What To Do When Telling Your Family You're A Disc Golfer Over The Holidays

For most people, the holidays mean a number of things - playing less disc golf as it gets darker so much earlier outside, getting to take time off of work, and spending more days with your extended family than you do any other time of the year. If you’re lucky, you’re super close with your aunts and uncles, cousins and in-laws, but not everyone has the chance to enjoy heartfelt communication and shared activities with those they’re related to.

If you’ve recently been bitten by the disc golf bug and want to tell your family all about it during a holiday get together, you might be feeling a bit nervous. There are a ton of stereotypes that come along with the sport, and people who you only see a few times a year might not understand what it’s all about, especially if you aren’t super close with them. Let’s explore a few of the common concerns you might hear and how you can overcome them.

“It’s not a real sport”

We all know that’s not true, but for so many people across the world, disc golf doesn’t seem as real as basketball, baseball, or football. Perhaps it has to do with the lack of money in the sport or its’ still very narrow reach, but nonetheless, you’ll likely hear this phrase when you share about your love of the game.

According to Wikipedia, a sport “includes all forms of competitive physical activity or games which, through casual or organized participation, at least in part aim to use, maintain or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants, and in some cases, entertainment for spectators.” It couldn’t be any more clear - disc golf is, in fact, a sport.

“You’ll never get any good”

This might ring in the ears of players who are more casual when it comes to disc golf and instead of attempting to hit the road and make a living out of it, realize that it’s more of a hobby. So, when your least favorite aunt decides to rag on you for your lack of skills and tell you that you won’t get good, you can tell her that that’s not what disc golf is about.

We love this game because it offers a way to challenge yourself every time you play, and rather than “getting good,” the goal instead is to have fun and see if you can do better than you did last time. Disc golf is great for making new friends, spending time with the ones you have, and incorporating exercise into your life.

“Disc golf is a waste of money”

In reality, playing disc golf is probably cheaper than the gym membership that all of your family members don’t use, as most courses are completely free to play. A set of discs for a beginner isn’t costly at all, and it’s a sport that’s flexible enough to let you choose how much involvement, and therefore money, you put into it. Imagine saying that over the holiday dinner table, huh?

All kidding aside, we realize that some people do have a difficult time when it comes to their family giving them a hard time about disc golf. If you haven’t already shared the above information with them, consider educating them about the game and even taking them out to play a few holes. You never know who you’ll turn from a hater into a lover of the game.

Weather Woes - How To Successfully Navigate A New Season

As the years go by it seems that the disc golf offseason is becoming shorter and shorter. While some players don’t necessarily observe this several month time period and instead prefer to play all year long, winter weather does hinder others from getting much time out on the course. With the 2019 season in full swing, we’ve already seen multiple reports on social media of some of the top touring pros reacting to such a major temperature change during their time in Arizona compared to colder days back home.

You don’t have to be on tour to encounter these issues however, as Mother Nature has seemed to have a mind of her own as of late. So how exactly should you transition from cold and snowy days to ones full of sunshine? Let’s cover some of the basics.

Put It On, Take It Off

Those who live in colder areas of the nation are no strangers to layering up before playing a round of disc golf. Even though our bodies do naturally warm up as our day goes on, there’s a good chance that you’ll still be left wearing just as much clothing as when you started. However, as the season gradually transitions into spring, planning ahead will be more and more vital.

Make sure to include enough layers in your outfit so that you’ll both be warm enough should it not reach the highs you were expecting or in the event things do heat up, you’ll be able to take off a jacket or pair of thermal pants in order to be a bit more comfortable. There’s nothing worse than playing when you’re too hot or too cold, even if it’s just for some casual fun.

Assess Your Bag

We talk about one’s bag a lot, and for good reason - without the proper tools, there’s no way you’re going to execute the type of round you’re after. More experienced players, and particularly those who live in colder climates, are well-versed in knowing how discs fly in winter weather and are adequately prepared. Not only might you throw different molds depending on the condition of the course, but you’ll most certainly be using different plastics as the weather gets warmer.

Now is the ideal time to make these adjustments and start to phase out your discs that are intended for snowy conditions. If a trip to your local sporting goods store to purchase some newer items for springtime is required, so be it. As with any transitionary period, take time to look at all of your gear, including your shoes and bag, to see if you can go another season without having to purchase new items.

Some of you might still have to endure another few weeks of knee-high snow, and for that, we’re truly sorry. However, if you’re stuck inside and can’t get out to play, what better time to get ready for warmer days? It’ll happen before you know it and you won’t want to be caught unprepared. What things are most important to you when moving out of the offseason and into warmer weather? Let us know below!

Preparing For 2019 - Elements To Consider Besides Just Touring

The idea of planning for the upcoming season is one that’s been talked about over and over again, and by now you’re probably well aware of all of the things you need to consider. From carefully crafting your schedule to ensuring you have places to stay, traversing the nation to play disc golf is no small task. However, there’s more to life on the road than just driving and competing.

