I don’t know what it is …
But I can’t get enough crap disc golf on YouTube.
I love it all:
- Thrill No. 1 – I enjoy seeing Ian Anderson lay down an “ill-advised” roller.
- Thrill No. 2 – I enjoy watching Trevor Staub airmail a putt from 15 feet away.
- Thrill No. 3 – I enjoy listening to the Swanky boys openly Berg-bash on camera.
Here’s perhaps the weirdest part of it all, though …
I have access to pro-level disc golf.
It’s not like I’m stationed in Antarctica. Given the day and age in which we live, sports-centric or not, if there’s something I want to watch, I know enough people with logins to get a quick hit.
Outside of disc golf, I’m a big-time sports guy.
Originally a Wade Boggs fan, his final days in Tampa Bay made the Rays matter in my mind. With Drew Brees my favorite quarterback during my younger years, I follow the New Orleans Saints closely. Hailing from Oklahoma, I’ll defend the Thunder (and Russell Westbrook) until death. And lastly, given my alma mater, anything athletic out of BYU gets me pumped, as well.
But in NO other sport do I voluntarily seek out low-level talent …
And for my viewing pleasure.
It’d be like hitting up your local YMCA to take in hours of airballs.
With disc golf, I have a few theories as to why this might be …
First, scarcity of content. Though it might seem like everybody is coming out with a podcast or YouTube channel, compared to more household sports, disc golf’s yet to even scratch the surface of what constitutes a meaningful media offering. When there aren’t many cute girls at the dance, you make do with willing participants. I mean, you’re reading this blog post, aren’t you?
Case in point.
Next, relatability. I’m not enough of a fan of ball golf to know if something similar takes place within their fanbase. But in our sport, it’s WAY easier to empathize with the pains of the Bear Bite Disc Golf guy than it is Paul “His Holiness” McBeth. In a way, bad disc golf is calming.
And lastly, obsession – lump community in with this one, too. When the disc golf bug bites you, it bites you hard. Without batting an eyelash, how many newbie disc golfers do you know who drop $1,000 on plastic with less than twelve months in the sport? It happens every day …
Infinite Discs knows them well.
The infected willingly buy stupid discs; the infected willingly watch stupid disc golf.
Color me proudly infected.
Enjoy it while it lasts, peeps …
As the sport grows and athletes with higher expectations for the media they consume make their way into disc golf, the landscape will change – and what’s popular will change along with it.
Nae bother: Us old-timers will continue to take in (and supply) the ugly stuff.
Have anything to add? Take to Twitter to let us know – we’ll actually (for real) get back to you.
Editor’s Suggestions:
- The inevitable fallout of Prodigy suing Gannon Buhr
- Disc golf: The benefits of leaning (heavily) on one disc
- Disc golf: The argument for manufacturer-loyal amateurs
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I totally agree with this. Some of the most interesting disc golf I’ve watched on YouTube are obscure tournaments and “friendly” local rounds that people post. And it helps to sometimes watch players who aren’t at the top level. (It allows you to sort of compare your game with theirs, see how they throw, what they choose to do.)
Also, I’ve seen some strange stuff. There was some event that took place on a rainy weekend. The players weren’t world-class, and one of them simply *threw* the disc when driving. I mean, he actually threw the disc, like a big, lobbed baseball throw. I don’t mean a thumber, either. He just sort of bombed the disc down the fairway until he got close enough to putt. (Amazingly, he actually busted out a really good forehand at one point for an approach shot– which was just as surprising as his “bomb throw.”)
Anyway, I think it’s actually helpful to watch some of the obscure rounds posted on YouTube. It gives you a sense of what’s out there, how people are playing, how they treat the sport, etc.
Love the insight, Steve-O!
Never thought of it that way …
We’ll need to get you to write a piece that expands on this 😉
Check out minutemen media YouTube channel it’s all amateurs drilling trees and missing putts. It’s hilarious!!! I totally agree with this as a fellow disc golf junkie
Never even heard of Minutemen Media …
Thanks for the tip!
Great article, all true and utterly hilarious. Was literally laughing outloud reading it. Disc golf is the best and so is the community. Keep it up guys!
Thanks for the kind words, Ryan!
Happy to have you as a reader 🙂
Where do I find bad disc golf channel? Link in article takes me to a disc site.
Thanks
Ryan, so it’s not necessarily that the channels are bad …
It’s that the YouTube channels largely feature bad (or amateur) disc golf.
Foundation Disc Golf comes to mind.
Swanky Disc golf comes to mind, as well.