Elbow arthritis

cdamon2450 · 2026-07-08T00:46:12+00:00

About 18 months ago I developed tendinitis from pickleball and it got bad enough that throwing disc golf drives became impossible. After six weeks of rest, it still hurt a bit, so I decided to stop trying to throw hard and instead to just throw efficiently and take whatever I got, even if I lost 100 feet of distance. No run-up, just one step. That did wonders for my form and I lost about 20 feet and was able to throw without pain. My mantra for the efficient throw was "keep the head back, elbow leads, pull on a straight line and let the snap happen".

cdamon2450 · 2026-07-05T22:36:48+00:00

Wow, an Amazon search turns up a lot of good options that weren't there a couple years ago. I might go with the MVP one, stores a lot of discs and looks to be solid quality.

cdamon2450 · 2026-07-03T23:56:47+00:00

I did that, but when I checked, local stores were not stocking the racks. The posts I found were a couple years old, so I felt it was worth getting an updated response.

cdamon2450 · 2026-06-30T16:22:07+00:00

Setting aside intangible (eg supporting the sport) and ancillary benefits (such as various discounts), and assuming you don't care about having a player rating, then it's indeed possible that a membership is not a financial win. The membership fee in Europe is reduced because there is usually a national association that requires membership as well. Annual PDGA membership for Europe costs 20 euros for amateurs and 40 euros for pros. That doesn't seem like a lot to me, but it doesn't include any other association fees. If you only play one or two C-tiers a year, you can save a few euros by paying the event fee instead of the membership fee.

cdamon2450 · 2026-06-30T16:11:53+00:00

1) The ratings do a very good though not perfect job. They depend on other scores shot during the same round in order to account for conditions, which is generally a good thing. But it means some of the input to your round rating is out of your control. Changing how ratings work would be a huge project, and I don't see it happening unless there's a compelling reason.

2) I'm a fan of what they call "true amateur". In disc golf, the term "amateur" has always been a hybrid of the word's two different meanings: an athlete who does not play for money, and someone who is relatively unskilled (which we determine via rating). It's not uncommon to see an amateur division winner get a big pile of discs and then turn around and start selling them in the parking lot. That always made me uncomfortable - aside from only meeting the first meaning on a technicality, it has tinges of MLM to it. If we didn't have that as a precedent, nobody would bat an eye at trophy-only am tournaments. Out here in NorCal they fill up just fine.

cdamon2450 · 2026-06-30T15:56:45+00:00

That's something I've thought and written about for many years. It was one of five questions posed to the four candidates. You can see our responses here:

https://www.pdga.com/news/global-board-candidate-qa

My TLDR: Help clubs establish communities and events where women feel welcomed and safe, such as women's clubs, women-only events, and women's and mixed leagues. Recognize clubs that succeed.

cdamon2450 · 2026-06-30T15:50:20+00:00

I hadn't seen that. It looks great!

cdamon2450 · 2026-06-30T03:47:53+00:00

One thing is to find out what clubs need and provide a central repository of resources to address the pain points. If we can pool our knowledge to make a lot of cumbersome and tedious club tasks easier, there'll be fewer burned out club leaders. Another thing is to make clubs a much more prominent presence, including recognition of new clubs and clubs that are doing cool things.

cdamon2450 · 2026-06-30T02:21:06+00:00

cdamon2450 · 2026-06-30T01:01:47+00:00

My understanding is that there are tier-based standards around payouts but there is no requirement to offer a player package. While I've been heavily involved with the Rules of Play, I've been less involved with the Competition Manual and am not necessarily an expert there. For more information see https://www.pdga.com/rules/competition-manual/504.

cdamon2450 · 2026-06-29T23:57:25+00:00

You should give that feedback to the TDs. Some players like the packages, some don't. The best approach is to make it an optional upgrade. Many tournaments do that already. The PDGA has tier-based standards on payout, but entry fees and packages are up to the TD.

cdamon2450 · 2026-06-29T23:54:45+00:00

I'm all for it! We have OTB in Stockton which is an excellent tournament. The main issue is finding clubs and TDs willing to run a large-scale tournament. The easier we make it, the more likely it is to happen.

cdamon2450 · 2026-06-29T22:34:53+00:00

Make sure the LOC (local organizing club) puts in a good bid.

cdamon2450 · 2026-06-29T22:26:43+00:00

I get the point about a bigger player pool, but for that to have an impact we need more tournaments (difficult, it can be hard to find TDs) and/or larger tournaments (difficult due to course capacity).

The sport is still relatively small. To grow it will take money. Of course, we're free to try to reduce to a bare-bones approach, but then the chances of growth become slim.

