The Rise of the $10M Disc Golf Celebrity • Hacker News Board

Re: The Rise of the $10M Disc Golf Celebrity

#71

Post by losvedir » Wed, Jun 23, 2021, 1:47 PM UTC

Ah, I love disc golf! I'm a Patreon supporter of JomezPro, and like everyone else here is saying, they just have shockingly good day-after production value coverage of tournaments, free on YouTube. Check it out! Always fun to watch, but as some folks say, rooting for Paul McBeth is like going to a casino and rooting for the house.

I'm also a fan of esports, having got into Rocket League a couple years ago. It's quite interesting the difference. There are professional players there, but I've never quite understood how esports works - it feels like a VC funded Ponzi scheme that will implode some day. Like, how are all these Rocket League players getting paid?

The difference, I think, with disc golf is that to play, you actually need to buy some physical things (discs), and those will eventually get beat up from hitting trees and concrete, or you'll lose them, so there's constantly people out there spending a bit of money. (Not a ton, mind you, and that's part of what I love about the sport; the vast majority of courses are free! Just a walk in a park, basically.) And so these disc manufacturers can afford to sponsor some pros and so on.

I imagine the Paul McBeth deal is so big in part to be splashy and bring attention to the sport, but it's not so outlandish to me like with esports.

Re: The Rise of the $10M Disc Golf Celebrity

#72

Post by jartelt » Wed, Jun 23, 2021, 1:53 PM UTC

Just in case anyone reads the article or comments here and decides they want to try out disc golf, here's a tip... DO NOT go out and buy a high speed driver disc (speed >9) to use as a beginner or intermediate. You almost certainly will not be able to throw it hard enough to fly properly and it will lead to frustration, poor form, and inconsistent results. Stick with a putter, a mid-range, and maybe a fairway driver (speed 6 or 7).

The speed rating on discs can be tricky for beginners. It's intuitive to think that a high speed rating on a disc means it will fly faster and further. However, a high speed rating actually means you need to throw that disc faster in order for it to fly it's proper flight path. If you do not throw a high speed driver hard enough, it will just go 100 feet and curve into the ground. Beginners and intermediates typically will throw lower speed discs farther than they would throw the high speed driver.

Re: The Rise of the $10M Disc Golf Celebrity

#73

Post by TwoBit » Wed, Jun 23, 2021, 2:08 PM UTC

jartelt wrote: post #72

Just in case anyone reads the article or comments here and decides they want to try out disc golf, here's a tip... DO NOT go out and buy a high speed driver disc (speed >9) to use as a beginner or intermediate. You almost certainly will not be able to throw it hard enough to fly properly and it will lead to frustration, poor form, and inconsistent results. Stick with a putter, a mid-range, and maybe a fairway driver…

For advanced players do the 9+ discs perform better?

Re: The Rise of the $10M Disc Golf Celebrity

#74

Post by Cd00d » Wed, Jun 23, 2021, 2:18 PM UTC

jartelt wrote: post #72

Just in case anyone reads the article or comments here and decides they want to try out disc golf, here's a tip... DO NOT go out and buy a high speed driver disc (speed >9) to use as a beginner or intermediate. You almost certainly will not be able to throw it hard enough to fly properly and it will lead to frustration, poor form, and inconsistent results. Stick with a putter, a mid-range, and maybe a fairway driver…

That's my same experience with actual golf!

When I was young, I was always better off the tee with a 3 or 5 wood, rather than the big ole' driver.

Re: The Rise of the $10M Disc Golf Celebrity

#75

Post by screye » Wed, Jun 23, 2021, 2:20 PM UTC

pcthrowaway wrote: post #40

cjonas wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In skiing, only a few individuals at the very top make any real money. Most "professional skiers" just get free gear and travel budgets to film a segment or go to competitions. To be a professional, you either have to be a massive dirtbag, or have a trust fund; and the former has gotten much harder these days. Same deal for professional climbers, AFIAK. I also disagree in that climbing seems quite affordable compared…

Sponsored climbers are quite common. Climbers who would have no chance of winning a competition and are climbing nowhere near the frontier of the sport can become sponsored; it's often about building connections and a name for themselves (perhaps for being really good at one specific move, or doing some first ascents in a remote area). I think very few climbers have made $1 million in a year from sponsorships. But if…

It's a little sad how being 'American' is such a huge plus when it comes to sponsorships.

Janja Garnbret has been the unquestioned top female climber since she started being a pro climber, but an American or British climber will always get more media coverage.

