The rules explained in this post are based on rule updates put into effect by the Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA) in the Official Rules of Disc Golf and Competition Manual on January 1, 2025.
Most rules discussed here relate to the regulations under 804.01 in the Official Rules of Disc Golf, which you can find a fully searchable version of in the More tab of the UDisc app.
Learn everything you could want to know about mandos by reading the post in full or jump to the information you're looking for by clicking/tapping a topic below:
Post Navigation
- What is a mandatory (mando) in disc golf?
- What's the penalty for missing a disc golf mando?
- Why does disc golf have mandos?
- How do I know if a hole has mandos?
- When have I missed a mando? (or understanding the "restricted plane")
-How do I know where the restricted plane created by a mando starts and ends?
-Can I just drop a disc on the other side of the restricted plane? - I missed a mando – how do I keep playing?
- I went OB before I missed a mando. Which rules do I follow?
- I foot faulted and missed a mando. What happens now?
- Multiple players in my group need to throw from the drop zone. What order do we play in?
- Where is the line of play on holes with mandos?
This is just one post in our series seeking to help players better understand disc golf rules. If you're interested, check out others on out of bounds, foot faults/legal stances, relief, and the two-meter rule.
What Is a Mandatory (Mando) in Disc Golf?
A mandatory (or, commonly, "mando") is when a course designer or tournament director (TD) mandates how disc golfers' discs can legally pass an obstacle as they complete a hole. Mandos usually simply force players to go left or right of something like a pole or tree, but, as you'll see in the images below, they can be used in other ways, too.
See an example of a basic disc golf mando below:
However, there are occasionally two mandos that work together to force players to go between them. These are typically called double mandos. See below:
And, yes, triple mandos (and above) exist, too:
What's the Penalty for Missing a Mando in Disc Golf?
A player who passes a mando object incorrectly or "misses the mando" (e.g., passes a tree on the right when the mando says to go left of it) adds one penalty throw to their score for a hole.
A single throw can only earn one missed mando penalty – even if it misses multiple mandos. You keep playing based on the rules for the first mando you missed.
You can get multiple missed mando penalties as you play a hole but only if you miss mandos with multiple throws. Don't let it get you down, but just to make the point clear, we'll put it this way: Each new throw on a hole with a mandatory is a new chance to earn a single missed mando penalty.
Why Do Mandos Exist in Disc Golf?
Mandos are typically used for at least one of three reasons:
- To discourage players from taking a route that puts people or property in danger (e.g., crossing another fairway or throwing over a parking lot typically filled with cars)
- To discourage players from taking a route that has a high chance of causing back-ups on a hole (e.g., encouraging players to avoid risky shots over areas of thick rough)
- To add difficulty or diversity to a course
With that said, though mandos are a common part of disc golf, they're also highly contentious.
Some people are philosophically opposed to mandos and believe designers and TDs should create holes that more naturally cause players to throw a variety of shot shapes and avoid endangering others or property. On the opposite side of that argument are those who see mandos as a tool to create more interesting, safer courses when given limited space or obstacles to work with.
On the more technical side, mandos are often the stuff of rule-makers' nightmares and frequently lead to confusion and misinterpretation of the correct way to play a hole among players (you'll see examples of why later on). Additionally, the PDGA's course design guidelines strongly discourage incorporating mandos.
How Do I Know Where Mandos Are On a Disc Golf Course?
There are no official rules about how to show players where mandos are. Usually you'll see them indicated both on tee signs and with a sign hanging from the mando object – but you might only see them shown in one of those places or in a completely different way. Hung signs might say "mando," have just an "M" and an arrow, be just an arrow...the list goes on.
Essentially, pay close attention to tee signs and look out for anything that seems to say you should pass a tree, post, etc. in a certain direction.
Some industrious Course Ambassadors have added hole rules and/or tee sign images for holes into UDisc. If you score your round with the app, keep an eye out for text underneath the course map. Tap the blue arrow next to the text to see it in full and read the rules. The images below show an example of how that looks:
When Have You Missed a Mando in Disc Golf?
