Is putting too easy? too hard? Just right?

[chevis]

add a mini basket to the top of baskets in place & have a 30' circle where you have to use a mini.

 

[Steve West]

A 10 3/4" 150g Ultimate size disc might have a hard time flexing the chains enough on any basket. The 10" deep cage baskets would help though.

Of coutse there would be the issue of the pros all going bald from pulling their hair out.

If that reduces the number of man buns, it would be worth it.

 

[SonicGuy]

I have a better idea folks. Steve West is right on with the scoring spread. Making putting more difficult actually decreases scoring spreads. So how about we go in the opposite direction?

I say we make baskets twice a wide. If you can realistically make a 50' putt then the best putters will truly be rewarded. Scoring spreads will absolutely increase.

 

[Consult20]

If that reduces the number of man buns, it would be worth it.

Sidewinder would call it "dynamically stacked" hair.

 

[Cgkdisc]

I have a better idea folks. Steve West is right on with the scoring spread. Making putting more difficult actually decreases scoring spreads. So how about we go in the opposite direction?

I say we make baskets twice a wide. If you can realistically make a 50' putt then the best putters will truly be rewarded. Scoring spreads will absolutely increase.

Doesn't work in that direction because you can't score "0" putts in addition to 1 and 2 putts. Have to go the other way to get a "normal" spread of 1, 2 and 3 putts and a few 4-putts like golf.

 

[DanJon]

Hmmm. A solo sport needlessly turned into a team sport. I like it! Just look at what it did for curling!

Curling is a pretty big sport.

It was in the Winter Olympics even.

 

[josephreese]

you can't score "0" putts in addition to 1 and 2 putts.

Why is that not possible?

 

[Cgkdisc]

Why is that not possible?

What he was proposing is to make putting much easier so there are more 1 putts from 30-60 feet. But no matter how easy, if you throw it in from 30-60 feet it will still count as 1 throw unless the rule was changed to where making a shot from beyond say 10 meters counted as zero (which BTW, could be an interesting twist to produce more drama and maybe scoring spread).

 

[lyleoross]

I don't know of any professional sport where the baseline is, "do the field and tools of the game fit amateur play?" Yes, there is amateur play, but that isn't the starting point. The pro game is adjusted down to the needs of amateurs. We do the opposite. We start with the premise that courses fit for amateur play are appropriate for professionals and sometimes we adjust them to professional play.

However, when we show, by watching and discussing, what courses we like the best, it is the courses that are most suited to professional play.

The simple fact is that we, and most fans, look for our sports to be challenging when we are watching. Our sport is only complicated because most fans play. In discussions like this one we are tailoring the sport to our own play and not to top level play.

 

[93EXCivic]

In discussions like this one we are tailoring the sport to our own play and not to top level play.

That sounds fine to me.

 

[esdubya]

Been following the discussion on here, and overall it's been great!

My thoughts are..
I really don't think there is a one-size-fits-all to increase the scoring spread on all holes on a given course. Some holes may call for a more difficult to make putt while some may call for an easier to make putt. There are many factors such as foliage density, length, elevation, the layout of the putting green and OBs that are close to only name a few. I say, it's up to the course designer to implement things on a hole-by-hole basis to give the best balance of challenge & fun & aesthetics & scoring spread.

 

[DavidSauls]

The simple fact is that we, and most fans, look for our sports to be challenging when we are watching. Our sport is only complicated because most fans play. In discussions like this one we are tailoring the sport to our own play and not to top level play.

Well, that and virtually nobody is watching.

 

[Peterb]

Keep the baskets the way they are. Get rid of the 10m circle, jump putts, step putts, putt jumps, etc.

 

[josephreese]

What he was proposing is to make putting much easier so there are more 1 putts from 30-60 feet. But no matter how easy, if you throw it in from 30-60 feet it will still count as 1 throw unless the rule was changed to where making a shot from beyond say 10 meters counted as zero (which BTW, could be an interesting twist to produce more drama and maybe scoring spread).

Gotcha. I track my putts as I score, and if I hole out from outside the circle I score that as a zero-putt hole. I count the stroke, just not as a putt

 

[Toro71]

Keep the baskets the way they are. Get rid of the 10m circle, jump putts, step putts, putt jumps, etc.

http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/showthread.php?t=124957

 

[iacas]

This is exactly, completely, and utterly wrong.

Making putting harder benefits the poor putter over the superior putter. The poor putter already misses a fair amount of putts over 20'. From 20' to 45' the good putter can convert a fair number of strokes. If you make putting harder the poor putter may have his high percentage range moved down a couple feet to like 17', while the good putter will have his high percentage range significantly reduced.

Harder scoring baskets = less scoring separation between the average "good" and "bad" putters.

I think you've got it backward.

Consider a basket that was so big almost anyone could hit it from 50'. There would be no separation in putting. Everyone would get 1s any time they were within 50'.

The smaller you make the basket, the more you separate the good putters from the bad putters. Good putters hit the center of the pole/chains/basket more frequently, and rely less and less on the outer edges. Poor putters use the edges to catch more putts.

The poor putter who already misses from 20' will miss even more from 10', while the good putter will see a slower decline in his putting stats from the same distances.

 

[Steve West]

I have a better idea folks. Steve West is right on with the scoring spread. Making putting more difficult actually decreases scoring spreads. So how about we go in the opposite direction?

I say we make baskets twice a wide. If you can realistically make a 50' putt then the best putters will truly be rewarded. Scoring spreads will absolutely increase.

Did I say that? If I did, I'm going to argue with my past self.

In general, anything that increases the average score tends to increase the scoring spread. Whether that is length, trees, or wind. So, a harder-to-hit target should be expected to increase scoring spread, unless there is some second-order influence that is strong enough to overcome it.

All I know is that no one has proved that narrower baskets raise scores.

 

[DavidSauls]

Simply making our putting a little bit tougher will not increase scoring spread but more likely reduce it as has been shown in some narrow chain basket tests in the field. Players that used to go for 40 footers have been laying up instead resulting in more players two-putting whether they are good or just average putters.

This is the closest thing to evidence, as opposed to mere conjecture, in this thread. (Well, this and the story about Kirk Yoo's event, which didn't address scoring spread but overall satisfaction).

If I may ask, what sort of tests in the field were done? Tournaments on smaller baskets, or just a batch of casual test throws?

 

[Cgkdisc]

This is the first event where R1 used regular baskets and R2 used narrow chain baskets in the same anchors. The baskets were swapped out during lunch break. Total throws were only 5 more in R2. http://www.pdga.com/tour/event/21935

 

[93EXCivic]

So if we are talking about the pro game and people wanting to watch it, won't smaller baskets actually hurt that? I mean the most viewed disc golf videos seem to be big aces/ drives going in. Won't have smaller baskets reduce the likelihood of such things?

Plus doesn't more score separation decrease excitement cause if they score is close the last few holes have more drama and excitement plus the possibility of a playoff?