discs

How many putters did you try before you found “the one?”

/ P.J. / 27 Comments

Being a successful putter is like being in a successful relationship. Both require dedication, commitment, and sacrifice. It isn’t always easy, but in the end, if you are willing to work hard enough, the rewards are worth the struggle.

But finding that special putter that you want to settle down and spend the rest of your disc golf life with can be quite the journey.

When I first started playing, I picked up an Innova DX Aviar, and we got along OK, but I just wasn’t that into it. That spark just wasn’t there, and we parted ways.

Shortly thereafter, I found a Discraft Magnet, and I was in love. The way it felt in my hand, how it hit the chains so gently. We just connected. I thought it was the one.

After a couple of months, though, something went wrong. I don’t know if it was me, or the putter, but we just weren’t clicking anymore. I was missing five-foot putts, and it was a strain on our relationship.

Plus, my eye started to wander. I saw a sexy MVP Ion in a shop, and I took it for a spin. The look, the feel … this baby was hot. I left my Magnet, and was swept off my feet by the Ion.

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Taking disc golf to the streets (and anywhere else you can set up a basket)

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One of the ideas a couple of us had when we initially started this disc golf blog was to do some urban disc golf.

We thought it would be fun to take a portable and explore, and to see if we could come up with some fun video.

It might be around here. Elsewhere. Travels. Whatever.

But urban disc golf is new to a few of us. We’ve tried a few things and screwed around with some videos. And there’s going to be more, hopefully. Especially now that the weather is turning good.

But what makes for a good urban disc golf video?

A few months back, four of us got together to do a little testing of the urban disc golf idea. We have ideas on how to expand it and such, but we wanted to do a few things to see what kind of reactions we could get.

We started in downtown Albany (N.Y.) and wandered around. It wasn’t the busiest day, so that made it nice to be able to move around and see what we could get away with.

And get more ideas.

This is one we did. The lady in the bus stop definitely seemed to wonder what the heck we were up to.

Is this the best urban disc golf video? Of course not. But we are working to try and make things better. Maybe get some more people. Maybe try a couple of crazy spots. Maybe things can get better.

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Poll 8: Rounds per week

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It appears disc golfers don’t overdo it when it comes to PDGA-sanctioned tournaments.

In last week’s poll, when we asked our readers how many PDGA tournaments they would play in this year, the winning answer was 3-6.

It makes me wonder if we should have just said tournaments? After all, there are doubles tournaments, non-sanctioned local tournaments and other ideas. But, it’s also interesting to see how many PDGA tournaments, because one pays the membership fee to be part of the organization.

Maybe we’ll re-visit this later in the year and make it overall tournaments and see how many tourneys people actually played in.But for now, let’s see how the vote turned out. A total of 86 people voted.

The winning selection of 3-6 tournaments received 29 votes (34 percent). In second was 1-2 tournaments with 19 votes (22 percent). Third was 7-10 with 13 votes (15 percent), followed by none (11 votes/13 percent).

It’s interesting to have the “none” vote that high. Is it that people are not playing in PDGA tournaments or none at all? Either way, it’s intriguing to me as I think it might show the more casual side of this sport and how beneficial it can be etc.

Let’s see what some people said for last week’s poll.

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Weekly disc golf wrap: News and notes

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Another week gone by as we get deeper and deeper into the 2012 playing season and the news is seemingly blooming.

In our neck of the woods in the Northeast, the weather has been fantastic. That, of course, means more playing and more chances to get disc golf in the mainstream media.

April 21

  • Disc golf gains popularity in Saskatoon (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada)
  • Former PDGA World Champion McCabe started career in Emporia

April 20

April 19

  • Disc golf course ?to open in Lake in the Hills (Lake in the Hills, Ill.)
  • Charting a disc golf course in Riverside Park (Grand Forks, ND)
  • Fishing, Disc Golf Possible Parts of Park Grant Application (New Lenox, Ill.)
  • Drought forces disc golf course to close (Georgetown, Texas)
  • You may already have a franchise in the ICBA (Hillsboro, Ohio)
  • Student aces competition in disc golf (Western Carolina Univ.)

