This has been asked a few times and he's yet to answer.
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I hate unsanctioned tournament players....
- Thread starter allinpflop
- Start date
This has been asked a few times and he's yet to answer.
- Joined
- Jun 15, 2009
- Messages
- 4,059
The #1 rule is to have fun. Find your level of play, find the type of people that you like to throw with, and get to it. Some will like playing in NT's where the rules are stricktly enforced, and rightfuly so, and others would rather enjoy the social aspect of the game. There is room for everyone.
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legitimate question, not being a smart aleck...how do people who don't play by the rules play? Take throws over? Not count penalty throws? Go forward on putts inside the circle? Throw from somewhere "close enough" to where their disc ends up? I'm having trouble comprehending.
keith johnson
Birdie Member
Yes.
jeffmonty
* Ace Member *
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- Feb 20, 2010
- Messages
- 2,395
I'm guessing you also don't care much for basic traffic laws? :\
There's no one answer (except, perhaps, if limited to the O.P.'s experience).
Otherwise, people who don't "play by the rules" are actually playing by whichever rules they've generally agreed upon.
SonicGuy
Banned
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- Oct 7, 2014
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There were two discussions in this thread. The first was about people not following established rules in unsanctioned events. The second was between me and Chuck about the definition of disc golf as a sport.
On the first discussion, rules should be followed in all tournament scenarios absolutely. I don't think that is up for debate.
On the second, if I play a casual round and I don't mark my disc with a mini, I am still playing the sport of disc golf. The PDGA and Chuck Kennedy cannot tell me that I am not playing disc golf because I am not following their privately established rules.
On the first discussion, rules should be followed in all tournament scenarios absolutely. I don't think that is up for debate.
On the second, if I play a casual round and I don't mark my disc with a mini, I am still playing the sport of disc golf. The PDGA and Chuck Kennedy cannot tell me that I am not playing disc golf because I am not following their privately established rules.
I honestly think that CK is using an aragumentative style... he is basically saying that Disc Golf has a definition and that this definition is the rule book as established by the PDGA... arguing against CK you should try to understand where he is coming from. This makes sense to me from that point of view. The definition of what DG is is the set of rules that define it...
You will need to change the argument or directly confront this one in order to be a true participant... otherwise you will just be repeating yourself.
You will need to change the argument or directly confront this one in order to be a true participant... otherwise you will just be repeating yourself.
By this logic, you can claim "if I play a casual round and I (insert any rules deviation), I am still playing the sport of disc golf."
This is a slippery slope and quickly devolves into statements like "if I play a casual round and I play with a chicken, I am still playing the sport of disc golf."
Could someone come up with a complete alternate rule set for disc golf? Sure. But I guess anyone who's tried has figured there's no point in completely reinventing the wheel when adopting 95% of the existing one for an unsanctioned event or league works just fine.
I wish more TD's would realize (and this is at both sanctioned and unsanctioned events) that there are a great degree of people in attendance who are not as familiar with the rules as they might think.
I wish more TD's would realize (and this is at both sanctioned and unsanctioned events) that there are a great degree of people in attendance who are not as familiar with the rules as they might think.
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broomerang
Double Eagle Member
Let's be honest, there is obviously at least 2 broad overall groups of people who play disc golf.
Group A: Those who have heard of the rules (whether they follow all of them or not).
Group B: Those that haven't heard of the rules (these players likely don't even know that the recreational division exists).
At some point most players were a part of Group B and over time have evolved into being a member of Group A. Either through sanctioned/unsanctioned tournament play, or casual rounds with other established players.
The question is are they both still playing disc golf?
Obviously by the level of debate in the thread there is no consensus. However you should all ask yourself one question.
If they are not playing disc golf, what are they playing? And can the sport afford to segregate itself from new players just because they don't know/follow the rules the PDGA or any other governing body has laid out.
Do we really need to encourage the attitude of "You're not playing disc golf, you're playing XYZ (eg Frolf)", any further?
Group A: Those who have heard of the rules (whether they follow all of them or not).
