2022 PDGA Rules

[1978]

why would a mini with an arrow on it be a problem. If the mini says "INNOVA" down the center, you could just align the text to the fairway direction or mark a dot on a side of the mini.... Can't you draw whatever you want on a blank mini? Isn't a creative arrow a distinguishing mark?

Why would this be any different than a mini with a printed arrow on it?

 

[Ahildy13]

Not sure I follow? The PDGA aren't putting money towards the DGN (as far as I can tell) , the DGN is just giving a discount to the PDGA member as a marketing tool? What is different between this discount and the former UDisc one, if anything it's better as the PDGA must have been giving some money to UDisc for the free subscription albeit at a discounted price, (I've not looked at the PDGA accounts but I would assume that was the deal) .

The difference is that people actually like Udisc, and DGN is garbage IMO.

If it was just a matter of "saving money" it wouldn't matter, but now it's removing a tool I do use, for a service I refuse to support.

I'm not renewing my wife and I for a few reasons:
1. No Udisc.
2. Not going to support Heinhold.
3. We recently moved to a small town, and it is unlikely I will be driving out to find an A or B Tier this year.

Side note: Do people actually notice a difference between A, B and C Tier events? This line from the PDGA notes about rule changes made me laugh "For many PDGA members, their local B-Tier is the biggest event of their competitive season." Seriously?

My first ever event was an A-Tier, and I recently played a C Tier that was more well put together. I personally think the Tiers are meaningless, and with the growth of the sport are only putting a damper on having more available competition.

 

[Dcinmd]

I think most people quote/look at Rule 813.02.A Illegal Device.


But that is an object and, yes, a caddy/cardmate/etc can be considered an object.

I haven't found anything that says you can't mark the line of play, EXCEPT for 813.02 banning an object as a directional aid. So a line in the dirt should be allowed - or even a chalk line on the teepad. But, I keep being told that I can't do it. I think people believe it violates 802.06 Marking the Lie - where you can only use the thrown disc or a mini marker.

Unless, I'm missing a rule somewhere or misunderstanding one....as long as it's not an object it should be good to use as a directional aid.

If my fellow competitors are looking down at their mini to figure out which way to throw rather than down the fairway with their own two eyes they can do it all round if they would like. There is a negative advantage to the thrower.

If they are running to the top of a hill and placing any object 150 feet in front of their lie now there is an issue that the rule address.

 

[BillFleming]

why would a mini with an arrow on it be a problem. If the mini says "INNOVA" down the center, you could just align the text to the fairway direction or mark a dot on a side of the mini.... Can't you draw whatever you want on a blank mini? Isn't a creative arrow a distinguishing mark?

Why would this be any different than a mini with a printed arrow on it?

It's an "object used as a directional aid" which isn't allowed. A mini is used to mark the lie, not as a directional aid. A small difference, but it is different. If you lined up Innova (or anything else on your mini) in the direction of the line of play....a player could call that as a rules violation. But, they'd have to realize what you were doing.


I'm thinking the idea is to not have something that could interfere with the thrown disc. But a line on the ground, a mini or some other object right in front of you.....I would like to see those allowed.

 

[Steve West]

It's an "object used as a directional aid" which isn't allowed. ...

Please don't put quotes around something which looks like a rule unless it is actually cut and pasted from the rule.

Here is the actual rule:

813.02 Illegal Device [...] B. Placing an object as a directional aid is not allowed.

Note that it is not the object which is illegal, nor is using an object as a directional aid illegal.

What is illegal is placing an object as a directional aid.

Using that tree behind the blind target to know where to throw is not a violation. The tree does not become an illegal object whenever a player uses it as a directional aid.

 

[BillFleming]

Please don't put quotes around something which looks like a rule unless it is actually cut and pasted from the rule.

Here is the actual rule:



Note that it is not the object which is illegal, nor is using an object as a directional aid illegal.

What is illegal is placing an object as a directional aid.

Using that tree behind the blind target to know where to throw is not a violation. The tree does not become an illegal object whenever a player uses it as a directional aid.

Thank you for correcting me and pointing out that wording can make a difference. This was a case of knowing what I meant, but not putting it into words correctly.

 

[EllEstar]

Side note: Do people actually notice a difference between A, B and C Tier events? This line from the PDGA notes about rule changes made me laugh "For many PDGA members, their local B-Tier is the biggest event of their competitive season." Seriously?

My first ever event was an A-Tier, and I recently played a C Tier that was more well put together. I personally think the Tiers are meaningless, and with the growth of the sport are only putting a damper on having more available competition.

Never played an A-tier but all the C-tiers I've played aside from one have been a 1 round/day, usually 3 rounds, golf start tournaments with tents, amenities, warmup areas, caddy books, spotters, TOs roaming the course to help with rules calls, a rules committee, etc.

The one B-tier I've played was 3.5 rounds in 2 days, shotgun start with people smoking and flipping discs for their lie.

 

[autocrosscrx]

What is a ghost group?

 

[biscoe]

What is a ghost group?

An extra group on the course beyond the number of holes on the course implemented by having more than one group start on the same hole.

 

[autocrosscrx]

An extra group on the course beyond the number of holes on the course implemented by having more than one group start on the same hole.

Gotcha. In bowling, if there is an uneven number of teams, one team always bowls "ghost".

So I was thinking like that. Like you have to wait on the imaginary group to finish putting before you tee off. Which of course makes no sense.

