That is what the PDGA is for, they can choose to not give approval to inferior walmart discs.
How does that keep a casual player from buying those cheap discs at walmart anyway?
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That is what the PDGA is for, they can choose to not give approval to inferior walmart discs.
Either put tougher regulations on what companies can manufacture golf discs or face the potential fall of modern disc golf.
If it goes the way of the bike business, what will happen will be that there will still be innovation, it's just that that innovation will cost more. Companies like Innova, Discraft, Gateway, Lat 64, etc. will go up market, and people will pay more and more money for that latest best disc. On some level, that may be what Vibram is trying to do already. They may be ahead of the curve in marketing terms. Within that same mindset, Innova and the gang may have started heading that direction years ago when they started producing "premium" plastic.
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?
If it goes the way of the bike business, what will happen will be that there will still be innovation, it's just that that innovation will cost more. Companies like Innova, Discraft, Gateway, Lat 64, etc. will go up market, and people will pay more and more money for that latest best disc. On some level, that may be what Vibram is trying to do already. They may be ahead of the curve in marketing terms. Within that same mindset, Innova and the gang may have started heading that direction years ago when they started producing "premium" plastic.
How does that keep a casual player from buying those cheap discs at walmart anyway?
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:
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?
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.
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.
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.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.
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.
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.