| Equipment | General Tips | Vocabulary |
Equipment
Targets
Disc golf can be played anywhere you can throw a disc. You can either make up an "object course" by making targets out of trees or trash cans or whatever you find around you, as the sport was originally played, or you can throw at two kinds of targets that were designed specially for the sport. The "pole hole," or "basket," is the most commonly used disc golf target. Disc golf baskets have three main components: a center pole, usually made of metal pipe, a rack that holds a set of hanging chains around the pole, and a basket underneath that catches your disc after it hits the chains. When you throw your disc so it lands in the basket, you have completed the hole. All major disc golf manufacturers sell their own models of basket. Some are lightweight and portable, and some are designed for permanent outdoor installation. Below are some images of disc golf baskets:
The other style of target is called a "tone pole." It is a metal pole that is roughly the same diameter as the catching area of the chains on a disc golf basket. When a disc strikes a tone pole, the pole rings, indicating successful completion of the hole. Tone poles are far less common these days than baskets.
Discs
You can play disc golf with any kind of disc you can throw, just as you can play basketball with anything from a wad of paper to a volleyball, but it's best to use equipment that is designed for the sport. Disc golf discs are generally smaller and denser than throw-and-catch discs, and have relatively thick, sharp rims. This design makes them difficult or even painful to catch, but it allows them to travel much farther than the "lids" people use for other disc sports, such as Ultimate. Golf discs are commonly divided into three or four main classes that borrow their names from the clubs used in traditional golf. The main classes of golf disc are as follows:
"Drivers" are designed to travel fast and far, and players usually throw them from the tee pad, or on long holes from the fairway. They are designed with low profiles and sharp, wedge-shaped rims to cut through the air at high speeds. They are the most difficult discs for a beginner to control. There are two subclasses of drivers. Long-distance drivers are the newest class of disc. They are designed to stretch the frontiers of the industry's technology, and approach the limits of the rules for disc design established by the Professional Disc Golf Association. Their slower cousins, sometimes called fairway drivers, fill a sort of half-class between long-distance drivers and midrange discs. Many models of fairway drivers were the long-distance drivers of the 1990s, but their range and speed has gradually been surpassed by wave after wave of new designs. Below are some photos of the edges of several drivers. The two on the left are long-distance drivers, and the two on the right are fairway drivers.
"Midrange discs" have blunter rims and fly at lower speed than drivers, and they are generally easier to control. They are analogous to the middle irons in ball golf. Players use them most often to get from the fairway into putting range. They are also useful for teeing off on short holes, or playing finesse shots around or out of trouble. Here are some photos of the edges of midrange discs.
"Putters," or "Putt and Approach" discs, are designed for short, accurate throws, usually at close range to the target. They have the squarest, bluntest rims of all golf discs, and typically resemble the discs used in Ultimate or other throw-and-catch games. Here are some photos of the edges of putters.
Here is an image of a long distance driver, a fairway driver, a midrange disc, and a putter that shows how their rims compare side-by-side.
Installation Equipment
The main feature of a permanently installed disc golf course is the set of targets, but courses usually include tee pads and signs to help you navigate. Tee pads can be as low-tech as simple as markers on the ground, such as a pair of bricks, or as high-tech as Vibram rubber mats. Perhaps the most common material used for disc golf tee pads is concrete, which course designers favor for its durability and players favor for its even, consistent surface. You may encounter tee pads that are covered in mulch, gravel, or grit, but they require more maintenance than other materials. Here are some images of tee pads of different kinds.
Since disc golfers do a lot of walking, good courses will also provide benches and trash cans around the course, sometimes at every hole. Visit Disc Golf Course Review and browse the photos of the courses listed there to get a taste of the variety of signage you might find on a course.
Accessories
There are also a large variety of accessories you can buy to enhance your experience. Many players will buy a disc golf bag, such as the one pictured below, and competitions will require you use some sort of marker or "mini disc" to mark where your last throw landed (also pictured below). Experienced players might also carry a portable stool, towels to dry their discs if they get wet, a clipboard for scorekeeping, etc. Vendors will keep coming up with gadgets as long as the disc golfing community keeps finding uses for them.
