Headphones in tournament play

[scarpfish]

I get this a little, but I'm not playing in a tournament to play with new people, I'm playing a tournament to score the best I can and headphones help that. Don't really care what people perceive that as.

If wearing them helps your game, I can respect that. When wearing them causes you tune out matters (either willfully or inadvertently) that you should be paying attention to in tournament play (stepping in front of others lies, not watching out for an errant disc headed for your dome, having to be yelled at three times to get your score) that's being discourteous to your card mates, whether they're new people or not.

People who can't help but do the latter would do the rest of us a favor by not playing tournaments. Same goes for smartphones.

 

[BrotherDave]

Jesus dude. Hyperbole much lately? Chuck has already said this isn't even remotely being considered. That's quite an overreaction.

I've seen enough of this seemingly innocuous crap snowball into fruition to not voice my full opinion on it. We've got parks pulling courses b/c retards designed them so dangerously other patrons get seriously injured by discs. We've got other retards trying to get courses pulled because disc golfers stepped on a fallen leaf and crumbled it. We've got touring professionals hitting people and dogs on camera and causing rule debate after rule debate because the top players struggle to either understand and/or enforce the rules.

But no, we talkin' about headphones. Not self-officiating problems, not course designing problems but headphones. We talkin' 'bout headphones. HEADPHONES!

 

[Mr. Butlertron]

Voted ban. I legitimately think it is a safety concern and/or it takes away from the game. Oddly enough, the Japanese safety senseis don't think it's an issue.

 

[mark996]

I particularly don't really care. As long as they're used responsibly. I put them in when I step on the tee pad/lie, and I take them out right after my throw/putt. I also keep them out when walking with the group or doing anything else besides throwing/putting, and the volume is so low in them that I can hear someone talking if they're talking to me. Yes there will be people who blast their ear drums out, and that's a risk they're gonna take if they choose to. Done responsibly I don't see a problem with them.

 

[Streets]

Good luck telling Barry he can't wear earbuds lol.

 

[prerube]

Dude that is pretty ridiculous. A deaf player is disabled. They are legally protected from being discriminated against, and can't make themselves undeaf. A player wearing headphones is choosing to to wear them and can take them out at any time for any reason. Its not the same thing at all.

Hearing is not required to play disc golf whether artificial and temporary or permanent.

 

[Pwingles]

This, this is the reason why so many people type out pDGA. This trivial, "no fun league" type malarkey right here.

Want a compelling reason why players should be allowed to wear headphones? How about so they can drown out their fellow players' obnoxious counting to thirty b/c they don't know the goddamn rules?

Ban it b/c other sports don't allow them? You know what most legitimate professional sports also don't allow? PEDs and tie dye shirts. Good luck with the expensive drug testing and fashion police committee that must be ensuing.

This petty nonsense is almost enough to prevent me from renewing membership. I get the rule fascism as a nature of the beast but this is just pathetic levels of BS.

:clap:

Voted ban. I legitimately think it is a safety concern and/or it takes away from the game. Oddly enough, the Japanese safety senseis don't think it's an issue.

So, deaf people dont get to play, got it

 

[prerube]

I don't like headphones, I don't really like playing with people who do, but more written rules on arbitrary crap is not what we need.
However, if PDGA insurance carrier said they would lower insurance costs 5% if headphones were banned I would switch my stance instantly.

 

[Pwingles]

I don't like headphones, I don't really like playing with people who do, but more written rules on arbitrary crap is not what we need.
However, if PDGA insurance carrier said they would lower insurance costs 5% if headphones were banned I would switch my stance instantly.

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

 

[Mr. Butlertron]

:clap:

So, deaf people dont get to play, got it

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.

 

[Streets]

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.

Would you mind going and playing in heavy traffic for a while?

 

[Pwingles]

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?

 

[Timeetyo]

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?

This is just silly. I've played a few tourney rounds with a deaf person and we had absolutely no issues with communicating anything that was required.

As for the issue - I'm on the fence.

I can see the argument for image reasons at the highest levels...but have a hard time thinking that makes sense at a C tier. Perhaps have this, like the dress code, only apply at certain level events?

I can see the arguments of those who DO use them responsibly. Like many here, I have played with others who use them and they are a total non-issue.

I also have played rounds with the person who was totally off in his own world and it became a PITA to deal with. Constantly having to re-ask scores, talking loud, not paying attention to anything else, etc. Of course it may be that this player would be just as bad w/o them (although this isn't always the case, as I've seen a player be "fine" until they put in the buds). And again here, if the buds were out would they just be busy on facebook instead, etc? Who knows.

 

[VictorB]

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?

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.

 

[Pwingles]

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 agree, its not hard as a group to ensure each others safety, deaf or not.
I was more pointing out that the idea of having a person follow a deaf player around is kind of stupid. And even if it wasnt stupid, there are better ideas out there that are better for the game that involve having an extra person on a card, that arent currently happening

 

[tomte]

If the noise coming out of them isn't audible to other people, and the use of them doesn't prevent the player from hearing what's going on around him (ranging from conversation with cardmates to warning shouts from others), there's no reason to disallow them.

I agree, though I would recommend anybody to not use a distraction like this in a tournament.

 

[jrawk]

I've played tournaments with a lot of deaf golfers and non-deaf golfers wearing earbuds. The deaf golfers, almost always, turn around to look at you for feedback after they throw. Earbud users typically do not. They throw and they go. I'm not lobbying for or against a rule change here. My personal opinion is less rules the better.

 

[PhattD]

wearing headphones does not keep people's eyes from working. If someone foot faults even a player with headphones will hear it. People who are on their phones on facebook are not paying attention visually, but you can pull your phone out.

I think that as long as you can be involved in the game in terms of paying attention, hearing warnings, knowing when it's your turn, there's no problem with earbuds. If you are so involved in your own little world that you are interfering with play it would be perfectly reasonable for someone to insist that you remove them. But inherently against the rules as a matter of course? No.

 

[BrotherDave]

I've had way more problems with people in their own little world due to them being in a bad mood from playing bad than people wearing headphones. Headphones guys aren't any less courteous than the guys that don't pay attention during the player's meeting or skip them entirely and good luck improving that since organizing DGers is like herding cats.

 

[Mr. Butlertron]

Would you mind going and playing in heavy traffic for a while?

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