Exercise, nature, and friends. All in the same sport - Frisbee Golf

The hand swings, the disc takes flight, resin puffs, a tree thuds, and cursing comes from the thrower’s mouth. For a casual player this chain of events is quite familiar. But those times when the disc skirts the trees and flies in control just as you imagined before the throw give you the feeling of why you play this sport. It’s a seemingly simple sport where you try to get the disc into the basket with as few throws as possible. Disc golf.

Roughly speaking, there are three types of discs: putter, midrange, and driver. However, there are countless variations of each. In practice every disc behaves in its own way. This is affected by the attributes listed for a disc: stability, glide, speed, and fade. These can be exactly the same on many discs, yet they still behave differently. Behavior is also influenced, for example, by the disc’s weight and the quality of the plastic. Wear on the disc also plays a role.

There are also countless throwing techniques. Broadly speaking, backhand and forehand, but throws are described with terms like hyzer, anhyzer, air bounce, backspin, skyroller, overhand, spike hyzer and spike anhyzer.  Now when you combine different discs and different throws, the range of shots is mind-boggling. The disc of course then behaves according to its nature, while the variables that cause success/failure come from the throwing motion. A seemingly simple sport has become endlessly diverse and interesting. These intricacies have gotten a hold of me, and I go play a round whenever I can spare the time amid work and family life. I don’t master the backhand except when putting, but by getting to know discs I’ve found ways to throw using only a forehand. Even on a fairway completely unsuitable for a right-handed forehand (Äänekosken liikuntapuiston väylä 11, which ends with a bend and rise to the left), I’ve managed to throw a controlled hole-in-one. There’s clearly a lifetime of practice ahead for consistency and confidence

Usually the sport is played as an individual, keeping your own score. But there are different game formats as well; one of them is team play. The 2019 Finnish Team Disc Golf Championships  will be held in Äänekoski this coming weekend! Mikko Nurmi from Äänekosken frisbeegolfin kannatusyhdistyksestä (Äfky) told me how Äänekoski has acquired a championship-level course and the Finnish Championships.

” Äänekosken frisbeegolfin kannatusyhdistys Äfky ry was founded in 2013 out of the need to develop opportunities for playing disc golf in the Äänekoski region. The sport was on a strong upswing, and we wanted to create proper conditions for the hobby. Fortunately, the City of Äänekoski understood this, and soon we agreed on cooperation, and Äfky was given relatively free rein to start developing first the Liikuntapuisto course and later also the Suolahti course.  Since then, courses have also been built next to the Kangaslampi camp center and in Sumiainen. In addition, a winter course was established in Laajalahti, which, thanks to good maintenance, has been very popular also among players from other municipalities. Almost everything has been done through volunteer work.

This year we felt that the course is becoming good enough to host higher-profile competitions. So we put in an application to organize the Team Finnish Championships. For this project we invited Puska Puttaajat from Laukaa to collaborate. Fortunately, the event was awarded to us, and this has kept and will keep our relatively small group of active members busy.

Everyone interested in the sport is welcome to join Äfky’s activities. We have organized, among other things, training sessions for companies and organizations, competition and recreational events for players, as well as familiarization trips to courses in other localities.”

The final round of the Finnish Championships starts on Sunday 18.8. at 15:45, so let’s head to Liikuntapuisto to watch at least then, when more than a hundred of Finland’s top players battle for the team Finnish Championship!

Check out the event on Facebook: Finnish Team Disc Golf Championships

Niko Pasanen @kyljyskuiskaaja

Here’s also my own little showcase of the sport ;)