discs

Happy Thanksgiving!

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thanksgiving

Though we know we have readers outside the borders of the United States, we at Rattling Chains want to wish everybody who celebrates it a happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy the time you get to spend with family and friends!

Also be thankful for what you have!

And just in case you fill up too much on turkey, get out and throw some discs!

If you have any comments, questions, thoughts, ideas or anything else, feel free to e-mail me and the crew at: pj@rattlingchains.com. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook!

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November 25: What’s in Your Bag?

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This edition of What’s in your bag? comes to us from Ken Luckenbill, who hails from the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania and calls Jordan Creek Park in Whitehall his home course.

in_your_bag

The bag in question is actually a fishing backpack, converted into something for disc golf. This came, he says, after reading an article on Rattling Chains about do-it-yourself bags. And though that article noted not to use the Spiderwire bag, Luckenbill works at Dicks Sporting Goods and got a discount on the bag, so he opted to use it. That and it’s the only fishing backpack that Dicks carries.

The work that went into the bag was extensive, but Luckenbill loved each moment. PVC pipes frame the bottom, flex PVC keeps the putter pocket upright, there are two mini pockets added to each side and elastic bands across the front keep the discs in.

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Poll 64: The Outsiders

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Before we begin, no this post isn’t about the 1980s movie.

Instead, we’re curious about something — how do people respond when you tell them you play disc golf? In recent weeks, there have been some crazy looks when people hear it from my mouth.

pollSo how about you?

Before we get to that, however, we need to go back and check out our last poll.

We asked you if you had ever had or witnessed a good old-fashioned blow up on the course? Though we didn’t get a lot of voters, we received some good stories!

Of the 70 voters, 55 people (79 percent) said yes. That left 15 (21 percent) to say no.

Some shared stories while other made some good points. So before hitting up our current poll, let’s check back to see what some readers said.

Kyle Breuer said:

Over the years that I have been playing, like most, I’ve witnessed my fair share of people blow up on the course. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a tournament round or just a warm up. Some people just do NOT understand how to keep their composure. While some of it may be due to immaturity, not all of it is. Frankly, I think it’s embarrassing.

No one is perfect. Everyone tends to throw a bad shot (maybe even a few during a single round) here and there. Personally, it’s how you rebound from those shots. Why waste a round on a blow up?

It’s a good point, for sure. But once competition comes into play and if there’s money on the line, people tend to get a little crazy.

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Andrew’s Travelogue: International Diplomacy

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By Andrew Belet – Rattling Chains staff

At the risk of sounding crude and violent, I must begin today’s submission with my explanation of how I’ve treated international situations up until now.

When I was 15, I was fortunate enough to go to Germany as an exchange student, which I loved. I joined the military right out of high school, and since then, my diplomatic skills have started at the barrel of my rifle and ended with the impact of the projectile. It’s not a fun job, believe me.

belet

This is why coming to South Korea for a year is so great; there is a phrase here that refers to Korean/American relations: “katchi kapshida,” which means “we go together!”

Truly, South Korea would be much worse off if not for us. As well, America would be much worse off without our friends in the now-prosperous country of South Korea.

For armed forces members here on the peninsula, we are constantly encouraged to go out in town and volunteer in the community. We do so, and gladly. In fact, this winter, I will be coaching the Korean Special Olympics, which is a passion of mine I’ve had since I first coached weightlifting in high school for the Montana Special Olympics.

Most Koreans regard our presence here with great respect and a spirit of friendship. Older Koreans, who can remember the Korean War, show their gratitude to every American they see, armed forces or not.

So I was quite excited when my Korean friend, HyunDo Jang, contacted me via Facebook and asked if he and his girlfriend, Shinah Kim, could come up and play the Dragon’s Lair.

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Win some glow plastic!

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By P.J. Harmer — Rattling Chains staff

It’s that time of the month again — our giveaway time!

As daylight gets harder and harder to see, we wanted to give something a little different. So how about some glow plastic?

The discs, glowing.

The discs, glowing.

First, though, allow us to announce the last winner — of the MVP plastic.

The winner of the MVP prize pack was Tricia Lafferty, whose Facebook entry earned her the pack! Congrats, Tricia! An e-mail has been sent. Please get us the needed info within a week, or we’ll have to re-draw for another winner!

And now, back to the task at hand.

This month, we’re handing out some glow plastic. That includes an Innova Aviar (big-bead), with some custom art by Rattling Chains crew member Darren Dolezel. We also have two glow minis — a Rattling Chains one and one from the 2011 New Jersey Jam, donated by professional Bob Graham.

