New to Disc Golf

The Basic Rules

The handful of rules every new player should know.

Why it matters

You only need about six rules to play a fair round, and they settle the two arguments that actually come up: where you are allowed to stand, and what going out of bounds costs. Knowing them also means you can play a casual round with strangers without anybody having to teach you mid-hole.

How to do it

Tee off with your supporting point behind the front line of the tee pad, not over it.
Play it where it lies. Mark your lie with a mini marker disc placed directly in front of where the disc came to rest, then throw with a supporting point within 30 cm directly behind that marker.
The player whose disc is furthest from the basket throws first.
Out of bounds costs one penalty throw, and you play from within one metre of the point where the disc last crossed into bounds.
You have holed out when the disc comes to rest supported by the chains or resting in the tray. The pole and the outside of the basket do not count.
Inside circle 1 — ten metres, usually marked — you must show you are balanced after a putt before you walk past your marker.

Common mistakes

Stepping past the marker on the follow-through, which is a foot fault.Place your front foot deliberately behind the marker before you throw, and on putts inside the circle, stay on your feet until the disc lands.

Moving a branch, a leaf or a stone that is in the way.PDGA rule 803.01 says obstacles to a stance may not be moved. You take the lie as you find it — which is also why where your drive finishes matters so much.

Re-throwing a bad shot because it felt like practice.Every throw counts from the moment you start the hole. Counting honestly is the whole basis of the score meaning anything.

Assuming a disc stuck up a tree is automatically a penalty.The two-metre rule is optional and off by default in PDGA play — it only applies where the organiser says so. In a casual round, mark below it and play on.

Key points

Tee off behind the tee line; play from where it lands.
One penalty throw for out-of-bounds; mark your lie.

The drill

Drill · Play one strict round — 1 full round marking every single lie. Play nine or eighteen holes marking every lie with a mini and placing your foot deliberately behind it, including on throws where it obviously does not matter. It is slow and slightly silly for one round, and after that you do it without thinking — which is the point, because the rules only cost you strokes when you are improvising under pressure.

Watch: The most important disc golf rules | Disc Golf Basics — Latitude 64