. For the life of me I don’t get why the Top 10 throws from DGLO 2021 warrants a 1.6 million view count. But disc golf was clearly on the back burner in 2022 for viewing.

That’s the $64,000 question. Why did Jomez lose about a quarter of their viewership in 2022? It’s not like they produced fewer videos. I think that their quality of videos is about the same. More disc golfers entered the PDGA so that’s growing. We saw more disc golfers than ever before at Sabattus, and UDisc confirms that.

It matters a lot to Jomez Productions. They paid $500,000 for the rights to be the MPO lead card post production exclusive crew for 2 years. Suddenly they’re getting a lot less of that sweet YouTube money.

I don’t have a straight answer for you on why disc golf numbers are down. I think there’s a number of reasons that may have compounded the loss of viewership.

1. Live disc golf is getting better. I enjoy it immensely and while I watch post-produced 95% of the time, I’m more likely to not watch a round if I’ve already seen it live. I wonder if others feel that way. The EURGC is still off limits to Jomez, and was done by the Disc Golf Network in 2022. So it’s not losing views year after year, but I think them showing Winthrop Gold would be a great boost to their overall numbers. That would be 8 more competitive videos for them.
2. There was no Holy Shot in 2022. I mean just that video has nearly double the views of anything in 2022. When I think about shots of the year 2022, I think about Paul’s 69 footer at worlds and Val Mandujano’s throw from the corner on 17 at WACO. They’re both amazing, pressure filled shots that led to a win. But even together, they’re nothing like what Conrad achieved in 2021 with his Envy.
3. People want to see disc golf tournaments, the other videos are (in my opinion) stale and wholly uninteresting.
I’ll probably be in the minority on this, but I’m not watching any more island videos.
I get it, pros normally only bag premium plastic that’s overstable. Otherwise it goes sploosh. The first video was great, the other ones have been boring. I gave the FPO one a chance, but I didn’t enjoy it all that much. The Discraft Island video was a marketing attempt that got 166,000 views, so I guess it worked.
Putting videos are really hit and miss for me. I’d rather watch a GK Pro Skins match than a bunch of weird 50 footers.
I’ve watched the Approachable podcast, but it hasn’t been a must watch entertainment for me.
4. How much time do you have to devote to watching a full tournament? Assuming you’re watching R1F9 through FRB9, that’s 6 videos in a 3 round tournament. About 3.5 hours just to watch all the MPO. Clips on social media of the best shots are an even more condensed version and feature the best of the best in 10 min videos.
5. In 2021 we were still more wary of Covid. There was an increase in outdoor activities by 2.2% according to Outdoor Industry. That’s going to include disc golf and disc golfers, so a 2.2% decrease in viewership could be accounted for right there.

I did check to see if Paul McBeth videos did better than other videos. If Paul McBeth was in a Jomez video, the average jumped up to 233,111. That’s an increase of 41% any time there’s “McBeth” on a video title. This data includes his playing rounds and the couple of videos where he’s in Colombia or Guatemala spreading disc golf culture and courses. Those videos were all well below the Jomez Average (165,000) so they brought his actual average of competitive rounds down.

I think that Paul is still a main attraction, and a reason for folks to watch. That’s my personal opinion but it seems to be backed up with numerical data. He’s playing in meaningful events, and that’s what folks want to see.

I talked with my dad about it and he mentioned that Tiger had the same effect on golf. So I dug into those numbers as well, luckily Paulsen had written an article about the Tiger Effect and crunched the numbers for me.

Tiger was moving the needle in every single event he was in*, somewhere between 9% and 201% increase in viewership. As I talked about in a previous blog about why disc golf isn’t on television, that increase in viewership is what advertisers look for when they sponsor shows. For disc golf, right now Paul McBeth is driving viewership. He’s winning and playing in big tournaments. You’d be hard pressed not to call the current World Champion the best player in the game.

*One event Tiger Woods was in was delayed due to weather, that event had fewer viewers*

Recently an article from Ultiworld caught my attention, Fandom Survey: Paul McBeth vs Ricky Wysocki. It’s a long read, but it shows that Paul fans seem to dislike Ricky at a higher rate than Ricky fans dislike Paul.

I’m in the 10/10 camp where I respect and enjoy watching both of these guys play.

But I think it’s another way to look at the data about players' marketability. That’s the reason they get these million dollar contracts. They play well, advertise their manufacturer’s discs, and do a decent job with social media. Ricky is always available to fans on Twitter, where Paul is much more reserved on social media.

So I thought maybe I should count the Ricky views too. Otherwise I’m just a Paul McBeth fanboy. Then I thought, I’m already combing through the videos and finding viewer counts. Why don’t I just do all MPO players in all of the putting videos, McBeth foundation specials, practice rounds, and actual competitions? That way I can show who was shown on Jomez, how often, how many people watched them play, and if they were on average someone folks tuned in to watch.

I didn’t count Big Sexy Barri if they were just commentating, and I only chose to focus on MPO. FPO I’ll probably evaluate at the beginning of 2024 when they’ve had a full year of lead card coverage on Jomez.

Here’s a fantastic look at the Jomez 2022 videos data.

I’ve put the players in order by number of views, and the green highlights indicate that a player's average view count was above the Jomez average of 165,000 and they were in 5 or more videos. To me that means that people are more likely to watch a video if these highlighted players are on the card.

I know the big surprise here is that none of the Jomez commentary crew (Paul, Jerm, Nate) meets that threshold for the Jomez average. I’ll watch every practice round video from here until kingdom come with one, two, or all three of them. I find the relaxed atmosphere with competitive nature fun, and a great way for me to familiarize myself with the courses new changes from the previous year.

The other surprise is that Alden Harris averaged more viewers than Paul McBeth. I think that Prodigy has a lot of young stars right now, and they’re going to be tons of fun to watch in the future.

The next chart features how much time a company gets on Jomez. I consider Jomez to be the most effective form of advertising there is. You get to watch the best players throw their favorite discs that you can purchase (Often right here at SabattusDiscGolf.com).

Discraft and Innova make sense where they are. I consider them to be the 1 and 1a companies in disc golf right now. They have plenty of sponsored players, they sponsor a lot of tournaments so they get their feature players in the first round, it makes sense. Plus it doesn’t hurt to have 2 Innova sponsored and 1 Discraft sponsored pro doing the commentary and practice rounds.

I think you’re going to see a few changes next year, namely MVP growth with the addition of Simon, but Discmania staying where they are because Eagle could be back to full health.

Jomez had a down year in 2022. They produced more videos and had a lower view count than the previous year. But I still consider the quality, timeliness, and professional look of their work to be the gold standard in disc golf media.
They’ve already started a new series called Beyond Disc Golf with Simon Lizotte. Hopefully some of his YouTube charisma brings them viewers in 2023. I like that they’ve branched out into something new, and I’m going to check out the videos this weekend.

This blog took a long time to write but I think it offers an interesting glimpse into where disc golf is at. The amateur side of the sport is growing rapidly with an influx of players on courses and folks joining the PDGA. If you have any other questions about the data that you think I should query please leave a comment on Facebook or in the blog and I’ll try to find it.

Thanks for reading. I hope this blog brought you as much intrigue to read as it did for me to write!

May your discs miss all the trees,
Andrew Streeter #70397

• He’s half of the conversation for the MPO GOAT in disc golf and he’s still out there crushing discs for the foreseeable future.
• Paul currently has 143 career wins in 393 events played. That’s a 36% win rate for his career!
• Peak rating of 1062 which is #1 all time.
• Highest rated round of all time 1132.
• He’s got 17 major victories.
• 6X World Titles.
• 3 EURGC titles.
• He was the first disc golfer to earn 7 figures per year in a contract.
• He’s got his own line of discs.
• He’s probably the most famous disc golfer of all time.
• They’re going to play Worlds in 2024 on a course that he designed.
• He’s won MPO tournaments in 25 states and 6 different countries!
• (USA,Finland,Denmark,Sweden,Australia, and Estonia)

So my blog this week is about what does Paul have left to complete in the sport of disc golf?