Re: The Rise of the $10M Disc Golf Celebrity

#76

Post by screye » Wed, Jun 23, 2021, 2:25 PM UTC

jartelt wrote: post #72

Just in case anyone reads the article or comments here and decides they want to try out disc golf, here's a tip... DO NOT go out and buy a high speed driver disc (speed >9) to use as a beginner or intermediate. You almost certainly will not be able to throw it hard enough to fly properly and it will lead to frustration, poor form, and inconsistent results. Stick with a putter, a mid-range, and maybe a fairway driver…

As someone who has never disk golfed, but skipped rocks last week after not having done it for a decade:

Swinging is really hard on your shoulders. I spent a day surfing, hiking, running and skipping rocks. My pitching shoulder was the one that was most sore (and slightly hurt) the day after.

Just a probable warning for anyone who has shoulder issues. (probably also bad technique)

Re: The Rise of the $10M Disc Golf Celebrity

#77

Post by kasey_junk » Wed, Jun 23, 2021, 2:29 PM UTC

losvedir wrote: post #70

kasey_junk wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no public course in Chicago (where my club is located). Fixing that is a major long term goal of our club but we’ve had a lot of success working with the parks putting up temporary baskets. Our club only exists because a buddy and me took a cheap basket down to the park to goof around and lots of like minded folks saw us. Now we have a pretty big Wed putting league in one park and temporary baskets we leave…

There's tons just across the border here in Indiana! I live in Whiting and they just put up a great disc golf course in Forsythe Park here. Come out sometime and play! (And send me an email so I can join :)).

We play northern Indiana/Joliet/the suburbs a lot. Which is great for people with cars. Lots of great options.

We are trying to make the sport more accessible to kids on the south (east) side who can’t get out to anywhere else. IIT has a small course but it’s private and their security is known to hassle kids on campus who aren’t students. So having park sanctioned baskets is our focus.

https://hydeparkdiscgolf.com/

Re: The Rise of the $10M Disc Golf Celebrity

#78

Post by hnrodey » Wed, Jun 23, 2021, 2:33 PM UTC

jartelt wrote: post #72

Just in case anyone reads the article or comments here and decides they want to try out disc golf, here's a tip... DO NOT go out and buy a high speed driver disc (speed >9) to use as a beginner or intermediate. You almost certainly will not be able to throw it hard enough to fly properly and it will lead to frustration, poor form, and inconsistent results. Stick with a putter, a mid-range, and maybe a fairway driver…

This is a terrific value for anyone new to disc golf. Hard to go wrong with this three disc set from Innova and it's also a great price.

https://www.dunhamssports.com/product/3-pack_disc_golf_combo...

To make it even simpler - a beginner could confidently play a course with only a mid-range disc. It's that simple. Don't get caught up looking at players who walk around with 30 disc sets in their bag. It's just simply not necessarily for a beginner.

Re: The Rise of the $10M Disc Golf Celebrity

#79

Post by hnrodey » Wed, Jun 23, 2021, 2:34 PM UTC

screye wrote: post #76

jartelt wrote: post #72

Just in case anyone reads the article or comments here and decides they want to try out disc golf, here's a tip... DO NOT go out and buy a high speed driver disc (speed >9) to use as a beginner or intermediate. You almost certainly will not be able to throw it hard enough to fly properly and it will lead to frustration, poor form, and inconsistent results. Stick with a putter, a mid-range, and maybe a fairway driver…

As someone who has never disk golfed, but skipped rocks last week after not having done it for a decade: Swinging is really hard on your shoulders. I spent a day surfing, hiking, running and skipping rocks. My pitching shoulder was the one that was most sore (and slightly hurt) the day after. Just a probable warning for anyone who has shoulder issues. (probably also bad technique)

I've found the best warm up for disc golf is to play catch with a baseball/softball. If I'm solo then I will literally throw rocks (at the course) to get the shoulder moving.

Re: The Rise of the $10M Disc Golf Celebrity

#80

Post by hnrodey » Wed, Jun 23, 2021, 2:35 PM UTC

TwoBit wrote: post #73

jartelt wrote: post #72

Just in case anyone reads the article or comments here and decides they want to try out disc golf, here's a tip... DO NOT go out and buy a high speed driver disc (speed >9) to use as a beginner or intermediate. You almost certainly will not be able to throw it hard enough to fly properly and it will lead to frustration, poor form, and inconsistent results. Stick with a putter, a mid-range, and maybe a fairway driver…

For advanced players do the 9+ discs perform better?

The best advice I can offer is that with whatever disc(s) you have - spend time practicing with those discs away from the course. All discs fly differently and it's best to get dedicated practice with your discs.