This is a question I have been pondering for some time. I have quite a few rounds under my belt with 1000+ rated players, from this I can kind of gauge where I need to be to become 1000 rated

But have never had the opportunity to play with any of the 'elite' 1020-1030+ rated players.

Wondering what the 'general' difference is between a player who is 1030 rated and a player who is 1000+ rated?

They make more putts....from everywhere.

about 3 strokes...

I play with a 1028 a couple times a week and I would say consistency. The "bad" drives arent that bad, easy pars, and the good ones are under the basket. Also the putting from say 50 or so is solid. Plus the 1030 players have that extra gear the rest of us dont have. dont know if it is more focus or muscle memory. to me it seems that the difference is that I can beat a 1000 player every week, but a 1030 player takes maybe once everyother month.

Certainly practice and talent are important factors, but I think the mental game is one of the biggest differences between a 1000 and 1030 rated player. The pressure of winning or losing, the negative thoughts associated with missing an easy put, or throwing a bad drive seems to stay in a 1000 rated player's head longer and cause more mistakes. 1030 players seem to recover very quickly from a rare bad decision or missed short putt, seems like they consider it a fluke that won't happen again. They expect to play very well. They expect to win.

I'd say, essentially there are two basic types of 1000 rated player: 1) a player that has all the tools the 1030 guys do, tries all the same shots, but is about 3 strokes a round less consistent with those tools, or 2) a player that is consistent with a toolset that is about 3 strokes/round less effective, because of inherent weaknesses (i.e., needing to lay up rather than go for the pin on a 450' shot, lack of a pro-level anhyzer or forehand, etc.). Or, of course, a hybrid of those two types of player. Essentially what separates a 1030 player and a 1000 rated player mostly depends on who the 1000 rated player is. What separates Feldberg and say, Cory Sharp? Certainly not distance...likely just consistency. But Feldberg's distance and power would be his main advantage over say, Gregg Hosfeld or Dave Greenwell, who are very consistent. And then sometimes it's just lack of a certain shot, in that Feldberg will pick up a stroke or two on big backhand hyzer shots over a guy like say, Geoff Bennett, who's got an amazing sidearm but doesn't yet have the consistency with a righty backhand hyzer that most 1030-level guys do.

And then, as others have said, there's the intangibles as well...some guys just seem to "make it happen" and some are better practice-round players than competitive golfers.

Ok, back to work...

What Christian said...and putting.

and Mental. I have learned alot with the mental part of the game. Knowing you can win and believing you can win goes along way. All the top pros are sked how did they win worlds or USDGC? they all reply this year they believed they could....knowing that you can goes along way in golf.

ive read mental articiles from Golf magazines and have learned to play each hole for itself. I dont keep score in my head and I just play the best i can on each hole. That has helped my mental game. But yes all 1030 players show up knowing the will win. Im learning to get that confidence, it goes along way to help you improve

I would say it's that drive and determination. Sure, 1000 rated players have it, but the 1030 rated players seem to want to win more. My philosophy has always been that the person who wins wanted it more, so to me the 1030 rated players want to be better than the 1000 rated players who think they want to better and think they want to win.

about 3 strokes...

That's the correct answer. 3 strokes on average per round.

That's the correct answer. 3 strokes on average per round.

So, at that level, there is no compression?

thats crazy, correct and crazy if you think about it. I have tried to use this to my mental game improvement. Sometimes us players think we have to do something amazing to win. If you shoot solid golf and u can take "3" strokes off each round you can win or atleast place alot higher. If we think about it, this means make 3 better decisions, or place 3 better upshots, thats it. its really not as hard as we make it sometimes. the best tournys I play are the ones where, yes im prepared and have practiced all week but come game day, im relaxed and mello as If Im going to my local course with my buddies. i dont get all worked up with anxiety, stay calm and coola nd i seem to focus and play my game better.
3 strokes, Im taking this advice for my tourny this weekend, i will try and do better than my norm by 3 strokes and ill see what happens...

for me as an up-and coming am I could tear up my local courses, so i knew i had the skill.
my lesson to my self was how to i play at my good leve in a tourny with all the pressure and stress. I have learned (and still learning) how to treat the most stressful of tournys and competition as if im playing with my buddies. its helping me to focus and not get all worked up. if I play with my buddies i usually win and play great so I want to learn this mind set for Tourny play.