General Tips
Even the most experienced disc golfers can learn new skills and new tricks, but there are a few basic skills and concepts that all good disc golfers eventually learn. The sooner you learn them, the more quickly you will improve. Here are a few general tips about playing disc golf, with the beginner's experience in mind:1: Have fun! It's the whole point of the sport. Never forget this, and if you ever find yourself not having fun, drop everything else until you figure out a way to start having fun again. I've heard it said that golf is a good walk spoiled, but I like to think of disc golf as a good walk improved.
2: Before you go out and start buying discs, ask some experienced players what they would recommend for a beginner. There are literally hundreds of different models of golf discs to choose from, and while many are great for beginners, some are all but useless to anyone but the very strongest arms. And there are some discs that nearly everyone loves. If you don't get the chance to ask around before you head to the store, look for disc golf flight charts in the store, or if you're an online shopper, look up information on the manufacturers' websites. Most manufacturers will publish useful information about what discs are and aren't beginner-friendly. When in doubt, err towards understable or straight-flying discs, and away from high-speed drivers or overstable discs, until you get the chance to try out a friend's model.
3: Learn to throw straight, flat, and low to the ground. Many new players tend to throw their discs way high up into the air with the nose up. This absolutely kills the distance potential of your throws, and it also makes them hard to control. The best disc golf drives never get more than 10-15 feet off the ground. If your throws are sailing way up in the air like a kite, work on getting the nose (front edge) of the disc down.
4: Everybody wants to throw for more distance, but good putting saves more strokes than any other skill. If there's one disc golf skill you can't practice too much, it's putting.
5: Play with people who are better than you. You'll discover things you never would have thought of on your own.
6: There are a lot of good instructional resources on the internet. Search Youtube for a driving instructional video by a guy named Dan Beto. Discraft has also published a number of good instructional videos on Youtube for all kinds of skills, from putting to driving to specialty shots. Perhaps the single best technical resource on the web is Disc Golf Review. Their article on grip is second to none. These are only a few of the thousands of resources you can find on the internet, and there are several good instructional DVDs that you can find in retail stores.
7: Feel free to experiment, and smile, because this is a sport you can play for the rest of your life. The sky's the limit!
Vocabulary
Many of the terms used in traditional golf, such as "par," "birdie," "bogey," "drive," "putt," "hole," and others, are also used in disc golf for the same or analogous concepts. However, much of the jargon used in disc golf is unique to the sport. Below is a collection of some of the most important terminology.Essential Vocabulary
backhand: The general motion of a backhand throw is somewhat like a one-handed backhand in tennis, but it should feel more like pulling a lawnmower cord. In general, backhand grips have the thumb on top of the disc and several fingers underneath the disc or resting on the leading edge. The backhanded throw starts with the disc behind the body and the shoulders turned away from the target, and the disc is pulled across and past the chest, and released out towards the target. There are many other important components of a backhanded throw, but they are too numerous to list here.
forehand: This throw is also called the sidearm, and the motion is somewhat like a forehand in tennis. Forehand grips are something like a "peace" sign, with the thumb on top of the disc and usually two fingers underneath the disc. The forearm is "flicked" forwards out to the side of the body with the palm up, and the disc is released out towards the target. There are many other important components of a forehanded throw, but they are too numerous to list here.
stability: Stability describes the ways in which a disc will turn or bank to the left or the right during its flight. There are several terms used to describe these properties of golf discs.
fade: describes the direction in which all discs will turn as they lose speed at the end of their flight. For a right-handed backhand throw, or a left-handed forehand throw, all discs will tend to bank and turn to the left as they lose speed. For a left-handed backhand throw, or a right-handed forehand throw, all discs will tend to bank and turn right as they lose speed.
turnover: describes the tendency of some discs to turn against their natural fading direction when travelling at high speeds. This quality in a disc is described as "understability."
