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THE EFFECT OF DISC GOLF ON PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING

Abstract

BACKGROUND: In the past five years, disc golf has grown exponentially in its media attention and popularity. Disc golf is like traditional golf in that it involves periods of walking interspersed by brief periods where an object is being advanced towards a goal. These brief, goal-oriented moments can be thought of as distractions towards exercise. Enjoyable distractions from exercise can further enhance the already positive influence exercise has on mood. It may be that the distraction that throwing a disc provides may enhance the psychological benefits over non-distracting exercise and, thus, increase the likelihood for continuing the behavior. The purpose of the proposed study will be to assess the psychological and physical health benefits of disc golf and compare those to a more traditional form of physical activity. METHODS: We will recruit college-aged individuals with and without prior disc golf experience. The study will consist of 2 conditions (disc golf and walking) taking place over consecutive weeks. Each condition will take place across the same days of the week to attempt to control for differences in step counts across different days of the week. Conditions will last 3 days with days 1 and 3 being purely observational with experimental manipulation occurring on day 2. Day 2 for the disc golf condition will consist of 9 holes of disc golf and day 2 for the walking conditioning will consist of a matched amount of PA (steps) recorded during the disc golf condition. Physical activity (steps) will be measured all 3 days of each condition via a triaxial accelerometer along with positive and negative affect using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). Additionally, session RPE and outdoor physical activity enjoyment and will be queried using the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale (PACES) 15 minutes following the cessation of exercise. Heart rate will be collected continuously and averaged to compare internal loads between conditions. ANTICIPATED RESULTS: It is hypothesized that PA levels in both conditions to be similar across all days, with disc golf having better PACES and PANAS scores when compared to the walking condition.

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