Unless you’ve got a huge wad of cash in your bank account, there’s a good chance that you’ll need to think about supplementing your income while on the road. While it’s a nice idea to think that you can maintain your cash flow by winning tournaments, that kind of pressure will eventually burn you out. Instead of relying on a solid performance weekend in and weekend out, what else can you do?

Teaching Disc Golf

If you’re on tour then we can assume that you’re exceptionally skilled at the sport we all know and love, making you pretty darn qualified to teach others how to play. There’s still time left before the season really gets into high gear for you to be able to coordinate clinics and events that line up with your touring schedule, so consider if this may be the right move for you.

Not only does running clinics help to pay the bills, but it strengthens your relationships with players and clubs across the country. You’ll help to grow your personal brand and of course, spread the disc golf love even further than you thought possible. Given that there's not a tournament taking place all 52 weekends of the year, you'll likely be able to fit some teaching time in pretty easily.

Considering Merch

Nowadays we see tons of players opting to get custom discs, apparel, and accessories made with their name, face, or brand on them. While opinions can be somewhat polarized on this issue, there’s no denying that jumping onto the merch train does have its benefits. Think about the fact that you could be selling items online and making money while you’re on the course and see if it changes your mind.

However there are several major issues to consider when it comes to this type of situation, and while there’s still time to place an order for items before you hit the road, think about how you’ll replenish your stock and more specifically, where you’ll ship it to. The idea of carting around extra items isn’t always ideal either, especially if you have a smaller tour vehicle. Between online sales and setting up shop at events, you’ll probably do pretty well for yourself, but remember there’s the initial cost of ordering product before you start to see a return.

Creative Thinking

These are just two of the more popular ways that touring pros can make extra money while on the road during the 2019 season. While it’s obviously impossible to keep a part-time job if you’re on an extensive travel schedule, try considering some other more creative ways to keep the cash coming in while you play.

If you’ve been on tour before we’d love to hear from you - have you hosted clinics or tried selling merch? Did you have a lot of success or were the logistics of it too difficult to manage? Feel free to share with us in the comments below.

How Do You Handle A Lost Disc?

We often enact some pretty funny situations in our Disc Golf Is Life videos, but more than likely you’ve experienced the same things we portray on camera. In our latest clip, we see Robert lose one of his trusted discs off the tee pad. After a long and sad day, he prints up and distributes “Lost Disc” signs throughout his community in the hopes that his beloved plastic will come back to him.

While you can get a laugh by watching the full video here, it touches on an important topic within the disc golf community. Nearly every player out there has lost their favorite disc at one point in time, and people seem to be pretty split into two camps: search for half an hour no matter what in an attempt to recover your disc, or let it go and simply do without.

Ultimately it depends on your level of play and how seasoned your disc was. If you finally have something dialed in and then instantly lose it, you may want to make every effort to recover it. However, if you’re a pro player and have nearly unlimited access to plastic, saving your time and buying a new one may be a smarter option.

How do you handle losing a disc? Do your friends hate you for always making them look with you through tall grass and thorny bushes? Or, do you let your disc go and hope someone will find it and call you? Share your lost disc philosophy with us below!

Considering RV Life? Take A Peek At What It's Really Like

It’s a dream for many disc golf players out there: buy an RV, put a sweet wrap on it, and drive around the nation on tour completely kicking butt and shredding the course. Let’s say you’re able to finance this operation and you’re considering who to take with you on tour and what kind of RV might be right for you.

Before you go out making a big decision, we want to clue you in to some of the realities of RV life that you may not know about. Granted, these won’t happen to everyone, but they certainly could change the way you think about traveling. Thanks to Tina Stanaitis and Eric Oakley, our resident RVers, we found out some surprising things about life on the road!

Surviving Small Spaces

It’s a given that when you live full-time in an RV, you have to downsize your belongings pretty extensively. While these homes on wheels are built with a ton of nooks and crannies to help you maximize storage and stay organized, they don’t always have the desired effect. Tina explains, “Despite having a small space, and less belongings, we lose stuff constantly, either in small crevices between cabinets or tucked into our storage areas.”

Not only will you possibly spend more time looking for things than you used to, but you’ll acquire your fair share of bumps and bruises along the way. Imagine being an awkward teen who constantly hits their hip on the countertop and you’ll fit right in. Even though you will eventually learn the lay of the land, be prepared for injuries during the first few months.

What Personal Space?

Small living takes on a whole new meaning if you’re touring with someone, and even if it’s a best friend or romantic partner, things can get a bit too close for comfort. First of all, think about the various aromas that could come out of a bathroom and how often those smells are created. Now, look at your RV and explore where they could travel. You get the idea.

“When Eric and I aren’t getting along, we have to work it out immediately because we can’t go to the other room to get some space,” Stanaitis confided. Being in such close quarters perhaps can make or break relationships, but obviously in this case, Tina and Eric are handling things like champs.

Inviting friends over can pose some interesting challenges too, and privacy may be limited at times. Without going into too much detail, if you ever visit the Whalepants RV you may hear a certain body part being yelled out, advising you not to turn and look.

