I can’t find the comment.
And it’s driving me B-A-N-A-N-A-S.
Love you, Gwen.
Two or three months ago, a reader left a comment at the bottom of an article. It was on one of the many “Gripe” posts that’ve been published on the blog. For the life of me, though, I can’t recall which one. If I did, word-for-word, I’d reference it in this post. And we come full-circle …
I can’t find the comment.
Anyway, the comment suggested an ongoing series of pieces about the many “perks” of disc golf. Sort of a yin to the yang of launching a complaint about the sport every-other week.
I liked the idea; I wrote it down.
Today, that journey begins. If you love the “Gripe” series, no worries: It’s not going anywhere. And if you hate the living snot out of it, bad news: It’s not going anywhere. Regardless, to kick things off correctly, I want to talk about one of my all-time favorite things about disc golf:
It’s a slow game that plays quickly.
That might seem oxymoronic, but the concept works …
Keep reading.
My life is hectic.
Yours probably is, too.
Work is long. Bills are never-ending. Relationships require maintenance. And my three small children have this thing about being fed, clothed and sheltered they just can’t seem to shake. However, perhaps the craziest part of all is that I wouldn’t change any of it for the world.
Life is good.
But to keep it that way, I sometimes need a break – like, once or twice a week.
For an hour or two at a time.
Disc golf gives me that.
If you think about the ways most men “get away” from it all, not only are they freakishly pricey, but they take serious time – time I don’t have. Hunting is an overnight endeavor. At best, fishing is a half-day undertaking. And big-brother ball golf will demand at least four hours of your time to get in 18 holes. Thankfully, and I can’t express this with enough gratitude in my heart …
This is NOT the case with disc golf.
When the wifey bids me adieu at the front door with my discs slung over my shoulder, she knows I’ll be back in 120 minutes tops. Worst-case scenario, tack an extra 30 minutes on top of that to look for a lost disc. Combine the timely nature of the sport with its innate ability to calm the soul, dial-back the panic meter and give the lungs space to breathe deeply, and it’s a total head-scratcher as to why more people didn’t stick with it after the pandemic ran its course.
Disc golf is …
- Mental.
- Movement.
- Meditation.
- Mother Nature.
And all at once, incredibly.
For a heightened experience, put away the smartphone.
Sorry, UDisc.
Honest to goodness, I can’t think of many other pastimes that mesh the physical with the (kind of) spiritual, while leaving its participants feeling like they just got back from a five-star day spa when all is said and done – with some unsightly patches of poison oak, for good measure.
And again …
All this in the time it takes to watch a movie on the big screen.
Not bad.
Keep your barbecue, baseball cards and backyard brewery.
Round after round, disc golf gets me what I need.
And in no time at all.
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Amen, brother!
Not only is ball golf ridiculously expensive, but it takes way longer too! Those are just two of my favorite reasons for why disc golf beats ball golf.
I’m blessed with a 9 hole par 3 near my house (holes between 150-240 wooded shots). The course is split front 5 on one side of the park and a short walk to the back 4. When I’m trying to maximize my golf time I will loop the front 5 or back 4. I’ve done the front 5 four times with a buddy in under an hour countless times. Keep in mind I’m mostly shooting 4’s haha. But ya even when you have to wait sometimes the game plays quickly.
And ok ok! I’ll try to play round without using uDisc!
Dude, same setup in my neck of the woods!
There’s a sweet nine-holer right across the street from my house.
Talk about living a blessed life, right?
Sounds a lot like a course in my neck of the woods. There’s a par 3 that’s about 110’, dog leg left off the tee. There’s a very tight window, which forces me (RH) to use my backhand shot off the tee. I have a Prodigy M1 that has broken in over the last year (was my primary workhorse disc, 400 plastic, it’s now more on the understable side and I’m debating retiring it and hanging it up, even though Lucas has documented that that’s kind of lame). I wouldn’t classify myself as a forehand or a backhand golfer, but primarily off the tee I like to attack holes forehand when I can because I can usually visualize follow-up shots in my head off the forehand better, barring cases like this hole where that just is flat-out impractical for a right-handed golfer.
