Headphones in tournament play

[simes549]

The first tournament I played in, I had my ear buds in for the first round and listened to podcasts. When anyone was talking to me I took one out and held a conversation. No issues.

The second round I decided not to use them. 3 holes in one guy foot faults, we warn him. That guy and another guy proceeded to argue the rest of the round about any and everything. That is more annoying than anything.

Forget banning headphones ban crybaby players from acting like preschoolers. Oh we can't do that can we, and we have all seen or heard about that guy during tournaments.

I saw Eagle wearing ear buds in Columbus last year during the Brent Hambrick Open, did not hear McBeath say anything to him about it.

 

[prerube]

Now heres a man with integrity...

Take a stance in a debate, based on nothing really

Willing to change his stance if money is involved, because the first stance wasnt rooted in anything

Money would be the reason. If the PDGA says, "we have to ban them because of our insurance carrier" then I would see exactly why. There is a clear cut reason, not arbitrary complaints.

 

[prerube]

Glad you understand. Naturally, I don't have all the answers. It would be better if they had a designated person to assist them, yes. As for the rest of non deaf players, I'm all too happy to kick out their musical crutch from beneath their fragile psyche.

I brought this up on my local club page (the discussion in general) and one guy also mentioned having someone basically follow a deaf player around to make sure communication and their safety was good. Its fine in theory i guess, but if we cant even get officials on every card for a major or NT, how do you propose that we do that?

you clearly do not understand the Deaf. They will never accept having a babysitter. They can't hear, but they can kick a$$ in a dg tournament without help or pity. They are not blind, they don't need guides!

 

[Consult20]

I voted to not allow them in pdga events. Everyone should be on the same page and not tuning out other card members or distracting noises. And yes it looks unprofessional.

 

[Pwingles]

you clearly do not understand the Deaf. They will never accept having a babysitter. They can't hear, but they can kick a$$ in a dg tournament without help or pity. They are not blind, they don't need guides!

I hope youre not referring to me.....

I never said or implied they needed anything from anyone

 

[Hampstead]

I played in a tournament a few years ago with a def player on my card. It was not an issue for the card to look out for him when needed if there was potential safety concerns. It was pretty much a normal round, since if someone can hear or not, we all should look out for each other when on the course with flying discs.

I was playing a solo round and ended up joining 3 deaf players. Looking for lost discs was interesting, let me tell you. All 4 of us would go in separate directions. If I found it, I would start wildly waving the disc, hoping to get their attention. Since they would usually have their backs turned, I would then go to the nearest guy and tap him on the shoulder. Now, there would be 2 of us trying to get the other guys attention and call off the search. Since one of the guys was a noob, this scenario played out several times over the course of the round. They were nice guys and we had a good time, but searching for discs definitely took awhile.

 

[Streets]

I can tell you're passionate about having them. How much worse do you play without them?

I was more referring to the fact you think deaf disc golfers need chaperones on the course. I'm getting the feeling you are someone who I would definitely want to have headphones in if we ever play together.

 

[adlacro]

I don't have a problem with people who have earbuds in during a tournament as long as there is proper communication. If I can hear your music out of your earbuds I will say something. I don't play with earbuds, I am distracted by enough on the disc golf course as it is. I can shoot ten over regardless of earbuds or not.

 

[Steve West]

It seems to me we ought to make a list of the bad things that players do (or do not do) because of headphones, and just make rules against those actions. I'd bet most such actions are already covered.

 

[Pbmercil]

It seems to me we ought to make a list of the bad things that players do (or do not do) because of headphones, and just make rules against those actions. I'd bet most such actions are already covered.

Yup. Which is what we've all been saying the whole time.

 

[The Shide]

It seems some here are confusing the courtesy rules of disc golf with, say, the courtesy rules of the royal court. In DG, courtesy dictates that if I had a birdie on the last hole & you had par, then I am going to step onto the teepad before you. You don't have to bow down or curtsey as I walk past you. Hell, you don't even have to acknowledge my existence. But please, do allow me the courtesy of being silent & non-distracting for those 30 seconds that the PDGA has allotted me to throw my disc. And it would be helpful to all your cardmates if you would actually turn around watch the rest of us throw our discs instead of rustling around in your bag so we can find discs within the 3 minutes we are granted for searching. Oh, and the courtesy will certainly be returned to you. So brother, do unto others, please.

Not wanting to talk to my cardmates does not necessarily make me antisocial; I'm just not one for small talk & nervous pre-tourney chatter, for the most part. As someone made mention earlier, I don't need to hear from the local Chatty Cathy about all the nuances of your course. "Yes, it's a great course. Fine you pulled a muscle when moving that huge fallen tree". Yeesh.

In my short time of playing competitive DG, way too often I have had to play a round of DG with that guy who likes to play mind games as his way of getting a competitive edge. Stated another way, he isn't winning with his throws, so he needs to resort to a less courteous means to compensate for inadequate DG skills. If your bag of tricks doesn't include a thumber or a roller, but instead mindgames in order to win…. If earbuds/headphones are to be prohibited in DG, then THIS behaviour needs to be banned as well.

So, after having said all that, to say this: If someone wants to use music, whether through earbuds or headphones, then that is currently their prerogative, as long as… all the things that have already been mentioned above, and which are clearly stated in the PDGA rule book.