1000 = Have real job
1030 = Play frisbee everyday :-)

1000 = Have real job
1030 = Play frisbee everyday :-)

good point, they do get alot of practice time

1000 = Have real job
1030 = Play frisbee everyday :-)

I agree a lot with this although some guys just have it and are all around better disc golfers. I will say when I went on tour for 2 months in 2008 my overall game improved. I got to focus all my attention on disc golf and practiced all the time. Saying that I also paid for all my entry fees over the winter and was able to keep my health insurance while I left work during this time. I've learned a lot working during the week, playing on the weekend, and also going on tour. I will never quit my job to tour=stupid. Too stressfull, no health insurance, and there is no money in this game. Having a job I don't get to play all the golf I would like but I feel I am still competitive and anything I do win is just a bonus. For me it would be a terrible decision and isn't worth it. For the select few who do make it it has to be nice.

So, at that level, there is no compression?

I am not sure what you mean by compresion but ...

My understanding of hte ratings system is that a 1000 rated golfer is considered a scratch golfer and each 10 points is roughly equal to 1 stroke. The further you get away from 1000 rating the larger the points:stroke ratio becomes, so at 1000, 30 points = as close to 3 strokes as you can get.

That said, 3 strokes is a lot. 3 strokes x 4 rounds = 12 strokes difference per large tourney.

The number of rating points per throw is not connected to a 1000 rating but to SSA. The only place where one throw = 10 points is around 50 SSA for everyone regardless of rating. At 66 SSA like the USDGC, it's about 7 points per throw (thus, the term "compression"). The average course played in PDGA competition has been around 52 SSA for the past several years so 10 points per throw is a good estimate. However, the top dogs play on courses with higher SSAs on average so maybe 8-9 points per throw is closer to their annual average.

Thank you for the explanation, Chuck. That is what I meant by compression, that at some level one throw equated to less than 10 points.

That is what I meant by compression, that at some level one throw equated to less than 10 points.

and that is what most of the rest of us figured was meant by "about three"

Nice Brad!!!

So you'd be about 1060 if you didn't have a real job.

and that is what most of the rest of us figured was meant by "about three"

According to Chuck, 30 ratings points at the courses the big dogs typically play (with higher SSAs than 50) would be "about 4" strokes per round.

Nice Brad!!!

So you'd be about 1060 if you didn't have a real job.

My rating is way inflated, even you know that!

when does about three not be three, you three?

I dont know when 3 is 3, but 3 stupid strokes cost me a usdgc spot this weekend

I'm curious about the whole mental thing. The notion that it is purely a mental difference seems to have some exceptions. Take Nikko, I watched the footage of him at Vibram last year and he was clearly melting down (even with that he was shooting well). He has a reputation for... issues, and yet he is rated 1033?

Beyond the obvious notion that there are probably multiple factors, say eight, and you need a certain level in some subset of them, and the question of which are most important? Are any, or do you need a certain level of each?

1) general skill - muscle memory - an ability to grab the right disc and put it where you want it
2) knowledge - of the equipment - the course - the sport - the situation
3) confidence/fearlessness - should I go for it or lay up... Man I blew it, should I go for it?
4) ability to recover - repeat, man I blew it, how long till recovery - also, Man am I in the shule, how do I get back on course or save this hole
5) physical - shape - stamina - long term focus
6) focus - out of the gate
7) consistency
8) personality - attitude

Clearly, many of these things overlap, and almost all impact other items in the list. It would be an interesting matrix to try and quantify how each impacts the other.

I like to think of Ken Climo when I think of this. He is not the most powerful player out there, yet he is clearly the most consistent and focused (or was). He is also one of the calmest players out there.

When I look at Barry, Dave G., Ken, Mike R. Jay R. and those guys, I see incredibly calm and collected people who don't seem to get upset. I wonder how much of winning is all of those factors impacted by number 8, attitude?

interesting idea on the matrix, there is that "other" factor that comes into play alot. many of these guys that do get upset will get upset about something small, say a camera shutter going off in their swing, not so much because it ruined their round but because they get angry and then pumped and then they fall into uberzone and start killing it with reckless abandon to prove a point. Some of them clearly use their anger as a driving force.
as long as it is anger toward someone else. if they are mad at themselves for bad shots, bad putts then they are going down a tough path to come out on top.

yes and yes, but Nikko does have a good mental game, mental game doesnt just mean composure. keeping your cool. some people play good mad and fired up like you have said, but Nikkos mental strewngth is his confidence. the Mental Confidence of your self is what I mean by your mental strength as an athlete. Nikko shows up at any given Tourny believing he Will win and he will make every putt....we dont and until we do Nikko will beat us, read Phil Arthurs article about winning Worlds. He had never invisioned himself winning and so he never did, you have to belive it to actually make it happen. Nikko has the mental game to Know he can and will win tournys, we need to believe we can before we ever will.

and correct me if im wrong Stats guys but: 1030 players wouldnt be 1030 if their rating didnt get inflated by playing with more higher rated players everytime they play,
for instant if the super players didnt play NT events and or Majors their rating wouldnt be close to 1030 ???
so playing in NT will help spark your Rating, if your always jammin at B tiers it will take you longer, just competing against local 970 guys.....(no offense to 970 guys) I like 970 guys there cool too.