Anyways, the hole in question is one that I know I’m going to ace one day. The closest I’ve gotten to this point is a hyzer-line drifter with the M1 in question. It was the disc I used to get my one and only ace, and also was my favorite disc and the one I used to clank chains off the tee while I was a brand new disc golfer (I am still pretty new, I’ve only played in one tournament and I haven’t even been playing a full year yet, although I have played this year, am PDGA-registered and have played over 100 rounds, not counting local league play in that time); I’m sitting there, alone, at this hole after pulling par out of my butt on the previous hole after shanking a shot so hard right I legitimately thought that I had driven the shot into someone’s yard in the distance. I’m thinking about the ace, which I also recorded in a solo round and the only documented proof of I have is the group playing a hole and a half behind me that heard the chains hit and heard me celebrating like I had just won the lottery after winning the World Series. I say f*ck it, this game’s about fun. I throw the aforementioned shot. Before the throw all the way down to the clanking off the basket, I had a feeling I may get my second ace here, because it was an unlikely shot for me with the same disc on a hole I’ve parked repeatedly over the last year (this park is a distant third in my rotation of local parks, but is my favorite when I am only going to play 9 holes, as it does have an 18-hole setup as well). It was my favorite shot of the year, even more so than the ace, because the ace was one of those insane “throw as hard as you can off the tee” shots that I only threw out of frustration after losing the first disc I bought at my local store on the previous hole. I literally didn’t believe it for about five seconds, in the throes of celebration I lost my phone and my vape, and spent about twenty minutes looking for it in the dirt after the celebrating. The ace was pure luck – even for an ace, which is generally more luck than not, even for the best of the best. This shot here was something that I actually thought of in my head and actively attempted, albeit out of curiosity, and fully ready to take a patented mulligan if the shot failed.
One last thing, I have the tendency to take short five minute breaks every six holes in an 18-hole round, especially if I’m doing awful. If I’m doing well, and it isn’t because I’m thinking about all of my shots, I’ll keep the party going and I won’t stop to rest for the most part. If I’m doing bad, I make a point to stop and chill for a minute so that the experience doesn’t become a source of stress for me. I do make sure I make a note of who is trying to get ahold of me when I’m out there, but I don’t respond to texts or answer calls unless it’s an emergency, as beyond all else, disc golf has become what ball golf was to me for many years, at a fraction of the price – escapism from life. It’s always there, and it goes on without you whether you love it or hate it. Taking time and disconnecting at a level that’s reasonable and comfortable for you, and going from there is something I believe everybody on the planet needs, regardless of their affinity for throwing plastic.
Love the blog Lucas! I try to read everything, but this is my first time commenting. I try to keep up on everything you post, and as a third shifter, your posts have gotten me through plenty of sleepless nights. My only regret is as a primary Prodigy thrower, you don’t tend to post too much content about Prodigy, but at the same time, almost 100% of what I know about non-Prodigy discs has came from your brain. Appreciate the work brother!
Jordan, this is awesome, man – thanks for the lengthy comment!
Love it when readers do this sort of thing 🙂
Admittedly, in this part of the country (out west), Prodigy doesn’t see much action …
I’ve been tempted to pick up an A2 to see what all the fuss is about, though.
What’s a good disc for a first-time Prodigy person like myself to start with?
Can’t thank you enough for reading!
Thanks for the support 🙂
Absolutely! The with the weather warming up and days getting longer it’s getting busy again.
Tried to play 20 holes with my oldest but we were only able to squeeze 15 in an hour because of all the traffic. Oh well C’est la vie!
Oh, that’s nice …
I have three boys.
When they’re older, hoping to do the same.
(without the traffic, of course)
Lucas…3 boys, that’s awesome! On the Prodigy front, I have a Prodigy bag and retriever, and I love them both. I’ve personally never fallen in love with one of their discs.
My one recommendation…if you want to collect discs for your boys’ future…the first disc I ever bought specifically for my son was an F7, 137 grams. Perfect for him when he was about 6. Within 6-12 months it was too flippy…went to a low-weight Diamond etc. etc.
This is great intel – thanks!
Also, Dino Discs does nothing but light-weight stuff for kids, so that’s worth checking out, as well.
I’ll do both.
Again, thanks for the suggestion 🙂
They say “Golf is a good walk spoiled” well i think “Disc Golf is a good walk turned great”
(I too remember the commenter complaining about negativity and not a perk to balance it. You’re not crazy.)
Get this tattooed on your body somewhere. Haha.
Doubled back to say…
Last night I forgot my phone in the truck while Harmony and I played our after school round. It was definitely freeing. I’ll have to make a point to do that more often.
Sounds like a blast, Kurt!
Obviously, when you have a family, just abandoning your smartphone isn’t always the best idea …
I get that.
But if you can swing it, leave it.
(at least sometimes)