Am I the only one?

[Chains Bailey]

I often read these rules threads and have come to some conclusions that alarm me personally as a person who has run a few PDGA events.

Reading these rules threads I have realized:

1. I know and understand all the rules
2. I do not know and understand all the rules
3. I do not know all the rules as well as I thought
4. I have not always correctly interpreted new rules updates
5. I now question how to enforce what I though were straight forward rules
6. The further I read a rules thread, the more I question reality
7. I need the PDGA rules on audio to listen to at all times when I travel anywhere
8. I need to hire a lawyer to translate many of the rules to me in "Plain Speak"
9. The rules are constructed inherently crazy, not my brain
10. The PDGA rules are a government psyop' aimed to weed out all the hippies' in our sport and imprison them so that no one will ever burn bras again

I am hoping that I am not alone with some of these realizations and would like others to let me know if I am a horrible TD or that you can relate to my some of my observations.

 

[mojorooks]

Yes you are the only one.


Maybe you got hit by a disc (playing the 'dangerous course' posted recently) and are laying face down unconscious somewhere and this has all been nothing but a dream. You know how when you are tired and trying to read and you keep reading the same sentence over and over and never seem to really grasp what you are reading?

 

[ToddL]

My primary PSA about the rules is that the rulebook is literally 15 pages. You can read it while in the bathroom, waiting for a plane, during a backup during a tournament, or before bed. Every player should read it in its entirety several times a year.

On internet forums (here, Reddit, Facebook) I've read a lot of comments that lead me to the conclusion that not only have some people not read the rules recently, but that they've never read them at all. People who have been playing for 10+ years think the lie is measured from the front of the disc, or the lie is defined by the circular area under the thrown disc at rest, etc.

Of course, there are some fringe cases that get pretty weird and sometimes require either in-depth reading or out-of-the-book interpretation. But frankly, I think it's a strength of the rule book that it's only 15 pages. If we have to write a rule to cover every situation that could ever occur, we'd end up with a 500 page book that no one reads or can interpret without a law degree. A simple set of rules to cover a simple sport.

I don't know if this rant actually has anything to do with your post, but it seemed appropriate to me.

 

[JC17393]

My primary PSA about the rules is that the rulebook is literally 15 pages. You can read it while in the bathroom, waiting for a plane, during a backup during a tournament, or before bed. Every player should read it in its entirety several times a year.

On internet forums (here, Reddit, Facebook) I've read a lot of comments that lead me to the conclusion that not only have some people not read the rules recently, but that they've never read them at all. People who have been playing for 10+ years think the lie is measured from the front of the disc, or the lie is defined by the circular area under the thrown disc at rest, etc.

Of course, there are some fringe cases that get pretty weird and sometimes require either in-depth reading or out-of-the-book interpretation. But frankly, I think it's a strength of the rule book that it's only 15 pages. If we have to write a rule to cover every situation that could ever occur, we'd end up with a 500 page book that no one reads or can interpret without a law degree. A simple set of rules to cover a simple sport.

I don't know if this rant actually has anything to do with your post, but it seemed appropriate to me.

Well put.

Only thing I can add is that the sense you get from reading internet comments and the like, I've gotten from players on the course at tournaments since I started playing. And these are players ranging from relative newbs in Rec and Novice to veterans playing Pro Open and Masters. I think part of it is that most players learn the rules the same way they learn about the game itself...through word of mouth. So rules knowledge ends up becoming a game of telephone.

Player #1 reads the rules and teaches player #2 how to play by them. Player #2 then teaches player #3, then #3 teaches #4 and so on. If no one but #1 has actually opened the rule book, by the time you get to #8 or #9 in the procession, how close to the official text are the rules that #9 is learning?

I will say that one of the positive changes in recent times has been the proliferation of video coverage. When there are rules questions that arise on camera, it raises awareness of the rules overall. It still brings out the folks on the comments section who don't know the rules but think they do, but it also causes more players to ask questions and seek the right answers in general. Now if we could only get people to go to the rule book first when they have a question rather than posting about it in the comments or starting threads on sites like this one.

 

[reallybadputter]

Another good development is that the UDisc app has the rules in it. My home course has limited cell coverage. Every rule book I've ever put in my bag has gotten wet or fallen apart over the first 6 months I've had it. Even though a ziplock would save one for a few months, eventually a hole would form and result in rulebook stew...:\

(Perhaps switching to a backpack bag has also helped)

90% or more of the rules are easy. It's the less frequent stuff that is challenging.

 

[rocthecourse]

Why bother learning a bunch of rules that never get enforced*?






*30 seconds, jumping then putting...

 

[robdeforge]

My primary PSA about the rules is that the rulebook is literally 15 pages. You can read it while in the bathroom, waiting for a plane, during a backup during a tournament, or before bed. Every player should read it in its entirety several times a year.

On internet forums (here, Reddit, Facebook) I've read a lot of comments that lead me to the conclusion that not only have some people not read the rules recently, but that they've never read them at all. People who have been playing for 10+ years think the lie is measured from the front of the disc, or the lie is defined by the circular area under the thrown disc at rest, etc.

Of course, there are some fringe cases that get pretty weird and sometimes require either in-depth reading or out-of-the-book interpretation. But frankly, I think it's a strength of the rule book that it's only 15 pages. If we have to write a rule to cover every situation that could ever occur, we'd end up with a 500 page book that no one reads or can interpret without a law degree. A simple set of rules to cover a simple sport.

I don't know if this rant actually has anything to do with your post, but it seemed appropriate to me.

I agree with you 99.9%. My biggest complaint with the rule book is how often some things seem to ONLY be clarified or mentioned in the Q&A. If people haven't read the Q&A, I don't think they've really read the rules.

 

[cheesethin]

Reading these rules threads I have realized:

Do you have a similar depth of understanding and experience of application, of the rules of any other sport?

I'd be interested in hearing any comparison.

I also wonder how much impact the fact that disc golf is played in variable nature, has on the 'complexity' of the rules?


Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

 

[Chains Bailey]

My primary PSA about the rules is that the rulebook is literally 15 pages. You can read it while in the bathroom, waiting for a plane, during a backup during a tournament, or before bed. Every player should read it in its entirety several times a year.

On internet forums (here, Reddit, Facebook) I've read a lot of comments that lead me to the conclusion that not only have some people not read the rules recently, but that they've never read them at all. People who have been playing for 10+ years think the lie is measured from the front of the disc, or the lie is defined by the circular area under the thrown disc at rest, etc.

Of course, there are some fringe cases that get pretty weird and sometimes require either in-depth reading or out-of-the-book interpretation. But frankly, I think it's a strength of the rule book that it's only 15 pages. If we have to write a rule to cover every situation that could ever occur, we'd end up with a 500 page book that no one reads or can interpret without a law degree. A simple set of rules to cover a simple sport.

I don't know if this rant actually has anything to do with your post, but it seemed appropriate to me.

Anything is appropriate as far as I am concerned. I was attempting a little humor that is not too far distanced from my experience reading this part of DGCR.

What I find interesting and often times confusing is as you stated "write a rule to cover every situation that could ever occur". I realize much of the rules discussions here are filled with incorrect responses, but it is the fringe examples posters present here that have me second guessing what I thought was pretty straight forward.

I am constantly amazed by various posters bringing up hypothetical situations, pointing out some vague wording or presenting competing arguments that both hold some validity. I just get a Twilight-Zone feeling when you mix all the above into one thread.

The first response is most likely the culprit - I have been hit many times. Just some observations and a little self depreciation in my OP.

Fortunately, I have never enforced the rules incorrectly and feel quite confident of my knowledge of the rules overall.