Not true. Urban myth. Darrell Nodland in North Dakota has maintained a 1027 rating for the ten years ratings have been around and, other than the one year he took second in the USDGC, he only plays against players with sub-1000 ratings most of the time. If you look at the ratings details of several top players, they have more rounds in B & C-tiers in a year than A, NTs and Majors.

wow...you are good, i was told to post that as a mind test...and You passed....you are a Jedi as the legend goes.....

yes and yes, but Nikko does have a good mental game, mental game doesnt just mean composure. keeping your cool. some people play good mad and fired up like you have said, but Nikkos mental strewngth is his confidence. the Mental Confidence of your self is what I mean by your mental strength as an athlete. Nikko shows up at any given Tourny believing he Will win and he will make every putt....we dont and until we do Nikko will beat us, read Phil Arthurs article about winning Worlds. He had never invisioned himself winning and so he never did, you have to belive it to actually make it happen. Nikko has the mental game to Know he can and will win tournys, we need to believe we can before we ever will.

Exactly. Confidence is the deciding factor. I have been 1005 average for a few years. I have come to accept that I am not a solid putter. Until I can shake that and believe I WILL make the putts, I will not, can not, and should not win any majors. That and the fact that I just don't have the time to commit like I used to.

I like to think of Ken Climo when I think of this. He is not the most powerful player out there, yet he is clearly the most consistent and focused (or was)

After this past weekend, you can safely say "Still Is"

You skazzirfs are gonna have a newfound respect for me after life settles in on yo azzes...

1000 = Have real job
1030 = Play frisbee everyday :-)

I second that!

You skazzirfs are gonna have a newfound respect for me after life settles in on yo azzes...

Hear, hear!

1) general skill - muscle memory - an ability to grab the right disc and put it where you want it
2) knowledge - of the equipment - the course - the sport - the situation
3) confidence/fearlessness - should I go for it or lay up... Man I blew it, should I go for it?
4) ability to recover - repeat, man I blew it, how long till recovery - also, Man am I in the shule, how do I get back on course or save this hole
5) physical - shape - stamina - long term focus
6) focus - out of the gate
7) consistency
8) personality - attitude




This is a fine list of attributes commonly found in the top golfers. I've worked hard for years to get to 1014. I have good steady job and disc golf is secondary.

I feel like the only thing I sometimes lack is 1) knowledge of the course, which leads to less (3) confidence/fearlessness. The touring pro typically can get a few rounds in on courses before the tournament, at their leisure, and they have a ton of experience competing on unfamiliar courses.

A perfect example would be last year at the DM Challenge NT. We played some of the best courses around, all 5 of which were "home" courses for me. That's right, we played 5 courses, 1 time each. Advantage me. I placed second.

In contrast I'll use the 2010 Majestic. New courses will be used (Castle Rock). Sure, no one is playing them now, but I can't even go up there to play them before the tournament because they aren't built yet. If I do get an extra day off, I'll be scrambling to hurry through them in time to eat and sleep for the next day when the event begins. So, I'm probably not going to play it. If it was at Kaposia, north Valley, Hyland, I'd be more inclined since I have run those tracks before. The top pros will get in and have plenty of time to practice and rest, advantage them.

This last year I've become more confident than ever and I know I can hang with any golfer out there. All while maintaining a day job. I attribute the latest breakthrough (996-1014 rating) to a concentrated conditioning program. Barry said to me a couple years ago that he doesn't warm up for very long, as long as his body feels good, he feels good. I agree 100%.

This last year I've become more confident than ever and I know I can hang with any golfer out there. All while maintaining a day job. I attribute the latest breakthrough (996-1014 rating) to a concentrated conditioning program. Barry said to me a couple years ago that he doesn't warm up for very long, as long as his body feels good, he feels good. I agree 100%.[/QUOTE]

Good point. If I am working out and my legs feel great then Im more confident and I have the endurance to maintain my level of play. I dont have to warm up for along time. I have been working out and keeping in better shape , I think this helps.

1000 = Have real job
1030 = Play frisbee everyday :-)
1018 = Have real job.
???? = Play frisbee everyday?

1045?
1050?