Where is the best place to go to watch anything related to disc golf? Why YouTube of course! With the vast assortment of videos on YouTube it’s hard to know where to find the quality content.
There are many YouTube channels, but some rise to the top of the list. Some channels you may have already heard of, some may be brand new to you. Before we get into that, allow me to introduce myself a little.
My name is Anthony van den Heuvel and I run the channel DGweekly. If I were to put myself on this list I would be under the “Reviews” section. I have filmed some tournaments in the past, but focus mainly on reviews. As the name implies I post one video a week, featuring anything, and everything, disc golf.
Living in the Chicago area, it’s next to impossible to get out and film anything in the winter so I take that time off from the channel and focus on school. Unlike most of the channels on this list, my channel is fairly new, posting my first video in March of 2013. With how long some other channels have been up and running I still get the “new kid in class” feeling all the time.
I started the channel to take up some of my free time, to give me something to do, and it just looked like a lot of fun. At the time I was between jobs and hadn’t yet started college. Since then, the channel has grown beyond my wildest dreams, and is still growing every day. But enough about me, lets get into the rest of the channels. Keep in mind, this is not an exhaustive list, but just a great place to start.
Tournament Coverage
Central Coast Disc Golf
It only make sense to start with one of the most well-known, and well-liked channels out there. Central Coast Disc Golf is one of the longest running, most popular disc golf channels out there. For very good reason too…. they bring a full package to the table. They offer high resolution video, exceptional camera work, as well as entertaining, funny, and yet still very insightful commentary.
How CCDG got started is actually a pretty interesting story. Back in 2011 the PDGA World Championships were in Santa Cruz, CA. Just prior to Worlds was the Santa Maria Open. A few of the top pros were out there practicing for Worlds and decided to play. So Ian, the man behind the channel, posted in /r/discgolf, the disc golf subreddit, asking if people would be interested in him filming the tournament. Back then there weren’t many places to watch disc golf other than going to a tournament yourself, so, of course, everyone said yes.
That video was so well received that Ian decided to film another tournament, then another, and so on and so on. From there the rest is history. The channel has grown, and the quality has improved exponentially. CCDG is now the “go to” channel for many when it comes to tournament footage.
In more recent CCDG news, they are one of the only channels who post in YouTube’s new 60 frames per second format. The added fps makes all their videos buttery smooth!
Little fun fact about CCDG… they are one of the channels that inspired me to start a channel of my own. If you would like to learn more about Ian, he did an interview with ATDG last year.
McFlySoHigh
Run by a man named Marty, no not Marty McFly from Back to the Future! McFlySoHigh has quickly risen to become one of, if not the best disc golf tournament channel on YouTube. With his oldest video being just under 2 years old, McFlySoHigh has absolutely exploded onto the scene.
Based out of the Carolinas, Marty started out filming local tournaments. As a result of his channel’s growth he was able to pick up more sponsors and actually travel the country and follow the tour this year. Marty’s rapid success can be credited to 2 main things he does better than anyone else.
First, his video quality is second to none. Almost always using 2 cameras to provide additional viewing angles, as well as always posting in 1080p.
Secondly, he gets his videos posted faster than anyone else. If he filmed a tournament round today, you can be sure that you will be able to watch that video by tomorrow morning.
Unlike Central Coast Disc Golf, McFlySoHigh doesnt put any commentary on his videos. He prefers to give just the natural sounds of the round because it helps the viewer immerse themselves into the video, and gives the feeling of actually being there.
SpinTV
SpinTV is far and away the most popular DG channel right now. Amassing nearly 20,000 subscribers is a feat in and of itself, but it’s made even more impressive when you realize they’ve done that in as short a time period as they have. Posting their first video in May of 2013, saying SpinTV made a sudden impact on the scene would be the understatement of the year. This meteoric rise is due in part to their excellent content quality and also due to their sponsorship from Innova Discs.
As a result of this Innova partnership, SpinTV has access to Innova’s sponsored pros on a level nobody else can match. Some of their best series come from this partnership, most notably, all the “In the bag” videos with just about every Innova player, as well as the “McBeast Diaries” videos. While all the Innova “In the bag” videos are similar at their core (i.e. Destroyer, Teebird, Roc, Aviar) it is always very interesting to see what obscurities are there. The McBeast Diaries are a different beast all together. Focusing mainly on Paul McBeth as he tours all across the country, and the world.
Right about now you’re probably asking yourself “Yeah that all sounds awesome, but you haven’t said anything about tournaments. Why put this under the ‘Tournament Coverage’ section?” Well, what’s the saying? Save the best for last. On top of the previously mentioned series, SpinTV does an outstanding job of covering tournaments. Different touring pros stop in to give commentary that only a top level player can provide, alongside Jamie Thomas, the one who runs the channel, who is a fountain of disc golf knowledge himself.
