Disc golf is addicting.
But too much of a good thing is a bad thing …
Or so I’ve been told.
Think you’ve taken your infatuation with frisbees a bit far?
Here are five signs that might be the case:
1. You play through injuries
Or rather, you attempt to play through injuries.
Similar to pitching in baseball, throwing a disc for distance isn’t the most natural of movements. Because of it, it’s not uncommon for wrists, elbows and shoulders to take a serious beating.
You’re not Orel Hershiser …
Give it a (literal) rest.
2. You take practice swings in public
You see this within the ball-golf community.
Complete with a polo shirt, uncomfortably short shorts and a pair of Sperry boat shoes, it’s not abnormal to spot a wealthy, white guy practicing his swing while waiting in line for an ice cream cone with his wife and kids. Without looking near as sharp, disc golf addicts do the same thing.
It never gets old:
- Footwork.
- Reachback.
- Pull-through.
- Follow-through.
At the gas station. At the food court. At soccer practice.
ANY setting will suffice for addictive (and obsessive) behavior.
3. You’ve got a booming disc collection
To date, my disc collection is about 50-ish frisbees deep …
And I feel inundated with unused plastic.
It’s nutty to think it’s not rare for some 40-year-old career man to discover disc golf and find himself with a few hundred frisbees in five years. It’s even nuttier to think the same can be said for some college student with no job, $50,000 of debt and a degree in recreation management.
It happens.
And if it’s happening to you, it’s (probably) a problem.
4. You’re unpleasant after sucky rounds
This one strikes close to home …
Guilty as charged.
Gosh-awful tournament rounds are one thing – I’m talking casual rounds. The way I treat random, meaningless play, you’d think Rock Hill qualification was on the line. Most amateur disc golfers enjoy the sport as a means of fun, stress relief and mild exercise – that’s about it.
If you can’t seriously differentiate between light-hearted amusement and a life-and-death scenario, you might be taking your amateur disc golf career more seriously than you should.
Pump the breaks, Dick Wysocki.
5. You’re prone to workplace daydreaming
I’ve mentioned work …
But this can happen anywhere, really.
Chalk it up to the frequency of hours spent there or a mind-numbingly boring environment, work seems to be where this sign of addiction usually rears its ugly head. Thoughts quickly drift from spreadsheets to near aces, missed putts and epic par saves – maybe even the professional scene.
Stop it.
Ugly addictions abound:
- Vice No. 1 – Drinks
- Vice No. 2 – Drugs
- Vice No. 3 – Disco
If you think about it, disc golf isn’t all that bad.
Still, moderation in everything.
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