Disc Golf Gym Class

[Waddly Hobbins]

A course I frequent is often jam packed during the afternoon, so I usually hit it up during the morning when there is normally less than 6 people total on the entire course.

Today, when I got to the course the parking lot was empty, I start my round in a patron free park. When I got to the tee of hole #3 I saw something that gave me one of my biggest WTF moments in disc golf. Walking down the entrance path to tee #1 were no less than 25-30 teenagers all with discs in hand. It is still 10 minutes before 10am, so this really left me scratching my head.

I then got to witness first hand the very definition of mob golf. Not waiting for any sort of turn they just threw as they reached the tee and walked after their disc not even stopping to watch the flight. Noticing their elevated pace of play, I decided it was in my best interest to tee off and get ahead of them. From the time I tee'd off on 3 and putt out on the same hole, they had already made it from 1 to 3 and were already throwing on me.

Being in a bitter mood help lead me to a bad drive on 4. After finding my disc and looking for good lines for a rescue shot, I am thrown upon again. This was enough for me, I decided I would go back to the beginning and wait for them all to play through (at their rate of play it wouldn't take too long.) On my way back to the start I notice what to me seemed like a gym teacher sitting on a bench. I asked him if this was a gym class and he said "yes".

This is when I realize that I forgot to pick up my TP Cyclone off of hole 4. I quickly told the gym teacher that I forgot my orange cyclone on a hole and to please look to see if any of his students had it before leaving. I then back tracked through the course to see if it had been picked up. Yup. I walked though the course looking at what each kid was throwing. When I got to hole 9 I saw my disc land on the fairway to which I just walked up to and replaced it in my bag. It may have been kinda d-baggy to not let the kid play from his lie, but hey, its my disc.

I liked the idea of having disc golf for gym class, especially being brought to an actual course. The execution was a little lack luster though. They took over the course completely and lacked any consideration what so ever for the normal course patrons. Luckily, it didn't last too long, they were there for about 30 minutes or so before they packed up and left. It reminded me of those freak thunder storms that really dump on you but only last a few minutes.

Anybody else see DG gym classes at their local courses?

 

[prerube]

I take my class to Calvert Road Park in Maryland. I have seen classes at Loriella in VA also.

first I make a make shift course on school property to teach them the rules. I try to keep them in foursomes. I taught them about letting people play through. I also try not to take more than 20 kids at a time.

 

[Waddly Hobbins]

Prerube, with your class, do you make sure they take their time with their shots so they don't just blow through the course? I guess if it is anything like it was to try to get me to get competitive about volleyball in gym....I guess I can understand some of the kids not caring at all.


You know how people usually complain about the people in front of them taking forever. It was the complete opposite for me today. It was just that everyone behind me was playing super fast. It wouldn't have been so bad if it was just one group. No problem, I would have just let them play through. It is a bit harder to let one group to play through only to be thrown on by the next one behind them.

 

[leppard]

A school near me installed a nine hole course. Didn't last long before it grew up and became unplayable.

 

[frolf4444]

my school has just started to do this and i basically am the teacher and let the gym teachers learn off of my which is really weird but its their first time of ever trying the unit out so i decided i had to do it

 

[EricBB]

They do this at my home course for a week or two each semester. It's pretty much just a free for all...girls usually stand in groups around the baskets talking and the guys just run around throwing at random baskets. It's actually kind of entertaining and they are there and gone in about a half hour. I have seen kids come back out after school and try to learn how to play correctly which is pretty cool.

One of the weirder things I've seen on the course was what must have been some sort of summer day camp thing for younger kids. A giant army of kids came around the corner of the bike trail that runs by the course armed with tennis balls (yes, tennis balls) and just started unloading them at the baskets and running around. I couldn't even be mad, it was just hilarious.

 

[Posey Ching]

This. The future of disc golf. Getting it in the gym classes will make the sport grow immensely. I didn't even know what disc golf was until my very late teens. And my perception of it was way off...

 

[Wolfman]

I had this as a unit in high school 3 years ago it got me interested in the sport but i just never started going until last summer now i go and play just about everyday. The teachers here are real strict and take it very serious which is good but also i think it scares some kids away. I like to go out when they have class and give pointers to any kids that need them on the course.

 

[jkdisc]

it's physical education, not gym class.

 

[Fender088]

Call it what you will. You gotta admit though, a lot of physical education teachers don't do much educating. At my high school it was a free for all with every sport we tried, and usually the girls just walked really slow laps around the track while they sneaked text messages.
I like the concept, but teach your students the rules and conventions of the game before you take them to a public park. Sounds like the teacher wasn't even observing them.