April 18

  • Williamson County disc golf course closed for six months because of dead trees (Georgetown, Texas)
  • Disc golf course founder Ben Barton honored for dedication (Laketown Township, Mich.)
  • CSU team captures national disc golf title (Coloradan.com)
  • Dog park, disc golf course now open (Grand Chute, Wisc.)

April 17

  • Disc golf’s popularity soars (Omaha, Neb.)
  • Emporia can place a bid to host Amateur Disc Golf World Championship (Emporia, Kan)
  • CSU takes home men’s disc golf national title (Fort Collins, Colo.)

April 16

  • Disc Golf Contractor Renegotiates Agreement with City (story about pay-to-play course; also has update for April 18; Inver Grove Heights, Minn.)
  • Colorado State wins disc golf crown (Augusta, Ga.)
  • A Warm Day for a Round of Disc Golf (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.)
  • PTC disc golf course to close for renovations (Peachtree City, Ga.)
  • Glass Blown Open gets high praises (Emporia, Kan.)
  • Colorado State outpaces the field for Collegiate Disc Golf title (Augusta, Ga.)

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

April 21: What’s in your bag?

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Kevin Morrow's bag, filled with his orange discs!

This week’s What’s in your bag? feature shows us the contents of Kevin Morrow, who keeps his discs easy to find with them all being orange.

Morrow, of Fredericksburg,Va., calls Loriella DGC his home course.

Now let’s take a peek at his bag contents (in Kevin’s words) …

I began playing in 1986. Around 2002, I stopped playing and began playing again in 2010. So much had changed in those few years.

First, I ended up cracking all my old DX plastic and needed to replace my discs. Then I went online and discovered all the disc golf sites and e-stores selling everything you could ever want.

It’s not like the old days when you had to wait for the local pro to show up so you could buy your plastic out of his trunk. They still do that but now you go online and the latest plastic can be at your door the next day. So, I had to learn discs all over again and the different plastics. I have bought just about every mold and tried it out to see how it fit my throw.

My bag:

It is a little different than most. I got the idea from a member a DGCourseReview who found this backpack on Cabela’s website. It looked like a great option and I always wanted to find a backpack style that didn’t cost an arm and a leg.

Kevin's bag and discs.

My bag is a Cabela’s XPG Pro Series angle tackle backpack. It lists for 69.99 but I was able to get it for the online sale price of 49.99, with free shipping.

I had to make a few modifications. I built a half-inch PVC frame to keep the bottom compartment that held the tackle boxes rigid. With the frame, I can carry about 19 discs. Without the frame, even more can be stored. I only carry 14 discs.

The top compartment has plenty of room for my extra stuff. I also drop an orange or some kind of snack, too. The top flat pocket, behind the sunglasses case, makes a great putter pocket that can carry two putters, but it can’t be zipped up with discs inside. So I put the putters in the top compartment when I’m traveling. I like personalizing my stuff. Most of the patches were given to me by friends and family.

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Noodle-Armed Review: Discmania FD Jackal

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Rattling Chains writer Steve Hill takes on Discmania's FD Jackal in his first Noodle-Armed Review column. (photo by Kelly Hill)

The Noodle-Armed Review is intended for those players, like myself, who aren’t power arms and don’t quite hit 300 feet. Sure, it would be nice if you could throw longer, but let’s just hope you have a solid mid-range game to make up for it.

Disclaimer: If you throw more than 300 feet, please disregard the following review and assume that the disc in question flies like a mighty Pegasus on wings made of platinum and pixie dust. Or, keep reading and give it a shot for yourself.

In short, this one’s for the little guys.

The Reviewer

Name: Steve
Experience: 13 months
Favorite disc: DX Teebird
Throwing style: Lefty backhand
Max Distance: 280 feet
Preferred driver weight: 164-168 g
Aces: 0
PDGA Rating: Unknown
Summary: Just your average player who is happy to get a few rounds of disc golf in a week, but can’t seem to build up a cannon arm yet.

The Disc

Name: FD Jackal
Manufacturer: Discmania
Weight: 168 g
Color: Orange
Plastic: S-line (opaque premium)
Other available plastics: D-line (base), C-line (translucent premium)
Manufacturer’s Ratings: Speed 7 Glide 6 Turn -1 Fade 1

Manufacturer’s description: “Discmania’s first true fairway driver is also known as the Jackal. The FD is (such a) controllable low-speed driver, that once you learn its magic you’ll never leave it out of your bag. Packed with gigantic glide, this bad boy is also sneaky long if thrown accordingly. The Jackal is at its best when you need to make an accurate drive and land smoothly on the fairway.”

