This week was awful. My throws were terrible, my release stank, and everything I tried seemed to fall apart. As part of my journey into the new world of disc golf, I decided to watch videos to help improve my throws. I believe this is where my troubles began. Suddenly, I wasn’t just throwing a disc anymore — I was trying to remember how to stand correctly, hold the disc the “proper way,” keep my arm on the straight and narrow, rotate my hips, shift my weight, and probably solve advanced physics while I was at it.

The more videos I watched, the worse I seemed to throw. Instead of stepping up to the tee pad relaxed and confident, I looked like a malfunctioning robot trying to imitate a professional disc golfer.

To make matters even more confusing, there is a whole language attached to disc golf. Every video seemed packed with terminology that left me wondering if I had accidentally signed up for an engineering class instead of a hobby. Terms like hyzer, anhyzer, flex shot, turn, fade, and nose angle were flying around faster than my discs were flying into the woods.

So, instead of improving my game this week, I found myself diving headfirst into the strange world of disc golf terminology. Here’s some of what I discovered.

1. Terminology Similar to Traditional Golf

While researching disc golf terminology, I discovered that many terms mirror those used in traditional golf. Words like driver, fairway, putt/putter, tee box, and even scoring terms are interchangeable between the two sports.

2. Course and Gameplay Terms

Several course and gameplay terms are similar to traditional golf, but disc golf also has unique terminology. Two examples are mando and the 10-meter circle.

A mando (short for mandatory) is used to indicate the side of an obstacle that the disc must pass. The 10-meter circle refers to the putting area around the basket. I didn’t realize that players must follow specific putting rules when inside 10 meters.

3. Throwing Technique Terms

This area confused me the most while watching videos. Terms like Hyzer, Anhyzer, Spike Hyzer, and Turnover came up constantly in discussions about throwing techniques, forcing me to pause the videos and research what they meant.

• A Hyzer throw is when the disc is angled in a way that causes it to fly left for a right-handed backhand throw.
• An Anhyzer is the opposite angle, causing the disc to fly right.
• A Spike Hyzer—which I seem to throw regularly—is a steep Hyzer shot that rises high and drops sharply.
• A Turnover occurs when the disc turns opposite of its natural flight path.

4. Slang and Miscellaneous Terms

Like any sport, disc golf has plenty of slang and miscellaneous expressions. Trying to learn all of them can feel overwhelming. Words like chain music, dirty, Cali, head banger, or tomahawk might make someone think of concerts, vacations, or other activities entirely unrelated to disc golf.

Course Overview

This week’s adventure took us to Hydaway Outdoor Center in Rustburg, Virginia. As with every week lately, the course featured what seems to be the unofficial mascot of Virginia disc golf — hills. Steep ups, steep downs, aching knees, and heavy breathing all made another appearance.

I’ve decided to change the way I do my course reviews going forward. Instead of random thoughts scattered between complaints about hills and trees, I’m going to focus on four categories: Terrain, Amenities, Maintenance, and Signage.

Terrain

The entire course is played in a wooded area with fairly wide paths winding through lots and lots of trees. The fairways are forgiving enough for newer players, but there are still enough obstacles to remind you very quickly when your throw drifts off line.

And of course… hills. The last five holes especially felt like a stair-climbing workout disguised as disc golf. My legs and knees were filing formal complaints by the end of the round.

One basket placement was particularly memorable. They decided to place it on top of a hill covered in loose rocks — and not the nice packed gravel kind either. I’m talking ankle-twisting, “please don’t roll away,” loose rock chaos. Missing a putt there felt less like disc golf and more like a survival challenge.

Amenities

Amenities are close to nonexistent at this location. No restrooms. No drinking water. No snack machines. Nothing.

However, they did have benches.

At my age, benches deserve recognition. Benches appeared every three or four tee boxes, and let me tell you, a couple of old guys with bad knees and aching backs appreciate every single one of them. Those benches may have been the real MVPs of the course.

Maintenance

The course itself was well maintained overall. The walking paths were clear and easy to follow, with only a few areas where exposed roots tried their best to trip unsuspecting players.

The tee areas were well defined and covered with artificial turf. Several tee pads used different colors, which originally made me think the colors matched the different tee positions. Turns out, that was not the case.

The course uses a red, white, and blue tee box system:

• Red tees are the furthest from the basket
• White tees move a little closer
• Blue tees are the shortest

One issue I noticed was the condition of several tee pads. While the turf itself was fine, the ground underneath had uneven spots and dips that made footing awkward during throws. Nothing ruins confidence quite like stepping into a surprise pothole mid-throw.

Signage

Hydaway Outdoor Center is very well marked overall. The signs were easy to read, in good condition, and made navigating the course simple. For newer players especially, good signage can make a huge difference in how enjoyable a round feels.

That said, I did notice some discrepancies between the distances listed on the signs and the actual distances to the baskets. Either my arm suddenly gained 100 feet of power, or somebody got a little optimistic with the tape measure.

Hydaway location: 37°20’04.2″N 79°08’57.5″W

Conclusion

Learning all the terminology used in disc golf can be challenging and overwhelming, but understanding the basics can greatly help beginners, especially when watching instructional videos. Instead of trying to memorize every term, it is more helpful to focus on the words most commonly used to describe flight patterns, stances, grips, and throwing techniques.

If you are interested in learning more terminology, you can check out the glossary on the Infinite Discs website.