Since we are less than an hours away from New Years Eve here in Colorado I figured it was about time to post my overall goals for Disc Golf in 2013. I am not really sure if I know what all my goals for the year are but we'll see what happens in the next few minutes as I write this post.
1. Have More Fun - I think I tend to be really hard on myself and I so strongly desire to see myself improve that ultimately I kill myself mentally. I recently completed a training course for my job in Child Care and have realized that Disc Golf has become more like work than my own job. In general I do not think that is a bad thing, but I really need to learn to be more like a kid again and play for the sake of playing. It is not about winning, it is about learning. It is not about the end result, it is about the process.
2. Contribute More To The Growth Of The Sport - I have been developing grand plans as far as this is concerned, but I think this is something that will really help me with my first goal. Last season my best Disc Golf tournaments came around the time I was teaching kids at the school I worked at how to play the game. I would like to help out in the local club I am a member of to make sure we are taking opportunities to help grow the sport in this way. I am also hoping to sit down with a local parks department to discuss the possibility of getting a Championship calibut course put in. There is still some more leg work to be done with this but I think it is a very real possibility.
3. To Qualify For Am Nationals - Finally, a goal that can only be achieved by playing in Disc Golf Tournaments. Based on my plans, I should have at least three opportunities to make this happen. I was rather close once last year and rather far away in the second opportunity that I had. Am Nats is the biggest Am event outside of Worlds and I had a blast this past year at Worlds so I can only imagine how much fun Am Nats will be.
4. To Finish Better At Am Worlds Than I Did In 2012 - This one is pretty straight forward. Better than 207th. It seems like it should be an achieveable goal.
5. To Win A Tournament In Advanced - I am sure there is a local tournament that I can get hot for and somehow pull out a win.
6. To Improve My Rating By 20+ Points - This is perhaps the toughest goal of the bunch right there along with qualifying for Am Nats. I am surrently rated 915 and 20 more points would put me at 935, which would mean that I officially would have to play advanced and could not drop down to intermediate if I so chose.
7. To Qualify For Pro Worlds in 2014 - A lot of things have to happen for this to occur. My plan for starting to play more pro events will be determined by when and how many wins I can come up with in Advanced this year. If I win a C-Tier event, my plan would be to play in the Pro division for all C-Tier events moving forward. If I win a B-Tier, then play pro in all B and C-Tier events moving forward. It takes 500 points in events that I play pro in to qualify for Pro Worlds. This is definately the goal that has to see a lot of things fall in place but I think it is entirely possible, especially if I can get an early win in 2013.
8. To Look Back At 2013 And Say, "Wow, I Improved So Much This Year!" - Of course it all the other goals happen there will be no way that I will not be able to say this.
Alright, that is it. Here's to a year of Happy Discin'!
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Monday, December 17, 2012
Winter Warriors 8 Update
So, after this last weekend of Winter Warriors at Expo Park in Aurora, I have officially met my biggest goal at Winter Warriors this season. My top 6 scores this year will all be double digit scores. I now have two rounds at -21, one at -16, one at -12 and two at -10. That puts me at -90 overall and sitting quite well in the overall standings.
With that being said, I have some new goals for the remainder of the Winter Warriors season.
1. To be at every event for the remainder of the year.
2. To finish with an overall score over -100.
3. To really use the events to help improve my accuracy and putting.
4. To relearn how to be a kid and have more fun while I am playing.
I know these goals will start to overlap in my goals for this next season, at least the last two, but I figure these are things that I need to start on now.
With that being said, I have some new goals for the remainder of the Winter Warriors season.
1. To be at every event for the remainder of the year.
2. To finish with an overall score over -100.
3. To really use the events to help improve my accuracy and putting.
4. To relearn how to be a kid and have more fun while I am playing.
I know these goals will start to overlap in my goals for this next season, at least the last two, but I figure these are things that I need to start on now.
Friday, December 7, 2012
Winter Warriors 8
No, I am not ready to write all my goals out for next years disc golf season, but I figured it was probably time to talk about Winter Warriors this year while I was doing well.