• He’s a great player ambassador. He threatened to not play a DGPT event in 2016 until the PDGA clarified rules in another touring pros suspension. I’ll always respect Paul for that. I think that when he’s done competing, he’ll probably continue to be one of the best player ambassadors for the sport. He toured in the earlier days when players had to win to make a buck so he understands the struggles.
• He asks questions of the direction of the sport. I think his video about grip substances in disc golf will eventually lead to some big change in the way people play the sport. Since his video dropped, it helped to push Max Wax to market. He probably gets pitched more disc golf gear and gadgets than anyone.
• He’s got the Paul McBeth Foundation that brings disc golf to places without it. This will likely be a big part of his legacy. If you read my blog about Why Disc Golf isn’t in the Olympics, you’ll see it’s because it’s not a world sport yet. As we introduce people to the sport we love we know what happens. Folks fall in love with the flight of a disc, then they want to compete with friends, then strangers who become friends, and grow their leagues into clubs and host tournaments. Paul is providing the spark and helping out so many places. Check out what his foundation is working on here. Oh did I mention that he donates all his winnings to his foundation? Paul won over $100,000 from disc golf in 2022.

When Paul released his 2023 Tour Schedule he shocked some folks. He’s scheduled to play his first event of the year in Mexico, play in the All-Star weekend, hop onto the Disc Golf Pro Tour (which is normal for him), then fly to Europe to play in Croatia, the Czech Republic, Norway, Sweden, and Finland before coming back to the US in August.

Here’s his full 2023 schedule.

Some folks want to know what gives? Why is the best player taking late May, June, and July off from competing in the US DGPT?

He’s skipping the following events on the DGPT

• Portland Open
• Dynamic Discs Open
• Des Moines Challenge
• The Preserve Championship

That’s 400 potential points on the DGPT he’s missing out on!

I know that it’s statistically unlikely he will win all of them. But that’s still a lot of points to give up to your competitors, especially when DGPT points can help earn you a bye all the way to the semi finals of the DGPT Championship.

I guess at this point it’s about having fun and facing new challenges for Paul.
He won the 2016 DGPT championship so he has that feather in his cap.
He’s won the DDO before, 3 times when it was the Glass Blown Open.
He won the Des Moines Challenge in 2021.

So by skipping the 4 events on the DGPT he’s skipping over 2 he’s already won and he’ll still have enough points to make the championship. Albeit this time he’s less likely to have a bye straight to the semi finals.

Paul will get a chance to earn some points on the European side of the DGPT though. Silver Series events offer 50% of the points of a DGPT event. You’re also only allowed to keep your top 3 scores from Silver Series events.

Hypothetically if Paul were to win 3 Silver Series events while in Europe he’d have 150 points for his efforts. Last year Paul finished outside the top 10 on four separate occasions, and had multiple podium finishes. He’s losing points by going to Europe.

But it doesn’t matter. What’s a few points on the DGPT? He’s already won it before.

Paul’s trip to Europe will broaden disc golf across the pond and I’m happy to see it. I understand that folks want to see him at any event he’s in. When I went to the EURGC in 2022, the crowd following Paul’s card was massive. It was the same size as the lead card. And I know that folks in Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, and Oregon will be sad to miss him in 2023 as he skips those DGPT events. When I volunteered at the 2016 USWDGC here at Sabattus I was very bummed to miss out on my favorite FPO disc golfer Val Jenkins as she had to miss the event.

Think of all of the folks in Europe who only get a chance to see players on YouTube. This is an excellent way to #GrowTheSport. He’s going to go out there and play in his prime in front of people who might not get to see one of the GOATS. The number of people who will attend those tournaments is going to be huge. He’ll get local media coverage when he comes to play, he’ll probably help Discraft push a few discs as well. But he’s going and adding his credibility by going and playing those courses.

Paul could skip every event except majors and he’d still be regarded as one of the best disc golfers, and a threat to any tournament he enters. At this point in his career I don’t think Paul has anything left to prove. He’s out there doing what he loves, playing in new tournaments in new places, and bringing disc golf to the masses. While I understand the people in the US want to see him, sometimes we have to share the greatness that is Paul McBeth.

If you want to support Paul, the easiest way to do it is to pick up one of his signature discs. At Sabattus everytime McBeth has come here he’s been a friendly dude and he’s a great ambassador for the sport. That’s why we carry his discs.

If you’d like to bag one of his awesome 6x commemorative discs, you can snag them here while supplies last.

6X Hades
6X Luna
6X Buzzz
6X Undertaker
6X Zeus
6X Zone

May your discs miss all the trees,
Andrew Streeter #70397

However small you think disc golf is, think smaller.

— Green Splatter (@GreenSplatter) January 24, 2023

“Why are they showing Cornhole/Pickleball on ESPN and not disc golf?”

This is a very common question I get from the disc golf community when they come in the pro shop. It’s understandable, and I think it’s worth exploring where disc golf is at and where those other sports are at.

First off. My sentiment is always that you should be happy for the fans of those sports. How you feel about disc golf is exactly how someone else feels about pickleball.
Instead of complaining about television picking up other niche sports, be happy for them. Try to enjoy watching their sport on television for a bit.

Also, money. Money is the reason that disc golf isn’t on television.

No one who works in programming for ESPN cares about “growing the sport.” They care about creating revenue by creating engaging content for their viewers. So they can report those numbers to the advertisers who can report those numbers to their bosses.
Then the shareholders are happy and their bosses are happy. Television is about making money, (public access excluded).

Until disc golf can prove that it’s worth showing over other sports you won’t see it regularly on television.

It’s difficult to estimate the number of disc golfers in the world. UDisc tries to, the PDGA tries to, and I try to as well. But Cornhole has an active player base of 100,000 (registered players like PDGA), and Pickleball has 4.8 million players in the US.

We’ve got 69,901 active members in the PDGA, and we hit the 244,986 total players mark when I started writing this blog. I care about the number, because that’s who is going to explain to their friends what they’re watching.

A majority of Americans have played basketball. I don’t know if I’ve been to a gymnasium that didn’t have basketball lines on the court. We’ve all tried making a free throw or a 3 pointer and missed the backboard a few times. So we have a general understanding and appreciation of what it takes to play basketball. When you see a great shot on tv, you know most of the rules, and the difficulty of the sport.

Most Americans haven’t played a round of disc golf.

Having a passionate viewer with an understanding of the rules of the game is important to get the ball rolling. The next step is building intrigue.
When the first DGPT event was on tv, it was posted everywhere. November 24th at 8 pm in 2020. I remember seeing facebook statuses from lots of folks about making sure to watch, I saw tweets, and I was letting folks know as well. We wanted that first viewership number to be a big one.

It drew in 225,000 viewers.
ESPN showed the 2020 Pro Tour Finals featuring Kevin Jones, Calvin Heimburg, Austin Hannum, and Chris Dickerson.
It was against shows like The Bachelorette and NCIS which took 4 million and 9.8 million viewers. When I say “against shows” I mean that it ran at the same time as those shows. That’s what makes things “prime time” on tv.

Disc golf was slightly below the 300,000 average viewers that ESPN2 was used to in that time slot, but Jeff Spring was quoted as saying “Solid start.” I have to agree with his assessment. It was a compelling season finale to the DGPT. But we were missing 2 of the biggest names in the sport on the MPO side. And we all know that Paul and Ricky are ratings machines.

Then came 2021 where ESPN featured disc golf’s 2021 DGPT finals.
59,000 total viewers watched. That’s a huge decline in viewership, and probably because it went against the NFL in the time slot. I think that’s asking for disc golf to fail. It was also a pre recorded event that I had already seen versus a live NFL game.

CBS Sports Network aired the 2021 Dynamic Discs Open. But did not reveal their Nielsen ratings publicly, so we won’t ever know how many people watched. But if they’re not re-upping to show more disc golf content, it’s fairly easy to guess why.

