Playing the wind, among many other things
Lots of bits and pieces to share with you all.
23 strong!
- Holy wind batman! It’s been pretty windy here in Michigan for the past month. Shooting a -4 at a mixed dubs tourney felt like a major accomplishment. With the wind we had (30-40mph head wind), my 175 Predators were the only driver I could land in the fairways with. I’m getting better at playing in the wind, as I have forced myself to play in it. It’s the only way to learn. I encourage all of you to go hit the field on a windy day. Throw shots into the head wind. Throw shots with the wind right to left, and left to right. Throw some tail wind shots too. If you have a basket you can access, putt in this wind too. Personally, I know that I love tailwind putts. So during the mixed dubs tourney, my partner and I made sure to throw our upshots to a position where we would have a tailwind putt. I was banging putts all day, having pulled the 167 JK Pro Aviars out of my bag and putting 173 Pro Rhynos in my bag. This strategy saved us so many strokes, as I watched other players having to try to make some stiff head wind/ cross wind putts.
- A big shout out is in order to Miles over at Paragon Disc Golf. He put me on Team Paragon this year, and I’m excited to be a part of such an awesome group of players and promoters. Check out Paragon Disc Golf if you need some sweet bag tags or custom tees. Miles does some great work!
- A few weekends ago, I headed out to play the Prairie Open in Kenosha, WI. Carla and Sergio Correa, along with Josh Hamm from WiDye put on an excellent event, and they cater to the ladies. I believe there were 20 plus ladies there (I’m not taking the time to go hunt for stats. My computer and internet is extremely slow, and the Mac is in the shop). For the Pro ladies, we had 11. I made last minute travel plans with my friends Matt and Corri, and off we went. Ace Graphics and Design, out of Dewitt, MI sponsored our gas (thank you!). We got off to a much better start last year. Last year, I drove to the event when I got off work at 11pm, getting to the course just in time for check in. I stopped at Perkins for breakfast, and played terribly after driving through the night (I don’t recommend playing an event if you have to drive 5+ hours and can’t get any sleep in before the event). This year, we got a practice round in, played a private course (thanks Shawn for hosting us and showing us your course), and then relaxed the night before. We woke up feeling good about how our practice rounds went, and were all sitting pretty after our first round. I played a little bipolar disc golf, starting out 2-4p-2-6-3-2-6. I don’t remember the rest of the round, but I eventually did get rid of my major bipolar streak. The second round, I didn’t get as many birdies, but avoided the bipolar golf. I just tried to hit the fairways and throw high percentage lines, which eventually allowed me to edge into 3rd place. Overall, I was happy with how I played. Corri took 3rd in Advanced Women, and Matt cashed in Advanced. All of Michigan (Liz Carr, Pov, Matt, Corri, and I) took money from WI, which was pretty cool.
- I’ve been trying to make lots of time for field work lately. I like to throw the DGA Hurricane for distance, but in order to get max D I torque the disc over (force it out anhyzer, then let it finish hyzer). Dan Beto, a good friend and amazing disc golfer, said it best when I talked to him last night. “You’re torquing…. Again!” I’ve realized that I can’t throw a pure hyzer to save my life. So, I’ve been hitting the field like crazy. Last week, I threw over 120 hyzers in the field. I threw the first 40 just standing, then worked back to a full x-step. I focused on slowing down my steps, and throwing smooth (and with hyzer). For now, I’m taking the Hurricane out of my bag and switching to slower discs (Orcs, Rogues, Roadrunners, Surges). The Hurricane will go back into my bag, but first I need to correct my form. I threw 360’ with my roadrunner, but I’m not consistent yet. Have to work on that, and then when I get the form worked out and consistent, I can put faster discs back in my bag.
- Women’s Disc Golf!!!!!! With the Women’s Global Event coming up, it’s hard not to get excited about disc golf! There are over 170 ladies registered already, and more to come. Last night was the first night of our Capital City Crushers (Trip C’s) ladies league. 23 (TWENTY THREEEEEEE) ladies showed up, including 3 juniors. I love the way Erin Oakley runs the league. We play random doubles each week. Scores are kept, but don’t count. At the end of play, there is a fun mini/ CTP for a prize (disc, shirt, hat, or something of the like). The 3 juniors played in a group together, playing best shot. Their daddy caddies (and uncle caddy) were awesome and made sure that the girls had a blast and kept moving. We had the juniors in front of our group, and some super rude rec guys behind us. The daddy caddies offered to let us play through so that they could deal with the rude people (swearing up a storm at us that we were slow, among other things), but we declined as we would rather listen to them than have the junior girls have to listen to them. We kindly explained that the course was full, and there was nowhere to go. Once they saw me park the hole with my putter, they settled down a little. Guys, if you are on a course and see a bunch of ladies, please think before you open your mouth. Being rude and ignorant will turn some ladies away. We want to grow the sport, and being polite to the ladies is important. Think before you speak, and ask nicely rather than being rude and swearing up a storm.
Ok, that’s it for now. I’ll try to blog more often now so that I don’t bore you with such long posts again.
