Lost discs!

[Rickcin]

How often do good players lose a disc?

Im thinking it's rare and as a newbie, it more of a common occurrence. I've played maybe 4 or 5 rounds so far and have a one disc deficit due to tall grass along the boundaries of a fairway while my buddy lost two discs yesterday when playing. It seem that regardless of the color, they can bury themselves in tall grass and brush and not be visible from various angles of sight.
I will carry less favorit/cheaper discs for shots that are more challenging or high risk while using the better ones for the throws where there is minimal vegetation.

 

[Sewer bill]

I can't answer this from a good player prospective but I do lose the distance discs more because they go really far and if I hit a tree way down the fairway I may not see where it kicked. I openly avoid throwing over tall grass though that's just suffering. I rarely lose my mids fairways or putters.

 

[Rickcin]

I can't answer this from a good player prospective but I do lose the distance discs more because they go really far and if I hit a tree way down the fairway I may not see where it kicked. I openly avoid throwing over tall grass though that's just suffering. I rarely lose my mids fairways or putters.

I wish I had that problem, throwing almost beyond your sight line, my drives average 120 feet, plus or minus and the tall grass is usually on either side of the fairways.
Once a person gains decent control, then disc lost will be very rare and based on your comments, it's hard to believe you are not a good player

 

[sillybizz]

Hey glad you found the sport and thanks for joining the site!

I play with a regular group who are all fairly new and the one thing I notice about new players is that they don't watch all of the flight of the disc or note a landmark where they saw it last. I'm constantly finding their discs and without me they would be down a lot of plastic. Pay attention and you will find it regardless of the color of the disc.

As far as how often it happens? I probably spend on average less than a minute looking for a disc per round. Sometimes I throw a disc in a crazy place (I play on ski resorts a lot as I live in the rockies) and just don't look for it because I've accumulated so many discs over a 20+ year stretch of playing. If you have a PIAS or something similar where you can buy used discs, this is your best option as a new player. Cheaper discs>expensive discs, they all fly about the same in fact I like broke in discs better, they glide more.

 

[Rickcin]

My friend who lost two discs yesterday just ordered these from Amazon as sort of "throw away" discs for those riskier shots.
They are incredibly cheap and wondering if they are really worth using

 

[Chucker60]

So far in my short time playing I've been really lucky, I've lost 0 discs but found 5. Two of which I was able to return (had to mail one all the way to Cali from TX - still wondering how it got here). Two others had no ink so I just kept, and the last one the guy told me to keep it. My 'luck' in not losing any is probably because I'm a weak armed newb that can't throw out of my shadow, I always can see exactly where they dive into.

 

[PastorofMuppets]

Really depends on the types of courses you play. My home course has either a creek or pond on basically every hole. It is super unfriendly to newer players because of this. The banks are very steep and the water is pretty deep making getting discs back a pain. The design punishes good players as well because all the aggressive shots to score well bring the water into play with either water carries, protected landing zones, or forced water carries off the tee. But I'm much like Sillybizz, I've found so many discs (that I couldn't return to the owner or was told to keep) over the years that I could never buy a new disc again and happily play till I die an old, old man. I'd say I lose on average 3-5 discs a year and usually while bagging new courses with unfamiliar dangers.

 

[kyflash]

I wouldn't recommend buying "cheap discs" just to loose them.
Throw mids until you hit the fairways consistently, then throw slower, neutral, drivers until you hit fairways consistently.
Like Sillybizz has said, look for landmarks where your disc went astray. Not only this, but resist the urge to voice your displeasure until the disc stops. You should be listening to see if you hit anything solid.
I recommend that all new players get a Latitude 64 Opto Fuse and throw that on every shot (except putts) until you are getting decent straight distance.
Also, don't try to beat every challenging fairway. Pick out a landing spot, as your game improves lengthen your landing spot.
And never stop learning. My home course has a 320 foot tunnel show with low ceilings and a 20 foot wide fairway. I just now (been playing that hole for 17 years) figured out 155 foot Fuse, 155 foot Fuse, drop in par.