How did other sports like Pickleball and Cornhole do on ESPN?

Well Cornhole has been shown a number of times.
Here’s an instance of it being more popular than baseball.
Here’s a few recorded audience numbers.
Cornhole has had 360,000 and 359,000 viewers. It’s had 106,000 as the low recorded point. This sport has the advantage of being at every backyard BBQ I’ve been to in the last 15 years. You know how exciting it is to see a bag hit the hole.

• It also finishes a game in at most 30 minutes.
• Plus you don’t need a lot of equipment to record it.
• You can easily film a crowd because of the small nature of the playing area.

Pickleball debuted with 621,000 viewers on CBS. It’s still got that almost 5 million player base as well. Pickleball just picked up 20 hours of tv for 2023 as well, 12 on CBS and 8 on ESPN2, with 200+ hours on ESPN+.
It’s the fastest growing sport in America, and television is looking to capitalize on it.

I love disc golf, you all do too. That’s why you’re reading a nearly 1600 word blog about the sport and its inherent shortcomings for television.

I think there’s a few other reasons that disc golf struggles on television.

Remember while disc golf has been around since 1978. I think it really took off with the introduction of YouTube showing round recaps. We’re less than 10 years removed from these kind of hole intros from Jomez.

I don’t know how long it will take disc golf to regularly get on television. Whether it would be majors only like the Champions Cup, Worlds, UDSGC, and DGPT Championship or the entire DGPT. It’s going to take a lot of disc golfers proving that it’s worth it to advertisers to get on tv. Until then we’re going to stick with how we’ve been watching for the last few years. Live on the Disc Golf Network, and post produced on YouTube.

So the next time they show Underwater Hockey, World Chase Tag, Jelle’s Marble Racing (Go Raspberry Racers), or Dodge Juggling on ESPN, just remember that those sports deserve their airtime too. People who are passionate about their sports deserve a chance to get their shot as well. Disc golf already had a little shot in 2020 and 2021. As the Disc Golf Pro Tour continues to grow (like in Europe), and we get 3 players with million dollar contracts (Paul, Ricky, and Simon), we’ll continue the growth that started in 1978.

May your discs miss all the trees,
Andrew Streeter #70397

Look at the discs side by side. The red disc is an Aviar for comparison, the purple one is the Mirage. When you grip this disc that has a smallish rim you feel like you can really crank on it. For folks with smaller hands this is an excellent choice. Ladies and kids should really give the Mirage a shot in the understable mid slot. There is a small bead, but it’s not noticeable when I throw the Mirage. This is a domey disc, so it will float down to the ground. It’s got a lot of glide packed into that 3 speed, you should feel confident inside 200 feet with the Mirage.

The 4 speed I want to look at today is the Innova Cobra. It’s an understable disc that’s slightly faster than the Mirage. I like the Cobra for hyzer flips and weird shot shaped forehands. A real joy of the Cobra is the glide. I will always recommend this disc to folks who want a mid that goes far. It reminds me a lot of the Prodigy M4, a slightly understable disc that glides and glides. The Cobra is a flat top disc, you won’t have much dome at all when you’re looking at it compared to many other midranges.

I’ve got it next to the orange Mirage and the green Paradox. As you can see, the Cobra is the flattest of all three. It’s very easy for anyone’s hand size because of the flat top and no dome. Cobra’s feel compact.

The Cobra is going to have a slow turn to it and initially some flip to anhyzer and ride out the fade early. But after a few tree hits it becomes an excellent touch shot disc in the woods. Since you’re not throwing the Cobra as hard as you can, it’s fine to have it in the DX plastic. You want something with a little extra grip as well. This disc became one of my utility discs very early on in my playing career.

The players who are going to benefit most from the Cobra are ones who struggle throwing the Roc or Shark. These are two common beginner recommendations that are both stable. If you’re finding those discs dump over on you, get a Cobra.

The 5 speed I want to look at today is the Paradox from Axiom Discs. It’s a very flippy midrange disc that I struggled with initially. It was too flippy for me if I was looking to throw it 200 feet.
While it is a 5 speed, and the fastest mid I’m going to write about today, it’s the flippiest by far. I recommend this to folks who really want something that goes right the whole way.

The Paradox has the most rounded top and lowest parting line of the 3 discs I’m writing about today. It reminds me a lot of a smaller Ultimate disc, but somehow even more flippy.

The Paradox is also excellent for learning angle control. I can’t think of another disc that has the understability at low speeds. If you’re looking to expand your shot selection by throwing hyzer flips then this is an excellent learning disc. One hole at Sabattus where I see this disc thrown a lot is Hole 18 of our Hawk course. It’s a big turnover where you want to throw something high and that finishes a 90 degree dogleg right. The Paradox gets a lot of people a look at birdie on this hole. I throw it for distance, and the disc does all the work and turns most of the flight. It’s really going to help out even when you need to throw a turnover uphill like many wooded courses require.

There are lots of reasons to include understable mids in your bag.

1. You want to hyzer flip for a pinched off shot but don’t have 300 feet to work with. This is where I’d recommend something like the Cobra. You can release it on a hyzer and let it flip up to flat before riding out on a little hyzer. The Cobra is going to open a lot of new shot shapes up for you.
2. Big turnovers. If you need something that holds the anhyzer line the whole time I think the Paradox is right for you. I give it a little bit of nose up when I release it because I want this disc to have time to work to the right. If you’re trying to get around a corner and you don’t have a forehand, this is a great choice.
3. Slow forehands are difficult shots. A good touch forehand tunnel shot at 185-225 feet is elusive. Take out your Mirage and throw a nice flat drive. You’ll get that slow turn that doesn’t burn over into the ground. And it won’t hyzer out too early, you should be able to step onto the tee confident about your shot.

Understable midranges are great. I know that the hype around mids tends to be about discs like the Roc, Buzzz, and Mako3. And I like those straight flyers too, but sometimes you just need to rely on your skills and your touch. Making an understable mid a part of your bag is going to help you in the long run and lead to a lot of very cool shots.

Here are the three discs that I recommend you give a shot.

1. Mirage - Perfect for slow turnovers inside 200 feet.
2. Cobra - Angle control hyzer flips, longer mid distance, slow turn.
3. Paradox - All turn with distance. Give it height and it will hold the turn.

If you are looking for understable midranges these are the three I would try out first. It’s likely that you’ll need 1 or 2 of them in your bag, especially for wooded courses.
Snag your friends to try their discs if they’ll let you, if not at trainzwholesale we try really hard to keep our prices on discs low, so check out any of them on our site trainzwholesale.com. I hope that you find something for those touchy upshots and times you’re in disc golf jail. Leave a comment below if you have any questions and I’ll get to them.

May your discs miss all the trees,
Andrew Streeter #70397

It’s one of the truest things in disc golf. A smooth throw leads to a really flutterless flight of the disc and often gets you a great distance. Here’s a blog I wrote all about throwing smooth shots. You can take a look at it if you have questions about what “smooth” is.

To throw a disc far, or consistently you’re going to need to practice being smooth. One of the reasons I had a leg up when I started disc golfing was my 5 years of dancing ballet. We practiced every week making sure that our motions were fluid and beautiful. Who’d have thought that dancing would be a cross training for disc golf?

Here’s a clip of some ballet to help you visualize smooth motion. Notice the way that Mia Patton (the dancer) is so powerful when she moves. It’s deliberate movement of her arms that lead from one spot to another. Despite moving quickly she’s never off balance.
There’s no doubt in my mind that if we gave her a disc she’d have a level, straight throw with a stable mid/understable fairway driver in under 15 minutes.

Unless you’re interested in several years of ballet lessons, let’s examine some tips and drills that can help you get to the point where you’re throwing smooth shots.

Tips On Getting Smooth Form

1. Warm up before you play. I can’t stress enough that you need to get that feel back. No matter how many times you’ve thrown a disc you need a little mental refresher. Give yourself at least 10 minutes to putt and throw a few upshots. When that flutter is gone from your throw, you’re back to smooth.