I don’t have the weight on the Aviar, but if I remember right, it’s about 172.

The winner will be chosen at random by RaffleCopter at the end of the giveaway.

The discs, not glowing.

The discs, not glowing.

How it works: To gain entries, you have to do the items below. The first is mandatory — a comment on the blog — and you have to answer a question, which you can see when you click on that option. PLEASE answer that question as last time some people didn’t do so. We do this to make it fun and interactive.

Once you do that, the other items unlock and you can see what is there. You can earn more entries by tweeting each day, too. If you click on the tweet button under that option, there’s a tweet ready to go for you! Just make sure you’re already signed in.

Even better for those of you who follow us on social media or entered last month’s giveaway, the entries should be quicker and easier!

Enjoy and have fun! Good luck!

Enter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
//d12vno17mo87cx.cloudfront.net/embed/rafl/cptr.js

If you have any comments, questions, thoughts, ideas or anything else, feel free to e-mail me and the crew at: pj@rattlingchains.com. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook!

Photo Focus: Nov. 6

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(Photo focus will run every few weeks or so on Rattling Chains. The idea is to focus on disc golf photographs submitted by staff members and readers. To see the guidelines for submitting a photograph for this feature, click here.)

Disc golf hide and seek (photo by Brian Bell)

Disc golf hide-and-seek (photo by Brian Bell)

I am an older (master’s age) disc golfer who has been playing since the late 1970s. I admit my eyesight isn’t what it used to be.

On this particular day, I was playing at Kinslow Disc Golf Course in Sunbury, Ohio. I had played the course once before, but was still fairly unfamiliar with the layout. On the first round I played there, I managed to throw and lose both of the drivers that I had packed for the day (a blue blizzard Katana, pictured, and a yellow champion Monarch).

Being out of work for a good while (I am taking care of my wife, who has rheumatoid arthritis, and is recovering from several related surgeries and conditions), I was quite disheartened as I could not replace the discs. I searched for more than 30 minutes for each disc before giving up.

I had my name and phone number on the disc and would have to trust to the honesty of any player who found the discs later.

Still, I was determined it would not ruin my day! I was out in the sun and playing a sport I love! I played the rest of the round using my mid-range discs (DX Cobra, champion Super Stingray, and DX Stingray).

After finishing the round, I looked in my car to see if I had any drivers laying around. I was in luck! I had an old, first-run, Typhoon hiding under a blanket.

I started a second round. I found that I enjoyed the way that the old DX plastic felt in my hand. I also took joy in the way that the slower discs just seemed to hang in the air, with long, graceful flight paths. I didn’t even mind when the Super Stingray decided to play tree-pinball, bouncing from bumper-tree to bumper-tree on one of the holes (triple-bogey).

I got back around to hole 10 (where I lost my Katana). Determined not to lose another disc, I aimed wide of the thorn brambles. The Typhoon sailed in a lovely “S” pattern, graciously landing in the open “neck” of the course (between the brambles on the right and the trees on the left). My second shot passed the basket, but not by much allowing me to finish on the third shot. I decided to take a moment (since there was no-one behind me) and look one last time for the Katana. I went back to the tee, lined up where I had thrown it the last round and made a direct course for the place the disc entered the brambles. After climbing into the brambles I looked up in the branches (as I did 20 times before) and I found the disc! Ten minutes of work later, I had it down and was back on my way.

Later, on 14 (I think), I teed-off and when I went to make a second throw, I found my missing Monarch! This was a good day indeed!

On the next throw, my Katana caught some wind and ended up in the “rough”. When I later found it, I laughed out loud and took the picture. My only thought was “Disc golf — hide-and-seek for grown-ups!”

— Brian Bell 

Techie info:

  • Camera: Samsung SCH-I200
  • Aperture: f/2.6
  • Exposure: —
  • Focal Length: 2.8 mm
  • ISO: 50

If you have any comments, questions, thoughts, ideas or anything else, feel free to e-mail me and the crew at: pj@rattlingchains.com. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook!

October 28: What’s in Your Bag?

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This week’s edition of What’s in Your Bag? comes to us from Sean Steele, who calls the windy and well-known courses of Emporia, Kansas home.

After getting his start playing back in 1996 with some friends after football practice, Steele didn’t get overly serious about disc golf until 2010.

“I instantly fell back in love with the sport, and since then have been playing almost daily rounds with a few tournaments this past year,” Steele said.

in_your_bag

Since returning to disc golf, Steele has seen the opening of major retailer Dynamic Discs offer him a wider selection than back when he started.

