If someone in the house likes throwing a disc, these are the two purchases in front of you. They look adjacent and they are not: one is a complete party game with a published court, and the other is the cheap half of a sport whose expensive half is the target.
The spec sheet
The published figures
| Kan Jam | Backyard disc golf | |
|---|---|---|
| What you buy | Two goals and a disc, complete | Three discs; target sold separately |
| Published distance | Goals 50 ft apart | No fixed distance; a hole is terrain |
| Players | 4 (2 v 2) | 1 or more, taking turns |
| Winning score | Exactly 21 | Lowest strokes |
| Target standard | None | PDGA basket: 82 cm rim, tolerance 6 |
| Surface | Grass, sand, hard | Anything you can walk on |
| Team play | Built in — partner deflects | None |
| Backyard limit | Fits a normal lawn | Putting only; driving needs a course |
In play
What separates them in a yard
Kan Jam is a party game that happens to use a disc
The deflection rule is what makes it: your partner can redirect your throw, so every shot is a two-person act. That is why it works at gatherings and why it finishes, cleanly, at exactly 21. See Kan Jam rules.
Disc golf is a sport that a yard can only partly contain
What a garden genuinely supports is putting, which happens to be the part of the sport that most improves a score. Buy the discs, accept the limit, and read disc golf basics for a backyard.
The target is the real decision
A disc set without a basket is throwing at a tree. If you are going to buy the target, buy one whose dimensions you can check against the PDGA standard — see disc golf basket dimensions.
The other side
Where to buy the other one
The card at the top of this page covers one side of the comparison. This is our current pick for the other, ranked on published specifications rather than on play we have not done.
Best first set of discs
Innova Disc Golf Starter Set (3 Disc)
Innova
The three discs a course actually asks for — a DX Leopard driver, a DX Shark mid-range and a DX Aviar putter — all PDGA approved, in the grippy beginner plastic Innova names for the purpose.
Skip this if
Skip this if you were expecting somewhere to throw at. A disc set is not a course: Innova publishes no basket with it, and a backyard game needs a target you buy or improvise separately.
FAQ
Questions people actually ask
Which disc game is cheaper to start?
Which needs more room?
Which is better with four people?
Why you can check our work
We have not played these. Every figure above is copied from a manufacturer's published listing or a governing body's published rules, and named so you can verify it. Where a maker publishes nothing, the field is blank rather than filled in. How we pick explains the whole method, including what would change a recommendation.
Read next
Related pages
Picks
Compare yard games
Twenty-one head-to-heads with the verdict first and the published specs behind it.
Picks
Kan Jam
Goals 50 feet apart, exactly four players, exactly 21 to win — and the deflection rule that makes it work.
Picks
Backyard disc golf
Three named PDGA-approved discs, what each one does, and the target you still have to solve.
Guide
Disc golf basket dimensions
The PDGA numbers for a basket, and how every portable target you can actually buy measures against them.
Guide
Kan Jam rules
50 feet, 1-2-3 scoring, the instant win and exactly 21 — from the manufacturer's rules.
Sources
Every figure on this page is copied from one of these sources. If you find one that is wrong or out of date, tell us and we will fix it.