2. When learning to throw, have either a couple of the same disc or a friend to throw the disc back to you. I like to throw midranges that I know really well. I love the Discmania MD3 and have been throwing it since 2014. It’s going to be the same straight stable flight every time. So I have a few of those in my bag and I throw them one after another. This disc is a great choice for players of all skill levels, so if you’re in the market for a new mid that can be thrown forehand or backhand, check out the MD3.

3.Watch the Pros. There are power players and then there are finesse disc golfers. Power throwers are the folks like Garret Gurthie, Eagle McMahon, and Anthony Barela. They’re known for their long distance drives of over 500’ consistently.
You don’t need to power up to watch smooth throws. Here’s Bradley Williams, one of the smoothest players on the Disc Golf Pro Tour. He won on a “bomber” course in 2022 just throwing smooth finesse shots. Watch his fluid movement and try to remember it when you’re throwing. If you’d like to support Bradley, snag his 2022 Tour Series Pig here.

Drills To Practice

1. Swan Arms. (For Backhand)
This drill is to get your throwing arm used to a backhand motion. When throwing you want your shoulder to lead, followed by your elbow, then wrist, and finally hand. Don’t rush this drill. Focus on getting your arms to move in segments first. You can practice this drill in front of a mirror or your phone. After you’ve practiced this drill the way Maria Khoreva showed you, turn your arm sideways and draw it across your chest like you’re throwing a disc.
Common Mistake: You need to bend your arms for this drill to work. Don’t be flapping your arms like this. That arm can’t be straight the whole way or you’re not getting any additional speed added to your throw.
2. Forehand Swing.
Get a tennis ball and a table. You’re going to put the back of your hand on the table and the heel of your hand should be touching the ball. Unlike the backhand drill, when you’re doing forehand your elbow and shoulder are locked.
Put your putter between your throwing elbow and your hip. Now push that tennis ball by rotating your hips. It should go somewhat straight off the table, if it goes off on your side of the table you’re rotating too quickly. If it goes off the opposite side you’re rotating too slowly.
This looks silly, it feels silly, and it’s a great way to get your forehand started if you’ve been struggling with it.
You will eventually be able to bring your elbow slightly away from your side, but that’s a highly advanced skill for forehand throwers. When you do become an advanced forehand throwing player, you can use the ProPull to do the same drill but move your elbow out further.

Throwing smooth shots is not something that you can do once and master. Make sure you’re working on throwing smooth shots every time you’re out there on the course.
If you’re out there practicing, consider picking up some chalk bags to keep your hands dry and consistent and a stable midrange like the Discmania MD3 to help you when you’re out there training.

May your discs miss all the trees,
Andrew Streeter #70397

Some shots are easy, other shots are more difficult.

No one needs more than 5 seconds to tap in something that’s 5 feet away. But maybe someone needs 45 seconds to line up a 100 foot approach shot on a tricky green. I think that this rule is one people cite online frequently, and blame certain players like Nikko Locastro or Gannon Buhr for slowing down the pace of play.

Here’s Paul McBeth making a huge putt on Hole 17 of the world championships. When I time Paul from when he gets to his lie and does his grass check to the moment he releases the putt is 31.88 seconds. From my understanding, that’s a violation of rule 802.03 that should result in a warning for excessive time.

Calling a time violation in that moment would be insane right? But how is that shot any different from anyone else’s scoring-wise? The same rules apply to every competitor in the field, for all of their shots.

Now I don’t expect Aaron Gossage, Calvin Heimburg, or Matt Orum to call that violation. They’ve got enough going on.
If you think the DGPT should have officials calling violations, you’re not alone, here's a blog I wrote about how officials could work.

The rule of 30 seconds is kind of a balancing act for time.

On one hand I don’t enjoy having to watch slower players on the DGN take time to make a putt that we all know they’re going to make.

On the other hand, I want the best show they can offer me. That’s pros hitting shots in competition that I wouldn’t be able to throw. That’s hitting all of their 30 footers, the correct angle to release their overstable driver on a flex shot, the 125 foot approach shots with a low ceiling. If we want to watch those shots, sometimes it takes more than 30 seconds to execute.

I understand the necessity of the 30 second rule. It keeps the round flowing without singling anyone out. For the Disc Golf Network it makes sense because not every putt is going to be for a one stroke lead on the last hole of a world championship. If that was round 1 at Idlewild and Paul missed the putt, I probably would have felt like he should pick up the pace.

Putting is hard.

It’s not a controversial statement, and we’ve all thought about throwing our putters into a black hole from time to time.
We’ve all doinked 10 footers, 8 footers, and even 6 footers. In a sport where we count a booming 500’ drive in an open field carries the same weight of a tap in, it’s important to make sure that you spend a good amount of time (under 30 seconds) on each shot. I don’t mind someone spending 30 seconds on a 30 foot putt. I’m much happier that they made it.

What is there to consider in disc golf that’s taking so long?

I think about lots of things when I throw a disc off the tee. Much of it is a pre shot routine because I play at the same courses regularly. So I know going into the hole, what the distance is, where I expect to land, and what disc I’m most likely using.

But just like any other sport there are variables to consider.

The wind may be different.
You may be behind a tree on your second shot.
Heavy rain may impact the ground or teepad.
You may be throwing from somewhere you’ve never been like a drop zone or behind a hill.
Your footing may be bad.
Does the slope of the green match better with a backhand flat shot or a forehand hyzer?

Now imagine you have a windy day and you’re in a muddy spot with a shot that lands on a slope. Even if you’re in the fairway, that’s going to take some time to figure out what you’re going to throw. You may switch from a Destroyer to a Firebird because you don’t want the glide. Then you remember that you’ve been throwing that Destroyer well today on hole 7 and you can forehand this one, so you switch back to it and get back to your spot and suddenly you have less than 10 seconds to throw your shot.

All of these are reasonable reasons to take your time when you’re throwing a shot. You can think about your shot as you walk down the fairway, but until you get up to it you really don’t know where you’re throwing from.

How do other sports handle time spent thinking?

The PGA (Ball Golf’s professional association) allows for players to take 40 seconds to complete their stroke. That’s not all though, they offer players additional time because they know that going first in some situations is difficult.

They also allow the first person on the tee of a par 3 an additional 10 seconds.
The first person shooting their second shot on a Par 4 gets an additional 10 seconds.
The first person to shoot their 3rd shot on a par 5 gets an additional 10 seconds.

I think Poker has a really great system for additional time. They allow players 30 seconds to act when it’s their turn. After that they allow players 4 “time chips” that give them additional time if they need it. They have a marshall nearby that can be called if someone is taking too long. It’s much easier for poker because one marshall could cover multiple tables in an area, but with how spread out disc golf is you’d need one per hole.

Chess uses a clock where both players (usually) have the same amount of time to make a set of moves. Then when they hit a specified move amount players are given additional time. This can lead to marathon-like games like game 6 from the 2022 World Chess Championship. It’s great because in chess we measure games like bullet, blitz, rapid, and classical in different time controls. I really enjoy the scrambled fury with which players move at the end of a game, but this sport is different because what I do on the course doesn’t affect another player the way moving pieces does.

Baseball will institute a pitch clock in 2023. This is going to affect every player because you either hit or you pitch. Pitchers will have 15-20 seconds once a batter comes into the box to throw a pitch. This serves to keep the game moving. As a Sox fan I remember the days of watching Jonathon Papelbon take almost a minute between some pitches. They’re doing this to speed up pace of play, but I also suspect that pitching faster will tire more pitchers and lead to more hits.

Curling uses a finite amount of time the way chess does. Teams have a certain amount of time to think after each shot. If it runs out, you lose. I only watch during the Olympics, but after a cursory Google search I didn’t find anyone who had lost on time.

Where does disc golf go from here?

