Can you win tournaments averaging 375ft?

[1978]

The answer is 100% yes you can win a pro event never throwing over 375'. NO problem not even a question. Just depends on how accurate those shots are.

If accurate and putt ok, then the only question is how many wins. You will win way more in a poor disc golf area, say Maine where a 950 rated average wins pro events. At the memorial, you would have to throw over 400 and average 1060 rated rounds to be in contention. Just depends where you play.

 

[TN Teebird]

Thanks guys for the confidence boost.

Answering the question about my injury. I tore my MCL in my left leg last year.While the injury itself will heal It will effect me the rest of my life. That's what the doctor told me.

I do play some tourneys,but it's always just doubles tournaments. It's usually the same group of people everytime so it's basically like just going out there on a casual day with friends having a fun round.

I'm always about having fun. If me and partner don't win or just don't place well it don't bother me. We always have fun. I never get too serious or too worked up about a shot. I always go out there and play the game it was meant to be played...to have fun. I always tell all the younger people here that If I see they are getting mad or taking it too seriously. Usually they loosen up and start having fun.

I've got a holiday I can take so I may take it and check out that Tennessee tournament.I'm usually off on Friday and Saturday so thay would work out good.

Thanks again. :thmbup:

 

[allinpflop]

I will go one further...playing in pro world's this summer in Pittsburgh you could easily shoot 1000 rated rds at both moraine and deer lakes and never have to throw a disc over 350.......the type of course you play greatly determines the distance needed to score. Moraine and Deer Lakes are even from the longest tees more about placing your shot in the fairway and not making mistakes....most par 4s and 5s at those courses you don't even need to drive with much more than a mid range (with a few exceptions) and still have a chance for birdie. Of course in most parts of the country these true par 66 layouts don't exist and if they did they would only be that high of a par due to extremely long holes not technical.

 

[DatRedDude]

I regularly beat players that throw 375 feet. If you cant putt and aren't accurate doesn't matter how far you throw.

In my area though 375 feet puts you 50 feet past 70% of the holes.

 

[Dan Ensor]

Lindsey Vonn tore her ACL and MCL. She's still skiing with the best in the world.

 

[knettles]

I regularly beat players that throw 375 feet. If you cant putt and aren't accurate doesn't matter how far you throw.

In my area though 375 feet puts you 50 feet past 70% of the holes.

I hear that. Location makes a big difference. I've won a couple tournaments around here and I max out around 320' on flat. Most of our courses have average hole lengths around 200'-230'.

 

[TN Teebird]

I've been playin with a guy who use to be a 1000 rated player and is workin on getting back to pro form.

Everytime we play together he tells me how he's seen me keep getting better over the years. He told me tonight I was at least a 980 rated player easy. He said you don't have the distance that some of those guys do,but your accuracy is something that would keep you right in a tournament.

We was laughing about it and he said I don't see how you don't ever get flustered or mad about a bad shot. I would be livid he says lol.

I don't really understand the rating system and stuff. Is 980 pretty good? Would that be more of advanced rating?

Thanks again guys for all the comments.

 

[RobA]

This popped in my head the other day and me and my friend was talking about it. He keeps saying I need to play tournaments because I'm shooting Pro scores at our courses. One thing that keeps me from playing is my distance,because I know they will play me on the pro card,because of my experience.Ever since my injury I average about 375ft now. With a good rip i'm out to 390,but for accuracy in mind I average in the 375 range. Seein some of those guys throw 50ft or more past my drive is a little unsettling and leads me to ask this question. Can you win tournaments averaging 375ft?

I have a great Fairway,mid and putting game.When I need to throw forehand I can trust my disc and my shot.I know exactly how far all my discs will go and what to use. I'm great at putting and I can make some seriously crazy jump putts. My Midrange game is probably the strongest part of my game.

Once I got hurt and realized that my distance was gone I started working on accuracy more. Some shots I would have trouble with are a lot smoother for me now and I don't have that mindset that I'm gonna hit this tree up ahead.So thats a plus lol.

Even knowing in my head that i'm a pretty good player and even after lots of people and friends tell me how good I am I still let my distance get in the way of me entering tournaments.

What do you guys think? Should I go for it or just stick to playing with all my friends?

Gonna go play a quick round before the storm gets here.Lookin forward to reading your guys responses when I get back. :thmbup:

Not sure exactly what your asking. Sounds like you are talking up your game pretty well and have confidence. No one can answer the question for you, give it a try and see what happens. You can always go back.

 

[grotto]

Can you win at 375ft? Depends on the course.

If the course has average par 3's at 400-450ft. No, you can't win. Unless of course you can nail 75ft putts. A wooded shorter course, of course you can win. Play to your strength, and for the rest, just have fun.

Struggling along with a guy the other day who could throw 400ft, the only reason I tied him on so many holes was because he couldn't putt. But on long par 4's, I was eating dust.