Mandos create what the PDGA's Official Rules of Disc Golf call "the restricted plane" (804.01.B), which is an imaginary plane that will usually extend in the direction opposite of where a mando forces you to throw. The rules specifically say the plane is "vertical," so it usually extends infinitely up and/or down, too. If any part of your disc ever touches the restricted plane, you have missed the mando.
It does not matter if the throw is your first, second, third, etc. on a hole. If your disc ever touches the restricted plane, you've missed a mando and receive a penalty.
It does not matter from which direction your disc enters the restricted plane. If you pass on the correct side of a mando but roll backward and touch the restricted plane, you've missed the mando and receive a penalty.
It does not matter where the disc comes to rest. If you touch the restricted plane but then kick back out of it, you've still missed the mando.
This can all be summed up in a simple statement: If your disc ever touches the restricted plane – just the tiniest part of your disc is enough – at any time, you've missed the mando.
Fortunately, seeing the rule is a lot easier than reading about it. So we created a few visualizations of a restricted plane to help you better understand how it works.
This one emphasizes how touching a restricted plane from any direction results in a missed mando penalty:
The next image drives home how you've missed a mando as soon as your disc touches the restricted plane no matter where your disc comes to rest. It also offers a different type of visual if the last one didn't click:
And in case our emphasis in the text earlier about how a mando is missed if any part of the disc ever touches restricted plane didn't make sense, here's a visual for that, too:
Keep in mind we intentionally didn't include flight paths in the image above because the flight path doesn't matter. Regardless which direction the disc comes from, it can never touch the restricted plane and not have missed the mando.
As much as we've talked about missing mandos, it's also important to recognize when you've not missed a mando. Generally, the only way to miss a mando is for your disc to touch the restricted plane before it comes to rest. If a throw comes up short of the restricted plane, you have not missed the mando.
How Do I Know Where a Disc Golf Mando's Restricted Plane Starts, Stops, & Ends?
At this point, we hope you get how the restricted plane works, but you may have questions like, "How do I know how thick the restricted plane is?", "How do I know what direction the restricted plane extends from a mando object?", or "On something like a tree with multiple branches, where does the restricted plane start?".
Those are all excellent questions, but if you're playing a tournament, the only person who can answer them is a TD. PDGA rules leave it entirely up to TDs to define restricted plane for any mandatory. For example, an event's caddie book could say, "On hole 14, the first big pine tree is a mandatory object. Seen from the tee, the restricted plane starts from the farthest left point of the tree's main trunk and extends infinitely right and upward. There is string to the right of the mandatory indicating the direction in which the restricted plane extends from the tree's trunk. The string also defines the thickness of the restricted plane."
As you can tell from that example, TDs have to be extremely detailed in their rule descriptions and course setups when they include mandos. If you have questions about a mando before playing a tournament and can't find the resources to answer them, you should contact the TD or ask your questions in the players' meeting before the round begins.
If you're playing a casual round and a course has a mando that isn't well-defined, just use your best judgement to decide what direction and thickness of the restricted plane makes the most sense.
Can I Just Drop a Disc On the "Right" Side of a Restricted Plane?
Rule 804.01.D makes it explicit that reaching over a restricted plane and dropping a disc on the other side of it to avoid passing a mando object as intended is illegal. Doing it is the exact same as missing a mando with a thrown disc.
This rule was added after some disc golfers noticed that mando rule 804.01.C says only that a mando is missed when a "thrown disc" (i.e., one that's left a thrower's hand) enters the restricted plane. Before 804.01.D, those rules made it sound possible for a player who was very close to a restricted plane to simply reach over the plane and drop their disc so that the "thrown disc" (the disc after it left their hand) never touched the restricted plane. Again, doing this is now illegal and the same as missing a mando.
This image should help you imagine the sort of situation we're discussing:
How Do You Keep Playing After Missing a Mando?
If you miss a disc golf mando, you receive one penalty throw. There are three possible ways you can continue playing a hole after missing a mando:
- Throw from a drop zone
A drop zone is an area specifically designated as the place players who miss a hole's mando should play their next shot from. Drop zones can be painted lines, alternate tee pads, small plastic circles nailed into the ground, or a number of other things. If the course you're playing has tee signs, drop zone locations (if any) will often be on them.