As long as the 30 second rule in disc golf is applied unevenly and inconsistently, it’s not a major problem right now. Nikko Locastro was 100% in the wrong for his actions at the 2022 European Open. He is however right that the rule is applied to some players and not others. When disc golf finally has an official on every hole, I think we can get a fairer sport.

I also think there should be two major changes in the future to disc golf regarding the time rule 802.03.

1. When there’s an official (not just the scorekeeper) on every hole, there needs to be an official disc golf timer. Something easy that you wear on your wrist like a watch. You could hit one button and it glows red (doesn’t beep during a player's shot) when it hits the end of time. After the shot a player could be warned by the official, then stroked if they repeat the violation. They could even say “time start” when they hit the button so players know they have time.
2. Extend the time to 45 seconds per shot. It’s totally possible that you have 2 difficult shots in a round. A bad tree kick is punishing enough, taking an additional stroke would be a bummer.

That’s how I feel about the 30 second rule, it’s not enough time to make a shot every time. I think it’s a bit too short, should be applied to every player, is very weather dependent, and that until we get officials it’s just something to think about.
Is there anything that I missed in this blog? Let me know.

May your discs miss all the trees,
Andrew Streeter #70397

1. Winter disc golf at night under the lights is a success.
Just because the sun has gone down doesn’t mean the fun has to end. We installed lights on our 9 hole course last year and in 2022 in January through March on Friday nights we’ve had a singles league. Saturday nights the course is lit up but no league play.
This Fall in November we were able to start it back up and even more folks are coming to play. It’s such a different feel, a disc golf tournament in the dark. I love it and I can’t get enough of it. Come try it for yourself, it’s a hoot on the owl.

2. Held our first tournament since 2019!
With Covid blocking any tournaments in 2020 and 2021 it was really great to have Circle 1 Disc Golf host a Friday Flex C-Tier here. It was a hot 95 degrees outside that day in July. We spent the day in the mid 90 to upper and dripping in sweat. But the tournament went well and we’re excited to have more Flex C tiers like this in the future. Maybe we’ll get a day when Star plastic doesn’t feel like a blowfly next time.

3. The transformation of Hole 7 on the Eagle/Falcon course.
The outdoor team raised the ground up a few feet, seeded, re-seeded, and brought to life a fairway that had been swampy since it was built. It takes vision and a lot of hard work to make that possible. This may be one of my favorite things from 2022.

4. We ran random dubs and Ladies singles!
This has been a personal project of mine for a while. It takes a dedicated person/people to be there every week and that’s what we have at Sabattus now. Everyone here has taken part in and run dubs. Wednesday’s around 5:00 in the summertime get busy with up to 39 people in the shop.
I’m wicked happy that we’re going to continue this trend in 2023. Friends playing disc golf together every week is a blast.
Ladies singles continues in 2023 on our Hawk course and since they play for free on Wednesday’s, 100% of the money they put in goes back to them.

5. Hosted Philo, Matt Bell, and Zoe AnDyke for clinics.
Living in the least populated corner state, it’s sometimes difficult to get pros to come visit Maine when they’re busy touring. We created an opportunity for pros to get paid for their clinics and for Mainer’s to get tips on their respective games. We can’t wait to run similar events in 2023 and the future. Sometimes having a little lesson can push players to heights they weren’t expecting to reach. If you can get out for a lesson or clinic with a touring pro, I highly recommend it.

6. Improved the putting area size wise and got our own rock!
One thing that’s happened with the increased number of players in the last few years is the putting area has been overrun. We’re adding an additional basket, and moving the baskets back further! On those weekend days in the summer there should be a little more room for folks to warm up without feeling like they’re on top of each other.

7. Got lots of work done on Course 5.
Still no ETA on the day anyone can play the course. The teepads have been ordered, made, and delivered, but not set in the ground yet. The outdoor crew has cleared trees, brush, and rocks to create fairways. There will be more information coming about Course 5 (still unnamed) in the future. We’ll keep sharing updates on Facebook as well. It’s a long journey to turn untouched land into a playable disc golf course.

8. Gave away 300+ discs to kids.
Every single year we give away the previous years lost and found discs. I try really hard to get discs back to folks. Calling them, writing them down in a list, and reminding regular players about their lost discs. But we still end up with hundreds each year. In 2022 we gave them away to 18 different schools and organizations who need discs. We’ll be donating even more in 2023.

9. Added snack options for vegans to our pro shop.
We really try hard to be a one stop shop for folks when it comes to snacks. That way you can come inside the pro shop in between rounds, fuel up, and get back out there. This year we added LARA bars and Eagle McMahon vegan jerky. Yes, I know Eagle is no longer vegan, and the jerky is discontinued. But we’ll add something in that slot in the future.

10. Probably my favorite disc golf joke of the year.

Credit to SDG Season Pass Holder Ryan Montague. I still think about this joke at least once a week, and every time I pass by a Subway.

We’ve had thousands of rounds played on the courses. Friends and families have come and made lasting memories. It’s been a real joy to hear about how you played at Sabattus. We look forward to seeing you next year.

May Your Discs Miss All The Trees,
Andrew Streeter #70397

I’m a hat wearer and enthusiast.

• Maybe it’s because my late Papa was a bald man who always wore hats and I loved him. 
• Maybe it’s a great way to instantly recognize if someone is a fan of a sports team. 
• Maybe it’s because I just look awesome in all hats.

Fun fact: A PGA golfer who signs the minimum sponsorship for a hat gets $150,000 per year from their sponsor. There are other rules, such as who is allowed to be a hat sponsor, vulgarity, and all those other things. The average sponsorship for a hat is much higher, around $250,000-$500,000. And the top 10 players earn millions for wearing something on their dome.

Kristin Tattar signed a deal to play for Latitude 64 for $125,000 per year. So she’s earning about half of what a PGA player does for their hat sponsorship. Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll see a big company sponsor a disc golfer’s head in my lifetime. Disc golf is growing. There are plenty of eyeballs watching this sport. And as we see it grow from tens of thousands, to hundreds of thousands of folks watching, sponsors will want to get in front of those eyeballs.

I’m going to include visors in hats as I write this blog. They’re very similar and perform similar functions. However they do seem to vary for long hair players depending on where they put their pony tail. I picked up a nice one at the TPWDGC this Fall. That’s right, I’ve got a photo of me in a visor as well.

I’m a hat/visor fan for a number of reasons.

1. It gives me something to shade my eyes from the sun. And it’s even better in the rain at keeping the drips out of my eyes.
2. My hair is nothing special, according to my younger brother.
3. I can throw my hat on the ground when I miss that third 25-28 footer of the round. Unless it’s a sanctioned round, because I don’t want to violate rule 812A.3.C courtesy violation of the PDGA rulebook.
4. I can show my fandom of businesses/teams. I can’t tell you how many people have asked me about my Morse’s Sauerkraut hat.

When people walk in wearing a New York Yankee’s cap I always threaten to charge them double to play at Sabattus. They know I’m a fan of the Red Sox and it usually leads to laughing and it’s a great conversation starter.

Off the top of my head (hat pun), who regularly wears hats/visors on the Disc Golf Pro Tour?

MPO

1. Paul McBeth
2. Eagle McMahon
3. Chris Dickerson
4. Kyle Klein
5. Adam Hammes
6. Simon Lizotte
7. Garrett Gurthie
8. Paul Ulibarri
9. Jeremy Koling

FPO

1. Paige Pierce
2. Catrina Allen
3. Missy Gannon
4. Heather Young
5. Hailey King
6. Sara Hokom
7. Kona Panis

Shoot, as I make this list it’s probably shorter to name who doesn’t wear hats.
I don’t know if I’ve ever seen Tattar wear a hat. I also don’t think I’ve seen Barsby, Heimburg, Sexton, or Conrad in a hat. But for the most part I think I see almost everyone wearing a hat.

I’ve taken a journey for you. Going back to the final round of each of the DGPT events from 2022, I looked to see if the winner wore a hat during their final round.

