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PDGA Rules
Hard & Heavy
George Brett Goes Nuts
Rules are tricky. For a rule to survive, it has to be enforced. Without enforcement, rules not only cease to have meaning, their existence creates confusion while calling into question the logic and authority behind them.
Right now the PDGA has two technical standards on the books that are rarely enforced, flexibility and weight. We play a competitive game where inches dictate outcomes, yet the rules defining our equipment get a wink and a nod all the way from the manufacturer through the merchant to the players, many of whom love firm, heavy discs.
It's one of disc golf's enduring conundrums.
Flexibility
The PDGA's flexibility test involves pushing a disc vertically down onto a scale until it bends to half of the inside diameter (to taco shape) with less than 27 lbs. of applied pressure. Discs too rigid to pass this test are deemed illegal for sanctioned PDGA play.
We pulled some PDGA Approved discs off the shelf to see if they would pass, and a whole bunch didn't. Some weren't even close. At the same time a lot of wide-winged wicked fast drivers -- the kind of disc that could draw blood and raise welts if thrown into a crowd -- passed relatively easily.
A simple sounding solution is for the PDGA to put the onus on manufacturers to produce discs that comply with the rules. This seems like a reasonable idea, until you bring up the other, related PDGA Technical Standard that is seldom enforced.
Weight
We weigh every disc here at Marshall Street. Relatively few of the discs in our inventory are illegally heavy. There's a simple reason for this. Overweight discs -- particularly certain models -- sell like 10 Year Buzzzes. We'd buy more if manufacturers' order forms had an "Illegal" column, but they don't.
We receive overweight discs from lots of manufacturers. One thing they nearly all have in common is a stamp, sticker or Sharpied number indicating a legal weight.
What we seldom see, however, are outrageously overweight discs -- more than five grams. So while manufacturers are apparently aware of the weight limits on their discs, many treat these maximums like the Speed Limit we are careful not to exceed by more than, say, 10 miles an hour.
The Problem
We can't decide if playing PDGA events with discs that don't conform to the PDGA Technical Standards is really cheating, or if we care. We wonder if the Technical Standards have shifted so far away from their intended purpose to still make sense.
Initially the PDGA's weight and flexibility standards were established to keep the game safe by approving discs that wouldn't kill or seriously wound people struck by them. It might be that the PDGA avoids this original intent because if it sanctioned discs with technical standards in place explicitly to ensure safety, it could be liable for injuries caused by PDGA-approved models thrown into innocent bystanders' heads.
At any rate, the same standards wound up being applied to all discs regardless of shape. So while a relatively lethal object such as a Speed 13 driver remains legal as long as it can pass the flex test, a relatively non-lethal putter is illegal if it's too firm.
While the PDGA spot checks approved discs for compliance, discs aren't flex tested and weighed at tournaments (with the exception of Japan, where discs have to be 150-Class). The PDGA isn't about to require tournament directors to set up testing tents, either. TDs have enough on their plates already, and would be hesitant to disqualify the very players they worked so hard to attract. So once a disc reaches a player's bag, it's safe from prying scales.
Meanwhile our sport grows ripe for its own George Brett Pine Tar incident.
One player will get a TD or PDGA Official to weigh or flex-test a competitor's discs, who then gets disqualified for using illegally heavy and/or firm discs. It won't be pretty, but it will be great YouTube.
The Solution
Short of revising the rules, the PDGA could get ahead of the issue and begin spot checking players' discs before and after National Tour events. A less intrusive approach would be providing NTs with scales that measure (preferably 10ths of) grams up to 27 lbs. -- the only piece of equipment needed for either test -- so players can check their own discs.
A complicating factor with flex testing discs at tournament is that colder temperatures make them more rigid, essentially negating cold weather results. Plus disc golfers wince at just the thought of bending their discs till they're taco-shaped.
The PDGA could additionally require Tour Players to pledge to use only legal equipment at sanctioned events, and define the use of illegal equipment as disqualifiable cheating.
Jeff Homburg, who provided helpful and honest feedback on an earlier draft of this article, had this to say:
Are disc golf standards perfect? Certainly not. I don't think any of the many stakeholders are entirely satisfied with all of the standards. But, by and large, there has been a lot of cooperation, and we've succeeded in many ways. We will continue to consider changes to the standards and make revisions deemed necessary for the future growth of disc golf.
