1st Official Round
There are many different types of rounds. I enjoy most of them at one time or another. There is the party round, the catching up with friends round, showing someone this crazy thing-called-disc-golf-I-keep-talking-about round, the putter round, and so on.
I’m adding a couple of different kinds of rounds that I’m really hoping will open up my game like the backhand round and the mid-range round. Most importantly, I’m starting a classification of rounds I will call “Official Rounds.”
I play casual rounds much like tournament rounds. I play the 2-meter rule and any disc surrounded by water, puddles excluded. I play slow thanks to Marc Miller, the slowest disc golfer on the planet. Playing with him regularly has really helped me endure the slow pace of tournaments.
Miller, El Capitan, and I
I think it is a good idea to track my play more accurately and see if a statistical analysis of my game will provide some direction to my training.
For that idea to really work, I will need two things: a clearly defined scored round and a means to score the round that will help expand my understanding of my own game. These rounds will need to follow a very specific set of requirements to be called an Official Round:
- The round must be an official round from the very beginning.
- Warm up is required, stretch routine, putting, approach, and driving practice.
- Tournament rules will be followed to the greatest possible extent. 2 meter rule – until they change it officially – surrounded by water, all known mandatories, all painted obs, all unpainted obs that are unquestionable, mark every disc, take no extra throws once the round has begun.
Everyone remembers their best round and likely finished it properly in order to maintain the integrity of the round. But, during casual rounds, I sometimes take a second drive or putt here or there. That is certainly okay. It can even be okay in scored rounds with friends. House rules almost always apply in groups that know each other well. But not in Official Rounds.
A really good round, accurately scored but not an Official Round.
I’ve been using the UDisc Disc Golf App casually off and on for a few months. I haven’t really tried to unlock the apps full potential yet. Currently, I just use it like a paper scorecard.
After deciding to track Official Rounds, I did a little more tinkering with the app and decided it is the right tool to track my Official Rounds. I contacted the app designer Matt Krueger and outlined my idea. Matt agreed I could use his app for the Official Rounds column of my blog.
The Official Rounds I track and post will be accompanied by a very brief pro/con from the round, and once I have enough data, an insight that the app helped me see about my game.
Bridge to the 1st green at Brooktrails
I plan to use the app to create a tournament like environment that should temper my reaction to the mental obstacles in a tournament. I feel I perform better when I don’t know my score. Using the app on each hole like with a tournament scorecard should make me more comfortable knowing my score. Maybe, I can learn to not hate the scorecard.
As I learn the different facets of the app, I will elaborate on the impact it can have on my game. I started by taking a picture of each of my discs and entering them in my app. It was tons of fun.
I played my first official round and felt some added pressure. We played slower than normal, even for us. We waited on several holes for players to play through further mimicking the pace of an event. Other than one 2nd putt by me and a couple gimme pick-ups by Miller, we played the round according to the new standards.
I’m confident that continuing to play and track Official Rounds will improve my tournament day performance. Keep an eye out for future Official Rounds and leave a comment about how you try to mentally prepare for tournament time.
Categories: Official Rounds
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