The Community of Disc Golfers and About All Things Disc Golf

Worst load of c#ap!

Well today was one of those days that made me realize that some things are just plain stupid and have no place in league. Today that thing was 3 holes of worst shot in random doubles. And I'll tell you why...

I was feeling it today and so I was pretty in tune with my shot. I love doubles because you can be aggressive and go for it. Anyway I think that we might have bogeyed the first. We stepped up to hole #2 and my brain is trying to grasp this whole concept of dumbing down my game. I decided to not let that get to me until my second shot on #2. I had thrown a decent shot up the gut, but because of my partner we ended up on top of a plateau to the right which is actually #1s fairway and we were also close to the basket for #18. My partner stepped up and shanked into the trees. I stepped up, threw my Champion Banshee at the proper angle, went straight, banked left down the hill and dead center. Guess what? We are playing worst shot so that was just wasted. There was no point in me hitting that shot and in fact we bogeyed. This is random doubles and I'm being penalized for making a great shot. BS I say.

That is the last time I will play said format. I didn't pick my partner, but I am being penalized by randomly having him as a partner. His bad shot counts more than my good shot. He is a friend and I don't have any problem playing with him in doubles. But why was his shank worth more than my great shot. Doesn't make sense.

I thought about this and there is only one way to correct this problem. First I will say right now that I will not play another round of random doubles when worst shot is involved. It amplifies any inequalities greatly. Last time I had a guy that was so bad we went OB on every hole. I had no reason to even throw. Stop the insanity! The solution is to say that everything in the basket stays in the basket. You never take anything out so a made basket is a made basket and you are still rewarded for good play. The problem that I have with this whole thing is that it was not announced before money was taken. I was expecting regular doubles, nothing funny so that I may be aggressive. That was taken away from me and I had no say in it. I came to play random doubles.

You just can't take that shot away from me. It's mine and I'd like to see anyone do better.

Mad Dog signing out...

Replies are closed for this discussion.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Matt B. on April 24, 2010 at 12:09pm

It's "wrong" to play a format and then cry like a baby afterwards about how you got screwed by the format. If you had just stated that you don't like the format, that'd be something else. You're a whiner. Nobody likes whiners. Whiners are not competitive, they are whiny.

Permalink Reply by All day Corey on April 23, 2010 at 1:05pm

Consider worst shot doubles as practice doubles. It does no good you get to discount a bad shot. In the future when you are in an uncompromising situation (disc golf wise) you might not stress that much. On the flip-side, everyone sucked at some or another including your-self. Give people a break and keep the sport alive. We need new players in the sport or the sport will die. The great cannot all be like Peter Shive or John Bird; we need new blood. So, Why not give lessons?

Permalink Reply by Jim Coonradt on April 23, 2010 at 4:14pm

God help us if we try to be competitive. That's just not right. If we try and compete and are rewarded for good play then the sport will die. Read what I said. It's not about my partner or anything. It's about rewarding people for bad play and penalizing people for good play. If that's what this sport is about then you can have it.

Permalink Reply by Donny Olow on April 23, 2010 at 2:53pm

One thing about worst shot doubles is it teaches you patience and adaptability. It would be nice to know ahead of time , so you know going into it !!!

Permalink Reply by mr ed on April 23, 2010 at 3:25pm

Well,guess I'm part of the staus quo.Check your friend rule

Permalink Reply by Jim Coonradt on April 23, 2010 at 4:21pm

I have no problem with any of you playing worst shot random draw doubles if that is your choice. The point is that we don't play like that and to introduce it at the last minute is wrong. I don't need a practice round when I'm playing for money. Maybe for some of you who play tourneys for a living you think that playing for a few bucks in league (winner takes home maybe $30) is no big deal. But I work hard on my game and the day before I played somewhat poorly. The next day I didn't take any practice shots or anything because I just felt that I would have a better day. I did start playing better only to be penalized for doing so. It would be nice if you just look at the logic of the situation. Does this really encourage anyone to play better. I am saying no. And other people were not happy about doing it either. So one person who doesn't even run league decides to do what he wants. This is simply not encouraging new disc golfers or doing anything positive for the sport. If they tried to force people in ball golf to play worst shot there would be an uproar. But yet we always claim that we are trying to grow the sport. If we are trying to grow the sport then lets do things that make sense.

