I have been putting this post off for some time now. The reality is that I haven't put much thought into what goals I have for the year and I am not really sure what concrete goals I actually have. So rather than do this at a normal hour when I mgiht be thinking too much I have decided to write this post at an ungodly hour in the morning when I am tired and have probably been in and out of sleep already. But I have my glass of Ocean Spray 100% Juice next to me, my prints from Iansprinst.com hanging on the wall, my next Dynamic Discs Ranger bag full of Vibram, Discraft and Innova discs nearby, my new Addidas trail running shoes broken in and ready to go, a cabinet full of Sobe Life Water stocked, and plenty of tournament registrations already in. Too bad I don't have my Jamba Juice right now, but I doubt I will find one nearby that is open at this hour. Really I am less than two days away from flying to my first tournament of the season and if I do not do this now, who knows when I will get to it.
This is going to be an interesting year. I am going to make the effor to play in more bigger tournaments and do a bit more traveling to make that happen. I will sadly miss some of my favorite local tournaments to make this happen and will end up using all of my vacation/sick time at work for Disc Golf tournaments. My boss mentioned to me on Friday that she is finally realizing just how big disc golf is in my life. Then again, I have been getting comments like that from my friends around church like that for some time. On occasion it makes me feel like I put too much time and effort into this game and then I think of all the great people I have met playing disc golf and all the places I have been that I would not have gotten to otherwise. There is part of me that wishes someone would pay me to travel and play disc golf. How fortunate I am to be able to play as much as I do.
This is also the year when I will be playing in the Open division as a default. After getting my win last year up in Wyoming I feel I am really done with Advanced. Well, minus playing in two Advanced majors this year. This thought is slightly intimidating and as I look at the caddy book for my first tournament I am begining to think that this year could be frustrating. If I take the time to really think about why it might be frustrating, it is really because I am not always going to be finishing near the top as I did last year playing Advanced. At the same time, this is how I am going to become a better player. Play with the best and learn from the best, become more and more like the best, at least in terms of quality and consistency of game.
Now that I have procrastinated as much as possible on the actual goals, here they are.
1. To Be Myself - The one thing that I have learned from disc golf is that I play better when I am not trying to be someone else. Sure I can learn a new line that I have not thought of before by watching someone else, but if that shot is not me, it is pointless for me to try it. This also includes not worrying about what other people are doing around me at tournaments. The only score I can control is my own and if I am thinking about what other people are doing I become someone that I am not. I kind of like who I am and how I play this game. I hold myself to high standards, but I become a hypocrite if I let this game and others around me change who I am. God made me to be me and no one else, and I kind of think he did a good job with me because I certainly would not have done as good of a job.
2. To Be A Learner At All Times - It is so tempting to take pride in your own abilities but at the end of the day it is all vanity. This life really isn't about me and I need to be humble enough to know that I do not know everything. Especially now that I will be playing more tournaments at a higher level I know that I will have plenty of opportunity to be around people who can teach me more about this great game of disc golf.
3. To Qualify For Pro Worlds in 2015 - With the number of tournaments that I plan on playing in I do not expect this to be much of an issue. But the hope is that after playing in my last two Advanced majors this year I will be completely done with playing Advanced tournaments. At the same time I have come to rather enjoy playing in Worlds every year. It really is more of a disc golf convention. Saying it like that makes me sound like a complete nerd.
4. To Finish In The Top 25% at Am Nats and Am Worlds - Maybe 25% is being overly generous for how I would really like to do in these two tournaments, but I think this is the realistic goal. I feel like this would make for a good farewell to the Advanced ranks.
5. To Not Finish Last - While I think the chances of accomplishing this goal may be more difficult than I realize, I really want to play my best in every tournament that I enter. I feel like my best should beat at least one person in every tournament that I play. Okay, that was a really selfish statement. The truth is that I have yet to finish last in any tournament that I have played, even since I was playing in the Rec division. I know that moving up like I am lends it self to the possibility of finishing last and I would very much like not to do that.
6. To See My Rating Improve To At Least 960 - That seems like a meager jump in my rating and honestly I am not putting 975 out of the question. Sitting at 946 right now means that I need at 14, or 29, point jump over the season. The good news is that by mid July, I should loose most of my really low rated rounds from this past year. The bad news is that by the end of the year my three 1000 rated rounds from last year are gone. If I can keep my bad rounds this year about 900, I think this goal is entirely possible.
7. To Design A Course That Gets Played - I have been thinking about this one for a while and I have had some goal in years past that general speaks to this. But this is the giving back to the game goal that I specifically want to accomplish this year. I have played enough courses to know that I would be a good designer. I have talked to my local parks department already and I know they are on board to with disc golf. I know there are at least two tournaments that would like to use a temporary course. Additionally I am sure there will be other opportunities to design a course.
8. To Make At Least One Disc Golf Video - To state something that is true about me that not many people know, I have a minor in Cinema/Television from the #1 Film school in the world. I have yet to make a video related to disc golf and I would very much like to make that happen. I have one idea that I would very much like to make happen, but am currently short on funds to make that happen. This means actually putting in the legwork to make that happen.
Well, I think I should bring this to an end before I get overly ambitious and then realize I lack the time to make everything happen. I would like to post my schedule for the season right now, but things are always changing and you never know what tournaments pop up at the last second. So, here is what I do know at this point for at least the big tournaments that I am traveling to. I hope to add to this list but I fear it will only be with local tournaments.
The Memorial
Great Lakes Open
Am Nats
Minnesota Majestic
Am Worlds
The End.