 

[@CD-]

• Course dependent hazards like water/deep rough can be 'managed' a bit by better players.
• More experienced players know to track and identify landmarks around where a disc flies. They have disc flight knowledge to understand how the ground action might affect the final landing spot.
• Better players can produce the shot they envision more consistently and end up hitting fairways more often.
• Better players have refined their shot selection and choose the more consistent lines/landing areas for scoring and taking risks

I don't lose more than 3-4 discs a year ()usually as an experienced 950-960 rated player. Most of my lost discs are water and/or crazy roll/kick related - windy days can do some unexpected things to all parts of the flight. Sometimes when travelling (playing courses blind usually) I'll just carry backup discs but once I throw them a bit they join the rotation of tournament discs that I can trust & count on . Usually use Factory Seconds/Misprint discs for hazardous lost disc potential shots.

 

[BillFleming]

In my experience, most discs are lost because they 'go out of view'.

Either the player(s) don't watch the flight of the disc or the hole is a dogleg, etc. where the view of the flight is obstructed. Pros probably lose less discs because they watch the flight more closely and are more familiar with their discs...so if a disc goes into the woods, knowing the flight, they have a better chance of finding their disc. Pros are also more familiar with how far they really throw, so they tend to be more accurate with the search area. I've seen lots of non-pros (including myself) mis-estimate how far their disc went and spend time looking in the wrong area for it.

 

[uncle pennybags]

My favorite place to loose discs is in the 6 foot tall grasses on my local courses. The problem with finding them is that they usually don't land flat on the ground, but instead wedge themselves in standing straight up. Makes locating them harder you almost have to be standing on it.

 

[ChrisinFL]

How often do good players lose a disc?

Im thinking it's rare and as a newbie, it more of a common occurrence. I've played maybe 4 or 5 rounds so far and have a one disc deficit due to tall grass along the boundaries of a fairway while my buddy lost two discs yesterday when playing. It seem that regardless of the color, they can bury themselves in tall grass and brush and not be visible from various angles of sight.
I will carry less favorit/cheaper discs for shots that are more challenging or high risk while using the better ones for the throws where there is minimal vegetation.

Educated guess based on some experience as a newer player, combined with reading posts from better players… At first you don't throw far enough to lose many. As you add distance, and fight with control, you can lose them more often. But guys that can really bomb a disc, say 400' plus, but are still not super accurate, will lose discs the most. Bad combination of big distance and iffy control - when a 400' plus throw curves a bit wrong, it can sail a long ways in a bad direction! Then, when you get really good, IF you ever get there, you lose less again as you put the disc where you want it most of the time. Also, big factor is what course(s) you play. I play a local, beginner friendly course, 9 holes, and there is only one real bad spot for losing discs, so you learn to be careful there. I rarely lose discs there. OTOH, there is a super challenging course in town, not at all beginner friendly, with multiple danger areas on multiple holes, including many areas with deep, tall grass or thick woods on both sides of narrow fairways, a few areas with blind throws in dangerous areas, and a 1,000' hole with over 500' of that type of dangerous fairway. Everybody that plays there loses discs!!! I talked to a newbie yesterday that rarely breaks 100', and he said he played there in a foursome, and on one hole, all 4 of them lost their tee shot disc and they did not find any of them, and that wasn't even in one of the worst spots! That said, if you are willing to spend some time hunting in rough terrain, you can find more discs than you lose - just a matter of if you find some that are not inked, so you get to keep them. Tip: on a bad shot, don't get mad and quit watching (which is instinctive and easy to do!) - watch and listen intently and give yourself the best chance of finding the disc! My worst shot ever was a grip lock, thrown dead right instead of straight, went hard and deep into thick bushes and woods, but I was listening, heard it smack hard into a big tree, and I was able to fight my way right to it, and I found another un-inked disc on my way there!

 

[ChrisinFL]

My friend who lost two discs yesterday just ordered these from Amazon as sort of "throw away" discs for those riskier shots.
They are incredibly cheap and wondering if they are really worth using

Innova F2 Fridays are a great way to get brand new discs on the cheap! Or, as others mentioned, PIAS or a local shop that sells used disc relatively cheap. And wow, is this post taking off fast!!!

 

[ChrisinFL]

So far in my short time playing I've been really lucky, I've lost 0 discs but found 5. Two of which I was able to return (had to mail one all the way to Cali from TX - still wondering how it got here). Two others had no ink so I just kept, and the last one the guy told me to keep it. My 'luck' in not losing any is probably because I'm a weak armed newb that can't throw out of my shadow, I always can see exactly where they dive into.