 

[rhatton1]

The one B-tier I've played was 3.5 rounds in 2 days, shotgun start with people smoking and flipping discs for their lie.

Welcome to British Disc Golf....

We're trying to change it for the better but there is a lot of culture changing required first. The beginner friendly half day two 13 hole round C tiers I run are more stringent to the rules than some of our so called "big" events. It does my head in.

Come along to the Welsh Open EPT - X event next year, three rounds over three days and smoking/flipping other stupid things won't be tolerated. it will be C Tier but only because having enforced structures for higher tier make things slightly more inflexible than I like. I prefer to achieve the higher tier standards but with more personal control that the C tier bracket allows (Not all A tier standards are things that work for our main player base at this stage) .

 

[BogeyNoMore]

Don't know if it's been mentioned in this thread
(or elsewhere) already, but I just found out that effective for 2022, the PGDA changed the rule for defining the Line of Play, as it pertains to mandos.

https://www.pdga.com/news/disc-golf-rules-school-episode-3-marking-your-lie

Previously, the LOP was defined by the disc and the mando, not by the disc and the basket.

Now, it's defined by the disc and the basket, regardless where the mando is.

 

[krupicka]

Right. Conceptually consider the mandatory restricted space as a virtual wall. The LOP is now the same if it is a physical tall wall or a virtual mandatory wall.

 

[ToddL]

Also note that was in the summary of rules changes article posted on Dec 1 https://www.pdga.com/news/pdga-official-rules-disc-golf-competition-manual-updated-2022

804 REGULATED ROUTES
The entire sections 804.01 and 804.02 have been replaced with a new 804.01. Functionally, this is simpler than the prior rule, which required players not only to monitor the disc in flight to see where it passed relative to the mandatory object, but also to be concerned with where the disc came to rest. Here, the latter is eliminated from the analysis. Instead, the instant the disc passes into the restricted space, the outcome is clear: the player has missed the mandatory. In addition, this revision recognizes that tournament directors define the edges of the restricted space with different types of mandatory objects, such as poles or trees. Tournament directors need to be clear on what defines the edges of the restricted space in their course rules. Additionally, this update simplifies the line of play on holes with a mandatory route and object: the line of play is now always a line to the target.

 

[roblee]

An interesting consequence to the new Line of Play rule in relation to a Mando is that the current 20cm x 30 cm lie could be entirely outside the lie under last year's rule. This won't look intuitive & I suspect it will take considerable time for comprehension & compliance. Rule School may benefit from adding another graphic zooming in on the disc & showing there could be no overlap old vs new.

 

[ToddL]

This won't look intuitive & I suspect it will take considerable time for comprehension & compliance.

It's been this way for doglegs or U-turn holes (wooded or water-carries) for 25 years and people still screw it up all the time.

 

[Steve West]

It's been this way for doglegs or U-turn holes (wooded or water-carries) for 25 years and people still screw it up all the time.

I had a fun exchange with one player who kept insisting "I know exactly where I put my foot!".

What this past World Champ had never learned was that the lie is based on the direction to the basket, which - on this hole - was not parallel to the fairway.

Let's hope that removing the exception for a mando makes the rule easier to learn.

Who knows, maybe geometry will go viral and everyone will understand that the away player isn't always the one whose throw was shortest.

 

[peabody]

If direction of throw is no longer line of play then the 30 by 20 should be 30 by 30.
On a long dogleg around the corner of a forrest I used to run up and place a foot right behind my marker disc in the intended direction of the throw. I had 30 cm to play with.
Now that is a violation. Instead I have to aim for the edge of my marker and hope my foot touches within a 20 cm area.
What's weird is you no longer have to stay behind the marker as far as direction of throw. Behind now is according to line of play.
MAKE IT FAIR.
MAKE IT SQUARE!!!!!

 

[roblee]

Rules School-Episode 3: Marking Your Lie. Recommended edit

Regarding the picture of the Lie: This is on the PDGA site so these helpful & well done videos represent "Authority. The picture of the Lie is closer to a square than the 20cm x 30cm it should be. 20/30 is a .66 width to length ratio. The picture is a .76 ratio. Also the the mini as depicted is tiny compared to the 20cm line. This makes it look like you could stand pretty far to the side of Line of Play. May seem picky but an "official" graphic should accurately represent the rule. Easy fix for IT.

 

[BillFleming]

It's been this way for doglegs or U-turn holes (wooded or water-carries) for 25 years and people still screw it up all the time.

There was even a tournament last year where people commented on the Jomez video that Drew Gibson had a foot fault and no one, not even the commentators, called him on it. But the fact was that he wasn't foot faulting. The Line Of Play has always been from the target/basket through the middle of the marker. (I think the only exception was with a mando as the Line of Play HAD to go to the correct side of the mando).

So, while Drew's supporting point appeared to be a stance violation, it really wasn't. This is another case of the wording/definition in the rules.

For most people, Line Of Play is the line you are intending to throw on. If a shot requires you to throw sideways, instead of towards the target/basket, that is the line you are "playing on". But per the rules and definition, that isn't the Line Of Play. I think the rule/definition should say "Line to Target/Basket" instead.

Imagine, if you will, you place your marker on the Line Of Play (towards the target/basket), but you are in a location where you have to throw back towards the tee pad (a pitch out). You are taking your stance with the marker BEHIND you. That would appear to be a stance violation, but by the rules it isn't. Strange.