Equipment Trouble

Breaking down on the road is stressful and can mean large unexpected bills, but when your home breaks down it can complicate things even further. Not only do you have to worry about the engine, but your overall size can also contribute to some higher than average stress levels. “While driving in New York two years ago, we accidentally ended up on a highway with extremely low bridges. We white-knuckled for about a half hour just hoping one of the low bridges didn’t take out our air conditioner,” said Tina.

Does RV life still sound awesome? Yeah, it does to us too! Let us know in the comments below if you’ve ever encountered a funny or downright weird situation as a result of RV living.

Photo: Camping image created by Welcomia - Freepik.com

The Feeling of Progress

Spring is upon us.

As a disc golfer I've espoused the usefulness of year-round training for as long as I can remember. It doesn't always resonate with people from my region. We grow up hearing the anecdotes about kids in the south and west who could play baseball all year, and the advantages they have as a result (it was a part of the children's books I read, as a Matt Christopher nut). We hit high school and we watch those around us who compete throughout the off season make real progress, drilling techniques until they're flawless. But in disc golf: the value of working through the winter on your game isn't always taken seriously.

And one can see why. Putting in the garage isn't as nice as putting on the lawn. Putting in the snow feels terrible with your drive foot sliding; your plant foot shifting; your hand intermittently smeared with near freezing water as you pick up discs. When the snow has melted: the mud where you've been planting is like an oil slick. Even without these complications I've written over 3500 words on tiresome routine and regimented work in the past six months alone, including what to do when it inevitably becomes so tiresome.

Who wants to do that?

Spring is upon us.

There's this feeling you get when it gets warm. A feeling that rises inside of you when the opportunity to throw every day in mild temperatures, with lower winds, off of consistently dry teepads emerges. It's that feeling you get when you head out of town for your first big event of the year, heading south, leaving the chill and precipitation behind. You get it the moment you step out of your car after six or eight plus hours driving, into temperatures that make it feel like you've emerged into a different world. It rises and rises to a climax the moment you're warmed up enough to really take that first big huck. The moment your disc flies 75 feet further than it did in September.

There's this feeling you get when it gets warm. A feeling that rises inside of you when the opportunity to throw every day in mild temperatures, with lower winds, on clean and neat greens emerges. It's that feeling you get when you're out in your yard, the snow melted and the dirt dry. You get it as your putt comes together consistently in ways you don't remember feeling a week before, the distractions of the conditions are gone and you can putt freely for the first time in months. It rises and rises to a climax as you triumphantly push through set after set at rates you couldn't have expected (though you hoped for them) at the start of winter.

There's this feeling you get when it gets warm. A feeling that rises inside of you when the opportunity to throw every day in mild temperatures, with lower winds, against consistently deep fields emerges. It's that feeling you get when you get out of your car for your Friday night league for the first time, and you see a crowd of 30 milling about over 30 minutes before the close of sign ups. You get it the moment you hear the league operator remind you that you're B Pool, you know better. It rises and rises to a climax as you move through your evening dropping bombs, putts, and bomb putts - while the competition shakes off the rust, in an effort to just get back to where they were.

Spring is upon us. And winter really wasn't that long.

Chris Wojciechowski

Disc Golf Is Life - So Be Safe This Winter!

We often like to integrate disc golf into everyday situations in a humorous way for our Disc Golf Is Life videos, but sometimes they hold a deeper meaning than their silly surface.

Essentially, it shows the whole DD crew stopping all work while Doug Bjerkaas calls for a lightning delay and makes everyone wait 30 minutes. While it's pretty funny, there's something to be said for staying safe in inclement weather.

Although during wintertime most of us deal with rain or snow, the Midwest can often experience lightning and thunder as they accompany severe snowstorms. If you're playing a round of disc golf and you start to notice this type of weather, stay safe and seek shelter right away.

The same goes for absolute downpours of rain, hail, or strong snowstorms. We know, you're addicted to disc golf just like we are, but the round you play today isn't worth sacrificing your health or safety.

Ok, now that we're done acting like your parent, get out there and throw some discs! Be sure to also check out our full playlist of Disc Golf Is Life videos - they're short enough to watch during a break at work or anytime you need a good laugh!

When Disc Golf Is Life...

We're all pretty obsessed with disc golf around here, and if you've ever seen one of our Disc Golf Is Life videos you know that we take the sport very seriously. When it comes to parking, dating, or even visiting the restroom, the terminology we use on the course can often easily translate into our daily lives.

But in all seriousness, disc golf is life for many people out there, and we're curious how that relates to those of you who don't work in the industry. Do you find that your co-workers think you're nuts when you sneak out of work half an hour early so you can make it to a weekly doubles event?

Or how about the fact that your vehicle is decked out in stickers declaring your love of the sport? Does your spouse give you a look when you try to hyzer your dirty laundry into the washing machine or are you a disc golf family that celebrates these attempts?

If you're not sure if disc golf is life for you, then check out our list of quick Disc Golf Is Life videos and see for yourself. You just might find yourself using terms like par, out of bounds, and foot fault in a business meeting if you aren't careful!