 

[prerube]

it's physical education, not gym class.

I thought about saying the same thing, but I figured no one would listen.

 

[prerube]

Prerube, with your class, do you make sure they take their time with their shots so they don't just blow through the course? I guess if it is anything like it was to try to get me to get competitive about volleyball in gym....I guess I can understand some of the kids not caring at all.


You know how people usually complain about the people in front of them taking forever. It was the complete opposite for me today. It was just that everyone behind me was playing super fast. It wouldn't have been so bad if it was just one group. No problem, I would have just let them play through. It is a bit harder to let one group to play through only to be thrown on by the next one behind them.

My kids blow through the course too. Maybe not as fast as what you witnessed, but they are little balls of energy that run to their disc and barely wait for the basket to be cleared before launching it. I have worked on slowing them down for safety reasons, but They still play 18 holes in under an hour.

 

[prerube]

my school has just started to do this and i basically am the teacher and let the gym teachers learn off of my which is really weird but its their first time of ever trying the unit out so i decided i had to do it

introduce your physical educators to the edge program, at the very least they can get a curriculm. I teach throwing standard frisbees for accuraccy, then move onto tossing discs backhand. Then the kids experiment with the flick. Then they are introduced to the basket and work on putting (This really should be first, but for my school it works better the other way).
The next week they use the 2 throws and putting skills to play a 100 ft wide open par 3 just to learn rules of play and etiquitte. Then they have multiple wide open holes to practice taking turns and playing safely from their lie.
The next week we play around with the tomahawk and thumber (they love it).
Then I set up a 6-7 hole course where I take huge branches and tie them to horseshoe stakes to add "trees" to the open feilds. I also tape Pool Noodles to various objects for obstacles.
Finally the kids who are ready to play are taken to Calvert Road Park to show them a real course.

 

[prerube]

I had this as a unit in high school 3 years ago it got me interested in the sport but i just never started going until last summer now i go and play just about everyday. The teachers here are real strict and take it very serious which is good but also i think it scares some kids away. I like to go out when they have class and give pointers to any kids that need them on the course.

I know you are still young, but becareful talking to the kids on the course. you may get accused of trying to hit on the high school girls.

Damn I am hogging this thread

 

[jtencer]

My kids blow through the course too. Maybe not as fast as what you witnessed, but they are little balls of energy that run to their disc and barely wait for the basket to be cleared before launching it. I have worked on slowing them down for safety reasons, but They still play 18 holes in under an hour.

18 holes in an hour really isn't too unreasonable if there's no one else out there, especially if it's a pitch-and-putt type course. I go out and play by myself a lot and as long as I don't get held up by big groups too often I can play 18 in 70-80 minutes while throwing multiple drives/approaches and generally taking my time. When I go before work and there's no one there, I can finish in an hour. For reference, I'm playing Pease in ATX before work and usually Cat Hollow after work.

 

[buzzinb]

Yeah, there is a lot wrong with the situation but you have to like the exposure that the kids are getting to DG--even if it is not well organized. Perhaps a number of those kids will take a shine and become life-long DGr's. I like Prerube's suggestions regarding the EDGE program. I know we have guys here who go to local schools and introduce the kids in a positive, organized way.

 

[Beable]

I take my class to Calvert Road Park in Maryland. I have seen classes at Loriella in VA also.

first I make a make shift course on school property to teach them the rules. I try to keep them in foursomes. I taught them about letting people play through. I also try not to take more than 20 kids at a time.

Do you teach Ultimate also?

 

[jkdisc]

I thought about saying the same thing, but I figured no one would listen.

i felt like if i didnt every Bport professor would be outside my door with arms crossed and staring me down.

 

[CoachQ]

Call it what you will. You gotta admit though, a lot of physical education teachers don't do much educating. At my high school it was a free for all with every sport we tried, and usually the girls just walked really slow laps around the track while they sneaked text messages.
I like the concept, but teach your students the rules and conventions of the game before you take them to a public park. Sounds like the teacher wasn't even observing them.

I am sorry that you had a bad experience and I will agree that some P.E. teachers are lazy and lack luster, but there is really no need to generalize about ALL of us. If you read the posts that prerube put up, you will see that education is occurring. I too am a P.E. teacher that actually educates and I also teach a disc unit in my school (along with many other things). I am actually half way through it as of this week. The kids love it and they are learning.

 

[Fore]

There are two different gym classes that play on Mondays here at Iroquois Park. They split up and throw on people all the time. I watched one kid drive then run down the fairway chasing his disc while yelling "I bet you can't hit me!" to the next kid. Most of the time the teacher is riding his bike around the course and is hard to find until class time runs out.