Hello From Upper East TN

[tnfishdaddy]

Figured I would introduce myself. I'm an overweight soon to be 48 year old father of two. My boys are 13 and 11. They are very active in both baseball and basketball. Basically, they are playing both sports year round. We really don't have time for another activity but I am going to make time. I need to lose some weight and disc golf seems like just the activity. In real life, I am a high school teacher and golf coach but playing golf gets expensive. I am looking for something that will get me up and moving and won't break the bank.

Besides playing taxi cab driver for my boys, I enjoy video games on the Xbox One and fishing out of my kayak.

I am looking to buy the three of us a set of discs to get us going. I figured I would try and get three different sets so that we could try several different discs and see what we like. I am open for suggestions.

 

[curveball4]

Where are you in TN?

 

[hoppedup]

Welcome from Piedmont Triad NC!

I recently was in the tri-cities area and played a few fun courses: Warrior's Path, Winged Deer, Steele Creek and VHCC Wolves.

You can't go wrong with the Innova starter pack with Leopard, Shark and Aviar in DX plastic. The Leopard (fairway driver) and Aviar (putter) are still go-to discs for me after almost a year of playing.Discraft has a beginner set as well. If you look around you may find them cheaper individually, though. Marshall Street has all their Discraft Pro-D plastic at $5 a disc. If there is a Play It Again Sports near you, they usually have a good selection of new and used discs.

I got my 66 year-old father into disc golf last year and he is loving it.

 

[Chainsgoching]

Nice! Welcome to our fine sport. What and how much you eat plays a huge part in weight loss. I have lost 40 pounds this past year and still trying to knock off at least another 20. I don't really exercise a ton except for two 30min rides on my bicycle, a round or two of disc golf and 2 sessions of 20minutes of planks, squats and pushups, every week. Good luck and I hope you and your family will have fun spending time together playing this awesome game

 

[BogeyNoMore]

I'd suggest starting with the beginner sets made by the major manufacturers; Innova, Discraft, and the "Trilogy" (Lat64/Westside/Dynamic Discs... three different comanies all manufactured by Latitude 64). All of them make good products, and none of them are decidedly better than the others (despite what thei fanboys say), but people definitely prefer this over that for any of a multitude if reasons. Like you said, this way, you and your boys can mix and match to see what works best for you.

Read some of the advice to newbies threads if you're so inclined. The important thing to remember is that there really isn't a better disc, per se, but discs that are better suited to certain situations, skill levels, throwing styles, etc.

Focus on developing good technique, rather than finding a disc that works better for you in spite of (or perhaps because of) flawed technique. All the beginner sets have discs that are relatively forgiving of imperfect form.

Most importantly, welcome to the site, the sport, and have fun with your kids!

 

[tnfishdaddy]

Where are you in TN?

I'm in the little town of Greeneville near the Tri-Cities.

Thanks for the welcomes. My house is two minutes away from a small college (Tusculum) that is suppose to have a 9 hole course I am going to check out after school today (I'm a high school teacher).

 

[BogeyNoMore]

Doesn't seem like your far from Curveball... he met me for a round at Morristown New Year's day a few years back - really nice guy.

 

[hoppedup]

You are right around the corner from Harmon Hills, one of the top-rated courses in the country. It is on my hit list for my next trip to East TN.

I can recommend both the 9-holers I played in your area, Steele Creek DGC in Bristol and VHCC in Abingdon. They are mostly open and not very punishing for beginners. Warrior's Path State Park in Kingsport was pretty tough and not easy to navigate, but would be better on a second play-through. Winged Deer in Johnson City was my favorite of the courses I've played in your area.

 

[tnfishdaddy]

Just looking around, I am a short drive (30-45 minutes) away from several courses. Never heard of Harmon Hills but it isn't that far at all from the house. Sounds like I have several courses I need to check out locally. Now I need to get busy and order some discs.

