I live in Utah.
Home to the “Greatest Snow in the World.”
Once upon a time, that's what our license plates said.
Still, every October I'm reminded of how much I hate disc golf in cool weather. It's not that I don't like cool weather – I love it when the seasons change. I'm joyful for warmth, but after months of nearly drowning in my own sweat, I'm ready for the huge man upstairs to turn up the air conditioning a little. As you can imagine, the reverse is also true.
Instead, it's the violent (and repeated) tearing of a golf disc from my fingertips that has me heading back into the house to sip a cup of balmy herbal tea with both hands in the warmth of a raging fire.
Can you understand that?
DGPT: Anthony Barela
Of course, when this happens, persistent pain in the round long fingers is a problem. Additionally, when the temperature drops, not only do my hands lose some dexterity, but the skin covering them feels smoother than normal. This could be a problem in parched environments, but it undeniably happens in my neck of the woods surrounded by the Rocky Mountains.
From there, the snowball effect is obvious: As night follows day, snail-paced, slippery fingers on the disc golf course make for embarrassing results—and, of course, longing for warmer weather.
Love polar ice caps…
Melt, baby, melt.
Sorry, Señor Polar Bear.
Luckily, there is a surprisingly basic solution to this problem. I'm embarrassed that I only made it a part of my regular fall/winter disc golf routine behind schedule last year…
Hand warmer.
HotHands, to be more precise.
To benefit from this, please do the following:
- Put one in both front pockets of the pants.
- Keep your hands in your pockets between throws.
- Even though the rest of you may be cool, the most crucial thing won't be.
HotHands work.
And the brand sells the ungodly Costco-sized version in huge box stores to boot. The single box I bought last year cost me a whopping $170, but it contained 240 pairs of the damn things.
I'm joyful to report that I didn't utilize nearly all of them. And since unopened HotHand packs have a four-year shelf life, a purchase like this will easily last at least two or three off-season runs, with plenty left over for the wife and kids to do other things.
In addition, HotHands also sells its finger-friendly bags in packs of 50 pairs. So if you're looking for less harsh utilize in cool weather, implementing it won't be a problem.
I always keep five or six pairs in my disc golf bag from October through February. Then when I run out, I grab a few more from the wardrobe in the hallway and I'm good to go for two weeks.
While effective in the low term, this is still effective NOT the cheapest solution for cool fingers.
But in the long term?
It's a piece of cake.
However, I know this much for sure…
* California, Utah
There is no need for an off-season in Arizona.
Buy hand warmers.
Disc golf joyful.
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