SpinTV is one of the best places to go for all your disc golf needs. Providing some of the most unique videos out there, as well as arguably the best tournament coverage anywhere. The combination of the video quality rivaling that of McFlySoHigh, the commentary rivaling that of CCDG, on top of everything else they do, SpinTV is my number one recommendation on this list and very deserving to be the most popular channel out there.
The Disc Golf Guy
The Disc Golf Guy, aka Terry Miller is another one of the long time running channels on YouTube. Starting way back in early 2010 as more of a video blog channel focused on disc golf, The Disc Golf Guy channel has since turned into more of a player interview/behind the scenes channel.
During all the NT stops and major disc golf events, Terry gives daily updates with the leaders discussing their rounds, mindset, and game plan for the next rounds. More recently Terry has started doing more full round coverage on his channel, and started a second channel devoted to live streaming tournaments called SmashBoxxTV. Speaking of SmashBoxxTV…
SmashBoxxTV
SmashBoxxTV was started by Terry “The Disc Golf Guy” Miller as a place to livestream PDGA tournaments. With help from Legacy Discs, SmashBoxxTV has been able to cover 9 large scale tournaments. On top of providing live coverage for events, SmashBoxxTV was also able to sponsor the “Battle at Blue Lake” before the 2014 Pro World Championships in Portland, OR.
While there are still very few places to go for live streamed disc golf action, SmashBoxxTV immediately rose to the top. Streaming straight to YouTube makes it very easy for everyone to access. Broadcasting in 720p HD enables one to get a clear picture. Usually during the tournaments Terry is following the action providing very insightful commentary on the course, players, conditions, etc.
At this time of year, being the offseason, there aren’t many tournaments for SmashBoxxTV to film. To compensate for the lack of coverage, Terry and Johny Van Deurzen started the “SmashBoxxTV Podcast” podcast. Presumably to keep their livestreaming skills sharp, they livestream a new episode every week. With all the different segments and guests on the show the “SmashBoxxTV Podcast” has already become one of the most popular disc golf podcasts.
Since March of 2014 when they posted their first video, SmashboxxTV has made an astronomical impact on the disc golf media scene and they show no signs of slowing down.
Disc Golf Monthly
Disc Golf Monthly might just be the longest running disc golf channel on YouTube. Starting all the way back in 2006, they have been coming out with a new video every month. Their videos contain full round coverage of some of the best in the world.
Commentated by Carl Cubbedge, and one other rotating guest, they provide some of the best and most informative commentary on YouTube. Based out of the Pennsylvania area, they focus on tournaments in the North East portion of the US. Keeping to such a localized area Disc Golf Monthly is a great place to see not only top level players, but also see them compete against the local and lesser known pros. Not only were they the first to start showing coverage on YouTube, to this day they’re still one of the best out there.
Jomez Productions
One of the channels I wish would actually post more content is Jomez Productions. Jomez is very similar in style to McFlySoHigh. Both have exceptional video quality, and both leave just the natural sounds of the round. No commentary. If you’re a McFly fan, I guarantee you will like Jomez as well.
I am a huge fan of this channel, but it does have one drawback and that is he only covers 1, maybe 2, tournaments per year. In 2013 and 2014 combined, Jomez only covered 3 tournaments. At first I was hesitant to add someone with so few videos to this list, but in the end I couldn’t say no to the top notch quality of his productions.
In both 2013 and 2014 he covered Texas States, and new for 2014 was the ever popular Glass Blown Open. Hopefully for 2015, and beyond, the number of tournaments Jomez covers continues to increase. I am unaware of the reasoning behind filming so few tournaments each year, but Jomez if you’re out there, hopefully you can find time to get out and film some more!
Viridisk
Viridisk is a channel the vast majority of people have not heard of. Yet. They have only been making videos for a few months, so they are still very new to the tournament coverage scene. Because they are so new, they only have a handful of videos posted, but more will be coming.
One thing Viridisk does extremely well is they have many, many cameras providing plenty of different angles of the players throwing. Not only do they use many different cameras, but they also have an additional camera attached to a drone that provides an overhead view. Once Viridisk has been around for a while and gets all the kinks worked out, I can definitely see them exploding in popularity. This is definitely a channel to watch out for in the future.
LCGM8
I like to refer to LCGM8 as the European McFlySoHigh. Style wise they are very similar. The camera work, and video quality is some of the best out there. Noticing a trend?
More often than not, LCGM8 also leaves just the natural sounds in the video. When they do decide to add commentary over the footage it is done by none other than Ian from Central Coast Disc Golf. The combination of LCGM8’s video quality, with the CCDG commentary is a match made in heaven.