stable: Discs that tend to fly straight throughout their entire flight path, neither fading much nor turning over much, are often described as "stable" discs. Most putters fall into this category.
overstable: Overstable discs tend to turn towards their natural fading direction early in their flight. For a right-handed backhand throw, an overstable disc will tend to fade to the left early in its flight unless it is thrown very hard with a lot of spin. Overstable discs might be described as "more stable than stable discs," but to avoid this kind of confusion when comparing discs, players usually say one disc is "more overstable" than another. Overstable discs tend to follow predictable flight paths, but they are difficult to throw very far. Beginners should usually avoid throwing overstable drivers. Most of the very fastest drivers fall into this category.
understable: Understable discs tend to turn away from their natural fading direction when moving at high speeds. For a right-handed backhand throw, an understable disc will tend to "turn over" or "flip" to the right if it is released flat. Understable drivers often make good discs for beginners, since they are easier to throw for distance than overstable discs.
hyzer: describes a throw released with the outer edge of the disc (away from your body) lower than the inner edge (towards your body). This causes the flight of the disc to curve away from the direction of its spin, and towards the direction in which it will fade as it slows. In other words, a hyzer release angle enhances a disc's tendency to fade and fights its tendency to turn over.
spike hyzer: describes a throw released with extreme hyzer angle.
anhyzer: describes a throw released with the outer edge of the disc (away from your body) higher than the inner edge (towards your body). This causes the flight of the disc to curve towards the direction of its spin, and away from the direction in which it will tend to fade as it slows. Discs tend to curve towards whichever edge is lower.
overhand: describes a throw that is released from over the head, with a motion like a baseball throw. The most common overhand throws are the tomahawk and the thumber.
tomahawk: describes a throw that is released over the head with a forehand grip. Ultimate players call this type of throw the "hammer." Tomahawk throws tend to turn upside down and descend to the ground in a loopy U-shaped flight path, moving from right to left for a right-handed player.
thumber: describes an overhand throw in which the player holds the disc with the top of the flight plate facing out away from the body and the thumb hooked under the rim. Thumber throws also have a loopy U-shaped flight path, and tend to move from left to right for a right-handed player.
roller: any throw that ends up rolling along the ground for much of its travelled distance is called a roller. Roller throws are often used to get out of troublesome parts of a course, but some skilled players intentionally drive with rollers. This is one of the most difficult disc golf shots to control.
mando: short for "mandatory," this describes an obstacle that your disc must pass on a certain side. For example, your disc must pass a "mando tree" on either the left or the right, as indicated. Mandos are usually in place to improve safety on the course, such as to protect players on adjacent fairways. Throws that pass a mando on the wrong side are penalized.
Slang and Acronyms
ace: synonymous with a hole-in-one.
shule: Pronounced "shool," this word describes a nasty area of brambles and thorn bushes off the fairway. You really don't want to end up searching for your disc in the shule.
Tournament Roll: describes a putt that bounces off the basket and rolls crazily away, leaving the player with an even longer putt. If you're superstitious, this tends to happen a lot in tournaments.
TD: short for "Tournament Director," this is a generous soul who devotes his time and energy to organizing and running disc golf tournaments.
CTP: short for "Closest To the Pin," this describes a competition to see who can get their drive to land closest to the basket.
nice: Some disc golfers are superstitious about their friends saying things like "nice shot" while the shot is still in the air. More often than not, "nice-ing" a throw will cause a tree branch to reach out of nowhere and smack the otherwise brilliantly thrown disc out of the air. It's polite to avoid saying "nice shot" until after the disc has stopped moving.
flippy: describes a very understable disc. Flippy discs are usually hard to control, and perform poorly when thrown into the wind.
pig: A "pig" is a very overstable disc. This term has been around longer than the Innova Pig putter, but Innova is canny to the jargon, and made the Pig an overstable pig.
If you have any more helpful definitions for disc golf slang or acronyms, send an email to Lewis526 @ gmail.