Pro Vs. Avg Joe- Skill Gap

[Scoot_er]

Discuss if you feel the need.

I think it is fairly significant...probably 70% that of ball golf....when all else is held constant

[dmk1978]

Big sky is coming...

[mashnut]

I think you need to define what you mean by those two terms. Is a pro the average open player? 100 rated player? 1040 rated player? Is an average player the average tournament player? Average am? Average of all the people who play at least once a year?

Sure there's not an enormous gap between a pro and an advanced player, but comparing the top level pros with the average two discer I see on the course would be a difference of 2+ throws per hole, that's a pretty big gap.

[Scoot_er]

Originally Posted by mashnut

I think you need to define what you mean by those two terms. Is a pro the average open player? 100 rated player? 1040 rated player? Is an average player the average tournament player? Average am? Average of all the people who play at least once a year?

Sure there's not an enormous gap between a pro and an advanced player, but comparing the top level pros with the average two discer I see on the course would be a difference of 2+ throws per hole, that's a pretty big gap.

1020 and 900? Same as a good course pro in BG and the guy who shoots around 90

Pretty sure I can guess the gap! 10-12 strokes!

[Allurex]

Yeah comparing even an Advanced player to those who play once or twice a year is incredibly lopsided. The gap between say 800 and 1000 rated players isn't close to as big.


I mean think of someone you know who plays 2-3 times each summer and thats it? What would they be rated? 600? Worse?

[TOURNEYPLAYER]

How about the fact that some Advanced players have only been playing for a couple years. Or some top pros for 5 or so years. Doubt their are any PGA players who are top level that started 5 years ago. Nor would a 3rd year player keep up with a top touring pro. Sooooo.....

[WhiteyBear]

Given that an "average" golfer has a handicap of 30-35, and a pro is "scratch" or "0", that would answer your questions. Golfers don't care about "negative" handicap, all they care about is qualifying for a specific tour. Money comes with wins, not ratings or handicaps.

[onemilemore]

I have a feeling that BigSky's initial point may have been lost among all of the arguing here. I don't think he was trying to say that pro disc golfers aren't good, but rather that the sport is such that the mortals are likely closer to the heroes than in other professional sports. This has to do with more than just scores - it's not like Joe Golfer off the street gets to play on a mixed card with Tiger Woods, so the physical proximity to the players may have something to do with the sentiment. The size of the sport and the ability of anyone to play at the pro level if they so desire has something to do with it as well.

In short, no one is arguing that there isn't a sizable gap between average disc golfers and pro disc golfers. But it is reasonable, I think, to argue that the gap is perceived to be smaller than it is between me and my buddies playing mud football and Peyton Manning.

[BrotherDave]

Originally Posted by Allurex

Yeah comparing even an Advanced player to those who play once or twice a year is incredibly lopsided. The gap between say 800 and 1000 rated players isn't close to as big.


I mean think of someone you know who plays 2-3 times each summer and thats it? What would they be rated? 600? Worse?

Depends on how good they were when they stopped playing so regularly. After 5 years of fairly serious playing, I could probably play only 2-3 times a summer and not suffer that bad of a drop off.

[Widdershins]

Originally Posted by Scoot_er

Discuss if you feel the need.

I think it is fairly significant...probably 70% that of ball golf....when all else is held constant

Between the average Pro and the average Am 1 the difference in talent is small. The Pro is better at consistency, putting and playing under pressure. So any given round the Am might score better than the Pro. It is a coin flip who has better power.

The difference between a top Pro and an average Pro is huge. The gap is the size of a small ocean (and there are no small oceans ). Average Pros throw few rounds which equal the top Pros handicap rating. When the top Pro is hot the average Pro is left in the dust.

At a World Championships any of the top 30 Pros have a chance to win it all, unless one of the top 5 catches fire, then only the top 5 have a chance to keep up. Like the year EMac won it in Indiana. If Feldberg or Climo or Nikko had a great week then EMac would have been an also ran. The same when Jenkins won it in Iowa. None of the top players had a good enough week and he snuck in.

As far as a casual player is concerned, he can't tell the difference between an average Pro and McBeth. Both can do what he never dreamed of.

Ball golf has little relationship to disc golf in terms of skill gaps. Ball golf is so, so ,so much more difficult that the gaps are much bigger. Most any good athlete could take up disc golf and rise to the cashing Pro ranks in a year. Most exceptional athletes could not earn a tour card if they spent a decade trying.