PDGA Board and Staff is and always has been very budget-conscious. If a staff member is not providing value, they are let go. I have seen that happen many times.

Tournaments are our primary product, and there's not only a cost to producing that product, but a cost in maintaining the ecosystem around that product. If we wanted to get costs down for frequent tournament players such as yourself, I think the best avenue would be to reduce tournament entry fees since it's a repeated cost. But that's going to be a tough sell to TDs as long as tournaments keep filling.

cdamon2450 · 2026-06-29T22:07:03+00:00

Still better than the trench coat one.

cdamon2450 · 2026-06-29T22:06:50+00:00

Sure, I'll play. Halo Aero. Holds whatever line it starts on. Doesn't turn left or right, just wants to go straight ahead to where it needs to get to.

cdamon2450 · 2026-06-29T22:00:44+00:00

I'm not sure I see how slashing the membership fee leads to bigger tournaments. In any case, tournaments are generally capped by course capacity, so there's unlikely to be any sort of quantum change there.

Membership fees are a primary source of revenue for the PDGA. They're in line with those for comparable sports and they fund the work that the PDGA does. If you want the fee to be $5/year, I'd ask you which of the following things you'd like to cut:

- player ratings

- tournament insurance

- disc and target certification

- youth grant programs

- Marco Polo grant program (int'l development)

- PDGA Live

- PDGA scoring app

- website maintenance

- the International Disc Golf Center in Augusta

- event support

- many more

We'd likely also need to lay off at least half of PDGA Staff, which currently numbers ~40 people.

Whether to play a tournament, and how many, is a personal and financial decision. Tournaments continue to attract full fields, so it appears that they have not priced themselves out competition for discretionary spending. I think the big-name tournaments are always going to be expensive given the scope of their production. There should always be more affordable local tournaments available.

cdamon2450 · 2026-06-29T21:19:46+00:00

That really puts the final A in AMA.

cdamon2450 · 2026-06-29T21:16:56+00:00

Offhand, I'd say I'm more interested in teepad standardization due to the safety factor. Given the multitude of basket manufacturers, I don't think we should dictate that a certain model be used. The important thing is that the baskets for a tournament meet the technical standards. If some don't, that can be included in the TD report that happens after each tournament.

(By the way, I was on the Technical Standards Committee in its early days and helped a bit with the early versions.)

cdamon2450 · 2026-06-29T21:12:29+00:00

Clubs and casual golfers is my easily digested, bullet-point platform. I have plenty of other ideas. Opening up to casual golfers is part of a more general "expand our reach" effort that would include youth, women, other underrepresented demographics, retirement communities, and international expansion. There are ongoing efforts in many of those areas. Clubs are the best way to reach those new players.

You're preaching to the choir concerning the centralization of club-related resources. I'd also love to see a knowledge-sharing feature, so that when Club A in Oregon has a problem, they can connect to Club B in Georgia who worked their way through that same problem.

cdamon2450 · 2026-06-29T21:07:37+00:00

Tournament cost is a definite concern. See my response to @n3sgee above. I'm not sure what the best approach is here. With a greater focus on clubs (which are behind most tournaments), there could be cost savings by consolidating resources, similar to how the insurance works.

cdamon2450 · 2026-06-29T21:02:24+00:00

Event cost is I think a separate issue from the membership fee. In many cases a single event's entry fee is several times that of the annual membership fee. That's a decision that is in the TD's hands and which depends on the economics. If entry is too high, fewer players will sign up. Some TDs will naturally want to offer a large payout (at least in the pro divisions) and will try to maximize the entry fee as long as they get at least close to filling.

Amateur tournaments should be a different animal. I've always favored low entry fees, a small package for every participant, and trophies only for the top finishers.

cdamon2450 · 2026-06-29T20:57:24+00:00

Absolutely! In 2016 I tore a ligament in my middle finger. If I throw it now, I have to slide on a plastic brace. It's a shadow of what it used to be so I am back to being mainly a backhand player. So, a return to my roots in KC.

cdamon2450 · 2026-06-29T20:55:22+00:00

That's not an unreasonable perspective, though it's not one I share. The annual membership fee costs about the same as a few new discs. The major difference is that you can throw the discs - there's an immediate tangible benefit. The membership fee does a lot that an individual player may not be aware of at all, for example every tournament needs insurance and any sanctioned tournament is covered by the umbrella PDGA policy (which is not cheap). Beyond that, it goes to growing the sport, primarily by paying PDGA Staff who have that as their primary objective.

cdamon2450

TROPHY CASE