Awaiting Spring...and other thoughts

Hello disc golf fans! It has been much too long since I have graced this blog with a post. As I look out the window here in Minnesota, I am feeling sick to my stomach to see yet another snow storm roll on though. Should be more by the time this post goes to print. Last week the weather was warmer and many of the large mountains of snow began slowly melting away leaving the beautiful brown grass to show.

I have been licking my chops waiting for the first time I can toss some plastic.  So many thoughts and ideas have been going through my head this winter about goals, discs, courses, league night, tournaments, and just watching the plastic fly through the air.  My next few Friday posts will center around my goals for the upcoming disc golf season. Historically, I write a long post about what I want to accomplish in the new season...this time I plan on writing a series of posts breaking down into single mini posts on various aspects of my game that I wish to address.

Until next Week

MRK out...

Squish the Bug

This is the time of the year when I think about how horrible I am at disc golf; it is also the time that I think about getting a bit better.  With the weather hampering any productive rounds, our only solace is to watch others do what we love.  In spending too much time watching disc golf youtube movies, I am usually able to pick up one or two things I notice one more more of the pros doing that I think can be useful to my game.

This year my focus is something I've known I've needed to work on for awhile, the pivot.  Since becoming a RHBH thrower, I have recognized the importance of a good pivot in transferring energy.  And muscle memory being what it is, I naturally reverted to the technique of a baseball swing.  As I was instructed as a wee lad, one should step and "squish the bug," rotating on the ball of my foot.

So that's what I've been doing.  But I've noticed a significant problem with it.  The torque created on my knee is creating structural problems at my tender old age.  This became problematic enough for me to start using a knee brace for the rest of the year following an unfortunate experience at the Des Moines Challenge.  I needed to find a way to take pressure off the knee as I throw.

I've also noticed that none of the pros pivot on the balls of their feet.  As they pivot, they plant perpendicular to where they throw (similar to me), but they will then shift weight to the heel to pivot before shifting their weight forward again for the finish.

So that's what I'm hoping to do this spring.  If I change any one technique this year, it will be the pivot.  I'm not entirely certain this will completely alleviate the knee problems, but it sure can't stay the way it is now.  Let us hope that my knee will stay healthy enough to avoid the brace as much as possible.  It is SUPER annoying!

~Diggs

P.S. Sorry for the late article.  At least it isn't well written!

Geographical Goals for 2014

I realized the other week that I had yet to fully update the course map page.  In doing so, I noticed that the Cold Lampin' Crew has now tallied 79 courses across 15 states.  I was very impressed!  Well done, gents!

But I was not terribly satisfied.  Maybe a case of OCD is creeping in, but 79 courses looks to me like a crooked number.  Let's straighten it out a bit.  Hear and accept!  The goal for the 2014 disc golf season is for our cohort to top 100 courses!  That means that between the lot of us, we will need to add a total of 21 courses, or nearly a 25% increase in our current number.  A daunting task to be sure.  But here's where things get possible...

The King has already spoken to me of a number of new courses he has already put on his docket to play.  Between that and any new courses he may play at tourneys this year, I imagine he could easily add 6-7 himself.  In addition, with my new digs in a relatively unexplored area of the country, I think I could easily find 10 new courses around here to hit up at least once.  Two in particular catch my eye, and others around seem promising.  Let's call that 17 total.  If we can find just four more courses, we're there.

Let's do it, gentlemen!  Join the quest to 100 courses!

Rocky Montage

The weather forecast has indicated to me that the optimism of my previous post is more a statement on our mutually held desires than it is an accurate representation of reality.  Winter yet remains.  It will not always, but it is still in the coming.  We may here note that manifesting desire in the physical plane is not as simple as one might wish.

The professionals have already put in some work.  It is worth perusing if you have the time.  But in lieu of personal accounts of flying polymers by which I may regale you, I think I will instead touch on an issue which I think is too little addressed in this sport of ours.  Physical preparation.

My fat ass has sat around for far too long.  There was a time when I kept it mildly toned with the help of Tony Horton's P90X, but the copy was not mine and moving one thousand miles away from that copy has made it difficult to continue.  I started Insanity the other day, and we will see how that works out.  So far I have only been reminded that while I do have many shapes, I am not IN any of them.  Hopefully I can get to some semblance of fitness without sacrificing knee stability.

