How does that keep a casual player from buying those cheap discs at walmart anyway?
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Future disc golf companies
- Thread starter Three Putt
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How does that keep a casual player from buying those cheap discs at walmart anyway?
Wouldn't these crap knockoff brands bring 100s of thousands of new players in the fold who would go out to the course, play with "real" players and then go to the "real" disc golf store and buy "real" discs?
tom8658
Birdie Member
What?
We live in a free country. There are no (and should never be) regulations on who can manufacture golf discs. If I want, I can make discs out of drier lint and melted coke bottles in my garage and sell them on the side of the road.
Whether I can get them PDGA approved is another matter. Maybe the answer is that the PDGA shouldn't approve crap discs, but I'm not a huge fan of altering technical specifications for political reasons either.
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Innovation will cost more, maybe. Perhaps companies such as Innova (just as an example) will be made stronger by the competition and be forced to curtail some of the "innovation" (i.e., the next NEW BIG THING WHICH USUALLY TURNS OUT NOT TO BE ALL THAT GREAT) and focus on their core product (i.e., the "old dependables" such as the Roc, et al).
That wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, in my eyes. :shrugsmiley:
That is a best case scenario. Looking at the picture with rose colored glasses. It may or may not work that way. I'm betting that our courses would end up being more crowded with n00bs (or 2DD's if you like), but the sport wouldn't actually grow very much, if at all.
tom8658
Birdie Member
Here's the real answer. If the market is truly big enough for someone to step in and make a profit with walmart quality discs, it's big enough to support quality brands, they just might end up costing more. It's how the market for golf clubs and bicycles and computers and a hundred other things work.
If they want to compete they will have to buy real discs. It will be a turn off for people to play with known inferior discs. How many of you actually still use a Raging inferno?
I'm just viewing this discussion in terms of things I know well (the bicycle business), thinking of my life experiences, work history, drawing comparisons and what-not. I could bore all of you to death with details, if you would like, but for now, I'll spare you.
I think it's easy when posting here to fall into believing that most disc golfers care about tournaments, playing multiple courses, etc. The majority of players are people who play once in a while with one or two discs and who would never even think of looking for a website like this. That kind of player wouldn't know that it mattered if a disc was approved, let alone make purchasing decisions based on it.
The problem with that, at least in terms of the bike biz, is there's no real profit, for anybody hardly. Sure, Trek's a profitable company, as are Shimano and Giant, but there aren't 2 more truly profitable companies in the bike business. And for what it's worth, Trek ain't that profitable. At least not profitable enough to be publicly traded.
Name another bike company of any size, and I can tell you the most recent time they went through bankruptcy, or had to "reorganize" to avoid it.
I don't even care about tourneys, but I do not want other players to see me throwing a Whamo or a Saturn. If walmart sells a few cheapos to rec players, then it may open the door for "tournament quality disc" Walmarts out west have sold Innova discs, so it can happen.
And my point will be that's the only kind of player that will come into the sport if we see cheap, crappy discs everywhere, and "up-market" discs less easy to come by.
On the other hand, parks departments don't know or care what kind of plastic we throw. They're mainly concerned with how many people are throwing plastic, so it may be good for getting courses built.
tbird888
Salient Disc Test Team
Vibram has control over their rubber. What if Nike does their homework, figures out the plastic blend for CE, controls 100% of the production process, and becomes the first company to produce consistent money discs? Would you not throw it because it has a swoosh on it? Maybe it'll take a jolt like this to wake the old giants. Would this happen? No, but someone has to do it at some point.
I don't really think a big corporation like Nike will get involved until disc golf stops being classified as a recreational activity and becomes a sport. Until the tourney paydays grow enough to catch their eye, we don't really have anything to worry about.
I don't really think a big corporation like Nike will get involved until disc golf stops being classified as a recreational activity and becomes a sport. Until the tourney paydays grow enough to catch their eye, we don't really have anything to worry about.
If you take Vibram as the example, they were brought in to sponsor an event (that payday thing) and decided they liked the potential of the sport.
Old Bassman
Eagle Member
There are many valid points and questions brought up in this thread. Does the average Rec player care about the future of the game or even the quality of the discs he is throwing? No, he is having fun. Cool.
"Vibram, isn't a company that is going to ruin the sport; I say that because they sponsored a large tournament before they even made a golf disc, and Steve Dodge himself is a golfer."
Vibram does make shoes and was involved with disc golf before making a disc. Steven Dodge is dedicated to the sport. I throw Vibram putters and you may not like them (I may not like your putter) but they make a good product. There is no reason to bash them because they existed without DG first.
They are not the focus of your comments of knockoff Walmart and Instep discs. I think the answer has already been stated that bad products will not ruin the sport. (The bad products you saw in other sports did not ruin the sport, only hurt those the game of those that bought bad product.)
