A Woman’s Trek to PRO… am I ready?!?

“A Woman’s Trek to PRO,” that has been my title or main reason for writing in Talkdiscgolf.com. I have updated you on my events and what I’ve learned from each disc golf outing. I also do write ups on all my events in my family’s disc golf website (www.scottfamilydiscgolf.com) It’s easy to track what I’ve done based on my results.

So where am I at on my journey to PRO? Am I ready to move up? What about the World Tournament, being held in my hometown of Charlotte?

The answer is YES… I am ready to move up! No matter the result of how I do at the World tournament, I am going to transition into Pro – Open Women! My first big Pro event will be The 2012 U.S. Woman’s National Tournament to be held in Huntsville, AL in September.

This has been an amazing advanced amateur year, hopefully crowning at Worlds in a few days. I have learned so much about myself and my game, it truly is incredible. If you look at the tournament results, I’ve won all my events this year with the exception of two and I came in second by only 1 stroke at each of them. But it’s not about the results to me. It’s what I’ve learned from each tournament that makes me better and propels me even further the next time I play.

There are a few things I would like to share that have been important revelations to me during this past year’s journey. I derive a lot of confidence about my round by how I putt, so I have developed a very good approach game to lay me as close to the basket as possible. If all my putts are within 15 feet I am going to have a positive round. I can confidently drive, approach and putt the whole time. Being confident & positive during a round is critical!

I have taken a lot of time to get to know what each of my discs will do. I don’t try to force myself to do something I know I can’t, I stick to my game with the skills I have. Knowing which disc does what for each situation I am in is so valuable. I know my discs and game so well now, that walking up to a shot I already know what I’m going to throw and how. That’s awesome. This takes a lot of practice and patience to get to this level.

There are a few things I want to share that I had to learn the hard way. Make sure you get plenty of rest while during a tournament, no heavy drinking, don’t eat anything that will upset your stomach and make sure you drink plenty of water. Have fun after the tournament, not before or during. I have friends I’m excited to see and be with when I travel for tournaments, but I have to be careful not to ruin my game by what I do with them. Take care of your body and you will stay strong throughout the whole tournament. There’s nothing like having the lead the whole time, then in the final round your body starts to shut down because you didn’t take care of it the night before and you lose.

I hope that these tips help you in your game and quest to be a better disc golfer. They certainly have been very valuable to me. I am excited about what’s ahead of me in my new journey in the PRO division. I have a lot more to work on and I look forward to playing with the pro ladies!

The World tournament is coming up in a few days and I am so excited to be finishing up my amateur journey here. What a blessing it’s been for me to have the World tournament here in my hometown. I have course trained all of my courses so much that I know what I need to throw on each drive & approach. I have tackled my trouble spots and hopefully have multiple solutions to each possible throw. My father will be my caddy for Worlds and I have trained with him some too. It’s also been an honor of mine to serve as the social media person for the World tournament. Being on the local organizing committee and helping to plan this great event and relaying information out to the public has been a lot of fun. All of us in Charlotte will be looking forward to great tournament and then some much needed rest afterwards.

I welcome you to keep up with me on my family’s website: http://www.scottfamilydiscgolf.com and here at Talkdiscgolf.com. I also want to thank my sponsor, Essential Discs who have been with me since I was an intermediate player.  You can find them online at http://www.essentialdiscs.com and if you use my name ‘Debbie’ in the coupon code, you’ll get 10% off their already great prices on discs and gear.

But most importantly – Get out and throw!! ~Debbie Scott