 

[burdphil]

I've been thinking about this a little bit recently, and I'm going to say "no" to the OP's initial question. The problem here is the fact that it's not just the max distance that counts, it's how easy it is to throw those shorter shots in the 250/300 range. A guy who throws 375 is having to strain a bit to get to a 300' basket, while a guy who throws 450 is probably throwing an easy midrange or even a putter shot. This is especially important on tight wooded holes IMO.

In reality, distance is pretty much everything when it comes to a player's ultimate potential. I would say the distance to class correlation goes along these lines...

250' average - Rec
300' average - Int
350' average - Advanced
400' average - Pro

I would say that a 375' average drive is going to probably put you in the upper Advanced range. You can play pro of course, and you may win a C-tier here or there depending on the competition, but you're probably not going to win any B-tiers or above.

Just my personal observations of course, and naturally there are always outliers...

 

[runningDoc]

you've got to try and play a tournament. its a totally different thing... its a weird thing and added pressure even if its a small C-Tier.

You're being forced to play with strangers a lot of the time and everyone takes their sweet azzed time. There's no real rhythm to it unlike in casual rounds where you can play and control a certain pace.

some love it and excel at being able to compartmentalize socializing with the other's, making your shots, and also concentrating when you need to concentrate.

I've loved the experience of tournaments so far, but there has been some crappy times too, being in a round with an arrogant bastard, playing in 38ºF + heavy rains + 30mph winds, icebowls with snow slush and slushy mud where it takes 4 hours to finish a round because everyone is walking single file through knee high snow. Thats only just this year too!

I've been playin with a guy who use to be a 1000 rated player and is workin on getting back to pro form.

Everytime we play together he tells me how he's seen me keep getting better over the years. He told me tonight I was at least a 980 rated player easy. He said you don't have the distance that some of those guys do,but your accuracy is something that would keep you right in a tournament.

 

[PWaggoner]

970+ is pro rating. 1000 rated is a scratch player. But I know my local pro friend shoots tons of 1000+ rated rounds and his rating is only 969. Just seems like the rating system is weird. I've shot a 66 and got a 960 rated round then three weeks later same score was a 930. I shot a 65 today and it'll prolly be a 930 rated round again.

I'd say with excellent accuracy and putting you'd do fine. Now go learn to roll like a beast and you would prolly pick up a extra 30 feet plus. That's what Mike Moser does. He can't throw a sky shot with the big boys but he damn sure beats they're asses (for the most part) throwing rollers on longer open holes, deadly accuracy and sick putting.

 

[Brodysseus]

Depends if Jussi was the course designer .... opcorn:



#FutureOfDiscGolf

 

[KniceZ]

If you're asking if you can be a national champion - probably not. But you can win a lot of advanced and even place well in some open tournaments. It depends on the course and the rest of your game.

 

[KniceZ]

I did some analysis last year looking at the distribution of hole distances for the top 10 courses using just the longer holes when there were multiple. It really depends on the course - Selah is much longer with an average of almost 500, compared to Flip at 300 with the overall average of just under 400. I'll may try later to figure out how to embed the graphs. But here's some numbers:
< 350 - 52 %
350 - 400 : 5 %
400 - 450 : 12 %
450 - 500 : 6 %
500- 550 : 6%
> 550 : 21 %

Didn't want to side track this thread into numbers analysis and course design but it seems important to keep the never ending search for distance into perspective by looking at how often it really makes a difference. Will you be at a disadvantage with the big arms - sure there may only be 2 or 3 holes per 18 where the 400+ throwers may gain a stroke but that could be made up with consistent accuracy and putting.

 

[whitechocolate]

Based on reading your initial post, it depends on what you mean by "accurate" at 375 and how good your approach/putting game truly is.

My personal game - if I could throw 300' feet within the circle 75% of the time, I would have no issue playing pro on the local scene in C/B tiers. I wouldn't stand a chance nationally or in NT/A tier tourneys. However, I consider any 20' and down a gimme. Do I make them all, of course not. But there is no mental pressure on them. But I cannot even throw 300' constantly due to an arm injury.

My suggestion - sign up for AMs to finish the year. Play a few and see if you like it and where you compete. You should destroy in AM2 (INTERMEDIATE) and do really well in AM1 (ADVANCED) too. Win some plastic and see where you fall on the pro scorecards. Tournament play is not for everyone. There's day I like it and days I'd prefer to hit 6 courses on an all day trip than play two rounds at the same course until 6PM. AMs will save you a couple bucks joining the PDGA and get your ratings going.

 

[Steve West]

Sorry, I've held off as long as I can, but to answer the original question:

Can you win tournaments averaging 375ft?

The answer is "No".

You need a lot of shorter throws for when you are less than 375 feet from the basket. Players typically average about 100 feet.

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

 

[Dan Ensor]

Sorry, I've held off as long as I can, but to answer the original question:

Can you win tournaments averaging 375ft?

The answer is "No".

You need a lot of shorter throws for when you are less than 375 feet from the basket. Players typically average about 100 feet.

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

It would be a trouncing if you did win averaging 375', though.