Polls

Poll 24: How much is too much for a disc?

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OK, there’s been a lot of things I’ve read about collectible discs.

I know of several people who have spent many dollars on discs to add to their collections. And I shake my head in wonder over this. But, we’ll get to that in a moment.

For now, let’s peek back to last week’s poll. We were curious how long of a break you had taken from disc golf. It could be for any reason, but since becoming a disc golfer, what kind of breaks have you taken?

We had 103 voters in this poll and the winning selection was two weeks, which scored 29 votes (28 percent). Second place went to a year or longer with 19 votes (19 percent). One month tied with 2-3 months for the next spot (17 votes/17 percent), followed by 4-5 months (11 votes/11 percent) and 6-11 months (10 votes/nine percent).

It seems people, too, had different reasons for their breaks. Let’s see what some of the readers had to say.

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Poll 23: What’s your longest break?

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This next poll kind of goes out to the more avid golfers. Maybe not so much to the casual golfers who go whenever, but the ones who play on a regular basis.

Maybe you’re the one who plays in a weekly group. Or in leagues. Or every chance you get. You’ll be the ones I’m talking to.

But, for a moment, let’s go back to the last poll.

We had asked what your main throwing form is and the result, in my eyes, was not shocking.

Of the 129 players who gave an opinion, 82 percent — or 106 people — voted backhand. That was followed by sidearm (14 percent/18 votes) and then overhand (4 percent/5 votes).

To be honest, when I put this poll up, that was the kind of response I expected as it’s like a lefty in ball golf — it seems so rare when you see it. I know a few people who are mainly sidearm, but for the most part, the majority of people I know or have seen are backhand.

Maybe a few years down the line, as the game grows, this could change. But for now, the backhanders have it.

Let’s see what a few players had to say:

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Poll 22: Throwing form

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Have you ever noticed how repetitive sports are when playing them?

There are so many technical parts to a game that make it like that. Whether it be throwing, catching, swinging or whatever else, the motions and way to do things — and do them correctly — are repetitive.

It’s not to say it’s a bad thing. The repetitiveness nature of things is what makes someone better or worse than another.

Take, for example, baseball pitching.

A pitcher has several ways they can throw — overhand, 3/4 or sidearm. Some even go to a submarine style of throwing. But they stay with that in a predominate way, thus making it so their motion and such is what they do over and over.

Disc golf is no different. And part of that is something to keep in mind when we discuss this week’s poll question.

Before that, however, let’s go back to last week’s poll, when we asked you how you were introduced to the game.

Often, our poll questions come from the other writers on this site. Jack Trageser said he was curious about what people would say in response to this poll and even said he’d guess that the majority of people would vote the options of being introduced by a friend or seeing it being played would be the two top choices.

He was half right.

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Poll 21: How did you get introduced?

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It seems whenever I talk to somebody, they found the game in a different way.

Personally, I had seen baskets before and knew a little about it, but actually took an interest when we found a disc while out geocaching. Two of us thought it would be cool to try at some point, but that thought died soon after.

Eventually, a friend talked me and another friend into trying it. At that point, I had no clue about a pro tour or anything like that. It was just something new to try. I was more intrigued because the course he was taking us to had several geocaches throughout (as it was in a park).

I figured, heck, I can combine some hobbies and it could be fun.

More on that in a moment. Before we get to the rest of this story and this week’s poll, let’s re-visit last week’s poll.

Last week, we asked how strong your arm is — in other words, how far can you throw? I knew some people might point out that it’s not about strength, but form. And I understand that, but I was curious to see how far people could throw. Just raw throwing.

The results we got, to me, were interesting.

For a while, I knew I didn’t throw far. But over time, my throws got longer. It felt good. I estimated distance. Some friends told me I had to be throwing 300-325 feet. So I was stoked.

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Poll 20: How strong is your arm?

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I know, I know… drive for show, putt for dough.

Here’s my issue — I can’t drive and my putting is a love/hate relationship with the chains. What’s a rec player to do?

So, this week, we’re talking arm strength. But we’ll get to that in a moment. First, let’s revisit last week’s poll when we asked how close you all lived to a course.

Turns out a lot of you are way luckier than me.

As noted last week, it takes a while for me to get to a semi-decent course. More than 70 miles one way.

Of the 123 people who voted in this poll, 93 of you (76 percent) live within 0-10 miles of a course!

Talk about lucky! Sheesh!

The next one was 11-20 miles, which received 14 votes (11 percent). That means, 87 percent of the voters live within 20 miles of a course. I am so jealous!

From there, 21-40 miles took third (7 votes.6 percent), followed by 41-75 miles (6 votes/5 percent); 101 or more miles (2 votes/2 percent) and 76-100 miles (0 percent/1 vote).

For the record, I was the one vote for 76-100 miles.

Hopefully, I’ll eventually get to join the legions who are so close to a course. That would be a nice thing.

Let’s see what some of you had to say from last week, too.

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Poll 19: How far are you from a course?

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As I’ve noted here before, the nearest decent course from me is upward of 75 miles (or more) away.

That hampers me to be able to get out and play as much as I would. Even worse, it makes me lose some interest because I get doing other things. Add together the price of gas and such and I haven’t played a whole heap of disc golf this year.

