Survey: How Many of Us Are Disc Golf Converts and Why?

In today’s post we gather some poll data to see how many of us are disc golf converts (among other things). Your input is very much encouraged as we unveil what got us collectively started on this great sport.

“The best ones start early.”

I’ve watched a fair amount of videos on disc golf at this point. I feel like I hear something to that effect quite a bit. I know Simon Lizotte has, in essence, said that sort of thing more than a few times.

The obvious implication is that the best players started at a very young age. With rare exceptions, it seems to be true with most sports/hobbies/skills across the board. It only makes sense that it applies to disc golf as well.

But given discs golf’s recent explosion in popularity, it would also stand to reason that many of us simply haven’t had that luxury. I stumbled upon the game in 2013 or so… I hacked around with it for a year or two and let it fade away…

Part of my hesitancy, I think, was the idea that it’s hard to dabble in disc golf. There’s a whole giant disc golf iceberg underwater. This massive iceberg is comprised of innumerable terms and flight patterns and throws and pros that I wasn’t willing to commit to.

In March of 2022 (3 months ago at the time of this writing) something clicked again. This time, I decided, I was in it to win it. I bought the SCUBA gear, so to speak, and am exploring as much as I can of this massive disc golf iceberg. It’s been great and I haven’t regretted a moment of it.

Part of me will always wonder what could have been if I had stuck with it after that first time. Probably nothing. I was already in my 30s then and had a fixer-upper house and a kid in my future.

But I’m sure we all wonder what could have been if we had started very early in life… I wrote a post dedicated to that subject. If you’d like to chime in on whether or not you could have gone pro in disc golf, check it out!

Right now, I wonder how many people are disc golf converts like me? I have a poll at the end and I’ll want your feedback. I’ll want to know how old were you when you started disc golf? Why did you pick it up? For how long have you been playing? How committed are you? How deep have you explored on the disc golf iceberg and more…

No wrong answers! I’m mostly just curious. I’ll be sure to use the data for future posts as well and report back. Don’t forget to subscribe and come along for the ride!

Why Do People Make the Switch?

I’ve often wondered this for myself, and my curiosity extends to others as well. Why do people convert to disc golf?

I know one factor in the explosion of the sport is the pandemic. Suddenly people wanted to be outside and stay relatively clear of other humans. Enter disc golf. It’s perfect.

Was that what got you? Or, was it something else? For some people it’s a friend that influences them. For others, it’s a video they happen upon. I hear others falling in love with the sight of discs gliding through the air towards a target. Some people find it to join an overwhelmingly positive community…

I could even see, given the sports rise in sponsorship for the top pros, that some people could get into it for the fame/money. Again, no judgment. That last reason is why Hollywood is overflowing with hosts/waitstaff that want to get into the movie business. Or why so many kids pick up a basketball, for example. That’s partly why I started playing hoops when I was young…

It’s also partly why I picked up disc golf again. The money. But not the way you think. I wrote a post about Doing Disc Golf for the Money that I think you’ll find interesting. It might even help your portfolio…

At the end of this post, I’m going to list as many ideas as I can come up with for why people start playing disc golf. I’ll also leave the all-encompassing “other” for you to tell me what I missed. Fill it out and we’ll let the data accumulate.

Why I converted to Disc Golf so Late

What is it that grabbed me again? I know we shouldn’t bring our regrets but I feel like, at the very least, I could have started at the beginning of the pandemic rather than waiting until 2022. I think I would have enjoyed having that in my life during some of those trying times… Oh well.

Eventually though, I had a realization that I still wanted sports in my life. I didn’t, however, want to be beholden to a team schedule for sports like soccer or basketball. Included in this was the idea that I also wanted a game that would challenge me, wouldn’t take a lot of time, was relatively inexpensive, and that I could play alone. I wanted all this without exaggerated risk of incurring a major inhibitive injury. For me, disc golf checked all those boxes. In essence, it was a game I could play long into retirement. Recently I wrote a post that argues how disc golf is the perfect game to play into retirement. Check it out if you are interested.

But it was more than that… Why all of the sudden, after already having played the game years ago, did I suddenly get hooked this time?

The only explanation that I can come up with is that there was something dormant within me that got reactivated. Perhaps it had been working in my subconscious all along. Then, when I finally opened the door a sliver, the game of disc golf burst through and back into my life with a vengeance.

For this to happen there had to be a void to fill. As my toddler has become more independent and the major house renovations have subsided, there has been room. And it clearly only needed a little bit of room, because not only am I playing, but I’ve also decided to document it all here with the hopes that others can find it helpful as well. If you haven’t already, you should definitely subscribe (it’s free!).

So that’s my story, but it sounds far from typical. How about you? Why did you start? Let’s find out.

Disc Golf Surveys: What is it about Disc Golf?

I’m a big fan of anonymous surveys. I feel like if I know the surveyor can attach my answers to me, it influences how I respond. This will be an anonymous survey despite the fact that the subject matter is low stakes.

At the heart of it, I want to know what is it that pulls disc golfers into the game and what it is that keeps them in it. Fill out as many of these as you like and let’s see what answers we come up with…

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Disc Golf Converts – A summary

Given the nature of disc golf vs. other sports, I feel like we all have different reasons why we gravitate to it. I find this intriguing and I want to learn more.

Disc golf is the new kid on the block so to speak. Most likely, our paths here are less than conventional. But I also wonder, given the uptick in popularity, whether that will change with time as well…

This is my first time trying out these surveys. Really, I just want to get a feel for when people started and how invested they are. If there is something that I didn’t capture that you want to convey, please feel free to tell me all about it in the comments below.

I appreciate your participation. Somewhere down the line, as the data starts to come in, I want to revisit the results in a future post. I’ll be sure to let you know when that happens. In the meantime, enjoy disc golf’n around your local courses and keep the disc golf passion alive!

Thanks again everyone. Like I said above, feel free to comment below on any factors my surveys didn’t quite get at. Also, if you want to be a part of this teacher’s journey into the world of disc golf, be sure to subscribe. As I progress with the sport I hope to be equal parts entertaining and informative so be sure to come along for the ride!