Below is a visual example of how a disc golfer might play a hole with a drop zone after missing a mando: - Rethrow from the same position
If a hole has no drop zone, a player who misses a mando just throws another shot from the exact same place as their last one: - Abandon throw and rethrow from same position
A player always has the option to abandon any throw and rethrow from the same spot at the cost of a one-throw penalty (809.01). So, even if a hole has a drop zone, a player who misses a mando but would prefer to throw from their previous position rather than the drop zone can do just that by abandoning a throw. Visually, it could look exactly like the image for #2 above – just with a drop zone somewhere that the player would ignore. A player needs to announce to their card that they are abandoning a throw before continuing play.
What To Do When You Go OB Before Missing a Mandatory (Mando)
If your disc misses a mando (i.e., touches the "restricted plane" created by it) at any point after you release it, continue playing by the rules for the mando. This is true even if you entered an OB area before missing the mando. Get a better idea of what we mean in the image below:
The reason for this is that rule 804.01.C says, "If part of a thrown disc clearly enters into a restricted plane, the player receives one penalty throw. The lie for the next throw is the drop zone for that mandatory. If no drop zone has been designated, the lie for the next throw is the previous lie." Neither this or any other rule mentions an exception to the "you enter a restricted plane, you play by mando rules" norm laid out in 804.01.C, so that means in the battle of OB versus mandos, mandos win.
Should you take a really deep dive into this and notice that 801.02.I says that you should follow whatever rule you break first, remember that traveling over/through an OB area is not a rule violation – coming to rest in it is. There's no way a disc could touch the restricted plane without being in motion, so you'll always have broken mando rules before coming to rest in OB. Again, mando rules win.
For a deeper look at OB, check out Disc Golf Rules Explained: Out of Bounds (OB).
I Foot Faulted and Missed a Mando – What Happens Now?
If you commit a foot fault (officially called a "stance violation" in PDGA rules) during a throw that also misses a mando, you receive just one penalty stroke for the foot fault. However, you continue play based on the rules for the mando you missed (likely taking your next throw from a drop zone). There is no extra penalty stroke added for missing the mando.
Again, just one penalty stroke (not two) and play your next shot as you would normally for missing the mando.
The reason you follow mando rules for your next throw is because the only penalty for a stance violation is a stroke penalty (see 802.07). Players still throw from the lie established by their throw.
The reason you receive only one penalty stroke is because 801.02.I makes it clear that any single "throw or action" can only result in a single penalty. If you break multiple rules, you have to take whatever penalty costs the most strokes. If all rules you've broken have the same penalty, you take only the penalty for whatever rule you broke first.
Here's what that means in this case:
- You throw the disc, commiting a foot fault during the throw. Foot faults (officially "stance violations") cost players one penalty stroke.
- After you release the disc, it misses a mando. Missing a mando also costs one penalty stroke.
- You have broken two rules, both worth one penalty stroke. You broke the stance rule first, so that's the only penalty you receive.
- When you foot fault/violate stance rules, you still play from the lie your throw established. In this case, that means whatever lie you go to after missing the mando.
Still wondering what a foot fault means, exactly? Check out our post explaining stance violations disc golf.
What's the Throwing Order at Disc Golf Drop Zones?
If at any point multiple players need to play from a drop zone (because they all missed a mando or any other reason), they throw in the same order they established the need to throw from the drop zone.
We know that sounds pretty circular, but this image should help clear things up:
If you're wondering why Player 1 threw twice before Player 2 did in the image above, it's because their lie was farther from the basket than the drop zone, which is where Player 2's second throw will be from.
How Do Mandos Affect the Line of Play in Disc Golf?
As of a January 2022 rules update (and every rules update since), mandos have absolutely no effect on the line of play in disc golf. Per 802.05.D, the line of play is always a direct line between a player's lie and the target (typically a basket though there are alternative disc golf targets).
Those who don't know what "line of play" means can find a detailed description in our post on relief in disc golf. In essence, it's the line between your lie and the basket, which affects where you can have supporting points during a throw. Before the January 2022 rule updates, mandos could affect the line of play. As we said above, that's no longer the case.
What Else Would You Like To Know?
We've been overwhelmed by the positive response to this series and are excited to continue adding to it. If you have rules you'd like us to cover, let us know in a quick e-mail to us at [email protected].