With all that in mind, we’ll get to this week’s poll in a moment. Before then, let’s check back on last week’s poll to see what you all thought about playing in the heat.

A total of 83 voters took part in this poll and 48 percent (40 votes) said it’s never too hot to play. In second place, 22 voters (27 percent) said playing in 100-plus heat is too much. That was followed by high 90s (19 percent/16 votes); high 80s (4 percent/3 votes) and low 90s (2 percent/2 votes).

Luke notes:

I much prefer hot weather over cold, but the past few weeks it was in the upper 90?s, low 100?s. You couldn’t step outside without breaking a sweat. That was too much for me to stay outside long enough to get a round in.

That’s the one thing that’s tough — if one can’t move 10 feet without breaking a sweat and being uncomfortable, it’s definitely too hot!

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Poll 18: How hot is too hot?

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Will the heatwave stop?

Or do you even care?

I realize we did a weather poll not too long ago, but I’ve seen many “excessive” heat warnings for the upcoming week and one of the other writers here offered that kind of poll. So I’m going to go with it.

But first, let’s check in on the poll from two weeks ago and get things wrapped up there.

We wanted to know if you had ever called somebody out for a rule or courtesy violation and the results were extremely close.

Of the 79 voters, 52 percent of you (41 votes) said you hadn’t. The other 38 (48 percent) said you had.

That’s quite close. So, let’s check a few of the responses to try and get a better picture of things.

Justin Allen says:

I think the area I play in, is the only little piece of the world where the rules to disc golf are not enforced or even recognized. Our weekly tournaments are a big jumble of people just randomly throwing plastic at chains regardless of who is furthest out, people throwing from adjusted lies, or just not paying attention to other players. I find it very annoying and try to keep whoever is in my group in line. This has earned me the title of disc golf hall monitor among my peers. I am awaiting my striped referee jersey and whistle.

That would blow my mind.

I am, by no means, a rules-crazed person, but that would drive me up a wall. If people are so blatant in destroying the rules, I’m not sure I could play in that league. There, eventually, becomes a safety factor, too. If people are just firing off discs whenever and wherever they want, somebody could get railed with a disc.

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Poll 17: Calling people out in a tournament

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This is one of those questions I’ve wanted to see answered for a long time.

I’ve heard some incredible stories about these things, too. Tournaments can be pretty intense, especially when players are quoting rule books.

We’ll get to that in a moment, though.

First, let’s take a peek back at last week’s poll results and comments.

We wanted to know if you were a fair-weather golfer or if you played in pretty much any sort of weather that Mother Nature threw at you.

The results didn’t fully shock me, considering it seems to match up with many disc golfers I know.

I might only like certain weather situations, but many others seem to see it differently!

A total of 72 players voted in this week’s poll and of that group, 50 percent (36 votes) chose that they play in any weather.

That was followed by “A drizzle is fine, but not a rainstorm,” which drew 25 percent (18 votes) and was followed by “That’s what they make umbrellas and rain gear for!” (10  percent/7 votes).

“Sunshine only for me” was fourth with four votes (6 percent) and “Cold or heat is fine, but nothing else” rounded out the top-5 with three votes (4 percent).

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Poll 16: Are you fair weather?

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I have to admit this — I’m a bit of a fair-weather disc golfer.

This might be coupled with the fact that there’s not a decent course for a good 1:20 drive from me, but still.

I look ahead as far as I can when it comes to tournaments. Is it supposed to rain? Be too hot? It makes me consider if I want to play or not. Especially taking into consideration the terrain of the course.

But we’ll get to that in a second…

First, let’s take a peek at last week’s poll and see what we have.

Of the 72 voters who took part in the poll, 29 percent (21 votes) said they had lost 11 or more discs!

Eleven or more!

Knock on wood, but I’m lucky to know I’ve lost none. Of course, I also search for as long as possible to find my discs, but still. And, I’m sure, I’ll eventually lose a disc or two. It happens.

The next spot went to 5-6 discs, which garnered 22 percent (16 votes). Next was 3-4 discs (21 percent/15 votes), followed by 1-2 (13 percent/9 votes) and none (6 percent/4 votes).

To think people have lost so many discs!

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Poll 15: The lost discs

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We definitely want to know about your lost discs.

I’ve heard some great stories our there about discs being lost and the attempts to get them back etc.

So why not a poll?

The question is simple — you’ll let us know how many discs you’ve lost. But, the kicker is the comments. You have the chance to win some plastic in this one!

First, let’s go back to last week when we asked you how many people you’ve introduced to disc golf.

For this poll, 85 people took part. I was quite shocked at the top vote getter in that 32 percent (27 votes) said they have introduced 21 or more people to the sport. Well done, people!

That spot was followed by 3-5 (29 percent, 25 votes) and 6-10 (21 percent/18 votes). The fourth spot was 1-2 (9 percent/8 votes) and 11-20 took fifth (8 percent/7 votes).

The cool part? Of our 85 voters, not one said they hadn’t introduced someone to the sport, which is very nice.

Let’s check out a couple of the responses, too.

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