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Creative Corner: Making a portable basket personal

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Darren Dolezel's lit-up basket at the local Relay For Life event in 2011.

I recently came to the conclusion that I have an addictive personality.

When I get involved in something I like and enjoy, I usually jump in full force and take it to another level.

When I first got into disc golf, the first thing I purchased, besides many discs, was an Innova SkillShot portable basket. It was a good starter basket, but I didn’t think it caught discs as well as a real basket. Next came an Innova DISCatcher Sport, which turned out to be great.

However, even though it was great, I couldn’t leave well enough alone. I wanted to find a way to modify the basket to make it better.

Cue the music and let’s hit the garage!

The first thing I did was get rid of the chains that came with the basket and replaced them with stainless steel chains. It’s not a cheap investment, but when you are blinded by the possibilities of what can be done, I tend to forget how much things cost. Not only did I replace the outer chains, but I also added inner chains.

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The card that changed my view of disc golf

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It started with a card.

After my first round or two of disc golf, I wasn’t fully hooked. (Can you imagine that?) It was interesting, to be sure. But it’s not something I thought I would catch on as a personal sport or hobby.

I couldn’t see it on TV.

The closest course was a little more than an hour away.

And, truthfully, it was frustrating to throw a disc, watch it sail 20 feet up in the air and then drop a mere 75 feet away.

A few months after my initial exposure to the sport, I was at a baseball card show with a friend. I’ve long been a collector of baseball cards, so I’m always interested in opening new items. During this trip, two of us decided to split a hobby box of 2010 Allen and Ginter cards, a Topps product.

Midway through the box, I cracked a pack and sifted through the cards. I abruptly stopped as I came across an interesting one.

It was Avery Jenkins.

Though Allen and Ginter cards are mainly baseball, the set also features some interesting people — such as athletes from other sports, pop culture items and even odd things from many years ago (such as having a strand of hair from George Washington).

The card I pulled out of an Allen & Ginter pack.

And there, staring back at me, was Avery Jenkins putting. A disc golfer and somebody I had never heard of.

That made me wonder why in the world he was on a card.

Turns out he’s one of the best in the world. At disc golf.

When I started playing, I realized there was some sort of a national tour. I understood there were some major tournaments. And heck, I realized people made some coin playing disc golf.

But was this game big enough that Topps would find a disc golfer to put on a card? And with further research, I found out there were certified autographs and game-used cards for Jenkins.

That intrigued me.

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Poll 7: Tournament count this year?

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Before we get to this week’s poll, let’s take a peek back at last week’s answers and responses.

We asked our readers why they played disc golf. And, I have to be honest, I did not expect the winning vote — exercise.

A total of 94 people cast votes for this poll (voters were able to choose up to two answers). Exercise garnered 34 percent (32 votes) of the poll. Being out in nature followed in second with 27 percent of the vote (25 votes).

Hanging out with friends placed third (23 percent/22 votes), and competition (22 percent/21 votes) placed fourth. Relaxing and watching the disc fly tied for fifth (21 percent/20 votes).

It’s funny, because I’ve heard so many people say disc golf isn’t exercise. I’ve even heard disc golfers say that. And it makes me scratch my head. I always thought getting out, being active, walking a couple of miles and working different parts of your body would be exercise, no?

It’s not running a marathon, but it’s exercise. I’ve left many tournaments knowing the next day I was going to feel it.

So, it makes me smile knowing exercise was the top vote getter (it was one of the ones I personally voted for, along with hanging out with friends).

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Weekly disc golf wrap: News and notes

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With the National Disc Golf Championships for college and the Glass Blown Open A-Tier events going on this weekend, it was a good week for news in the mainstream media.

From television to print media, disc golf was in the news — and that’s a good thing!

There were some overall good reads this week, so check out the weekly wrap below and get your fill of disc golf stories and news!

April 15

April 14

April 13

April 12

April 11

April 10

April 9

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