The biggest benefit of having a channel like LCGM8, is that they are based in Europe, while everyone else on this list is in the United States. They film players and courses that most of us would otherwise never get the chance to see. Getting to watch the top level courses on the other side of the world being played by some of the best golfers in the world is something that just couldn’t happen without a channel like LCGM8.
Reviews
Disc Golf Vids
The Disc Golf Vids, aka Mike C, has been around for quite a while. Starting his channel in the summer of 2011, Mike has grown to one of the top review channels as well as a sponsored player now! Although he is most well known for his absolute cannon of an arm, Mike’s major success started when he became sponsored by MVP Disc Sports.
A few years ago, when MVP was just starting out, Mike made a video playing his home course with nothing but an Ion. Someone at MVP saw it and must have liked it because they sent him more discs to test. They kept that partnership, and grew it giving him his own signature stamp. More recently MVP brought him on as an official sponsored player! As you can tell Mike mainly focuses on MVP products, but he does test videos on other discs as well. If you want to see how to throw 450ft+ Mike C is the guy to watch!
Disc Golf Nerd
Disc Golf Nerd used to go by a different name that more people may recognize. He used to go under the channel name “DiscraftandInnova.” Just like many others on this list, Disc Golf Nerd started his channel a long time ago, late 2010 to be exact.
Disc Golf Nerd has a style all his own. Unlike the rest of the review based channels, he doesn’t show the disc flying, or his face. He gives a much more verbal explanation of the disc, and what you can expect from it. Disc Golf Nerd focuses mostly on disc reviews, but in the past has also reviewed bags. Aside from reviews, he has posted his share of helpful disc golf tip videos, as well as other disc golf related content such as how to dye a disc, how to build a basket, how to make zipper grips, etc. Disc Golf Nerd is a great channel for anything disc golf related.
Go Ham Disc Golf
GoHamDiscGolf is run by a man who calls himself “Big John”. Big John started his channel in the fall of 2012 and grew very quickly. He posted multiple videos a week covering many different topics and reviews. He brought on his friend Junior as a co host in the summer of 2013. Then, in July 2013 the channel went mysteriously silent. That is until May 2014 when Big John came back posting a video announcing the return of the channel. This time coming back as a solo adventure, Big John quickly returned to his old ways of posting multiple videos a week ranging from disc reviews, to disc golf topic discussion. Unfortunately, Big John’s return to YouTube didn’t last long.
As of October 3rd, 2014, the channel has again gone quiet and it’s anyone’s guess if, or when, he will return. Remember above when I said CCDG was one of the channels that inspired me to start my own channel? Well, you guessed it, GoHam was the other one!
Hucking Aces
Some of you may recognize the name “Hucking Aces” from places other than YouTube. Hucking Aces is also an all-in-one disc golf website. As they say in their intro on their YouTube videos, they cover “everything disc golf” related. As far as videos go, they focus mainly on disc reviews. One very cool thing they’ve done on their channel, was their “putter week” series. Throughout the week they reviewed different putters from different companies in different plastics.
Now, reviewing discs isn’t the only thing covered on the Hucking Aces channel. They have many videos of themselves playing full rounds, guides for their local courses, and plenty of videos giving you tips and tricks to improve your game. One final thing Hucking Aces does well, is they have “in the bag” videos for everyone featured on the channel so you know what discs they’re throwing, and why they throw them.
Pros
Before we get into the channels, I want to take a second to issue a challenge to any, and all, professional/touring players that see this article. The challenge is very simple, this year during your tour bring a camera with you and create an active YouTube channel. It doesn’t have to be a video every day, or even every week for that matter just whenever something happens, or you feel like making a new video. Is it more work for someone who is already in a very busy part of their life? Yes, but it doesn’t have to be an over the top production. Show what life is like on tour, the vast majority of disc golfers will never get to experience the tour life.
Maybe a recap video of your play in a recent tournament, your practice routine/field work one day, your mindset the day before a big tournament, or maybe you feel like doing a video and showing the less glamorous side of touring, such as driving through corn fields. Just something, anything.
I think the disc golf video realm has huge potential for the top pros, yet it is still relatively untapped. I firmly believe the more quality content out there, the better. Having a consistent stream of videos from even just one touring professional is something we don’t have right now, and would do nothing but help grow and give more exposure to the sport. I’ll get off my soapbox now so we can get into the channels you’re all here for.