Winter Warriors is really the main way I am keeping up with the Disc Golf community here locally as we have this weekly event during November, December and January. Right now with a little less than half the season gone I am sitting in 10th place with things looking up.
I really like Winter Warriors for many reasons.
1. We are raising money for the Food Bank of the Rockies.
2. The rounds are more about having fun that winnig and oddly enough I play better with this mindset.
3. It is a chance to play many of the different great courses around the front range.
4. It keeps me focused on playing Disc Golf during the winter.
5. Weather has no way to cancel events, that is why they call it Winter Warriors.
Now, last winter was the first time I played in a full compliment of these events and we all know what kind of season I had the next Spring, Summer and Fall. But it makes no sesnse as to why this would be the case. Playing is one of the best ways to help you practice your form and is good mental practice for when the events become more serious. It is also a great way to try out some new things without the consequences being that serious. So far I have been taking advantage of this reality and I feel this will help more than last year. Also, while in the midst of changing my form this year, the more I play now, the more it will be ready for the next tournament season.
I have played with some great people this year, but I have learned that I am well established in my local disc golf community because there has only been one person that I have not known all that well that I have played with this season.
I really am writing myself this blog so that I can rememebr the reasons why I am playing in these events. I think it will help me keep focused to make this as fruitful as possible.
Winter Warriors is really the main way I am keeping up with the Disc Golf community here locally as we have this weekly event during November, December and January. Right now with a little less than half the season gone I am sitting in 10th place with things looking up.
I really like Winter Warriors for many reasons.
1. We are raising money for the Food Bank of the Rockies.
2. The rounds are more about having fun that winnig and oddly enough I play better with this mindset.
3. It is a chance to play many of the different great courses around the front range.
4. It keeps me focused on playing Disc Golf during the winter.
5. Weather has no way to cancel events, that is why they call it Winter Warriors.
Now, last winter was the first time I played in a full compliment of these events and we all know what kind of season I had the next Spring, Summer and Fall. But it makes no sesnse as to why this would be the case. Playing is one of the best ways to help you practice your form and is good mental practice for when the events become more serious. It is also a great way to try out some new things without the consequences being that serious. So far I have been taking advantage of this reality and I feel this will help more than last year. Also, while in the midst of changing my form this year, the more I play now, the more it will be ready for the next tournament season.
I have played with some great people this year, but I have learned that I am well established in my local disc golf community because there has only been one person that I have not known all that well that I have played with this season.
I really am writing myself this blog so that I can rememebr the reasons why I am playing in these events. I think it will help me keep focused to make this as fruitful as possible.
Reflection On 2012
So I was inspired to start this blog after reading a blog at RattlingChains.com. Last year Avery Jenkins was going to keep a blog there and he did a great job for what looks like the first third of the season before he let it slide. But, it made me think that I need a place to be more thoughtful about my disc golf game. This blog is not about reflecting on every round or every tournament but will be a diary of sorts to help me see growth in my own game. Should anyone ever read this blog I would be surprised.
To start the blog, I want to reflect on last year. 2012 was one of the more frustrating years of Disc Golf in my short 4 year career. It was my 4th year of playing tournaments and was the first year that I feel like I made no improvement in my game. I feel like a reached a plateau of sorts. It is a really frustrating feeling to watch everyone around you improving but you seem to be just holding pat, or even at some times regressing.
My best tournament of the year was clearly The Colorado Open in Glenwood Springs, CO. It was a 4th place finish with three solid rounds. It was one of the tournaments that felt like it went against the plateau affect that I felt all year long. For some reason things were just going well for me in Glenwood and of course getting my only ace of the year was pretty big as well. It was also the tournament that I realized that I could accurately throw an overhead shot more frequently and score well with it. I do not think I am turning into an overhead dominant player, but I think I need to look back at this tournament and trust the overhead shot more.
