How Has The Game Changed?

[Guurn]

I used to find a lot more discs while playing. Probably because the rough was rougher since there weren't many people stomping it down and because I was much worse and threw into it more. Most rounds I would find at least one disc. You also see bags now, back then I never saw someone with a bag unless it was at a tourney.

Maybe it is the area I played but courses haven't got a whole lot tougher than they were back then, just longer. If you look at Kaposia Park which has hosted many big events for a long time, it still holds up well.

Probably the biggest thing that I notice is the number of people that can bomb it is way up, even in the last 5 years. I assume this is due to internet resources. In the 80s when I started it was common for people to ask each other how to get more distance. Now it is much more rare. I play with a few people that can throw really far, 40% further than I can, and we add stragglers to our group all the time. Rarely do they ask for advice. If it was way back they would ask within 5 mins.

 

[DGRZ001]

A "righty" course was one where most of the holes went from left to right, because that what all the discs did for a RHBH thrower did - Midnight Flyer, then the Aero and first generation Aviar. It wasn't until the Aviar XD came out that there was a disc that would stay on a stable flight path.

IMO, I don't think that having more players, more courses or baskets with more chains has changed the game, per se. I would say that it has been the evolution of the discs that has changed the game, by which I mean how a competitor plays the course, hole by hole.

 

[jcrab66]

the obvious is disc selection, availability and course variety...the biggest thing i have noticed is there are a ton more jackwagons on the courses these days and also much more snobbery amongst the self proclaimed "real" disc golfers..

 

[Triflusal]

A "righty" course was one where most of the holes went from left to right, because that what all the discs did for a RHBH thrower did - Midnight Flyer, then the Aero and first generation Aviar. It wasn't until the Aviar XD came out that there was a disc that would stay on a stable flight path.

IMO, I don't think that having more players, more courses or baskets with more chains has changed the game, per se. I would say that it has been the evolution of the discs that has changed the game, by which I mean how a competitor plays the course, hole by hole.

the aviar is stable up to some pretty long distances, and I would consider an XD understable

 

[patdb23]

I've only played for about 4 years and when I first started I could easily get 3rounds in during the afternoon at my local course (Morley Field). Now that same time I'll be lucky to get 1 round in. There are so many crowds and I don't mean to belittle the new players, but there is certainly a smaller segment of disc golfers and a larger segment of "frolfers". Most of these frolfers, are in larger groups, 5-8, wearing sandals, carrying coolers, and armed with their 1-2 rentals. Most of the older locals have dispersed, you just can't get a good pace round in without 3-4 groups deep on some holes. I don't know if it's because of the growth of disc golf, but this increase in frolfers started happening right around when beer was banned at the beaches, so...

 

[captain jack]

.........................

 

[lavon_andy]

I've only played for about 4 years and when I first started I could easily get 3rounds in during the afternoon at my local course (Morley Field). Now that same time I'll be lucky to get 1 round in. There are so many crowds and I don't mean to belittle the new players, but there is certainly a smaller segment of disc golfers and a larger segment of "frolfers". Most of these frolfers, are in larger groups, 5-8, wearing sandals, carrying coolers, and armed with their 1-2 rentals. Most of the older locals have dispersed, you just can't get a good pace round in without 3-4 groups deep on some holes. I don't know if it's because of the growth of disc golf, but this increase in frolfers started happening right around when beer was banned at the beaches, so...

Play harder courses!

Where I live we have two courses less than a mile from each other. One is a pitch and putt, the other is a rather challenging course (for me anyways).

The pitch and putt course is pretty much always crowded on weekends/after 5 pm on weekdays; whereas the harder course usually has much less players (that and the course is longer and more spread out).

The pitch n putt course is know to have people hiding out smoking on some of the back holes and "frolfers", never seen that on the hard course

 

[captain jack]

You kids got it easy now.

Me and my little brother had to walk 56 miles to the nearest disc golf course, usually in a blizzard.
We only had one pair of shoes, so we would trade off, each of us would wear one shoe for a few miles then switch.
We had to be back by 4am so we could milk the cows and get the eggs from the chickens before ma and pa woke up.
We couldnt afford a frisbee, so we usually just grabbed the hardest cowpie we could find in the field and throw that.
A cowpie only lasted until you hit a tree with it, so sometimes we had to walk home after only one or two holes.
We made a bag once, from a dried udder, but it smelled real bad, so we just went with carrying one cowpie most of the time.

Those were the days.

 

[Stud Muffin]

Hey you long timers, how has DG changed in the years you've been playing? Just wondering. Wanna hear some stories.

And yes I did a search. Just not for this.

Well I have some old videos of the world championships, and evidently, they had a sick fetish for horrible jazz guitar for background music... for hours...

I have heard better music on an elevator.

 

[Danger]

One change I have seen in my long 2.2 years is that every new pin position is longer than the last. Part of the reason I have been chasing par is because the courses are getting longer and more technical as I improve.

 

[Stud Muffin]

One change I have seen in my long 2.2 years is that every new pin position is longer than the last. Part of the reason I have been chasing par is because the courses are getting longer and more technical as I improve.

I have found that the best way to get my disc out farther is to find someone who can throw farther than me, then ask them to throw my disc.

 

[RUSSELL]

You kids got it easy now.