The point of all this is not to bring up my own personal workout routine, but to finally ask the question, what is the most effective way one may prepare one's body for disc golf?

Would it be similar to a ball golfer's routine?  Perhaps a baseball player's?  Should I run?  Work core?  Lift free weights?  If so, what lifts will best prepare me?  I am in the northeast now.  Should I take up rowing?

I'm not sure what the answer is, but this has long been a question of mine.  Please let me know your thoughts.

~Diggs

The Itch

Hello ladies and gents,

It certainly has been awhile, but we're back in the saddle again.  For those of you not in the know, I went back to school this fall, and I have to say, it has been kicking the lower end of my digestive tract.  Homework is a bear and takes up too much time.

This semester is a little lighter on the course load.  That or I'm just not being as diligent.  The truth is somewhere in there.  In any event, this is the time of the year when I get the itch...

I greatly dislike playing in typical winter weather.  I've played in snow and ice before.  Pretty sure I did it on sheer principle.  But as I've grown older, I've realized that (in the words of Lewis Black) it isn't a triumph of the human spirit... it's f***in' stupid.  It doesn't seem like disc golf to me.  Instead, I've spent the winter cooped up inside staring at my practice basket.  And as month as turned to month, my strange desire to throw molded plastic at metallic assembles becomes a pervasive part of my reality.  It is a cacophony of silence that begs to be pierced by the chinging of chains.

Let us all prepare now brothers and sisters to scratch that mutual itch we share.  For while in the fall we somberly muttered that winter is coming, in the winter we may now anxiously proclaim that spring is nigh!

~Diggs

The Minnesota Majestic: Tourney in Review

I have heard about this tournament for years since I have been living in Minnesota. "You gotta play in the Majestic! It's amazing...." I have been to the Final 9 and the Opening rounds to see the Pro's light up some of the greatest courses Minnesota has to offer. I have seen Feldberg miss a putt and the immediately smack himself in the head with a disc in disgust. I've even dabbled in playing in the doubles tournament that is the Thursday before the tourney starts and we all know how that went. But I have never actually played in the event. UNTIL this year.

2013: A Disc Odyssey

This summer represents a pretty major change for me and my family.  I will be moving across the country in August to the east coast.  I'll be driving solo in my trusty Chevy Impala that may, in fact, eclipse a quarter million miles on the trip.  Now this isn't the first long trip I've made.  A number of years ago, I moved to Charlotte (in the same Impala, no less!).  The problem with long trips... they are long.  And they are boring.  They are long and boring.  And I needed to figure out a way to make the entire experience more palatable.  Enter map.  Here's what we're looking at:


View Larger Map

I know what you're thinking.

"Wow Diggs, that's a long way to drive.  What are all those little markers?"

So glad you asked!

Those are points spaced out on my proposed driving route.  Each one represents a course I (tentatively) plan on playing on the way out, picking up most states I will be traveling through.  I chose large cities in my path spaced out fairly evenly.  Then, looking at local options, chose some of the better regarded courses in the area.  Here is the list:

1. Sertoma Park (Sioux City, IA): Former Cold Lamp Headquarters, this was the beginning of my disc golf experiences.  Seemed fitting to make it the beginning of this disc golf journey
2. Camden Park II (Milan, IL): A course in Davenport looked more interesting, but this one also looked promising and is located in a state in which I have yet to play.  No better reason, really.
3. Mohawk DGC/Boondock Farms (~Indianapolis, IN): Mohawk looked really interested, but it was described as a private course available only on special occasions.  What does that mean?  I don't know.  But Boondock is a more than suitable substitute from what I have seen.  It will also add an Indiana course.
4. Brent Hambrick Memorial DGC (Columbus, OH): The Memorial is the site of one of the largest and well-respected tourneys of the year and a National Tour stop.  Having yet to play a course used in the NT aside from a couple WC courses, I am excited to give it a go!
5. Moraine State Park (Portersville, PA): I hear Pittsburgh is a fairly decent place to play some disc.  Moraine is described as a championship level course.  Hopefully I have enough time to fit in all these quality courses!
6. Mercer County Park (West Windsor Township, NJ): This will be in the neighborhood of my new home.  Might as well see what the locals are up to, eh?

