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Why Disc Manufacturers Don’t Focus on Beginners

why disc manufacturers do not focus on beginners

All of the major US disc golf manufacturers: Innova, Discraft, Prodigy, Discmania, and Legacy focus primarily on the professionals. Why do they do this?

There are two primary reasons that the major disc manufacturers focus their disc production on professionals.

  1. The owners of these companies themselves are (or once were) professional disc golfers.
  2. Pros sell discs period. Among the super avid, super heavy disc golfers, pros sell plastic and the goal of the manufacturers is to sell discs. Discs that top professionals throw sell far more than other discs for these major brands.

The beginners and 90% of players who play recreationally and feel good when they can throw a disc more than 300 feet can’t throw the majority of these discs. It seems like there should be more of an emphasis on creating discs for the rec buy who just wants to have fun playing disc golf — for the average disc golfer and not the rare pro.

This is the throwing distance from the Infinite Discs Sate of Disc Golf survey, and the reality is that those who filled out the survey, are the die hard disc golfers. Disc golfers also tend to overestimate their throwing distance (also known as internet distance). Very few rec players take the time to fill out a lengthy disc golf survey, but even among these die hard disc golfers that took the survey, approximately 66% throw less than 350 feet.

Many of the disc molds the big manufacturers produce are designed specifically for pros. The reality is that top pros move discs, but the people that are buying them can’t throw them, at least not very well. Disc Golfers buy pros signature discs because of hype, and then realize that the disc is worthless to them. And while many advanced tournament players who can throw these discs are super heavy buyers, they still only represent a small segment of the playing disc golf market which.

Check out this data from Infinite Discs blog, the new Paul McBeth disc released on July 12th as the Anax. This disc is simply a rebranded Predator. Since 2014, Infinite Discs sold only 54 ESP Predators.  In the first two days of the rebrand as the Anax, this same, super overstable disc that can’t be thrown well by almost all disc golfers, and all 600 Anax discs Infinite Discs ordered from Discraft were sold out.

Why didn’t the Predator sell well from 2014 – 2019 when they “retired it” to make it the Anax? Because it is a disc 99% of disc golfers don’t have a use for.  It’s too overstable and doesn’t go far for them. People bought it because of hype, because of the Paul McBeth name.

The moral of the story is that if you are a beginner disc golfer, find a disc that works well for you — which likely won’t be the same as the ones the top pros throw. Professional Disc Golfers are able to throw discs like this because they practice hard and have lots of natural talent. The player makes the disc work, but the discs the pros throw will likely not make you a better disc golfer.

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About Joshua Christensen

I am an ultimate frisbee player turned disc golfer. I have been playing disc golf for a few years now and have fallen in love with the sport and love to do what I can to further its growth!