Frolfing+Interveiw

On Friday, May 7, I went to [|Gotta Go Gotta Throw], a store that distributes many disc golf discs and interviewed the owner, Charlie. Gotta Go Gotta Throw has been in the location that they are at (Plymouth) for four years and have been around Minnesota for 16 years. When I went there I asked some questions and Charlie was very helpful in answering them. One of the questions that I asked was, "How many discs are there?" The answer was that there are about 240 discs. Charlie also said that there are about 7 different variations of each disc so there are about 1,680 discs overall. Charlie said that there are two main companies that make discs, they are [|Innova] and [|Discraft] even though there are other smaller companies that make discs also. The 7 variations have to do with the plastic that they are made of. The lowest grade of plastic is more flimsy and not as durable, but it is cheaper. The grades work themselves up until they get to the last and highest grade which are the best and most durable discs, but they also cost a lot more.

These are the four main variations of the Beast, one of the most popular drivers. From left to right, there is the Star Beast, Pro Beast, Champion Beast, and DX Beast, all from Innova. The next question I asked was if there were tournaments or pro leagues. There are tournaments that happen every year and there is even a pro tour just like in real golf there is the PGA tour. The pro players that play in the tournaments all the time usually make around $50,000.00 a year on average. These tournaments are usually supported by individual sponsors but most of them are supported by the PDGA ([|Professional Disc Golf Association]) or the DGA ([|Disc Golf Association].) The tournaments usually end with three winners, each getting money, the first place player getting the most money then the second gets the second most, and the third gets the third most money. Next, he showed me a chart that displays all of the discs, all with Gotta Go Gotta Throw's rating system.

This flight chart shows all of the discs by all companies all under the same rating system. They are categerized by there range, which is the center number and means how far they can be thrown. Discs in the 5.5 - 4 are mostly drivers that are thrown very far. Discs in ranges 3.5 - 2 are mostly Mid-Range, and discs in ranges 1.5 - 1 are mostly Putt/Approach discs. The checkmarks on the left side of the range is telling us if the disc is made in baseline, mid-grade, and/or premium grade plastic (baseline being the worst grade and premium the highest grade of plastic.) Next to the plastic grades, there is the name of the disc that is being rated (ex: Nuke, Flick, Shark, Buzzz.) On the right side of the range from left to right is the High Speed Stability (HSS), Low Speed Stability (LSS), and the Power a player should have to make the disc fly accurately. The HSS and LSS are determined by how the fly/curve in the air. The chart at the bottom of the charts, shows the different HSS's and LSS's. If a disc has a HSS of +1, that means that when a regular right handed, backhand, thrower throws the disc, it will curve slightly to the left when thrown hard and at high speed. If a disc has a LSS of +5, that means that if a right handed, backhand, thrower throws the disc at a low speed, it will curve a lot to the left. These charts are based on a right handed, backhand, thrower, but if you are right handed and throw forehand, the charts would be totally opposite. The power is based on the power of the throw, a very strong or good player would probably use a power 6 for his driver because it would fit him best. A child might want to use a power 3 or 4 because that suits him/her best. If you put it all together it will look like the charts that are above.