I did some casual Googling for the rules used in official distance competitions, but didn't come up with what I was looking for. I'm looking for the regs used in distance competitions. How wide is the throwing area, is there a limit on wind speed, that kind of thing.

I know that someone on this board can point me in the right direction.

From WFDF website:

603.02 Distance:
A. Play: The player shall make five attempts in each round to throw a disc as far as possible.
B. Discs: The player shall provide at least five of his or her own discs as per section 602.01. It is advised that an additional disc be available in the event of a re-throw.
C. Time: A player shall make all five of his or her throws within 2 1/2 minutes from the time the signal is given by the line judge. A time warning shall be given at 30 seconds remaining. In semi or final rounds, the format may be changed to allow simultaneous time periods. Under this format, players are given 4 minutes to make all five of their throws from the time the signal is given by the line judge. All players throw during the same time period. In semi play, two consecutive simultaneous rounds may be used. A time warning shall be given at 2 minutes remaining and at 30 seconds remaining. Under either format, any throw released after the expiration of the throwing time period shall not be marked.
D. Foul: No supporting point of a player shall rest on or beyond the foul lines at the instant of his or her release. A follow-through motion which crosses the foul line after the release is permissible. In the event of a foul, the throw shall not be marked.
E. Measurement: Legal throws shall be measured from the midpoint of the front foul line to the center of the disc at its point of impact. All throws shall be measured to the nearest cm.
F. Score: The length of a player's longest throw, to the nearest centimeter, shall be his or her score.
G. Interference: In the event a throw is touched while in flight by a person or animal, the player shall have the option of counting the throw and having it measured from the point of interference, or immediately choosing to take a rethrow. An additional 30 seconds will be granted for each rethrow.

You rule Ray!

I do not see any thing in the rule about wind speed or direction of throw. When we threw for distance at the Flagstaff pro worlds 2003 there we threw distance 2 different days. The first day were no parameters given to throw between other than a tree on the right which was on the far right of a very large area and that we could not throw into a coral on the left. which was in another direction all together and there was no wind at the time. The wind picked up over well over 20 mph and one of the guys threw with the wind towards the coral missing it and going to left side of it. This was at a 45 degree angle from where we all started throwing and the first throws that day were done. This gave an advantage to the second throwers and the far throw was 714 feet. The second day of throwing was farther up in the field and there were parameters given, however 714 feet was thrown in the wind the day before and this day there was no wind and we were throwing from another place all together. This was a difficult call for the officials to make but we should have all thrown from the same direction the first day to make it fair. imo. :grin

As far as WFDF competitions go, there are no rules regarding direction or allowable wind, but, in the spirit of fairness, all competitors should throw from approx. the same place.

Mark at Discgolfvalues held some distance competitions "Dual in the Desert" in the dry lake bed at Primm, NV. That's at the CA / NV stateline border, approx. 50 miles from Vegas. It's been about two years since the last event. It can get really windy out there.

Making a distance competition fair is not very easy if there are leftys involved. No one takes the leftys into consideration. We have to throw a good 40 degrees off what a righty throws in order to use the wind comparatively.

Making a distance competition fair is not very easy if there are leftys involved. No one takes the leftys into consideration. We have to throw a good 40 degrees off what a righty throws in order to use the wind comparatively.



popey #$*&$!, the only difference b/w rightys and leftys is the end direction of the fade. all the mechanics are the same, there isnt a disc out there specifically designed for a righty or a lefty. and maybe its just you they don't take into consideration

Making a distance competition fair is not very easy if there are leftys involved. No one takes the leftys into consideration. We have to throw a good 40 degrees off what a righty throws in order to use the wind comparatively.



popey #$*&$!, the only difference b/w rightys and leftys is the end direction of the fade. all the mechanics are the same, there isnt a disc out there specifically designed for a righty or a lefty. and maybe its just you they don't take into consideration



Mechanics are the same. However in a distance competition wind is key to getting max D. Even if it is only 5mph it makes a huge difference how you use it. What I was saying is that lefty vs. righty use the wind at different angles, and in most D comps the wind is highly favoring the right vs. the lefty. You need to calm down before you personally attack me and say that I don't know what I'm talking about, I do. I would appreciate just a tad bit of respect, like I'm offerring you. :)

For my shot, I need to the wind to be blowing at about 10:15, where most righties prefer to have the wind at about 1:30-2:00. The result is that I need to throw in a different direction than righties for optimal performance.

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Making a distance competition fair is not very easy if there are leftys involved. No one takes the leftys into consideration. We have to throw a good 40 degrees off what a righty throws in order to use the wind comparatively.

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You are so, so, so very correct. Lefties and their cousins, the righty forehanders, are regularly and severely abused in disc golf. The abuse continues in distance competiton. I only competed in one overall tournament. On the morning of the distance event, I went out to the field, practiced my shots and threw when it was my turn. After it was done I mentioned to one of the veterans that the wind helped the righties disproportionately. It was then that I was told that distance events are omnidirectional, meaning that a competitor can throw from the line in any direction. Thanks a lot. It's sort of like being handed an expired winning lottery ticket.

If righties had to play disc golf on courses set up backwards to what they are now, most players would lose 50 points on their handicap rating.

Mark:

I keep hearing how "lefty friendly" the Red Hawk is. I guess if the final group of the Players Cup is Martin, Leyva, Ellis, Willey then I might be willing to accept that criticism. :cool:

The full WFDF rules regarding the field events can be read at: http://www.wfdf.org/index.php?page=rules/art6.htm

The short version, the tee-off line for distance competitions should be set up perpendicular to the current wind direction. The throwing zone should ideally be 180 degrees, i.e. all throws landing in front of the tee line is valid. This also means that it doesn't really matter if you're a lefty or not.

The main problems are usually the wind shifting direction during the competition, and the trouble finding large enough playing fields to accomodate this. Often more restricted landing zones are necessary...

The main problems are usually the wind shifting direction during the competition, and the trouble finding large enough playing fields to accomodate this. Often more restricted landing zones are necessary...


This is the issue that I've always run into. I can setup a field for me to practice distance, but it won't be setup correctly for a righty to practice. It's hard to imagine a field that is large enough for a lefty and a righty to practice true distance shots on. I have been to the dry lake beds of El Mirage where the world record was broken and that place is amazing, no lefties were competing, but it wouldn't have been such a disadvantage.

There would still be a disadvantage though because you would have to throw your sets by yourself. When they did the competitions the format was three intervals of 5 throws (you only got to count 15 throws each day). If there was a lefty he would have to throw his sets solo because it takes about 4 spotters to accurately depict where the disc contacts ground. And since we are theoretically throwing distances up to 800' the discs could easily land over 200 feet away from eachother (and they did). So a lefty would have to stop the show, fire off a couple practice drives to give the spotters a chance to set themselves appropriately, throw their five drives, then breakdown the setup and go back over for the righties to continue. A bit monotonous for the people waiting and the spotters, and the guy running the rangefinder.

The other overlooked disadvantage is that the lefty doesn't get to watch the other throws to get a good wind read, he only gets to analyze his own practice throws.

I hope it doesn't sound like I'm complaining, I'm not. Just trying to shed some light on a couple of things that a lefty has to consider that might get overlooked by a righty distance hucker.

Basically I just want a lefty with a cannon that I can throw with occasionally. Field distance gets boring after a while by yourself, and when I bring my righty friends out it's too much work to setup the field and measure the distances for righties and lefties at the same time.