Rain Gear

[askmifo]

As most players, I have severe problems with my backhand grip when playing in rainy weather. It does not matter if I have numerous towels, golf king size umbrella, and so on. I simply feel unsecure about my grip, and tend to release way too early. I often end up driving with forehand instead.

I have not found any rule that says you can't use a golf glove, to enhance the grip.

My questions are then:

-Is it OK to use a rain glove for golf ?
-If so, have you guys tried any that you can recommend? FootJoy have their rain gloves, and Fit39 have one that is fit very tight round your palm. I think the upside with better grip might be better than the downside with a slight loss of feel.

But, since I have not tried it yet, what's your advice?
(Besides keeping discs dry of course... :-) )

[rollinghedge]

802.04 Artificial Devices
A. During a round, a player shall not use any artificial device that may assist in making a throw, except those devices that reduce or control abrasion to the skin (such as gloves, tape, bandages, gauze, etc.) and medical items (such as knee and ankle braces, etc.). Items used to prevent slipping on the teeing surface are also allowed. A player is specifically prohibited from using any artificial device that changes the position of the disc in the player’s hand or artificially lengthens any of the player’s throwing levers (fingers, wrist, arm, shoulder, etc.). The use of devices which assist in determining distances over 10 meters, such as range finders and GPS devices are prohibited. Measuring devices such as a tape measure may be carried and used to determine distances 10 meters and less for the purpose of rules enforcement.

B. A player shall receive two penalty throws, without a warning, if, during any portion of a round, he or she is observed by two players or an official to be using or carrying an artificial device that is determined by the director to violate section 802.04 A. A player who uses an artificial device after it has been determined by the director to be in violation of 802.04 A has also violated 804.05 A (3) and shall be penalized accordingly.

Never tried using one before, I think Tom Monroe (#33) down in Birmingham uses one sometimes, probably just a random ball golf glove.

[gdstour]

There are 2 gloves that I have used when it is cold out that are awesome one is leather and the other is Spandex/lycra with leather pads on the finger tips.
Both are for regular golf and can be found at most high end golf shops. Nike, Titleist and callaway make great golf gloves and they retail for about $8-$12

None of them will work well if they get too wet, but you can use another looser fitting ski glove over it to help keep it from getting wet.

As long as you keep the glove dry and get over the fact that you have a glove on, I found that using a glove can really help in in climate weather,, Good golf gloves allow you to have a great feel for the discs because of how thin they are, but once they are wet they will not work so well.

There are some gloves that are made for working in the rain and other sports like goalie gloves and moto-cross that are somewhat waterproof, but they do not offer anywhere near the feel needed for putting, though you may be able to use them for driving!

here is a link to a golf glove that I have not tried, it looks like it should be fairly waterproof:
http://www.golfjoy.com/Nike/Golf_Glo...Golf_Glove.htm

[Birdie]

The problem you are having will not be fixed by using a glove.

You are uncomfortable with the rain so you think about it, or think about not thinking about it...

Wet hands/disc or gloves, I think you will still be questioning your grip. And that is the true problem.

Tell yourself that your grip is good and it will be.

Think your grip is bad and it will be.

Eliminate negative thoughts.

[abee1010]

Another thing that helps my release in the rain is to slow every thing down. You're not going to get great grip in the rain no matter what you do. If you are trying to throw as hard or fast as you normally do your disc will slip out early everytime. So, club down and take a little off it and you should be fine without a glove...

[rollinghedge]

and throw a lot of DX plastic for the best grip.

[mikeP]

Another thing that helps my release in the rain is to slow every thing down. You're not going to get great grip in the rain no matter what you do. If you are trying to throw as hard or fast as you normally do your disc will slip out early everytime. So, club down and take a little off it and you should be fine without a glove...

This has worked for me. I make sure I have lots of microfiber towels (they last 3-4 times longer before saturation) and I use a golf umbrella. Besides the advice given in the quote, I also make sure to stay AS DRY AS POSSIBLE. Never stand in the open, always keep under whatever cover there is.

One last thing: gloves don't work at all. Ever. At least not for me. At least if my hands are wet I can feel that the disc is going to slip. With gloves on you can't feel anything. I used golf gloves, baseball gloves, and tackified football gloves. None worked well, and the ones I liked best wore out too fast to be feasible.

[switzerdan]

I play in Switzerland and we get a lot of rain. I'm curious to know what other people are using for rain jackets and rain pants. I'm in the market for a new set and I just wanted some opinions. Thanks!

[discgolfstaJR]

Breathing rain gear is a life saver. You don't even need to be in the mountains where it can be sunny one minute and rain coming in horizontally the next minute to have problems with non breathing rain gear. Clothing manufacturers have given very different numbers to how much quicker you lose body heat when the clothes are wet. I've seen numbers between 20 and 60 times faster. If your clothes do not allow the sweat to go through them and it condenses in the jacket or trousers that are cold on the outside that condensed sweat will make your lower layers wet quickly and then the cold air on the outside conducts to your skin quickly. If you look at the numbers that manufacturers claim 3000-5000 in water evaporation are pretty useless for keeping you dry. 10000 helps some 15000 is ok 20000 and more are good. Naturally prices are outrageous usually with the higher numbers so i'd look for very durable fabrics on the outside at least so that you'll get years out of that piece of clothing.

