Wisdom Wednesday – Solitude

Photo Feb 03, 8 13 27 PM

I’m always surprised by the number of people I run into who don’t play solo rounds.  Not only do they not play solo rounds, they would rather not play at all than play by themselves.  I just don’t get that.

Sure, it’s fun to play with your friends.  It’s fun to play in tournaments and leagues.  The social aspect of disc golf is one of its biggest attractors.  All that said, if you don’t play solo rounds, you are seriously missing out.

There’s a special kind of peace that you get from being on your own on the disc golf course.  In today’s noisy world, true peace and quiet are incredibly hard to come by.  Being alone out on the course, especially early in the morning before any other groups are out there, is one of the places to really get away.

Once you’ve played a few holes, your mind will typically start to slow down.  The act of playing, and the pace at which you can go when alone, serves as a kind of zen meditation mantra.  It has a clearing and calming effect on the mind and the soul.  It allows you to either focus intently on anything you wish, or completely zone out and escape from the world for a time.

It’s also a way to allow your normally busy subconscious, always inundated with the hustle and bustle of life around you, to be put to better use than screening out the usual noise that comes with everyday existence.  It allows you to think clearly for a change.  It allows you to simply be, alone with yourself and your thoughts.  Solitude can be a beautiful thing.

For me, time almost stands still when I’m playing by myself.  I do it a lot and it’s some of the most cherished time I have.  I highly recommend it.  You will be surprised at the effect on the rest of your day.  It brings a peace and a calm that you can carry with you for a while.  Next time your friends aren’t up for a round, head out by yourself and enjoy the experience!

 

While playing rounds by yourself is fun, you email inbox gets lonely sitting there all by itself all the time.  Why not subscribe to the blog and give it some company once a week?  We’ll always send it quality disc golf content to keep it busy and never saddle it with the terrible playing partner of spam or unwanted email!

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6 thoughts on “Wisdom Wednesday – Solitude”

  1. Great article – I could not agree with you more, I especially use the alone time to work with different discs or new discs to either work them in or get a feel on the capabilities of that disc. Solo rounds also are great for fixing issues in your game such as a little extra putting after you complete a hole or taking a second or third drive on a whole, one backhand, thumber or forehand. So much you can do on a round where you don’t always have the opportunity if your are playing with a group.

    • Thanks BobinPA, those are all great points. You are so right. Any disc used in a competitive round has seen countless solo rounds first. Do you find that you can transition your solo round performance to rounds with other people or is there a difference?

    • They definitely are Blind Ace. My trouble is performing in tournaments like I do in solo rounds. I’m always on the lookout for tips on ways to play in competition like I do when by myself. Any ideas?

    • That is a difficult problem to solve. During a solo round you are able to set your own pace and rhythm. No distractions, no waiting. The most common solutions out there seem to be “practice how you play” and “relax.”

      I prefer to treat my solo rounds as something completely different than a tournament. It’s all practice when I’m all by myself. I never keep score, throw the same line until it is successful (and then some), and practice shots that need improvement. My goal is to be comfortable throwing the best possible shot when it counts. What is your solo round routine?

    • I’m totally with you on the not keeping score. Even when I play with others, if we aren’t playing for something, I don’t keep score then either. It always about execution on each individual shot for me.

      I don’t do as good a job as I should at going back and rethrowing lines until I’m comfortable with them, that’s a great idea. I typically play 2-3 disc worst shot. Then I spend a ton of time putting on each basket. But that’s if I throw rounds at all. A lot of time I just use the baskets for my own made up practice drills. That tends to be more fun and beneficial than a football field.

      You have a great point about the difference in pace between solo and competitive rounds. I wonder if there is any way to practice for those long tourney rounds without just playing simulated long tourney rounds?

      Great feedback! Thanks for that!

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