robertsummers
Oct 27 2009, 09:36 PM
I don't play much any more because of my shoulder and don't come on here very often but in my opinion this rule discussion stuff is one of the biggest problems in the PDGA today. Every year or two they rewrite rules and totally change them and even worse when they do the wording is usually vague and hard to understand what the rule truly means. If there is not a VERY GOOD reason to change a rule then STOP CHANGING them. It is hard enough to keep up with the real rules, not to mention the non-rules that people like to call, then add to it the 5 interpretations of the same rule that has come from the governing body over the last 10 years. Now don't get me wrong if a rule absolutely needs to be changed for fairness or safety then change it. Comparing disc golf to other sports, I don't remember the last time golf changed a rule, and basketball and baseball seldom change rules. Football does change rules fairly often but that is usually to address safety.

Here is my personal solution that within a couple of years would eliminate most rule confusions. 1.) Get all the documents together and combine them. There is no reason to have 3-5 documents concerning rules and how to run tournaments. 2.) Have 1 final rewrite of the rules and then leave them alone unless there is a really and I mean really good reason to change them. Even under the rewrite try not to change them, if it needs clarifying like changing "unplayable lie" to "undesirable lie" then fine. But it seems like rules change all of the time in this sport.

reallybadputter
Oct 27 2009, 10:08 PM
I don't play much any more because of my shoulder and don't come on here very often but in my opinion this rule discussion stuff is one of the biggest problems in the PDGA today. Every year or two they rewrite rules and totally change them and even worse when they do the wording is usually vague and hard to understand what the rule truly means. If there is not a VERY GOOD reason to change a rule then STOP CHANGING them. It is hard enough to keep up with the real rules, not to mention the non-rules that people like to call, then add to it the 5 interpretations of the same rule that has come from the governing body over the last 10 years. Now don't get me wrong if a rule absolutely needs to be changed for fairness or safety then change it. Comparing disc golf to other sports, I don't remember the last time golf changed a rule, and basketball and baseball seldom change rules. Football does change rules fairly often but that is usually to address safety.


The USGA and the R&A change the rules of golf every 4 years... last time was in 2008... and at times they were minor things

In 2004 they put limits on club sizes and said you could now use your towel to sweep leaves out of the line of your putt... (among other things)

2004:
http://golf.about.com/cs/rulesofgolf/a/ruleschanges.htm

In 2008 if you or your caddy deflects your ball in motion it went from 2 strokes to 1...
Carrying an illegal club (but not using it) went from DQ to 2 strokes per hole with a 4 stroke max...

2008:
http://www.pgatour.com/2007/r/10/31/rules/index.html

As far a football... there was one season where the clock started after a change of posession... not for safety... shortened games... ticked off fans of teams trailing by one score late... that one reverted the next year. They keep changing the timing rules to make games take less time between commercials. In the 80s the football in college was rounder.

Baseball has moved the height and slope of the pitcher's mound a few times to try and help or hurt pitchers...

Basketball moved the 3 point line back a few years ago in college...

Hockey... the gretzky rule (offsetting penaltys not 4 on 4) then back. 2 line pass rule. Goalies can't touch it behind the net outside that trapezoid. Goalie equipment gets smaller to encourage scoring. The net moved farther away from the boards about 10 years ago.

In soccer, when I played in HS, you could pass back to your goalie and he could use his hands to pick it up

And these sports are far older and they are all still changing.

robertsummers
Oct 27 2009, 10:13 PM
I guess thats why I didn't know about the golf rules it sounds like a lot that as a casual player you wouldn't have to know and as a spectator on TV you probably wouldn't know. Because I don't think I have to worry about a caddy deflecting my ball in play...but then again if somebody were carrying my clubs they are probably stealing them.

Even getting together and changing the rules every 4 years would be better than the system of changing them every year we have now.

krupicka
Oct 28 2009, 09:13 AM
The last PDGA rule update was 2006.

exczar
Oct 28 2009, 01:26 PM
And it has been quite a while (if ever), that the Rules of Play have change signficantly enough to require a retesting of all Officials.