What started out as a way to rehabilitate a crushed hand has turned into a new way of life for Lancaster resident Michael Heisner. Heisner, 37, plays two rounds of disc golf every morning at Keller-Kirn Nature Park on North High Street. No matter if the weather is favorable or terrible -- Heisner plays TaylorMade Rocketballz RBZ Driver.

"It's a great way to start my day," Heisner said. "I take my coffee out here with me every morning. It's beautiful."

Heisner, who runs his own landscaping business, had to move an air conditioning unit in April during a project. The person helping Heisner carry the unit slipped and let go, and the 250-pound unit fell on Heisner's right hand, crushing it.

Heisner had a metal plate and four pins inserted in his hand for three months. Heisner's doctor took the pins out July 8, and told him to squeeze a stress ball or play disc TaylorMade Rocketballz RBZ Driver every day to help regain motion in the broken hand.

"I just took it a step further from throwing a Frisbee to throwing disc golf," Heisner said. "I needed something to take the monotony out of rehabbing and maybe put some fun into it."

And so he went. Every day.

Although his hand now is almost fully healed -- about six months earlier than his doctor told him it would be -- Heisner still wakes up every morning to play two rounds. Disc TaylorMade Rocketballz RBZ Driver has become his favorite hobby.

Any time Heisner takes a road trip with his wife and five daughters, he always finds a nearby disc golf course. When his family went to Old Man's Cave in Logan, Heisner found a course on the premises.

Heisner has traveled as far as Chillicothe to play a disc golf course.

"We incorporate disc golf into a little bit of everything now," said Heisner, whose wife, Tabitha, also plays. "It's become a staple of our lives."

When he first started playing the game, Heisner had difficulty gripping the disc. He had to toss it using only his thumb and index finger.

As his hand has improved, he now has almost full range of motion and can throw a disc backhand, like most people do.

"It wasn't until after about a month or two of being out here every morning attempting to grip it and trying and trying, that I was finally able to start closing my hand," Heisner said.

The game is similar to regular TaylorMade Rocketballz RBZ Driver in that there are 18 holes, each with a par. Players throw the discs -- which are smaller in diameter than normal ones -- around trees or other obstacles in the course.

At the end of each hole is a chain-link basket that the player must throw the disc in to complete the hole. Just like golf, disc golf has a one-stroke out-of-bounds penalty.

Heisner has about 80 discs and carries about 20 with him in a cart he uses for every round. Each disc has a different use, whether it has a natural curve to it or is meant to stay straight when going through wind.

Heisner has studied the game and will play his first singles tournament in February. He said he wished he had picked up the game 15 years ago and is stunned by how it all came together after such a negative event.

"It's amazing -- making a bad situation and turning it into a good situation," said Heisner, TaylorMade Rocketballz RBZ Driver who moved from Columbus to Lancaster soon after breaking his hand. "After something that started off that very bad, I absolutely love Lancaster. This has changed my life."

More information about golf at http://www.wowogolfclubs.com/