Posted this on Reddit a while back. Planning on doing an update next year or 500 discs found, whichever comes first. It's a cut/paste so if the format is off, sorry!
Over the last two or so years, I've found roughly 184 discs. The number is probably a good 30 higher than that, but 184 is what I have documentation for. I decided to break down the data as best I can to verify some hunches I've had over the years. Figured somebody out there would find it to be interesting reading so I'm sharing it with y'all.
Before we get too far, you can play a little game with yourself. Take your best guess regarding the answer to the following questions. Before you do, here's a touch of context.
Total Discs Found - 184
Disc Location:
Water - 70%
Woods - 18%
Fairway - 9%
Weeds - 2%
Snow - 1%
Here's your questions! I'll be giving the top 5 findings or so for most categories.
How many discs were marked?
What is the disc return rate?
Which brand did I find the most of?
Which speeds did I find the most of?
Which colors did I find the most of?
Which molds were the most common?
I readily acknowledge this data isn't perfect and the conclusions that can be drawn from it are thin at best. Did I find a lot of a particular color because it's lost more or because it was easier for me to see and find in the first place? Did one brand get lost more because of wonkier flight or because it's more popular and thus more likely to be lost? It's sort of fun to look at irregardless! Additionally, the data isn't 100% complete. While I did record a majority of the discs I found and marked discs have excellent records due to texts, there were a large number that were returned too quickly or just slipped through the cracks. Given that I was able to work with text records, the unmarked discs are probably underrepresented. Some numbers are off a bit as well due to partial information if I was lazy about recording everything.
You returned these discs, right?
As many as I could! If there was a number, they were texted. Sometimes they were called. If that didn't work, I'd ask around at a league night or two. Truth of the matter is, disc golfers don't seem to be all that desperate to get their discs back!
Total Discs Found: 184
Total Discs Marked: 97 (53%)
Total Discs Returned: 54 (56% of marked, 29% of total found)
So only about half of folks mark their discs and only about half of that actually gets back to the owner despite my best efforts.
Quite a few things contributing to the return rate being what it is. Not much that's going to be done regarding unmarked discs. If an unmarked disc is found I ask other groups I come across on the course about it. This sometimes (rarely) returns the disc to the owner. I used to check social media to see if they lost something but as a non-Facebook user it was onerous and frankly from what I could tell there just wasn't a lot of information flowing on 95% of these pages - only one course that I visit had a public page that appeared to have somewhat active online members, and even then I suspect they were the minority of a minority. It wasn't worth my time chasing people down for these.
The next problem came with the numbers themselves. Sometimes people didn't bother putting one on the disc, just a name or PDGA number. I tried to track down a few of these online but it was waaaay too much time for the amount of success I was seeing. Generally I would ask around with the regulars. If nobody knew them, into the donate/trade-in pile it went.
Disconnected/illegible numbers were another issue. While sitting in a pond for a long while doesn't really obliterate the numbers sometimes they fade just enough that poor penmanship basically kills it. Sometimes there was no hope of reading the number in the first place. A large number also simply never responded to the texts.
The most frustrating group were the ones that made contact, sounded excited to get their discs back, then never did a damn thing to facilitate it. I play a lot of disc golf - like 3 or 4 times a week or more. I travel to a fair number of courses. If I've texted a person a dozen times about arranging a meetup and all I get is "I'm busy" or worse, no answer, and the pattern continues for a couple of months without a single proposed time by the disc owner then I'm giving up and doing whatever the heck I want with the disc. I've left plenty of discs under trash cans and passed them along to owner's friends. I'm a flexible fella, but dang you need to do your part!
So what gets lost the most?
Brand:
Innova - 48%
Discraft - 15%
MVP: 9%
Dynamic: 8%
Prodigy: 4%
DGA: 4%
Westside: 4%
Axiom: 3%
Lat 64: 3%
Gateway: 1%
Lightning: 1%
I'm not sure what to make of these numbers. We have a good selection of discs available at stores in our area so I would have thought there'd be a somewhat more even split. Kastaplast isn't sold at all in our area and, no surprise, none were found. Similarly, there's not much in line for Gateway or Lightning or those weird Chinese brands available.
Color:
Blue 16%
Pink 16%
Red 13%
Green 11%
Yellow 10%
Orange 10%
White 9%
Purple 4%
Tye Dye 3%
Gold 2%
Violet 2%
Clear 1%
Somewhat surprising here as Blue and Pink are usually identified as being some of the best colors to throw due to their tendency to stand out in the field. Given that by far most of the discs I found were from water hazards color may have little to do with what I'm finding. Alternatively, maybe I'm just not finding some of the goofier colors because they're harder to see!
Plastic:
Grippy Premium (Star/Gold Line/Neutron/etc) - 39%
Clear Premium (Champion/Lucid/Proton/etc) - 28%
Base (DX, ProD, whatever) - 24%
Flexible Premium (Gstar, Zflx) - 4%
Lightweight (Air, Blizzard) - 4%
Glow - 1%
I never find glow discs
Mold:
Destroyer - 12
Shryke - 6
Beast - 6
Drone - 5
Vulcan - 4
Wraith - 4
Katana - 4
Firebird - 4
Boss - 4
I want to say there should be a few more Bosses and Katanas on there but I don't have them recorded. Destroyers far and away in the lead along with a lot of other high speed drivers. Not sure if it's because they are harder to throw correctly or if you throw them longer and are thus more likely to have them lose line of sight. Was really weird seeing the Drone up as high as it was though, not sure what that's about.
Speed/Class
13 (15%)
5 (14%)
9 (13%)
12 (12%)
11 (11%)
Shocked to find that speed 5 midranges were the 2nd most common to find. My hunch would be that they turn over and end up in the water unexpectedly when you try and force them out too much, but then again there were a lot of Drones found. Maybe folks coming up short? Risky forehands? Or maybe they are the mold of choice on wooded holes? Who knows. Despite the Destroyer reigning supreme for lost discs all the Nukes, Bosses, Katanas, Vulcans, etc added up for 13's to take the top slot. Speed 14's were way down the list, tied with 2nd to last, so they must not be the most popular things around.
And just for funsies
Disc Finding Rate: .89/round
That works out to roughly just less than 1 disc per round played, which sounds about right. It's worth noting that I don't find a disc literally every time I play, but there are some days I find multiple so it balances out.
Most Discs Found in One Day: 14
Pond finds along with a seasonal pool drying up just enough to walk through and see to the bottom. This was split between 3 courses. I believe this was a muck boot and rake day.
Most discs returned to one person: 4
I don't know how this guy affords to play!
Found discs actually in bag: 4/13 - Buzzz SS, Hornet, Trespass, Renegade
Ace Discs Returned: 3
These always get a bit of extra effort - never failed on getting one back yet despite some pretty sparse clues!
What happens to these discs?
The vast majority get donated to new players. The high speed stuff 12+ mostly gets traded in for credit at a local disc shop where I generally buy putters since so few are typically lost and new players all need one!
So there you go. May not be the best study in the world but I thought it was interesting at least!