Hard & Heavy
George Brett Goes Nuts
Rules are tricky. For a rule to survive, it has to be enforced. Without enforcement, rules not only cease to have meaning, their existence creates confusion while calling into question the logic and authority behind them.
Right now the PDGA has two technical standards on the books that are rarely enforced, flexibility and weight. We play a competitive game where inches dictate outcomes, yet the rules defining our equipment get a wink and a nod all the way from the manufacturer through the merchant to the players, many of whom love firm, heavy discs.
It's one of disc golf's enduring conundrums.
Flexibility
The PDGA's flexibility test involves pushing a disc vertically down onto a scale until it bends to half of the inside diameter (to taco shape) with less than 27 lbs. of applied pressure. Discs too rigid to pass this test are deemed illegal for sanctioned PDGA play.
We pulled some PDGA Approved discs off the shelf to see if they would pass, and a whole bunch didn't. Some weren't even close. At the same time a lot of wide-winged wicked fast drivers -- the kind of disc that could draw blood and raise welts if thrown into a crowd -- passed relatively easily.
A simple sounding solution is for the PDGA to put the onus on manufacturers to produce discs that comply with the rules. This seems like a reasonable idea, until you bring up the other, related PDGA Technical Standard that is seldom enforced.
Weight
We weigh every disc here at Marshall Street. Relatively few of the discs in our inventory are illegally heavy. There's a simple reason for this. Overweight discs -- particularly certain models -- sell like 10 Year Buzzzes. We'd buy more if manufacturers' order forms had an "Illegal" column, but they don't.
We receive overweight discs from lots of manufacturers. One thing they nearly all have in common is a stamp, sticker or Sharpied number indicating a legal weight.
What we seldom see, however, are outrageously overweight discs -- more than five grams. So while manufacturers are apparently aware of the weight limits on their discs, many treat these maximums like the Speed Limit we are careful not to exceed by more than, say, 10 miles an hour.
The Problem
We can't decide if playing PDGA events with discs that don't conform to the PDGA Technical Standards is really cheating, or if we care. We wonder if the Technical Standards have shifted so far away from their intended purpose to still make sense.
Initially the PDGA's weight and flexibility standards were established to keep the game safe by approving discs that wouldn't kill or seriously wound people struck by them. It might be that the PDGA avoids this original intent because if it sanctioned discs with technical standards in place explicitly to ensure safety, it could be liable for injuries caused by PDGA-approved models thrown into innocent bystanders' heads.
At any rate, the same standards wound up being applied to all discs regardless of shape. So while a relatively lethal object such as a Speed 13 driver remains legal as long as it can pass the flex test, a relatively non-lethal putter is illegal if it's too firm.
While the PDGA spot checks approved discs for compliance, discs aren't flex tested and weighed at tournaments (with the exception of Japan, where discs have to be 150-Class). The PDGA isn't about to require tournament directors to set up testing tents, either. TDs have enough on their plates already, and would be hesitant to disqualify the very players they worked so hard to attract. So once a disc reaches a player's bag, it's safe from prying scales.
Meanwhile our sport grows ripe for its own George Brett Pine Tar incident.
One player will get a TD or PDGA Official to weigh or flex-test a competitor's discs, who then gets disqualified for using illegally heavy and/or firm discs. It won't be pretty, but it will be great YouTube.
The Solution
Short of revising the rules, the PDGA could get ahead of the issue and begin spot checking players' discs before and after National Tour events. A less intrusive approach would be providing NTs with scales that measure (preferably 10ths of) grams up to 27 lbs. -- the only piece of equipment needed for either test -- so players can check their own discs.
A complicating factor with flex testing discs at tournament is that colder temperatures make them more rigid, essentially negating cold weather results. Plus disc golfers wince at just the thought of bending their discs till they're taco-shaped.
The PDGA could additionally require Tour Players to pledge to use only legal equipment at sanctioned events, and define the use of illegal equipment as disqualifiable cheating.
Jeff Homburg, who provided helpful and honest feedback on an earlier draft of this article, had this to say:
Are disc golf standards perfect? Certainly not. I don't think any of the many stakeholders are entirely satisfied with all of the standards. But, by and large, there has been a lot of cooperation, and we've succeeded in many ways. We will continue to consider changes to the standards and make revisions deemed necessary for the future growth of disc golf.