I really had two goals heading into the season. First, play Worlds in Charlotte, NC (which I qualified for in 2011) and second, qualify to play in next years Am Nationals. Well, I played in Charlotte and had a blast. The game did not necessarily go well for me but I had a blast playing and meeting new people. The experience itself was well worth the trip and is something I am already looking forward to next year. As to the second goal, that was not accomplished. I had a descent showing at The 10th High Plains Challenge, but had a bad first ten holes in the final round which ultimately cost me qualifying for Am Nats. Then at Colorado States, once again in Fort Morgan, CO, the same course that kicked my butt for those 10 holes at High Plains, also kicked my butt at states leaving me too far out of the possibility of Am Nats.
The best new disc of the year was not something that really happened until about two weeks ago. Vibram just came out with their first max distance driver called The Lace. I expect that this disc will take several strokes of my score as I learn how to use it. Out of the box it has been the most controlable max distance driver I have ever thrown. I honestly wish I had this disc the entire year.
The biggest change that I have sought to make in my game has come in the way of form. Everything was big for me and I often started well off the tee pad to make sure that I had enough room to make a big run up and throw. I also think that my putting motion was big and had a lot of wasted movement. The goal about halfway through the year when I realized that I was having a tough time hitting lines was to slow things down and limit my motion in order to be more accurate. The first thing that I found was that my distance did not really suffer all that much. I am not sure if this is a good thing since I am still figuring out the form change and have yet to see the scores fall as I would like, but I expect that making all my movements while throwing more compact I will eliminate the possibility for error as much as possible. Ultimately this will lead to lower scores but may be something that happens in time as I develop consistency with the new form.
That is all for now. I expect that I will write something soon as to my goals for 2013.
To start the blog, I want to reflect on last year. 2012 was one of the more frustrating years of Disc Golf in my short 4 year career. It was my 4th year of playing tournaments and was the first year that I feel like I made no improvement in my game. I feel like a reached a plateau of sorts. It is a really frustrating feeling to watch everyone around you improving but you seem to be just holding pat, or even at some times regressing.
My best tournament of the year was clearly The Colorado Open in Glenwood Springs, CO. It was a 4th place finish with three solid rounds. It was one of the tournaments that felt like it went against the plateau affect that I felt all year long. For some reason things were just going well for me in Glenwood and of course getting my only ace of the year was pretty big as well. It was also the tournament that I realized that I could accurately throw an overhead shot more frequently and score well with it. I do not think I am turning into an overhead dominant player, but I think I need to look back at this tournament and trust the overhead shot more.
I really had two goals heading into the season. First, play Worlds in Charlotte, NC (which I qualified for in 2011) and second, qualify to play in next years Am Nationals. Well, I played in Charlotte and had a blast. The game did not necessarily go well for me but I had a blast playing and meeting new people. The experience itself was well worth the trip and is something I am already looking forward to next year. As to the second goal, that was not accomplished. I had a descent showing at The 10th High Plains Challenge, but had a bad first ten holes in the final round which ultimately cost me qualifying for Am Nats. Then at Colorado States, once again in Fort Morgan, CO, the same course that kicked my butt for those 10 holes at High Plains, also kicked my butt at states leaving me too far out of the possibility of Am Nats.
The best new disc of the year was not something that really happened until about two weeks ago. Vibram just came out with their first max distance driver called The Lace. I expect that this disc will take several strokes of my score as I learn how to use it. Out of the box it has been the most controlable max distance driver I have ever thrown. I honestly wish I had this disc the entire year.
The biggest change that I have sought to make in my game has come in the way of form. Everything was big for me and I often started well off the tee pad to make sure that I had enough room to make a big run up and throw. I also think that my putting motion was big and had a lot of wasted movement. The goal about halfway through the year when I realized that I was having a tough time hitting lines was to slow things down and limit my motion in order to be more accurate. The first thing that I found was that my distance did not really suffer all that much. I am not sure if this is a good thing since I am still figuring out the form change and have yet to see the scores fall as I would like, but I expect that making all my movements while throwing more compact I will eliminate the possibility for error as much as possible. Ultimately this will lead to lower scores but may be something that happens in time as I develop consistency with the new form.
That is all for now. I expect that I will write something soon as to my goals for 2013.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)