moving up

Ok I started the year with a crappy 811 rating from one tournament last year. When. The new rating come out I am now a 890. I have won one tournament and placed 4th in the next 2. All the guys i play with are wanting me to move up. I have been playing in the rec division. They,say rec is 850 to 900. My question is do I have to move up bow or can I atleast get a couple more rec divisions before I have to. I just don't want people to think I am sand bagging. So fellow disc golfers what should I do. I don't think I am ready for intermediate.

[Justin]

Up.

[Jeff Nichols]

You WILL IMPROVE and get Better Quicker by Moving Up. BUT, if you feel your not ready, it's your call. The one thing about this sport is people REALLY like the Sand Bagger term....

[Eric Day]

Your ready to move up. 

[Chuck Kennedy]

Play Rec until your rating starts with a 9. It's a fallacy that players play better by playing up. Players get better by practicing.

[Bruce Brakel]

Everything I know about behavioral psychology agrees with Chuck's conclusion that it is a fallacy that you get better by playing up.  It would be interesting to test the conclusion mathmatically with PDGA data.  For instance you could plot data from non-Masters aged amateur players with Intermediate ratings from two years ago.  On the y axis plot % occasions of playing up and on the x axis plot change in rating over two years.  Chuck's theory would be confirmed by a declining curve.

[Chuck Kennedy]

We've already shown statistically that the average rating of the group you are playing with does not impact how well you shoot. Climo dominated for all of those years and never played with a group whose rating averaged higher than his.

[Jim Coonradt]

Climo might not be the best example. He isn't exactly your "average" player.

x

[Chuck Kennedy]

He's just the most extreme example of someone who never got a "break" getting to play with players better than him. Yet they didn't drag him down.

[David Sauls]

You'd think all those "bagger" threads would refute the notion that you need to play tournaments against better players to improve.  Besides, generally speaking if you move up you only play the first round with better players; after that you're grouped with players who just shot the same as you.

 

[Bruce Brakel]

The one other thing I would say about moving up to improve your game is this.  For various reasons I sometimes play up from Intermediate.  This past weekend I played up.  I don't see much benefit in playing up unless you play up to a pro division.  Even then, you need to pay attention to what these guys are doing that you are not. 

[Kory Olko]

Move up when you're ready or your rating moves you up. Don't let anyone tell you different. If the other rec players can't beat you then tell them to start practicing. Your rating will move you up eventually.

[micheal jester]

Thank you everyone for your advice. I believe I am going to practice and improve on this great game. I will move up when my rating makes me move up. I can see where I can probably learn from the higher groups but I know I am not ready.