Perk No. 5: Competence comes quickly in disc golf

This is one of my all-time favorite perks of disc golf.

To this day, I use it regularly to sell my friends on the game.

You should, too.

Please don’t misunderstand me …

Disc golf is NOT a cake-walk.

It’s not the Candy Land of the sporting world.

All chance. Zero skill.

In spite of what naive park-goers might think, the game’s brutal: Becoming the best version of your disc-golf self is a grind. And a life-long one, at that – no shoddy corner-cutting allowed.

My main point, however, is as follows:

Competence comes quickly.

I’ve gotten enough of my buddies hooked on this thing to know you don’t need decades of tireless work to compete with an above-average amateur. Months, yes. Years, no. But honestly, even just looking the part is a matter of five or six rounds – not much, compared to other sports.

Throwing the disc for (relative) distance is more of a snap-and-rip kind of situation, as opposed to tossing a fastback frisbee back and forth on the beach. Newbies to the game take a few rounds to figure that out. But once they do, most holes are short enough to the point where at least surviving a round of disc golf in some sort of semi-competent fashion isn’t all that tough.

Approaching the pin is hard, as well, but it’s a Kan-Jam-type action most are familiar with. And putting will forever be a soul-sucking task, so the sooner your greenie friend can accept that, the better. But again, whether naturally forehand- or backhand-dominant, avoiding complete and total embarrassment with only a few rounds of experience under the belt is totally doable.

Now, for the sake of furthering my argument, let’s flip the script on the sport. If we’re talking ball golf, virtually NONE of the above is in play. I know, because I’m the buddy who sometimes tags along with his ball-golf friends. To set the scene, the guys I’m referencing have been playing traditional golf at a recreational level for about as long as I’ve been at this whole disc-golf thing.

Eighteen and some change.

Admittedly, I don’t ball golf all that frequently – probably two or three times a year. But the amount of competence that can be accomplished on the disc golf course in that same amount of time is light-years ahead of what’s possible at a country club spraying balls in every direction.

Hitting a golf ball is an unnatural movement, not to mention the fact that there’s a literal, physical degree of separation between the golfer and a microscopic ball – the club.

This isn’t a disc golf vs. ball golf article.

But the fact of the matter remains the same:

Disc golf is hard, but …

It’s not SO hard a new disc golfer can’t quickly get to the point of competence.

It’s my belief this is part of the reason the game is so appealing. Yes, it’s cheap – that plays a role. And not needing a ton of gear to get started is nice, too. But being able to DO the sport without McBeth-levels of experience (or dedication) with some degree of success is big.

Competence is key.

From there, it’s only a matter of time before the game has claimed yet another addict …

Hook. Line. Sinker.

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Editor’s Suggestions:

• Review: The Disc Raptor
• Disc golf: This guy’s the best disc salesman on the planet
• Gripe No. 60: Over-the-top profanity on the disc golf course

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