When I really chuck it well, I can throw from Texas to California! Lol!

 

[glassila]

I've found 69 discs so far this year.

I maintain my local course and found 25-30 in the lake which I check every week or two.
The rest I found while doing course maintenance. I probably found 10 in the middle of fairways that people must have left behind.

I give the ones with phone numbers to a local disc store and they call the owner.
The ones without numbers I give to the disc store to sell in their used rack. I've probably kept 5 or 6.

Personally, I can't remember losing any myself this year.

 

[Bill C]

I think I've lost 4-5 since I started at the beginning of the summer. 3 of those were lost because they fell out of the bag I was using and didn't realize it until I got home and noticed they were gone. The other 2 I guess were lost in water. A couple errant throws, down the side and into the creek. In both cases they were darker colored and by the time I got into the area where I thought they were, I had zero luck in finding them after about 15-20 min of searching. Also didn't have a retriever to dig around in the water in case they got covered up by sediment once they settled.

 

[mostlynorwegian]

It happens. I've lost two field throwing this year. Same disc both times. The time it made it back to me, the tree goblin that grabbed it on MY FIRST THROW OF THE DAY gave it up after a month. I got the text message with a picture.
The second time. I forgot I had thrown it in to the mix as part of a disc rotation.
The third disc I lost on a course in Eden Prairie, Minnesota at Staring Lake park, and it got back to me within 24 hours. I threw a round with the gentleman who retrieved it and had some laughs and a nice round together.

 

[itsRudy]

How often do good players lose a disc?

I'm not good but how often I lose a disc depends on season and terrain. I will almost never lose a disc on a wide open course compared to one with lots of brush. I also lose way less discs in late fall/winter than I do late Spring/Summer.

The trickiest loss I ever had was where a disc landed at an angle and disappeared. Nowhere to be found. I found it 1 year later in the same spot. It happened to slide under the roots of the vegetation (short growth) because the ground was swampy enough.

I HATE HATE HATE searching for discs so I also always go for bright colors. That fluoresce. Fluorescing is really important, it converts invisible UV light from the sun to visible light, it's literally like twice as bright as other things around it, it really makes a disc stick out. And counterintuitively, works better in dark (but still daylight) conditions than out in the open, like under forest canopy. My #1 color is pink, an all season color in my area. Followed by construction orange and yellow and baby blue. But orange and yellow can suck in fall, and so on.

HOWEVER, the same model, plastic, color discs one can fluoresce and one may not. Pink or other colors are not a guarantee of fluorescence. Unlike copy paper, I have never found a fluorescent white disc so they're often are the worst and quite dull despite being bright in theory. Depends on the plastic mix and dye used. Because store lights emit no UV, it may be hard to tell when buying unless there's a window nearby. Easiest thing is to take a UV 365nm light and test them in the dark. The fluorescing lights are way bright. Some may be in the middle and some, evenly seemingly bright ones, will be dark. Given practice, you'll recognize them without the light.

I can't tell you the number of times I found a black disc, or a dark transparent, or dark green or some other dumb dark color. Sometimes 10 feet from the basket. Idk why people do that to themselves.

 

[BillFleming]

and sometimes, the ability to get lost has nothing to do with the colors. Sometimes a disc just lands in the 'perfect' spot or angle that your eyes miss it. When I'm stumped as to where my disc could be I walk around the spot in a circle to see it from different angles. I have even bent low to the ground and looked up so that I'm searching from a different view point. There are times I've walked away and gone back later just to find the disc right where I had been looking.

 

[itsRudy]

and sometimes, the ability to get lost has nothing to do with the colors. Sometimes a disc just lands in the 'perfect' spot or angle that your eyes miss it. When I'm stumped as to where my disc could be I walk around the spot in a circle to see it from different angles. I have even bent low to the ground and looked up so that I'm searching from a different view point. There are times I've walked away and gone back later just to find the disc right where I had been looking.

I wish they made key finders for disc golf. Something like this:



Just would have to be smaller. Just keep it symmetrical and lightweight. Could do with a much smaller battery, don't need 2 years life, no GPS, tiny body, and I'd keep the remote in my bag for the the drivers, mostly. 5 grams per tag should be doable.

They had a products for DG, but they were as much as the disc and you had to remember pressing the button before you throw (alarm went on after 30 seconds or something).

Disc Beeper – Disc Golf Reviewer

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