Winter Disc Golf Tips.
From your body to your bag to your boots – you can get out and play golf all year long. After playing through the winter, when the warm weather finally does come – your spring game will be in full swing rather than being crusty and ramping up. I was able to learn many secrets from the ancient sages playing the game year-round in Michigan, I share them here.
Body: Layers people. We should all know how to dress for winter weather. I start with a good techy material t-shirt that wicks moisture (one with a Comet logo preferably), add a long sleeve, and a fleece. Over that a shell that provides warmth and wind resistance. On the bottom half, long johns, fleece pants (if it's really cold), then shell/snow pants. The feet get warm socks, sometimes gore-tex socks (more on them in a bit). Key here is to stay warm and be nimble enough to get a good drive off. For headwear I am a huge fan of the Polar Fleece Neck Warmer I wear 2, one for my neck the other for my head. They can be easily adjusted so you can stay comfortable as you warm up or cool down. For the hands, I've found mittens are best. You're constantly taking them off to throw, mittens keep that simple. Also it's easy to chuck in a hand warmer into each one to give your fingers some toastyness in between shots.
Bag: When throwing discs in the snow, some people have a third sense to see the entry slice and find the discs. This, however, gets diminished when numerous people have played the hole destroying the pristine surface or, when the wind blows so hard it covered over the slice before we walked down the fairway. Ribbons are the tried and true answer here and Christmas ribbon is best. Raid your wife's, Mom's, girlfriend's or, if your so inclined to have one, your own Christmas wrapping stash – the best I've found is the kind that is about ¼" wide. I've also seen yarn used effectively. Head up to Home Depot and get some clear duck tape (it works much better than clear packing tape). It's pretty important, as with glow golf, the following be done when the discs are warm. Cut a 20-24" stretch of ribbon and tape it onto the bottom of your disc. I've found the best method is to fix it so 1" or so sticks out from one side of the tape while the other side emerges from the tape at the center of the disc. Fold over the 1" piece of ribbon and tape it down with a second piece of tape. While this adds a tail to your disc and it will impact the distance slightly – it works very effectively.
Boots: Footwear is always important in disc golf and this remains so for Winter golf. You can pull on Muck boots which is like throwing in, uh, Muck boots. They are warm and protective and some swear by them. Another option is donning gore-tex socks – they turn most any shoes into waterproof winter gear- and wear your regular golf shoes. I've gone through a lot of pairs and brands – they'll last 1 good disc golf season (winter spring summer fall) before they'll start leaking. Rocky's or Cabellas (made by Rocky) are the best I've found.
Getting traction in the winter is something to think about. I've seen solutions here range from screwing small screws (studs) into the bottom of boots to strapping on ice cleats (Yaktrax). Given all of the twisting when throwing, the latter has proven only marginally effective for me. There is one I have seen that does work well.... Korkers Extreme Ice Cleat, they run about $70.