Do we need regulations about manufacturing discs? The PDGA has that covered.
Am i worried about the future of this sport and who makes the discs? No. The market will reward the ones that make good consistent product. Would it bother me if Toyota came in with revolutionary products that were good? No. (I'm sure they would do that with Disc Golf People)
We have that seen companies that make bad or gimmicky products do not last. (Clap-In-The-Basket golf discs LOL)
"Vibram, isn't a company that is going to ruin the sport; I say that because they sponsored a large tournament before they even made a golf disc, and Steve Dodge himself is a golfer."
Vibram does make shoes and was involved with disc golf before making a disc. Steven Dodge is dedicated to the sport. I throw Vibram putters and you may not like them (I may not like your putter) but they make a good product. There is no reason to bash them because they existed without DG first.
They are not the focus of your comments of knockoff Walmart and Instep discs. I think the answer has already been stated that bad products will not ruin the sport. (The bad products you saw in other sports did not ruin the sport, only hurt those the game of those that bought bad product.)
Do we need regulations about manufacturing discs? The PDGA has that covered.
Am i worried about the future of this sport and who makes the discs? No. The market will reward the ones that make good consistent product. Would it bother me if Toyota came in with revolutionary products that were good? No. (I'm sure they would do that with Disc Golf People)
We have that seen companies that make bad or gimmicky products do not last. (Clap-In-The-Basket golf discs LOL)
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I'm with Prerube on this. I have bought some cheezy sporting goods and these have given my kids a really good "taste" of what the games/sports have to offer. I can look in my porch and find cheepo badminton stuff, bocce balls, boomerang, kites, rollerblades, wiffle balls, baseball mitts, tennis rackets, bikes, scooters, frisbees, etc.
My kids have seen the merits and the fun of these activities and we know full well that if we want to take the fun to the next level, we will need to buy (invest in) some good equipment (not from Walmart).
My kids have seen the merits and the fun of these activities and we know full well that if we want to take the fun to the next level, we will need to buy (invest in) some good equipment (not from Walmart).
Sadjo
* Ace Member *
It's already happened in the 'flying disc sports' arena. A lot of companies make lots of cheap discs. They may not be golf discs but they are catch discs. I think Discraft is still the leader when it comes to Ultimate and to Freestyle. I think Hero is still one of the leaders of Dog Discs.
Kids go off to college, get caught up in a game of ultimate on campus and head to the local box store and buy a cheap catch disc. Then they learn for a few dollars more, they can have the nice Ultra Star or Pulsar.
I think Disc Golf will face challenges...which will make the companies whose main purpose for being is the sport grow, change and either become stronger or fade away. It's the way of the world.
I've got a friend who owns a golf course that recently added a Fly18 to their operation. One of his friends is a bigwig at Nike. I've already expressed my interested in meeting him and working with him to get Nike to sponsor an event at the course. I think it is worth a shot. If everything falls into line and his bosses and their bosses end up learning more about the sport and marketing to the sport, i'm all for getting a large company in the fold.
It's not going to happen overnight, but it will happen to Disc Golf one day...
Kids go off to college, get caught up in a game of ultimate on campus and head to the local box store and buy a cheap catch disc. Then they learn for a few dollars more, they can have the nice Ultra Star or Pulsar.
I think Disc Golf will face challenges...which will make the companies whose main purpose for being is the sport grow, change and either become stronger or fade away. It's the way of the world.
I've got a friend who owns a golf course that recently added a Fly18 to their operation. One of his friends is a bigwig at Nike. I've already expressed my interested in meeting him and working with him to get Nike to sponsor an event at the course. I think it is worth a shot. If everything falls into line and his bosses and their bosses end up learning more about the sport and marketing to the sport, i'm all for getting a large company in the fold.
It's not going to happen overnight, but it will happen to Disc Golf one day...
tbird888
Salient Disc Test Team
So all it will take is another Steve Dodge to introduce disc golf to Hollywood?
In the year 2000, disc golf will be revolutionized when Dave Feldberg wins the USDGC in the first PDGA approved Snuggie.
That is what I was thinking. I was trying to find a comparison of something similar in price range. Golf clubs are too high to compare. Golf Balls individually are too low, but a sleeve of golf balls might be comparable. There are enough golfers out there to support the cheap crappy golf ball companies at $3/sleeve, and enough people that are serious to where they don't mind paying $15 for a sleeve of the best Titliests or Nikes.
I do the same with fishing lures. I only buy $1-2 spinnerbaits, but obviously there are lots of people who are willing to pay $5-10 for one.
But to be safe we all better start hoarding premium plastics! (like we don't already!)
Good thoughts ThreePutt :thmbup:
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