If a clearly stated reason to (continue to) allow earbuds/headphones (as prescribed by PDGA rules) is still being sought, then I offer that a valid reason for having music (or whatever you want to listen to) is to drown out distractions and to help draw in focus for the shot at hand.

Also, we do not need to compare our sport with what other sports do or do not do. I absolutely loved the point about throwing glorified Tupperware lids at tarted up BBQ grills. So true (and funny as hell). We are a diverse group of hippies throwing Frisbees in the woods. So wear your freak flag, er, rather earbuds/headphones & have fun.

 

[araytx]

I'm trying to think of another governed sport that allows headphones during sanctioned tournament or match play, and I can't.

Interestingly enough, there's another reason for banning headphones during play, according to the United States Golf Association (keeper of the rules):

The Rules of Golf: Rule 14-3
Wearing Headphones or Earplugs During Stipulated Round

The use of headphones or earplugs to eliminate noise or other distractions is prohibited under Rule 14-3.

Decision 14-3/16 covers listening to music or some other broadcast during a round. Here is the text of that Decision:

Rule 14-3a states that a player may not use any artificial device or unusual equipment that "might assist him making a stroke or in his play." Listening to music or a broadcast while making a stroke or for a prolonged period might assist the player in his play, for example, by eliminating distractions or promoting a good tempo. Therefore, the use of an artificial device to listen to music or a broadcast, whether or not through headphones, while making a stroke or for a prolonged period of time during a stipulated round is a breach of Rule 14-3. However, it would not be a breach of Rule 14-3 for a player to listen to a device briefly, for example, to obtain the results of another sporting event or traffic information, while walking between the putting green of one hole and the teeing ground of another hole.

There is no restriction on listening to music or other broadcasts while practicing (whether on the practice ground or on the golf course, and whether by oneself or while playing with others), although club rules and disciplinary codes could apply in such circumstances.

So, in the sense that it creates an unfair advantage (and players will tell you they wear earbuds because they play better), it's no different than any other banned performance-enhancer. And, BTW, the PDGA also already bans artificial devices that assist play, so it's only a matter of defining earbuds/headphones/earplugs as "artificial devices."

I'm suggesting that "professional" has already been defined by other sports our promoters and pros are striving to emulate. Their policy is no headphones except in at least the two sports mentioned upthread where it makes sense to allow them.

Tell me why it makes competitive sense to allow their use in DG competitions. Just one solid reason might hold off any ban in the long run even if no effort is taken to ban them now. This whole exercise was simply for the Competition Committee to discover the pros and cons players see out there. The PDGA admin and Board don't even have this on their agenda at this point. So far, it looks like opinions might end up being as equally divided as the 2m rule.

My contention is going to be, that in terms of play, we are not like professional golf either. Foursomes are pretty standard and fivesomes seem to happen more often than threesomes. Golf's "play it where it lies" and our "play with a supporting point on the lie behind where it lay" are very different and therein create a parameter/rule that is not a point of contention in ball golf. If that rule isn't there, how much of the "self-officiating" is requires watching the player play/throw every time? Plus, in ball golf, there's no "card consensus" decision -- at least not that I know of. Any one single player can make a call and it's both respected and enforced in the round. Yet, unlike disc golf, absent provisionals, penalties can be invoked and scores can be changed after the round even if not called. We're not the same as golf either, as all of these differences are about the way dg is (self)-officiated.

Our sport is more unique than any of these.

 

[beereakfast]

Take away my ear buds? You're just being an unreasonable jerk. Come on. We're just throwing frisbees in a park. Dress code with no sandals and 3 button collared golf shirts required? Oh ok. This will grow the sport!
/shakes head

 

[prerube]

Take away my ear buds? You're just being an unreasonable jerk. Come on. We're just throwing frisbees in a park. Dress code with no sandals and 3 button collared golf shirts required? Oh ok. This will grow the sport!
/shakes head

Sorry, I couldn't hear you. I was wearing headphones

 

[el diablo]

ban sunglasses!

also obnoxious behavior by those affiliated with the pdga and just example number 39849 of idiots in 'power' failing to "grow the sport"

 

[bmarch18]

Headphones

People are upset no matter what the rules are. Someone always has a rebuttal. PDGA needs to keep headphones of any type as acceptable for tournament play. Reason being, with the advent of Bluetooth speakers I do not want to listen to someone else's music during a tournament. In local tournaments courtesy can be thrown out the window no matter how polite you ask them to turn their music off.

Simplify the rule. If your "opponents" can hear your music you must turn it down. Ask your opponent if they can hear it. Then play on.

 

[threevok]

I try to utter a subtle elocution to block out noise when I throw or putt. It makes earbuds unnecessary and doesn't seem to bother anyone.

 

[@iDiscGolf]

Subtle and refined. Hilarious

 

[mark996]

Next up to ban:
Licking fingers before a putt
checking wind with grass
shoes
cleaning your discs, we're purists...what your disc gets on it should stay on it, only being cleaned by the air it travels through
bags
tee signs
tee pads
any sort of course maintenance
all of these things plus more give players unfair advantages. please see to it that these get banned in the next nazi rule meeting.

 

[Streets]

Caddies should be banned too. Unfair advantage for some players to not have to carry their bags.