 

[Innovafan2562]

Welcome from IL

 

[Mando]

Welcome. I would definitely use some strategy selecting courses. Tusculum is probably the easiest and logical starting point, then ; Steele Creek,Morristown Kiwanis,Warriors Path,Winged Deer. I would save Harmon Hills until you start adding some distance and accuracy. It's much longer and more difficult than the others. It is private and depends on donations to maintain the course (5.00/per person).

 

[Geek13]

Welcome to DG and DGCR from MS. There is lots of good advice to be had here that should help you progress. Just remember to have fun first and foremost and spend some time with the family.

 

[curveball4]

I'm in the little town of Greeneville near the Tri-Cities.

Thanks for the welcomes. My house is two minutes away from a small college (Tusculum) that is suppose to have a 9 hole course I am going to check out after school today (I'm a high school teacher).

Awesome, I'm in Knoxville. As others have said, Harmon Hills in Fall Branch is amazing. But if you're just starting out, it will be a rough day!
The Tri-City courses are good & the 3 Morristown courses are great, definitely check them out. I play Mo-town every chance I get.
If you make it down to K-Town give me a shout & I can show you around. Also Pluto Sports in west Knoxville has about every manufacturer known to man & their DX/Pro D plastic is $8 tax included

 

[oddjob]

i haven't played the other motown course but the Kiwanis one would be a good start. It's on the shorter side but technical.

http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=1575&mode=ci

 

[curveball4]

Doesn't seem like your far from Curveball... he met me for a round at Morristown New Year's day a few years back - really nice guy.

Your money is on the way!

 

[tnfishdaddy]

Awesome, I'm in Knoxville. As others have said, Harmon Hills in Fall Branch is amazing. But if you're just starting out, it will be a rough day!
The Tri-City courses are good & the 3 Morristown courses are great, definitely check them out. I play Mo-town every chance I get.
If you make it down to K-Town give me a shout & I can show you around. Also Pluto Sports in west Knoxville has about every manufacturer known to man & their DX/Pro D plastic is $8 tax included

I am in Knoxville 3 days a week starting the end of the month. Through the end of the month, only Saturdays. My youngest plays baseball for a travel team down there. We practice once a week and play on the weekends. I grew up in Oak Ridge so Knoxville is almost home for me. I need to start checking out some places down that way also. Sounds like I need to find Plutos and head there Saturday after I drop off my son for practice.

 

[volfan]

There is also a very nice course to help with form in Kingsport called Borden Park. It is a pitch and putt with the longest hole being under 250 and many being in the 180 range. It will make you learn your mids and putters. We have a disc golf club in the tri-cities called lakefront disc golf club (you can search for us) and have a monthly tournament series starting in March. It is a very good environment to learn in as the monthlys move each month. I am in Kingsport myself so if you head this way, shoot me a pm and I will show you around.

 

[curveball4]

Victor Ashe, Morningside, & Tommy Schumpert are all good courses in Knoxville. There is also a 9 holer at Inskip Park in Fountain City that all except maybe one is a putter shot. The Knoxville club also has a facebook page you can check out & you can go here also- http://www.knoxdiscgolf.org/

Highly suggest going to Plutos, Brian & Trey are great guys that can definitely get you headed in the right direction as far as disc selection goes

 

[Dave242]

If your goal is getting some sort of a workout, I would suggest trying to play fast-paced. Play with just one disc and jog as much as possible. Start playing with just one disc - a putter (or even an Ultimate Frisbee disc) or a midrange (Roc, Buzz, Shark, etc). Make it a game at first with some sort of competition against yourself combining the time of the round with the score you get. You'll catch the bug/addiction quickly...watch out!

I absolutely love that part of the country - spent a lot time in my career visiting companies in Knoxville, Greeneville and Johnson City and love the courses there. I moved from the area before Harmon Hills came around.

Fossil Hill is another course nearby that I really liked (right next to Harmon Hills), but it appears to have either been closed or is not welcoming visitors.

 

[Dave242]

Regarding Fossil Hill, from the last post on this thread it has been closed. The owner, John Whinery used to be the main dealer of discs in eTN and ran a pretty good pro shop out of his barn. Not sure about the status of any of that as it has been years (10+) since I've talked to him.