I've found all kinds of good stuff already, but figured this might be worth a new thread.
In short, I'm registered for a tournament but have never played PDGA sanctioned, and I've only played a few minis or "serious" rounds.
My question regards the two sides of the rules. 1) Other than reading the rule book and following rules as I know them, is there any advice for a first timer to help me not break rules? 2) How should I approach calling things on others?
For one, the tourney is on two courses I've played very frequently. One has a lot of water danger, and another has a decent number of mandos. Can I expect mandos, OB, and other hole specific rules to be pointed out at the players' meeting?
As for number two, I recognize a little tendency in myself to be a rules Nazi. When I play casually with others, I don't give people a hard time; nevertheless, it bugs me when people blatantly foot fault, don't use the right lie, etc. While watching top level tournaments (e.g. recent GBO), I notice groups lean toward being overly generous when spotting where a disc went out of bounds, or whether it's in bounds at all. There was one particularly generous spot to an OB Simon shot, and Paige had at least one that looked 100% OB to me (on the paint, but not over it).
I've played enough "casual but not casual" rounds to have people ask, "Hey, my disc crossed here before it faded OB, right?" Sometimes yes. Other times I think, "Can you see where your disc ended up? There's no way in the land of shadows that you crossed!"
In the end, my plan is mainly just not to let myself get distracted by others' play unless they're blatantly crossing lines. I'll respond if people ask my input, but I probably won't be volunteering comments. As a side note, across the spectrum of Amateur divisions, is it pretty safe to say that rules are followed/called more strictly in Advanced more than Intermediate more than Rec more than Novice?
Advice appreciated!
In short, I'm registered for a tournament but have never played PDGA sanctioned, and I've only played a few minis or "serious" rounds.
My question regards the two sides of the rules. 1) Other than reading the rule book and following rules as I know them, is there any advice for a first timer to help me not break rules? 2) How should I approach calling things on others?
For one, the tourney is on two courses I've played very frequently. One has a lot of water danger, and another has a decent number of mandos. Can I expect mandos, OB, and other hole specific rules to be pointed out at the players' meeting?
As for number two, I recognize a little tendency in myself to be a rules Nazi. When I play casually with others, I don't give people a hard time; nevertheless, it bugs me when people blatantly foot fault, don't use the right lie, etc. While watching top level tournaments (e.g. recent GBO), I notice groups lean toward being overly generous when spotting where a disc went out of bounds, or whether it's in bounds at all. There was one particularly generous spot to an OB Simon shot, and Paige had at least one that looked 100% OB to me (on the paint, but not over it).
I've played enough "casual but not casual" rounds to have people ask, "Hey, my disc crossed here before it faded OB, right?" Sometimes yes. Other times I think, "Can you see where your disc ended up? There's no way in the land of shadows that you crossed!"
In the end, my plan is mainly just not to let myself get distracted by others' play unless they're blatantly crossing lines. I'll respond if people ask my input, but I probably won't be volunteering comments. As a side note, across the spectrum of Amateur divisions, is it pretty safe to say that rules are followed/called more strictly in Advanced more than Intermediate more than Rec more than Novice?
Advice appreciated!