Pro vs. Am

[The Hammer]

$25/year

 

[Major Tomahawk]

Pros make fewer mistakes.

 

[lyleoross]

$25/year

Best answer, unless you add in, an average of 25 points in their ratings.

 

[JRW III]

.....

With so much overlap in the level of competition, the motivation to "move up to pro" can come from a number of different factors:

• Would rather earn cash/already have more than enough discs and swag
• Belief that competing against top-level players will help spur improvements
• Desire to claim disc golf earnings as taxable income (and deduct all disc golf expenses!)
  
• Enjoy playing against pro division players due to their maturity and focus level
• Shelf of am-level trophies is too full to justify further "sandbagging"

Why would you desire to claim taxes on disc golf earnings? True it will let you claim the related expenses, but you can only go for so long of claiming expenses that exceed your income before the IRS calls it a hobby.

 

[ThrowBot]

Why would you desire to claim taxes on disc golf earnings? True it will let you claim the related expenses, but you can only go for so long of claiming expenses that exceed your income before the IRS calls it a hobby.

That's a good point. I was kind of joking about deducting my disc-golf related expenses, although that would be a sizable chunk if I could get away with it.

With regards to earned income, would that qualify as profit from self-employment? If so I'm definitely way under the minimum that would require me to claim it.

 

[lyleoross]

The comment on pressure to move up to Pro reminded me of some old discussions that happened about 12 or 13 years ago. There was a lot of pressure for players to move to pro at that time. Most of it was peer pressure. Players would move up, feel frustrated and stuck, and then quit. The PDGA solved it by creating a path to move back down.

Given this, I'd say the difference between a Pro and an AM is the desire to stay a Pro.

 

[JTacoma03]

What is it that you guys think separate an adv am player from a pro? I'm not talking the "stars" of the game either, more or less the c and b tier local guys.

This is a really interesting question, one which I think will be answered differently each time if you ask it in 5-year intervals based how the game is growing and evolving.

5 years ago I would say "35 foot putts". Am's don't make 'em much at the local level, and pros make a handful per tournament.

Today you see more and more of that professional mental approach, more athleticism on average, and a wider variety of strategy on the courses.

- The mental approach comes from the popularity of the game growing, and the ability to watch the touring pros more easily (growth of YouTube, livestreaming, etc.) to mimic them.

- The athleticism comes from more people taking the game seriously, and more athletes playing

- The strategy on the course diversifies with all the new manufacturers and molds on the market. Not everything is a Roc anymore, people can make a competitive bag to fit them, rather than having to find the competition-grade discs and make their game work with that.

With that in mind - I'd say that today it's about having a gameplan and sticking to it. Pros have developed that ability, Am's tend to abandon it when things start going sideways and start running every putt and trying to park every hole.