“Back in ’96 you had Innova and Discraft, so in 2010 I had more options than
the Cyclone and Shark of my previous playing days,” he said. “Luckily Dynamic Discs had opened up its headquarters and I had the best selection at my front door.”

Steele in particular gravitated toward much of the plastic originating from the Latitude 64 factory in Sweden, and the company and its subsidiaries now dominate his lineup.

“I took a liking to the glide, feel, and appearance of the Latitude 64 plastics, and since then have molded a bag around that plastic with the discs that work best for me,” Steele said. “Dynamic Discs, with their releases (also molded by Latitude 64) have really hit my needs with their flat top mids and long, but easier to throw, drivers.”

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Andrew’s Travelogue: Testing the Dragon’s Lair

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By Andrew Belet — Rattling Chains Staff

As noted in previous posts, my ability to play disc golf in South Korea is based solely on Facebook groups “Disc Golfers of Korea,” “Daegu Disc Golf,” and the “KPDGA Official Page.”

belet

It was through these channels that I met up with a crew to play Beacon Hill, which led to my first ace in a foreign country. I made even more friends through it, too.  I was lucky enough to have three of those friends make a long journey up to play my new course, the Dragons Lair, which now has tone poles.

Jessica and Connor took a bus from another military base down near Seoul, and James came all the up from Daegu via car. That’s about a six hour-drive, and only if the traffic is good. I’m extremely humbled and honored that they would come all that way just to play a nine-hole course. It also shows the dedication of the disc golf community here in Korea.

That being said, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. Until now, the only people who have played the Dragon’s Lair are my fellow soldiers. Most of them are inexperienced disc golfers, and the ones who do have “the love of the game” are just glad to have somewhere to play.

Would my course hold up to the scrutiny of other DGers who have played all over the world?

James has played every course in South Korea and had a hand in designing or raising funds for at least half of them. Luckily for me, disc golfers tend to be a pretty chill bunch. I’m mostly hoping for honest, open feedback so I can make the course even better.

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Poll 63: Blowing up on the course

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OK, folks, it’s time to really have some fun.

This poll truly only works, however, if you leave a comment at the end explaining.

poll

We want to know this — have you, or have you seen, somebody have an honest-to-goodness blowup on the course? We’re not talking just a toss of a towel or something, but a true boomer that makes people stop and stare?

We’ll expand more on that in a moment.

Before we get into the new poll, let’s check out the results and some comments from the last poll, when we asked you what your favorite season was for disc golf.

Of the 156 people who voted in the poll, it was a runaway victory for fall, which garnered 91 votes (58 percent). Summer followed with 31 votes (20 percent). Spring placed third (30 votes/19 percent) and winter was last (4 votes/3 percent).

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Win some MVP discs!

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By P.J. Harmer — Rattling Chains staff

OK, folks, it’s time to give away some more plastic.

And we have a couple of nice discs to give you this time, but before we get to that, let’s clean up our last giveaway.

You can win these MVP discs!

You can win these MVP discs! (photo by Steve Hill)

The winner of that awesome Rattling Chains prize pack was Erik J. Barzeski, whose twitter entry earned him the pack! Congrats, Erik. An e-mail will be sent and please get us the needed info within a few days, or we’ll have to re-draw for another winner!

And now, back to the task at hand.

We have two MVP discs, slightly used by Rattling Chains staffer Steve Hill for review purposes. Outside of that, they are slick and ready to add to your bag! So, hook it up and enter to win!

The discs:

  • An MVP Resistor (pink)
  • An MVP Volt, proton plastic (green)

The winner will be chosen at random by RaffleCopter at the end of the giveaway.

How it works: To gain entries, you have to do the items below. The first is mandatory — a comment on the blog — and you have to answer a question, which you can see when you click on that option. PLEASE answer that question as last time some people didn’t do so. We do this to make it fun and interactive.

Once you do that, the other items unlock and you can see what is there. You can earn more entries by tweeting each day, too. If you click on the tweet button under that option, there’s a tweet ready to go for you! Just make sure you’re already signed in.

Even better for those of you who follow us on social media or entered last month’s giveaway, the entries should be quicker and easier!

Enjoy and have fun! Good luck!

Enter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
//d12vno17mo87cx.cloudfront.net/embed/rafl/cptr.js

If you have any comments, questions, thoughts, ideas or anything else, feel free to e-mail me and the crew at: pj@rattlingchains.com. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook!