Wicked foot faulters!

[Seneca_22]

So there are two guys we play with. One isn't all that good and should probably play from the am tees. He foot faults almost all the time, but he rarely wins, so nobody really cares about any more. There's another guy we play with who is vicious w/his foot faults. He steps anywhere from a foot to two feet past his marker, past the tee box, whatever. He takes the time to mark his discs, and then proceeds to just ignore the marker.

We tried to call him on it one time and he got all mad about it. Some people say that foot faults aren't that big of a deal, what's a couple extra inches/feet. I say if you're going to play, follow the rules. If you step on the line for a 3 pointer in basketball, it counts as a 2, period. I wouldn't care, but this guy plays tournaments too. He hasn't come back since the last time we called him on his foot faults.

[sleepy]

Some people say that foot faults aren't that big of a deal, what's a couple extra inches/feet.

Nothing, until you're beating him by one stroke on the final hole of a tournament and he bangs one for birdie from 150' out and foot faults and no one calls him on it.

I say call him on it each and every time...so what if he gets upset. He'll either learn from his mistakes and stop foot faulting, or stop playing altogether. Either way, problem solved.

sleepy

[garublador]

If someone kept calling stuff on me in casual rounds I'd stop playing with them, too. Tournament/for money rounds are different. I have no problem calling/being called on in more official/when money is on the line situations.

[ferretdance03]

If someone kept calling stuff on me in casual rounds I'd stop playing with them, too.

I feel exactly the opposite. I think casual rounds are THE place to make calls, because it's more laid back. I call everything I see, but rarely stroke them for it in casual play. It's more to make them aware of what they did than to actually penalize them. Ignore it, and maybe they didn't even know they did it.

More often than not, I've found people that don't call/point out anything in casual rounds, don't call anything at tournaments. Then again, most people don't call infractions anyway...

[Seneca_22]

I think the last time he did this was during league. It might be different if he was just stepping on his marker a little, but this guy blows right past his marker, blows right past the front of the tee box. On top of that, he doesn't acknowledge it, and also likes to brag about who he can beat.

One time he did say that it was because of his bi-focals mess up his depth perception or something. I used to foot fault a little when I was a beginner, but started to figure out how much I needed behind my marker before throwing. If you're not going to use your maker as any kind of reference at all, why bother marking? Even in a casual round. Some people would tell me that I do "falling putts" because I was. It was during casual play, and they would tell me when I repeated it. Was it a little annoying? Sure, but I also quit performing falling putts.

[sleepy]

If someone kept calling stuff on me in casual rounds I'd stop playing with them, too.

Perhaps I should clarify my previous post...I realize now that it sounds a little too harsh.

I meant that you should explain to him in a calm and helpful manner that he has a tendency to foot fault, and then point it out consistently every time. It will help him realize how blatant and frequent they really are. If he still gets upset after you explain that you are truly trying to help, then at that point I say you're better off playing without him. If he's going to get all upset with his regular casual-play buddies for offering constructive criticism during practice rounds, imagine the meltdown he'll have when someone rightfully enforces the rule and it costs him the lead in a tournament!


sleepy

[black udder]

If you're not going to bother playing by the rules, don't bother keeping score either.

The best place to adhere to the rules is casual play since you'll do much more casual play than tournament play. Thus, get those good habits ingrained while you can.

If somebody doesn't want to play by the rules, then I have no problem with them not playing with me any longer.

I've been called on the carpet (or grass shall we say) for not asking for all the scores each and every hole (regardless of how obvious it was what the scores were) and for picking up a player's putt that was about 2 feet from the basket. It was a casual round, too, neither were tournament situations, but one was league. I didn't take either personally. It's for my benefit that he pointed out some finer points. One - don't get into bad habits of not playing out the hole and Two - never assume anything. The player must give their own score.

If somebody is foot faulting all the time, they are repeatedly cheating. You don't give 'em the putt if it doinks off the front about an inch below the rim, so why give 'em a foot or two closer to the basket?

[Roy]

I'd just tell him to take another step if he needs to. Some sarcastic attacks on his skills should do the trick.

or put an asterisk by his score like Barry Bonds.

[Micah]

In casual play I would point it out and let him know that I would call him on it in a league or tournament. I would not tell him to re throw, putt, etc. In league play I would call him on it evenly and continuously until he stopped. One or two feet or inches means nothing on a 200' throw but having to plant in a spot the size of a tea cup prior to a throw makes a huge difference in the difficulty of a shot. If your timing isn't down, and his obviously isn't he will have to keep his eyes on his feet rather than his target to execute his shot. I had to do this for a while when practicing my timing and it was a pain in the butt.

[Eric O]

Agreed with those who are saying to call him on it during casual play. Not with the intent of being a dick or making him rethrow, but to raise his awareness of it. I used to foot fault all the time without realizing it until a friend of mine started busting my ass on it in casual rounds. He did me a favor by getting me to correct the issue without having to readjust my game or devote extra thought to foot placement during tournament play.

[garublador]

but rarely stroke them for it in casual play.

That sounds very dirty.

I would definitely laugh if someone stroked me in casual play. Might as well give me demerits or naughty points.

If I ask for people to point stuff out in casual play that's fine and if someone wants me to point stuff out for them that's also fine but I would find it rude if someone did it without me asking.

[black udder]

but rarely stroke them for it in casual play.

That sounds very dirty.

I would definitely laugh if someone stroked me in casual play. Might as well give me demerits or naughty points.

If I ask for people to point stuff out in casual play that's fine and if someone wants me to point stuff out for them that's also fine but I would find it rude if someone did it without me asking.

Casual rounds is where you gauge where you place in tournament play. Thus, you could be taking off strokes that should be applied (and would be) in tournament play.

I still believe if you're going to keep score, then you play by the rules - take the strokes and learn. There's no harm in casual play and it benefits you in the long run.

If you're not keeping score, then why bother mentioning it after the first time. That would be unless the person asked to have it pointed out after that.

Casual rounds should be where you're building your consistency and good habits on the course. Now, there are plenty of other circumstances where you may not apply that (doubles or Ript rounds, etc.), but if you're scoring what you play, I'd stick to the rules and regulations as I knew them.

[ferretdance03]

but rarely stroke them for it in casual play.

That sounds very dirty.

And I meant it in only the dirtiest ways...

I still believe if you're going to keep score, then you play by the rules - take the strokes and learn. There's no harm in casual play and it benefits you in the long run.

Agreed.

[black udder]

but I said the second line

[MIdiscgolfer]

but I said the second line

I know a lawyer if you wanna sue him.