Me and my little brother had to walk 56 miles to the nearest disc golf course, usually in a blizzard.
We only had one pair of shoes, so we would trade off, each of us would wear one shoe for a few miles then switch.
We had to be back by 4am so we could milk the cows and get the eggs from the chickens before ma and pa woke up.
We couldnt afford a frisbee, so we usually just grabbed the hardest cowpie we could find in the field and throw that.
A cowpie only lasted until you hit a tree with it, so sometimes we had to walk home after only one or two holes.
We made a bag once, from a dried udder, but it smelled real bad, so we just went with carrying one cowpie most of the time.

Those were the days.

you had shoes?

 

[#19325]

I picked up a disc for the first time in June of 2001. DX plastic still ruled the market then the CE plastic exploded onto the scene. There weren't that many places to buy discs. I made many orders from Sky South. Now there are a million online retailers and big chain stores selling discs.

Bags-->When I was shopping for my first bag I had very limited options. I remember the Innova bag, Gateway, and Lightning bag. At that time Gatway seemed to own the market. Now there are a ton of bags.

There were approximately 50 courses in Illinois. Now there are 170. There were 11 PDGA events that year. This year there are 40+.

The new high speed overstable drivers have changed the game especially in the wind. Players are able to smash them into headwinds.

When I talked with people at work very few of them knew what disc golf was. Now most people have heard of it.

Finally, the number of players is increasing dramatically.

 

[woodcutter]

"Back in the day" you only had a few discs to choose from. You had to make your own bag. Id play with 3-4 discs and you were lucky to see somone else playing the same cource. Now you cant huck a stick without hitt'n a NOOB carring 18 plus discs. Now there are baskets instead of poles, cources are better maintained and number of courses has dramaticly increaced.

 

[FredVegasDGC]

You had to make your own bag.

How many of us old timers used a soft sided cooler bag for your first DG bag?

I did. It was a Coke bag that held 5 discs perfectly.

 

[MNcyclone]

Back in the day I refused to carry a bag. My Eclipse did all of the driving duties for me no matter what. My deuce did all of the inside 100' work no matter what. Innova v. Discraft was a real rivalry. I was pissed when they lengthened Acorn park to accommodate the cyclone distance boom.

I now carry a bag with 20 discs made by 5 different manufacturers. I have a dedicated roller for christs sake. Just go and look at the course description for Acorn park in Roseville, MN. I was pissed that it got lengthened to THAT. Now I can reach every hole but 18.

 

[woodcutter]

How many of us old timers used a soft sided cooler bag for your first DG bag?

I did. It was a Coke bag that held 5 discs perfectly.

I had (and still do) an old green military bag that i sewed a shoulder strap to it. I carry alot more junk now, golden retriever (didnt have those back then).markers, water, snacks, baseball, ect.

 

[CwAlbino]

I'm not exactly an old timer, but the biggest difference I've seen over the last 10+ years is the amount of people on the courses and the recognition that they actually know what disc golf is.

 

[Disc Golf Greg]

In the dozen or so years I've been playing I've noticed a few changes..

First I'll start with Discs, nowadays there are more brands/molds/plastics. When I first started the stores I bought plastic at had Innova or Discraft and DX plastic was the only option. When it comes to courses they are a lot more people there on any given day. 10 years ago you could go play on a weekend afternoon and be the only people there..

Course design has changed with more technical courses that also require more power. More thought goes into designing greens as well. Overall nothing too radical, also seems like there are a lot more snobs on the course who don't seem too serious about the game. In contrast though there are many more courses and the tournament/club aspect has grown tremendously.

 

[Sadjo]

We played with Frisbee World Class 165g discs. Discovered our first golf discs in a creek and for the next year or two all 'new' golf discs were found in the creek on the course near where I grew up. I had no idea where to buy discs until I discovered the mighty MFA.

In the late 80s and early 90s I showed up to play a round at any course in the twin cities I would know most players that we're playing that course that day. Now it seems everytime I hit the course I very rarely know anyone I see on the course.

The disc selection and the different plastics is a big change. When you played AM in tournaments and you placed the vouchers weren't for a dollar value they were for a set amount of discs. I placed one time at the KC Wide Open and my voucher said "22" so I got to pick out 22 discs from the stock.

In Minnesota the MFA hosted two PDGA events a year. Everything else was a Minnesota Summer Series. With only 2 PDGA events the only incentive to join the PDGA was if you wanted to play in a worlds so no one joined unless they wanted to play a worlds. Now it seems most tournaments are sanctioned and that gave more incentive to join the PDGA.

The rating system is another big change. I remember Chuck Kennedy talking about coming up with a way to rate players back in the early 90s when we served on the MFA Board together. Ratings is one of things that changed the game...players for the most part are obsessed with ratings.

One of the things I think that has changed for the worse is a good publication. I've been going through old Disc Golf Journals and old DGWN mags and I thing the articles were better and the features they ran were more interesting than what the Disc Golfer is doing now. Id like to see another independant mag become available.

One of the funny things to me is that the Old Timers when I first got involved in tournament play are still out there playing and involved. I remember when The Champ won his first worlds and when he won his third or fourth people talking about Disc Golf being close to breaking the big time...sad to say people are still thinking and saying were about to go big time.