In the 19 tournaments for MPO, two players didn’t wear hats when they won tournaments. Both Ricky Wysocki and Calvin Heimburg didn’t wear hats in their victories. Ricky also won 2 tournaments while wearing a hat. So I guess for Ricky it doesn’t matter if you wear a hat or not, he just wins.

However, team hats won 78% of the time in MPO. It would be interesting to see the percentage of players in the field who wore hats in each tournament as well, but I don’t have that data. Maybe I can convince UDisc to add a hat and cart marker to their live scoring so I can gather more data… But probably not.

In FPO there was only one player who didn’t wear a hat when she won, Kristin Tattar. Her 2022 season is one for the record books. When she didn’t win on the Disc Golf Pro Tour, she was on the podium every single time. Maybe she’s too powerful to wear a hat, or if she wore a hat we’d think she was like Spongebob when he took that drivers test.

Team hats won 70% of the time in FPO. Again I’d like to see that compared to the percentage of players who wear hats at each tournament. Anecdotally I think that fewer FPO players wear hats than MPO players. But again, until UDisc adds that little hat marker on live scoring I won’t know.

I’ll probably update this as the disc golf pro tour continues in 2023 and beyond, if that’s something folks are interested in.

Oh and because this is a Sabattus blog I should mention that if you’re looking for disc golf hats you can get some great hats here in our pro shop. We’ve got ball caps, dad caps, and beanies.

May your discs miss all the trees,
Andrew Streeter #70397

Here are all the countries with at least three, 950 rated active players in MPO.

1. Australia
2. Austria
3. Belgium
4. Canada
5. Czech Republic
6. Denmark
7. Estonia
8. Finland
9. France
10. Germany
11. Hungary
12. Iceland
13. Japan
14. Latvia
15. New Zealand
16. Norway
17. Poland
18. Slovakia
19. Slovenia
20. Sweden
21. Switzerland
22. Thailand
23. United Kingdom
24. United States of America
25. Zambia

Oh wait that’s only 25 total teams and I need 32 to compete in the Disc Golf World Cup!

Sometimes in disc golf we get so wrapped up in thinking about how much the sport is growing that we forget how sparse disc golf is around the globe. I love that the Paul McBeth foundation is bringing disc golf to places where it doesn’t exist. Disc golf has a rich history of sharing with people and introducing them to the sport. I don’t think that’s ever going to change.

So let’s just pretend that 7 other countries get their practice baskets out and their top 3 or 5 players get above the 950 rating for MPO so they can compete in the World Cup of Disc Golf!

Since you’re not playing a full round of disc golf, I think that teams can play 2 rounds in a day. I recognize that the driver would essentially be throwing 36 big drives. But I think it would be spaced out pretty well.

Group A would have 4 teams and let’s pretend it’s USA, Thailand, Slovenia, and Finland.

Day 1 Match 1 (Group A)
USA vs Finland
Thailand vs Slovenia

Match 2 (Group A)
USA vs Thailand
Finland vs Slovenia

The soccer world cup is drawn out to last a month. I know that no disc golfer is going to spend a month at a tournament. So we’d have half of the groups play 2 matches the first day. Group B, C, and D would all play at the same time as well.

Day 2 we’d have groups E,F,G, and H play their first two matches.

Day 3 all of the teams final matches would be played and we would have eliminated half of the teams. We would then switch to a bracket, knockout style with the remaining 16 teams.

Day 4 would be the round of 16 and the round of 8.

Day 5 would be the semifinals in the morning then a lunch break and then the finals.

Questions About the World Cup of Disc Golf

Would this be every 4 years?
Yes. Part of the elusiveness and prestige of the World Cup is that it’s infrequent. You might only get a single chance to compete in your lifetime. Getting to be one of the 7 players your country sends to the World Cup of Disc Golf would (hopefully) be a career highlight.
I remember a lot of great Champions League (soccer) moments, but to me World Cup moments reign supreme.

Could players switch positions during a round?
Yes, but only in between holes. You can’t be the person to drive and putt on the same hole. I’d also say that once you sub out, you’re out for that match. If Paul McBeth is tired from driving in round 1 on hole 12 and Calvin Heimburg subs in. Paul can’t come back in on Hole 18 because he’d been parking it all weekend. He would be available in the next match, but not before then.

Would the US dominate this event?
Maybe. International sports have a way of adding an air of importance and drama. I imagine the US would be favored in every matchup, but all it takes is a bad shot or two in disc golf to really change a round. All it takes is one player to get hot putting and someone to doink one or two and the US could be out in a knockout round.

Would there be a qualifying event for countries?
Yes, I think that once disc golf has more than 32 countries there could be a rankings qualifier or something. That’s way out there in the future though. At this point in time it would be simply the top 32 teams get invites.

Which position would you want to play?
I think that this is something you could argue about for hours with your friends. I’d want to be the approach player personally. It would be the most difficult to practice since you don’t know where or even if you’re going to throw on those short holes. And the satisfaction of parking the hole for my teammate would probably be my favorite feeling.

What would your dream course be for the World Cup of Disc Golf?
WR Jackson. It has lots of woods, 13 of the holes are over 400 feet, so lots of shots for everyone. It’s right next to the Disc Golf Hall of Fame in Appling, GA. I don’t know if there’s a better choice for it.

Is this a practical event?
This is one of the difficult parts of this endeavor. It’s going to be hard to get 32 teams of 7 people out anywhere in the world. I think each team would need their own national organization to compete. Maybe disc golfers in Latvia (for example) raise money for the Latvian National team to travel and compete.
This would have to be broken down by folks with more knowledge than I have. But I can at least say that 7 plane tickets from Latvia to Georgia are going to be $750 apiece, 4 rooms for 7 nights at $70 apiece, renting a van to get from the airport, to and from the tournament, $120 per day. Figure each person gets $40 for food each day as well. That’s $10,010 for that team.

Teams that qualify would get a certain amount just for playing. Then the teams that make it out in the round of 16 get more, and then the round of 8 get more, and the team that wins it all would get the most of the purse.
It would have to be financially viable for a team from Latvia to travel to Georgia for a week.
If all 32 teams needed $10k just to get going, we’re talking about a $320,000 minimum pot to get started. That’s just breaking even money. Now some teams might require more, others would require less. I think figuring it’s going to cost thousands for each team sounds the most reasonable.

Would this tournament be one to watch or one to forget about?
Which position would you like to play in if you could?
Do you foresee any problems with a tournament format like this? (This is the one I’d love to have answered)

May your discs miss all the trees,
Andrew Streeter #70397

There’s a tight tunnel after about 125 feet. The fairway stays pretty much 10-12 feet apart for another 300 feet. The wood chips lead to big skips around the basket if you throw something fast, and just outside C1 all around the basket is a hill.

This hole is always the hardest according to UDisc stats that I get for being a course ambassador. It averages somewhere between .5 and .75 strokes above par.

Paige Pierce in the 2016 United States Women’s Disc Golf Tournament had an unfortunate early release and a bad kick on a tight tunnel shot. Instead of trying a hero shot with a hyzer flip high glide disc at an impossible angle, she took the safe route and pitched out to the middle of the fairway.

Sometimes you don’t really have much of an option. Here’s Charlie Goodpasture at the 2022 Maine State Disc Golf Championships at Pineland Farms. He’s in a playoff with Josh DiBattista on hole 2 of the Patriot Course. His drive clips the wrong side of a tree and he lands in the deep brush with almost no shot to get out.

In Paige’s case she’s able to save par in the second round of the tournament. Charlie is unfortunate to come to a spot where he has to then make a 100 foot downhill putt to continue.
Taking the conservative pitch out has been a play I recommend to many players. Hero shots are incredible when they work. But unless it’s do or die, you’re often better off taking a pitch out and giving yourself a chance later in the round.

One thing that I want to point out about both of their shots was that they chose stable discs in a premium plastic blend with low glide. When you are pitching out you want to know which way the disc is going to go. Focus all your energy on hitting that little gap with something that’s reliable and going to fade.

