[Question] Potential tech standards changes?

[AndyJB]

Another thought:

Maybe the argument IS about safety and injuries but NOT about getting hit with discs. I've known three people in the last two years who have incurred shoulder injuries from high-speed drivers. I also sometimes get shoulder pain...so does my wife and the fastest thing she throws is a Blizzard Krait, and that's rare. Mostly her longest disc is an Orc. Could be her lever-arm throws, but that's besides the point.

Back in the early days of our sport...the halcyon days of when I was in high school and we never thought anything would top the Archangel or Valk....nobody ever got those kind of strains or tears. Disc Golf ("folf" as only people from Montana and Crazy John call it) was easily the most low-impact sport around. Now, take that disc golf is now marketed to a much younger audience, and you get young kids throwing high speed drivers with all their might. Boom! Injuries. the same reason that Little League banned the curveball.

just a thought...

 

[knave]

^^yep.^^

 

[keltik]

after reading all this the first time through I thought Duvall was opining his work as a course designer being made null and void by big drivers. Duvall was part of many of the tight technical courses here in NC. I think that is still a big part of his argument.

the safety concerns are there but that is largely a part of course design. Duvall is a top notch designer but the throwers still have to be mindful of their target area. Casual park goers are not so mindful of us.

and the thought of the fast drivers creating more injuries for the thrower is very interesting. my n=1 injury rate does coincide with it. although my first dg injury involved loose gravel and a 150g shark or leopard (can't fully remember).

 

[Josh.arment]

First throwing a curve ball does NOT hurt a persons arm if throw correctly. Throwing a ball, period, is what's damaging to an arm. So that arguement is null. This is coming from someone that played colligiate baseball.

The real issue with safety is there needs to be more courses that are strictly for disc golf. You don't see people waking their dogs around gold courses do you? When you are a player of disc golf you understand the risk of getting hit and know where to stand and NOT to stand; randoms do not.

Astra as the weight issue I feel that it's a total joke. Lets think about the other sports. As I said above, in baseball, the throwing motion is an unnatural movement and therefore damages the elbow and shoulder. However it would be a joke to consider lightening the ball; same goes with football.

All sports have risks; it's just that people that don't know about disc golf don't understand the risks of it either. People still go to baseball games and want to sit down the foul lines even though they know they have a chance of getting hit by a ball moving close to 90mph.

 

[SirRaph]

after reading all this the first time through I thought Duvall was opining his work as a course designer being made null and void by big drivers.

I can imagine ball golf had the same problem when the club technology moved from wood to helium-inflated titanium trampoline faced drivers. How horribly selfish to think that your perfectly designed courses are being diced up by big armed players, so you decide that nerfing their equipment is the solution.
Bad news for that idea, your 335' 90 degree dogleg left is still going to get spike hyzers thrown to the pin whether they're throwing Destroyers or PDs.

and the thought of the fast drivers creating more injuries for the thrower is very interesting. my n=1 injury rate does coincide with it. although my first dg injury involved loose gravel and a 150g shark or leopard (can't fully remember).

That's a strange idea. Do people throw harder when they're throwing speed 13 vs speed 10 drivers? I doubt it. I think the hardest I've ever seen anyone throw is watching newbs throw a Buzzz. You throw hard when you're trying to throw far. Disc speed has little to do with that.

 

[DaddyTookTeebirdAway]

That's a strange idea. Do people throw harder when they're throwing speed 13 vs speed 10 drivers? I doubt it. I think the hardest I've ever seen anyone throw is watching newbs throw a Buzzz. You throw hard when you're trying to throw far. Disc speed has little to do with that.

Maybe the idea is that the market is so saturated with high speed drivers that noobs just assume they have to muscle them to get them to go far. Leads to more frequent noob injuries or new people just plain bored and frustrated with the sport.

 

[dashiellx]

People still go to baseball games and want to sit down the foul lines even though they know they have a chance of getting hit by a ball moving close to 90mph.

Yes, they do and they KNOW they are assuming that risk. Not every Mom and her toddler in the park know they are assuming the risk of getting hit by a disc.

 

[Josh.arment]

Yes, they do and they KNOW they are assuming that risk. Not every Mom and her toddler in the park know they are assuming the risk of getting hit by a disc.

Exactly my point, I probably just didn't stare it directly. Either we need more dedicated dgcourses OR the public needs to be educated on the game. The first option seems more probable.

 

[biscoe]

another theory (based upon no facts whatsoever)- imo throwing forehand is a much easier skill to learn than throwing backhand. super fast overstable discs make this even easier. what impact does this have on the game in general?

 

[onemilemore]

Exactly my point, I probably just didn't stare it directly. Either we need more dedicated dgcourses OR the public needs to be educated on the game. The first option seems more probable.

Or how about WE educate the public? It seems very selfish to think that everyone else in the park needs to be more aware of disc golfers, when likely the park was there first.

It's very easy to walk up to someone in the fairway, politely show them your disc and explain that it can be dangerous. Disc golfers needs to evolve in this regard if we want the sport to also evolve.

 

[AndyJB]

First throwing a curve ball does NOT hurt a persons arm if throw correctly. Throwing a ball, period, is what's damaging to an arm. So that arguement is null. This is coming from someone that played colligiate baseball.
.

You missed most of my point. I know throwing a curveball isn't damaging...to an adult arm. If a ten year old tries to throw it, it can blow his arm out and he may never recover. Hence why Little league banned it.

Same thing with DG. A 10-13 year old kid just trying to muscle his Blizz Boss as hard as possible is an invitation for an injury.

 

[Josh.arment]

Again if a kid is taught how to throw a curve ball correctly it doesn't put anyone stress on an arm then a regular fast ball. Which goes back to people needing to be educated about the sport of dg.

 

[AndyJB]

Again if a kid is taught how to throw a curve ball correctly it doesn't put anyone stress on an arm then a regular fast ball. Which goes back to people needing to be educated about the sport of dg.

Absolutely agree with the bolded part. Like, 100 percent. I've tried a few times at local courses back in CO. I'll see a 280 foot hole and someone pulling out a Blizzard Boss. A lot of people don't want to learn...or they think I'm some weirdo creeper. either way, education is important.

Maybe Innova would be better off putting more effort into the EDGE program. They've had some success with it, of course, but it is fairly expensive for a school to invest in one of the EDGE packs for a fringe sport like disc golf. hopefully that attitude changes in the next few years.

 

[depster]

Through all this talk, debate, and tangents the only thing that seems like the best possible option is for the PDGA to start promoting private courses and heavily.

 

[EL-KABONG]

This is coming from someone that played colligiate baseball.

Yay, lurning, yay