I was first introduced to frisbee as a sport about five years ago. My husband introduced me to Ultimate Frisbee. Before that, I just thought it was something you would do at the beach with your family. Or on an afternoon in the park with a favourite fetch toy for a fur friend.
I watched a few games and I totally understood why he loved it so much. He’d be playing back, get the disc and then bomb it all the way to the end zone. This has a similar feeling to driving on a disc golf course. Anyway, after playing a season or two we didn’t share the same passion for the game. The game was exciting and fun but the position that most of the time was filled by a female put them running to the end zone often. That’s fantastic for a person who loves the burn and the catch for the goal.
But running is not my thing, so you can see where our interests would differ on the sport. William is more versatile and would gladly go running into the end zone to snag some lengthy discs. He’s an amazing energetic powerful passionate ultimate player. So much fun to watch.
A family favourite pastime is attending the different sporting events of the different sports we share the passion to play or watch. Our families combined have spent endless hours enjoying baseball, swimming, equestrian, basketball, rugby, dance, acting, Ultimate Frisbee, and now disc golf.
Yet, some injuries kept us away from ultimate. As well as, extremely busy schedules we stepped away for a time. I was pregnant and my knees were unhappy, then covid….
Once, the immediacy of COVID settled, hubby was longing for a disc back in his hand. He pulled out some old disc golf discs, a friend gave him years ago… A game that he never got too much into but had enjoyed previously for recreation. He went out a few times with a buddy of his and he was hooked. William plays daily if he can with Clinton along for the shoulder ride. So naturally, he started buying the family discs. The kids and I have been casually playing for about a year now.
We started at Riverside, a local nine-hole course. It’s perfect for a family outing because there’s a couple parks with manicured grass and trimmed trees. A decently maintained course. Some of the tee boxes that are screenings could use some grading. But some of the alternative tee blocks are great. It’s interesting testing different footing. It creates more challenges I think for each hole.
Which adds to the variables when working on my game. Right now I’m trying to get to know the discs I throw. My bag consist of:
Latitude64 Diamond – 157g with multicolored dye and a wicked metallic pink Eagle stamp.
Blizzard Wraith – 137g neon yellow with air bubbles built into the rim.
AGL Ponderosa with a limited edition Trash Panda stamp – 170g a light green putter made from hemp and recycled materials.
My brand new special order Kastaplast Moon phase stamp Glow Kaxe Z was pimped by Allison @rad_disc_dyes. She created an amazing spiral galaxy to go with the unique moon phase stamp.
Glowie is my new favourite sport. William planned a glow disc anniversary night out to share this side of the sport with me. It’s amazing, I honestly was able to let everything go and just throw my discs and understand how they worked a little bit better. Was my score great, definitely not. Truth be told, I have never kept score at the Arboretum before. I think I only have maybe five scorecards to my name. But for now the cards are good to see progression. There’s a difference in throwing in the dark. There are no trees to distract you. You can get out of your head and just throw. Furthermore, the night time is also perfect for those stinking hot summer days.
Shout out to the great disc golf organizers, club member @rippit.ca who brought LED bulbs and watch batteries to light up the translucent discs! And many thanks to @Drysackcanada for giving us his UV Flashlight for the round. It was a complete game changer! The glowie plastic looked radioactive when charged up with the special flashlight. The community is what makes this sport great!
Now when it comes to throwing I don’t think I prefer backhand or forehand. But with an ultimate disc I typically threw more forehand. Where, with Disc golf, I’m more comfortable backhand, still trying to figure that out. I’m not extremely practiced with the flick yet. I typically only bring it out when I’m blocked significantly by an obstacle. But at the glowie event the forehand was feeling pretty good. But like most things it’s all about the muscle memory. So enjoying the journey of practice.
With that said I have thought about possibly competing in the future. The tournaments sound like such a great time. The best part is that everyone in the family could play, if they wanted. Sounds familiar to the sporting events my family and I love to share together.
A wonderful way to make many family memories. I think so far my most memorable round of disc golf was the last one (glowie)… or possibly the first time I played at Christie Lake. I managed to get a few pars on the course which was huge for me. Typically a 5,6,7 plus or whatever it’s called triple Boogie… quadruple f-bombs… green… or whatever you like to call it.
But really the atmosphere at The Arboretum in the Fall/winter is my all-time favourite course… I absolutely love the peace and Beauty that a winter or late fall Arboretum provides. There never seem to be too many people out and about so you feel less pressure to keep up a specific pace.
But the plan is to travel around and get on as many courses as we can. So I’m sure there will be other favourites in the future. There’s this fantastic app called UDisc that gives you a map of the locations of every disc golf course in the world. With a whole bunch of other cool features. It can be a lot of fun tracking your distance, knowing your bag or just documenting your progression.
I find the most enjoyable part of disc golf is spending time with my family and friends. As well as, the happiness (and frustration) it brings my husband. The time outside, with friendly people. Enjoying the surroundings of the uniqueness of nature and natural obstacles on different courses.
I also love looking at all the cool dyes and designs on IG. Now if you’re not sure where to start and are interested in playing a few rounds, our favourite location to get discs is Willow Ridge Disc Golf Store. (@willow.ridge.disc.golf)… However, the lighter disc selection is sparse. But if you ask, Luke can probably get it in for you.
A tip that Zach Jolliffe @zac_jolli told me that really helped my disc golf game was keep your front foot perpendicular to flight direction at disc release. However, lately I have been struggling and feeling like I’m restricting my rotation. This could possibly be an indication to take another lesson. Or the difference between a man’s body and a woman’s body. I don’t know, it’s a work in progress…
Some tips that I found helpful to someone just starting out in the sport are; start with a simple bag. Work on body mechanics, how your positioning affects the flight path of the disc. That slow and steady combining all the components of positioning will help build that muscle memory foundation I mentioned above.
But most importantly, have fun. Oh and don’t be afraid to throw the putter from a pretty far distance. It’ll never go in on the long putt if you don’t try!?!!!?
The Best YouTube channels for laughs and great tips are Jonathan @latitude_64, @robbiecdisc and local Ontario channel @justdiscjd.
With that, I am grateful for the opportunity to get out and meet new people. Normally, my career and activity had me super social. Yet, COVID has provided a different perspective. Where a women’s disc golf league has been pretty much all my social time. But hey, what’s the perfect sport that can be social yet distance. Disc golf of course 🥰. Thanks to Paulina Catasetum for organizing this amazing community https://www.facebook.com/groups/1134713080341293 .
JEMI
Edit – WDI
P.S.
The image is of my day bag. I have yet to invest into a larger kit because I am enjoying learning each disc’s performance capabilities while understanding my body mechanics. I do however have access to many many discs but find that overwhelming at times. So keeping this simple kit has really helped me get to know my bag.