What to Throw When You Pitch Out

I recommend trying something like the Aviar3 in star plastic. It’s slow enough so that you don’t need to be a pro to throw it. It’s durable enough for when you do use it for short approaches. And with a flat top it handles if you need to punch it through a gap with a little forehand.

You can use many utility discs to get yourself a pitch out. But I think it’s important you use something stable and with almost no glide. You want to throw it as far as you want it to go, gliding past the landing zone will just put you in jail on the other side of the fairway.

If you’re looking for a driver that can take care of your pitch outs I recommend trying out the Thought Space Omen. It’s beefy and I love using it for touch flex shots. It’s got almost no glide so I can punch it through short gaps and not worry about it doing too much. I think it’s a slightly over overstable Innova Firebird.

Take your time.

Walk out your landing zone and pick somewhere you’d like to land. Find a spot you’d like to have your disc land. I usually aim for the middle of the fairway because if I get a little to the side it’s not as big of a deal. But you might find that you need to go past a tree or stump to have a shot.

It’s very tempting to be mad at yourself for having to pitch out. You might think “I can’t believe I hit that tree.” or “This is ruining my great round.” You might just get to your lie, drop your mini, pick up the same disc and throw it back towards the fairway.

STOP.

Take a breath. Everyone misses and hits a tree sometimes. That pitch out is important because it’s setting you up to make your next shot. James Conrad pitched out at worlds 2021 on the last hole. It’s not the end of your round if you pitch out.

One thing I want to point out in the Charlie Goodpasture clip is how long he’s figuring out his shot. While it may be a 10 foot pitch out, it’s still a shot that you’re going to throw. It may be one that you’re not really practicing very often. Take your time, the PDGA gives you 30 seconds for every shot to line it up and throw. If you’re looking for tips on pitching out to get a better spot, try this video from Andrew Fish and Gatekeeper Media. This teaches you about the basics of laying up, and while we’re trying to get back onto the fairway, the principles are pretty similar.

But I want to take the hero shot, I don’t want to lose a stroke.

It’s worth weighing out how much better your next shot is going to be if you make a hero shot. Will you save a stroke or will your upshot just be easier? If you’re just out here to make your upshot easier, take the high percentage upshot.

I define the hero shot as hitting that one gap 40 feet away that’s 2 discs wide. Sure you could do it, but realistically you’d hit it maybe 1 time in 10, or 1 in 20. It may be over some trees that you might be able to throw over. There’s lots of hero shots, but they’re something we see on Jomez, not on our home courses each week.

Paul doesn’t pitch up to the corner for an easier upshot and instead gets the 3. It’s a great example of a hero shot and you can hear Jerm and Ulibarri impressed by that shot. Paul goes on to win the tournament by 3 strokes. It was a calculated gamble by the best player in the world who has a 400 foot forehand.

There are 3 things that can happen when you decide to go for a risky/hero shot.

1. You make the gap just like you planned. You have now improved your lie to where it’s like you never had a bad shot. This is the rarest outcome, but
2. You miss and now you’re in a bad spot. (You waste 1 shot, and have to pitch out)
3. You miss and now you’re in an okay spot but basically you’re not able to advance much further. (Basically a wasted shot)

Now think about what happens when you pitch out.

1. You get to the fairway and get a good look at the basket for your next shot.
2. You miss your pitch out and hit a tree (you probably would have missed the hero shot if you can’t execute a pitch out.)

If you’re looking to get better at disc golf consistently I recommend practicing your pitch out. Get a good couple of stable, premium, low glide discs. The Aviar3 and Omen are great for this. Take them to places that are a bad tree kick off the fairway and practice getting back onto the fairway for your next shot.
Take your time and focus on that shot. Missing a pitch out because you’re not concentrating is a bad feeling, I promise you.

The pitch out is a shot in disc golf that everyone has to do sometimes. It’s a skill, and practicing it will make you a more consistent disc golfer.

May your discs miss all the trees,
Andrew Streeter #70397

On a personal note, this is blog #150 for me. I’d like to thank you for reading any and or all of my disc golf blogs. I’m really fortunate to work at a job that lets me write about anything disc golf related that I like. Thanks for being a part of my journey with me.

There are two kinds of disc golf funk/slumps.

1. You aren’t playing as well as you usually do. It’s frustrating to the point where you question why you’re playing.
2. You’re not having fun playing disc golf, and you don’t know why.

Both of these are cruddy feelings to experience. But they’re human and they’re natural to feel. Plenty of people have felt that they weren’t enjoying disc golf in the past. Here’s some people who were reaching out to ask for help. The first pic was on Disc Golf Course Review, the second was Reddit, and the last link is from Foundation Disc Golf’s Podcast. I couldn’t find a twitter thread from the other day, but someone was talking about hanging up their bag for good.

Even 2022 EURGC Champion Gannon Buhr considered quitting the sport. He had an injury in 2020 and broke his left knee. It took him two months to even bend his knee, and the doctor said it was a 4 month recovery to even begin playing. He was upset because he knew what to do, but his body wasn’t doing it.

I’m not in any way on the same level as Gannon Buhr, but I can empathize with him being injured. In fact 80% of disc golfers can empathize with that. Sucking at something that you used to be good at is incredibly frustrating.

Progress isn’t linear. Getting good at disc golf takes time, passion, study, and work. You will have highs, lows, and middling for a time. Here’s 2018 World Champion Gregg Barsby’s ratings over time. The blue lines represent his rating at the time, and the green squiggle shows how many points he improved or lost.

While working with folks in disc golf lessons I make it clear that we’re out there to learn. It may take 20 tries to get a skill for the first time, and then another 5 tries to get it again. Then you may go 50 times in a row without getting the skill right. Take a breath and regroup.

1. Celebrate your victories.
Seriously, you do a lot of things well in disc golf. Maybe you’re a great putter, or you have a fantastic forehand. I want you to focus on the things you’re doing well. In disc golf that could mean you didn’t make any mistakes. If your forehand was good all round consider that a positive outcome.

2. Relax.
It’s going to get better. You expect a lot out of yourself, and that pressure can be good at times. Paul McBeth missed the cut at an event this year, and then he won the world championships on that course later that year. Every putt isn’t for $100, that drive that hit a tree can’t be changed after you’ve thrown it. Breathe in and out, and remember that disc golf is fun.

3. Set goals and define how you’ll achieve them.
Maybe your goal will be to shoot under par on a certain hole that’s been bugging you. You could try playing that hole over and over, so when you come up to it in a round you have a better idea of what to do. I find that I’m much better about getting my tasks done when I write them down on my calendar. Try setting dates for your goals.

4. Take a lesson.
Everyone who is a pro disc golfer has taken a lesson at some point, and probably given a few as well. I’ve taken lessons in the past and I will take more in the future. You can’t watch yourself in real time, a coach can help you immensely. I couldn’t see that my release point was killing me, Philo helped me out and I’m hitting my backhand drives with a lot better power now. We offer lessons at SDG, but you can always try reaching out to your local pro on Instagram and see if they’ll help you.

1. Don’t keep score.
This is hard for me as I mentally try to keep everyone’s scores. It’s hard if you play with competitive people. It’s much easier with newer players who may have a few extra strokes per hole. Sometimes they even take the box in front of you when you got a 2 and they got a 5. That moment of improper etiquette makes me laugh, and makes me not take the game as seriously for a moment.

2. Play fetch with a dog.
The WestPaw Zogoflex Zisc is the best dog frisbee I’ve ever used. My dad says if the PDGA ever approves this disc he’ll shave at least 3 strokes per round.
You know who doesn’t care if your disc hits a tree when you throw it?
A dog.
They don’t care if your disc hyzers out early or flips over. They’re happy you’re throwing for them.
I credit a black lab named Harper for helping me out of a disc golf depression. I was upset with myself for not playing well and she just barked in my face every time until I threw her frisbee. Making her happy made me happy and I was back to loving throwing plastic again.