Will Schusterick
Will Schusterick is one of the most well-known, and well-liked, pros on tour. On his channel, Will has arguably two of the best disc golf related videos out there. The first of those is what Will is most known for outside of playing, an instructional video. There are many great instructional videos on Will’s channel but there is a clear frontrunner, in terms of views and quality. That video is his “Driving Instruction” video. If there is one video I would recommend to someone to improve their game, it would be this one. Anyone from a first time golfer, to a much more advanced player who competes in tournaments regularly can always pick up something new. I know I have watched the video countless times, and every time pick up on something else I hadn’t noticed before, or recognized a technique I was doing wrong. The other standout video on Will’s channel is what I think is the most well produced, put together and most “TV ready” piece of disc golf video content out there, the “Shoestrings” documentary. “Shoestrings” follows Will, and to a lesser extent his now teammate, Nikko Locastro, around the 2012 USDGC. While it is a longer video, 23 minutes, I highly recommend everyone watch it at least once. It perfectly captures all the emotions of playing competitive disc golf. From the horrible feeling of carding a bad round, to the, well, I wont spoil it for you. Go watch it!
Paul McBeth
For anyone who doesn’t know, Paul McBeth is the clear cut number one disc golfer in the world. Also, as far as pros go, he has probably the best YouTube channels out there. Paul usually posts one or two “in the bag” videos a year letting us know what it is that he throws, and what shots he uses them for. One very cool series Paul has done is his “90’s Style” videos. These videos feature Paul, and other highly rated pros, playing full rounds using only discs, and plastics, that were available during the 1990s. The 90s style videos are very cool, but the best video on McBeth’s channel has to be his “Field Work Inside View” video. In this video he and Jared Roan film their field work and explain why they’re doing what they do. Along with the Schusterick Driving Instruction video mentioned above, I believe this to be the most informative video out there to improve your game. Everyone should watch this video, I guarantee you will pick something up from it.
Companies
Discmania
As far as disc manufacturers’ channels go, Discmania has to have the most informative videos out there. That is 100% due to their “Deep In The Game” instructional series. They did the entire series with Avery Jenkins, the 2009 PDGA World Champ, and Jussi Meresmaa, the owner of Discmania and a very talented golfer himself. In my opinion they are the best series of instructional videos on the internet. In the 5 videos they cover everything from putting, to driving, to mental game and give you tips on how to improve along the way. On top of the “Deep In The Game” videos, they also do something not many other companies do. Discmania has videos for each of their discs being thrown by professionals to demonstrate how they fly. This year Avery and Simon Lizotte have been touring the country doing “Deep In The Game” clinics. They have been filming and editing together clips from all of those clinics and posting that to their channel as well. If you’re looking into a Discmania disc, or just want to improve your disc golf game I strongly recommend checking out Discmania’s channel.
Dynamic Discs
The Dynamic Discs channel was started back in 2009, but has recently gained a lot of momentum. The recent surge in content from Dynamic Discs is thanks to their hiring of Bobby Brown aka Cool Daddy Slick Breeze, as a full time employee. Bobby is very well known, and well respected, in the disc golf media scene. He’s been around forever and worked on many different projects with many different people. Bobby had his own channel, worked for Disc Golf Planet TV, and now for Dynamic Discs/Latitude 64. The most popular videos on the DD page are their livestreams of their weekly podcast “The Disc Golf Answer Man.” They have since stopped posting the videos (audio is still available), but all the older episodes are still archived on the channel. You also can’t miss their new Dynamic Discs TV episodes that are packed with great entertainment.
They also use the channel as a great promotional tool announcing things like new disc info, tournament info, and even some tournament coverage. They do a great job promoting their big events such as the Trilogy Öppna, Disc Golf Experience at AT&T Stadium (home of the Dallas Cowboys), and of course the Glass Blown Open. Their channel is a fantastic way to stay up to date with all things related to Dynamic Discs.
Latitude 64
With the addition of Bobby Brown to Dynamic Discs, parent company Latitude 64 has also seen an increase in video content. Latitude’s first video was posted in January of 2014 so they have a fairly limited selection of videos.
Featuring mainly in the bag videos with their pro team, Latitude has also done a few new product demos as well as new product announcements. Without a doubt, the most interesting video Latitude has done is their “Golf vs Disc Golf Challenge.” In this video they pitted teams of Latitude 64° sponsored disc golfers against local professional ball golfers.
If you’re a fan of Bobby’s work on the Dynamic Discs channel, or just the Trilogy companies in general the Latitude 64 channel is the place for you.
Discraft
While Discraft‘s interest in making new disc golf videos has faded within the past few years, their channel still has some of the very best videos out there. The information in the videos is still very relevant for many of these. Focusing mainly on clinics, and informative type videos, the Discraft channel has some exceptional information.
At a glance their videos, more often than not featuring Scott Papa, a long time professional golfer, seem to be aimed at beginners and people just getting into the game, but even your advanced and above players can pick up new things. Covering topics from inside the circle putting to absolute max distance drives the Discraft channel is a great resource for anyone looking to improve their game.
This is just a short list of the many, many different channels out there all putting their own spin on things. As the sport continues to grow in popularity, Im sure the number and quality of channels will increase as well.
The post Must watch disc golf YouTube Channels appeared first on All Things Disc Golf.