I have outrageously expensive hunting pants from Chevalier with 25000 and the seller said Gore Tex has one model that is more breathing but i have no trouble with 25000 in the fall and winter when wading in the snow makes you work hard. Those pants are warm but not the most wind proof but good still and they have an extra layer of fabric in the knees. Hunters need it for shooting from the knee but it is great for doing just the same in disc golf if you don't want to put a disc upside down or a towel under the knee. I avoid it if the ground is not gonna mess up the trouser. Why bend a disc or dirty up the towel? you never know when it's gonna rain so having as much dry clean towel area without carrying a lot of towels is a nice safety margin.

Look for clothing that have zippers so that you can boost the ventilation. At least under the arm in the jacket and on the inside in the legs.

For the summer i use North Face Circadian pants without problems and those don't allow wind to get through and they are almost totally comfortable on hot summer days for sweaty old me. They are thin and fold into fairly small space so they aren't a problem to carry just in case if you have a large bag.

www.chillcheater.com makes very tightly bundling up jackets and trousers from nylon that gram saving mountaineers use. My jacket does not breathe as well as the trousers from North Face and Chevalier. It is too sweaty if the zipper is up until it gets below say 10 C. It has a built in pouch and the jacket can be rolled into a ball inside the pouch and it is the diameter of my palm so it is very easy to carry. It won't stand up to a hard rain or hours in moderate rain though but it weighs nothing so it is easy to carry. Carrying the jacket and their trousers should not be hard just in case. I don't have their trousers. They are great for blocking wind but being so thin material they don't warm you. The same goes for the North Face pants in colder weather.

Were it not for the zippers in my Patagonia rain jacket (thicker but still not warming) it would not breath much at all. I don't recall the model name and it is worn on the jacket. They aren't cheap either so i'd go with something else armed with the knowledge i've gotten since. It is very durable though.

I bought a used British rain jacket in a military surplus store for peanuts and the MVP (possibly not the disc manufacturer) lining looks exactly the same as the material in the Patagonia jacket. No ventilation zippers but it has insane shapeability from having so many adjustments for size and shape and shaping it to be snug in the stomach area and looser up top allows the jacket to not touch the lower layers of clothing in many places. While the jacket is moving some in the upper part it also ventilates the lower layers. But the real benefit to that jacket is the way it is closed. Judging from the blue color it is meant for the navy or harbor use and there's a lot of wind to contend with in those applications. As a consequence the zipper is protected by several overlapping flaps of fabric closed by velcro. Thus you can open the velcro just as much as you like and if wanted you can adjust with how many velcro patches the flaps are closed so you have a lot of wiggle room for adjusting how well the venting works. This jacket is warm. So it is so good that i'm thinking the unthinkable and possibly taking a needle in the hand and putting vent zippers to the arm pits as well because the center line venting gets shifted in use and at times it gets too cold in the fall from being too open and the ventilation from the zipper area hits the one place where you should maintain warmth the heart and the lungs. I'm not too keen on sowing work though :-D

So look for as many adjustments to the size and shape, venting zippers and breathing water and wind proof materials that are tough on the outside. Generally soft shell clothes breathe better than dedicated rain gear that isn't priced astronomically. Some soft shells might stand up to heavy rain for hours but it probably means added price. Many soft shells have too soft outer skin to stand up to normal disc golf abuse like getting needles and branches trying to abrade or puncture the fabric.

I think the North Face Circadian pants are soft shells and they are the toughest soft shell fabric i've encountered and short of sliding down a rocky hill i can't see it breaking from disc golfing. They haven't ever gotten wet even in horizontal rain but they are pricey.

Shoes need to be water proof or you'll be miserable. Vivobarefoot Off Road shoes have the best traction i've encountered in any shoes but the sole is on the hard side so it will slide on wet hard surfaces. Running fast in any shoe has the chance of uprooting grass under the shoe and surfing on the turf patch anyway. So i'd move slower on wet ground. Puddles make you slip and there's always the chance of muscles tearing then and aquaplaning is a real issue so it depends on your style what happens in wet weather. That means your technique dictates what you need from a sole.

[DemAmazins]

http://www.gore-tex.com/remote/Satellite/home

[pterodactyl]

Ball golf has been making waterproof clothes for a very long time. They get it. Try checking out the ball golf store. They have awesome rain and wind gear that is designed for freedom of movement. Snow gear is a different animal.

[Karl]

Dan,

Get yourself 2 different jackets. One should be a very large, very well made Gore-Tex jacket with hood. This will handle any 'bad weather' situation (incessant rain, snow, sleet, etc.). The other should be a rather large, thin urethane-coated nylon. This washable jacket can be used (and stored right in your bag) for any spur-of-the-moment bad weather situation and won't mind the sweating you'll do in it - as it can be washed a lot.

Karl

Ps: Also - very important - make sure that the arms are cut on the bias so that they're either "articulated" or at least there is NO difficulty in lifting your arm over your head (the rest of the jacket doesn't "come with your arm"...and obscure your view, etc.) just in case you have to throw an overhand

[drdisc]

Frogg Toggs.