3. Take a break from throwing plastic.
Plenty of pros have taken a mental health break, disc golf is their job every day. They grind disc golf from March until October and drive all over the US to do it. Go fishing, go hiking, go to a concert, go do anything other than disc golf if you need to get that itch back. I find that a week maybe two away from throwing gets me itching to play again.

I can’t tell you exactly what’s going to get you back into disc golf. But if you ever are thinking of giving up this sport maybe take a moment and remember why you fell in love with disc golf. Here’s a fun video for you to watch of some incredible disc golf shots, that always helps me remember all of the amazing things a disc can do.

May your discs miss all the trees,
Andrew Streeter #70397

Premium stamps don’t have any effect on the flight of a disc*. They just look super cool when you pull them from your bag, remind you of the event you played in or how your favorite player looks, and then they’re cool when you walk up to them too.

*I write the disc descriptions here at Sabattus, and I do try to let you know if a run of discs is domey, flat, flippy, whatever difference from standard flight is expected.*

I bag some cool stamps to support players I like, and because it’s a great way to support pros who aren’t regularly winning large sums of money on the DGPT. Even if I wanted to throw premium stamped everything it’s still about 25 dollars per disc. That would make the 8 molds that Calvin throws $200.

Disc golf is not really a pay to win game. One reason that I transitioned away from Yu-Gi-Oh, a game that I played for almost a decade, is that it became pay to win. Every 6 months a new ban list would come out and cards that were worth $100 one day would be useless the next. I’d search “budget decks” on YouTube and see what I could build to try to sneak into the top 8 at my locals. It wasn’t a matter of skill sometimes, you’d just run into someone who had a deck that was worth 6x what yours was and the cards overwhelmed you.

If you only purchased DX discs you can still be a competitive player. Here’s Paul McBeth playing with the plastic from back in the day. It’s not a disc golf pro tour level course, but he’s playing a course at the level that most of us are familiar with. He finishes -9 on the course, with discs he’s not super familiar with.

Paul was playing with a DX Banshee (1998), DX Stingray (1987), Gazelle (1994), DX Cobra (1988), and a DX Aviar (1983).

Here’s Paul throwing just a Zeus and a Luna and winning a B Tier tournament in 2020.

I wrote a blog in 2020 about what disc golf really costs. The prices have gone up a bit, but the point remains the same. You can play this sport with what the pros use, on the courses the pros play, and get to feel the same experience for a reasonable price.

One of the reasons I’ll always love this sport is that I get the same chance to use the same equipment as everyone else. It allows me to measure myself against others and to see from the top players how they’re able to manipulate the flight of a disc that I’m familiar with. That’s one of the reasons I think that disc golf is going to grow and be around for a long time.

May your discs miss all the trees,
Andrew Streeter #70397

This week in the blog I’d like to help you hit more gaps, tunnel shots, and be able to go straight at the pin more often.

Why is throwing straight important?

I’d argue throwing straight is just as important as distance, especially when you play wooded courses. It’s always frustrating when everyone else on your card pures a 20 foot gap for 300 feet and you’re 100 feet down the fairway having to pitch out sideways to the fairway. That’s like a 2 stroke swing!

Pros make a living hitting gaps and straight shots, and even they miss sometimes. Gannon hit lots of big shots to win the 2022 EURGC. His ability to throw a fairway driver straight 325 feet was one of those reasons.

Sure, there’s tournaments like the Las Vegas Challenge where they need distance over accuracy on some holes. But next year we’ve got Smuggs for worlds. Gregg Barsby won in Vermont in 2018 because he can throw straight shots consistently. Distance is important, control is just as important.

How far can you throw straight?

I’m not talking about that one time you pured a gap with a high speed driver and somehow missed every tree. I want to talk about realistic and consistent tunnel shots that you can hit over and over.

We’re all capable of throwing 10 feet straight. That’s a short putt that we’ve all hit before (and probably all missed as well). But for the most part we can all hit that regularly and with something that short we don’t really aim for any side to side action. We want to aim really straight at the pole, or maybe to the chain link just to the right or left of the pole. So that’s our baseline distance for a straight throw

I think the above average player can throw about 100 feet straight with a putter, 200 feet straight with a mid, and 300 feet straight with a fairway driver. There are no distance drivers that I can think of that consistently are straight (without hyzerflipping). They have to be thrown so fast to not hyzer out that throwing them straight is a rarity.

What’s the first step to throwing straight?

Throw the disc level. I can’t stress how important it is to throw the disc on a level release. It’s much more likely that you won’t flip over a disc or hyzer out early when you throw level.

This is a very time consuming and frustrating part of disc golf. Throwing a flat, level throw, with very little wobble is what really separates serious players from folks who just get out once a month.

Just like when I warm up for long distance drives, I throw my midranges to practice throwing straight. I don’t care about the distance. I don’t care if they go left or right. The only thing I’m going to be focusing on is that they come out flat, and no wobble.

Sometimes it’s 10 throws to warm up and get things right. Other times it takes 40 throws.
There’s not much of a science to it other than to do it until it feels right.

Once you have the disc flying level it’s time to pick the right disc for the job.

I think the 100-200-300 method is a great way to think about straight shots. If it’s about 100 feet pick a putter, 200 feet for a mid, and 300 feet for a driver.

Sure you can pump a putter 300 feet, but that’s a lot of effort! Try throwing discs the way they’re designed to fly and you’ll have plenty of success.

Here are my Innova disc recommendations at 100-200-300 feet for backhand and forehand discs. These are discs that I have success with at those distances. Notice that most of the discs when you add the Turn and Fade together have a rating of 0, -1, or 1. For a straight shot you want discs that don’t have lots of turn and fade. The exception is the AviarX3, which I believe is straight when thrown short. In my experience it’s much less fade than a 3, I’d say it’s much closer to 1.5.

100 Feet: (Backhand) Aviar - (Forehand) AviarX3
200 Feet: (Backhand) Mako3 - (Forehand) Rat
300 Feet: (Backhand) TL3 - (Forehand) Savant

Does a forehand or backhand matter for the distance you can throw straight?

Great question! The only difference that I notice is disc selection for players. Forehand players and backhand players can throw those 100-300 feet with the same level of accuracy, it depends on which throwing style is your natural one. I think forehand throws tend to need a bit more stability in their discs because of the initial torque of the forehand.

One example I’m going to give is of an Innova Aviar versus an Innova AviarX3. These are both excellent disc choices for the 100 foot straight throw.

The Aviar doesn’t handle the torque of a forehand throw as well as the AviarX3 will. There’s some folks out there who can do a short forehand of putters very well. I’m not one of them, and touchy upshots with discs that aren’t as stable are tough to throw.

So if you’re a forehand thrower for those 100 foot shots I highly recommend getting something a little flatter top and with a little bit of fade. Some “approach discs” like the Pig or Zone are very beefy and will hold straight only as long as they have lots of power behind them.

Last tip, something I learned from Philo Brathwaite.

When Philo was here teaching players in September I had a great time learning from him. The one trick that I took from him was to think about my disc as something different from my hips. In lessons I often tell people to stop after they throw and to look at where their hips and shoulders are pointed. You’ll find that lots of times you’re pointed right at where the disc is going to land.

Philo told the clinic that there has to be space in a gap for your disc to fly, not your hips. Oftentimes we point our hips down the fairway (for backhand throws), but the disc is a foot away from my hips when I’m throwing it. If you don’t adjust where you’re standing or where you’re pointing to compensate for that extra foot, you’ll end up hitting the trees. I compensate by aiming a foot to the right of where I have been and I’ve seen myself making a lot more straight throws. When you only have 10 feet of fairway to work with it really makes a difference.

Throwing straight in disc golf is an advanced disc golfer skill. It’s something that takes the commitment of time and practice, choosing the right discs, and making mistakes. If you play somewhere wooded you’ll need to learn to throw straight down the tunnel to improve your game.

I hope that this blog helps you hit more gaps and tunnel shots. Let me know if there’s a trick that you find helps you.

May your discs miss all the trees,
Andrew Streeter #70397