Group B: Those that haven't heard of the rules (these players likely don't even know that the recreational division exists).
At some point most players were a part of Group B and over time have evolved into being a member of Group A. Either through sanctioned/unsanctioned tournament play, or casual rounds with other established players.
The question is are they both still playing disc golf?
Obviously by the level of debate in the thread there is no consensus. However you should all ask yourself one question.
If they are not playing disc golf, what are they playing? And can the sport afford to segregate itself from new players just because they don't know/follow the rules the PDGA or any other governing body has laid out.
Do we really need to encourage the attitude of "You're not playing disc golf, you're playing XYZ (eg Frolf)", any further?
Perhaps the truth lies somewhere between those extremes.
If you're playing by rules that originally emanated from the PDGA rulebook, then yes, you're playing disc golf. Not playing them to the letter of the current law, or making local rule tweaks to them does not change this.
gdub58
Birdie Member
Really? How many guys is he?
Well, on this forum he is somewhat of an authority about PDGA rules. It is not uncommon for people to ask for his opinion on murky issues dealing with the rules. In that respect he can be quite helpful at times.
I did read the whole thread and Chuck's words before replying to you, but if I had not, are you saying that I'm not allowed to reply?
Or, since you are just recommending it, I can reply but I just can't call it a reply? How about a response? Is that OK?
See how silly this sounds?
Bingo.
Everyone who plays the game of disc golf is doing so by playing by the PDGA rules of play or some variant there of. The variant might be six degrees removed from the official rules of play and have gone through multiple games of telephone as they were verbally passed on, but it still traces back to the PDGA Rules of Play. One guy (and I don't care what people's perceptions of the guy are, he's still only one guy and he speaks only for himself) makes a wisecrack to the contrary and some people go ape.
The issue that sparked the thread in the first place isn't about playing disc golf or not. It's about expectations of how the game is to played in a competitive situation. It's not about the right way or wrong way to play...it's a matter of communication. If certain rules are going to be relaxed or ignored, it would be helpful for that to be communicated up front.
I don't recall any discussion revolving around playing a casual round. I was under the impression the discussion was about tournament play and non sanctioned tournament play. You can do anything you wish in a casual round. Not really true in a non sanctioned tournament.
Honestly seems like this poster just has a personal axe to grind with Chuck and the PDGA.
krupicka
Double Eagle Member
Unfortunately that isn't completely the case. In a recent rules revision they went backwards here. IMO The last paragraph of 804.04.D should not be in the rules. The only reason that is there because of some complaints about one TD going overboard here. (btw I don't see a problem with that TDs decision). That beef should be with the TD (they could always skip playing that event if they don't like it). The PDGA should not be codifying PDGA discretionary oversight on TD decisions here for all events that wish to follow the PDGA rules. If an unsanctioned event wishes to follow the PDGA rules should they be contacting the Tour Manager? The PDGA could have just enforced that in their agreements for majors and made things a lot simpler for the rest of us.
it's all semantics...
disc golf is a game (very poor definition I know...)
tournament disc golf is defined as the rules of the PDGA
casual disc golf is defined as loosely based on the PDGA rule book but with many derivatives
frolf is defined as found on frolf.com or loosely based as it is not really defined
fwiw... I don't like the name of this sport... it doesn't roll off the tongue very well... but frolf is an ugly word and disc golf is derivative of golf where we throw discs (frisbees is a wham-o term) and is loosely based on golf... ughh
disc golf is a game (very poor definition I know...)
tournament disc golf is defined as the rules of the PDGA
casual disc golf is defined as loosely based on the PDGA rule book but with many derivatives
frolf is defined as found on frolf.com or loosely based as it is not really defined
fwiw... I don't like the name of this sport... it doesn't roll off the tongue very well... but frolf is an ugly word and disc golf is derivative of golf where we throw discs (frisbees is a wham-o term) and is loosely based on golf... ughh
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You know what I just realized. I'm better than Paul mcbeth at disc golf.