 All stops will depend on how the drive is going and whether or not I have the time to spare, but I should be able to manipulate the drive to include most if not all.

Of course, if my wife joins me on the trip, I'm going to say all plans are off (though I might be able to finagle the Memorial!).  Anyway, wish me luck and Godspeed.  I will be embarking on a new adventure.  One thing is for certain (as concerns this blog), disc golf will continue to be a part of it!

Auf Wiedersehen!

~Diggs

Cold Lampin' Weekend # 3: Preview and random thoughts

At the moment of this post hitting the internet we will be about 30 or so hours from beginning the next greatest disc golf adventure.  We are about to embark on our (count it) third annual Cold Lampin' disc golf weekend, never mind that this year it takes place over a Monday-Wednesday. I dare say that this years trip will be our best yet.  The anticipation has been mounting for months as we finalized our plans to head back to the place we dreamed about in high school. A place where the disc golf weekends started....the legendary Disc Golf Mecca. Highbridge Hills.

A place where one day there will be ten 18 hole courses set upon the single property.  Located in the middle of nowhere close to the shores of Lake Michigan in Northern Wisconsin. Five brave souls will embark on a journey that will undoubtedly strengthen our friendship but also test our disc golf abilities.  It is an area that is unforgiving, arrant throws will be punished with extra shots.  But the one golfer who dares challenge the likes of Highbridge Gold will wind up with the greatest prize. A golden trident that Poseidon tossed out of the Great Lake only to never have it return.

Well Poop. We Have Some Catchin' Up To Do...

When I say we have catching up to do, I mean it.  This post will be spanning a time frame of three years.  Buckle up!

• My May and June are pretty crazy.  I am literally home for 1.5 weeks in June, and I will be logging around 100 hours of work in those 1.5 weeks.  That will play into a couple of these bullet points, but mostly I just wanted to see that typed out so I could scare the crap out of myself.  Did it work?  Let me check.  Yup... crap is out.
• Checking back on some old posts, I realized I was lazy.  I started Day 1 of the 2012 Disc Weekend, but I neglected to do absolutely anything beyond that.  Shame on me!  I will start catching up on those soon-ish.  With two posts remaining on the subject, I should get it done before the 2013 Disc Weekend actually takes place.  This brings me to my next point...
• Disc Weekend (Week) 2013 is only about a month away!  I'm a loser, so I made an itinerary for our time.  After some fine tuning, I'll be sending it out.  Get your arms ready 'cuz you're going to need some stamina for this one.  I'll expand upon this in a separate preview post, but for now just know that there will be prizes, awards, skills competitions, and even something called the North Korea Special.  Stay tuned.
• The 2014 World Amateur Disc Golf Championships will be in the Twin Cities
• I am playing tournaments again this year.  I am pretty sure MRK is, too, though I'll let you tell you about that himself.
• Wouldn't it be sweet if the last two bullet points were related?
• My first tourney will be an A-Tier at the end of the month.  I have played precisely zero of the courses on the schedule.  My prediction = my rating will go down.
• I have a pinched nerve in my back that's been going on for nearly a month now.  I have a doctor's visit tomorrow.  Let us see if we can't get Diggs up and going before the month is out.
• I miss you all.  Can't wait to get together and throw some plastic!

~Diggs

Worst. Day. Ever.

The weather finally seems to be getting better.  My back is still bothering me, but we'll play through it.  Little option, really.  When the disc bug gets in ya, you just have to get it out!

This effectively is the beginning of a lot of our seasons.  If your first rounds are much like mine, you will be reminded of how poorly you really do play this game.  Understandable.  You have to re-learn every disc.  Every throw.  Every angle and strategy and hole habits.  Those throws you were making in the fall just aren't flowing in the spring.  You know it will get better with time... just sucks now.

Got me to thinking.

What was the worst day/experience you have had in disc golf?  Figured I'd let this one marinate a bit before I offer mine.  Give you all a chance to give yours.

As you rehash those memories you thought you had left behind, be entertained by someone else s worst time.  Enjoy.

~Diggs