Permalink Reply by Jordan smith on April 23, 2010 at 4:33pm

jim(maddog) you sound very defensive. will it make you happy if i agree that you should have known before paying your $5
at first it did seem (read your own post) that you didn't think it was fair that you got penalized because your partner threw bad shots. that made you sound like a jerk. and now your calling everyone haters for calling you out on it. by the way congrats on your field ace. it still sounds like a great shot even if it didn't count.

Permalink Reply by Jim Coonradt on April 23, 2010 at 4:46pm

Just trying to put this out there because yesterday I realized that it didn't really matter what I did during the round because the format dictated that I not try. My partner is a friend and I have nothing against him. He had already thrown a bad shot so because of the format the best that I could do by the worst shot rule was throw an equally bad shot. Do this make any sense except in Bizarro world? I may come off a little defensive because I'm trying to make a point and people are telling me to "man up", stop whining, butchered my name, etc. Yet nobody has said that they would have gone for that shot. If playing to win or playing to do well is a bad thing then I simply want no part of that. Not trying to sound defensive just defending my position. There is a difference.

Permalink Reply by Jordan smith on April 23, 2010 at 5:05pm

I understand, and i do think worst shot is only good for mutiple round tournys that you BYOP and have dif formats each round somethin like round 1 best shot round 2 worst shot round 3 666 and round 4 alt shot i do like tough shot more than worst shot. p.s. i dont think the world is against you.

Permalink Reply by brad hoi on April 23, 2010 at 6:23pm

in rounds of tough or worst shot the weekest thrower should throw first and the stronger player should attempt to put their disc as close to the first disc as possible without being worse .
that is the challenge for the stronger player.
when ive played those formats my partner and i are happy with coming out with par or bogey,that being said we dont turn away from the birdies either.
the team that doesnt get hot under the collar will probably come out of those portions better than those teams that do.
alternate shot doubles can be burdonsome as well but the best way to look at that format is oops maybe i can recover from here.
then if i oops then laughingly say paybacks suck dont they partner.
double can be the funnest rounds of golf played if people realize they are just playing .

Permalink Reply by Jim Coonradt on April 23, 2010 at 6:57pm

I've just been thinking about his whole post and I now realize that I was pretty angry about the whole thing and that tomorrow is a new day and life goes on. I may have let a bit of my anger into my posts, but I will definitely stand behind what I have said. Here is the thing. I am a fierce competitor and league offers a way to get out and compete against other local players. Doubles should give you an advantage of sorts because the worst that you can do is what you normally do, but you can do better if paired with the right person. When you play worst shot that advantage is taken away and it can actually go the other way. Not counting that shot was like a two stroke penalty and in doubles that is a killer. It was a two stroke penalty because from where his second shot was we had no way to even get a three. I had scored a two for us but it didn't count. My anger is not with my partner, it is with the way worst shot makes you play. As Brad said your best strategy is to put your disc as close to your partners as possible. But that takes away any aggressive play and penalizes me for my partner. In best shot I am not penalized for my partners shot, only any bad throws that I have. If we would have played tough shot I would have been fine with that because I would not have been penalized. I will step up and run league next week and I think that nobody is going to call that again. No one was very happy about it at all. Doubles gives you the chance to compete against two great players even if there is only one great player in your group. That is the beauty of it. Enough said.

Permalink Reply by Birdie-man on April 24, 2010 at 2:23am

I am as competitive as the next guy or even probably more, but you have to keep going and not get so worked up. So let's say that all other groups scored the same as you for the three holes of worst shot. That easily could've happened. Maybe next time you both Ace. Playing doubles is not always going to get you a better score. Laying up for a few holes shouldn't be that big of a deal. Neither should a couple strokes that only happens once a year... Those do seem like some crazy leagues out West :) It also seems like when you holed out it should have counted. Keep Hukkin!