💯 Living the disc golf dream
Pro Paradise, DGN's Future, and FH Fundamentals
Hello and welcome, this is The Players Meeting. I read everything on the internet, so you don’t have to.
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If you missed the Match Play recap, then I got you: Mountain Disc Golf
Let’s get into it.
Dr. Smooth
This BH specialist is called the King of Smooth, while also mistaken for Rob Lowe. Cale Leiviska spoke on PDGA Radio about his history, upcoming event, and discs.
Being super competitive, Leiviska found the sport in high school (2001) and fell in love with the solo aspect. Not knowing any better, he played Open at his 1st tournament and began his career with $26.
Now at the ripe age of 39, Leiviska is a 20-year veteran and plans to be competitive for another 20. He’s come a long way in 2 decades:
Held the longest active cash streak (ended Feb 2022)
Co-founded Prodigy Disc & on the board of directors
Founded Leiviska Disc Golf Design (6 courses/yr)
Founded & designed the Airborn Disc Golf Preserve in Clearwater, MN
TD for The Preserve Championship
And to add on, his Airborn discs with Prodigy have been years in the making. Due to Covid supply concerns, his lineup was delayed until this year.
But now his 1st disc, Falcor, has been out and bagged by every Prodigy pro. The next 2, Shadowfax (US fairway) & Strider (straight mid), will be coming in 2 months.
You’ll find that they all share a common theme: Deep rims. Leiviska fan grips everything and wanted them deep in his hand. Falcors will be flying all over this weekend.
The Preserve Championship
PREVIEW (6/24-26)
We’re entering the dog days of the season and now summer. Cale Leiviska is hosting the Tour at his property for the 3rd year, and everyone loves it here.
It’s paradise for these players with the fancy red teepads & mulch on every fairway/green. It’ll be hot, humid, and windy in the Midwest.
Combining his 3 courses, the Black Bear course has long bombs, minimal artificial OB, & fun/free style of play. His pet peeve is holes that are confusing on coverage (imaginary OB lines), so you won’t see any here.
Some notable players took time off and are hopping back on Tour. Ricky Wysocki & Calvin Heimburg are back after their knee and hip issues. And Match Play Champ, Joel Freeman, is taking a break to prep for the 2nd half of his 37-week season.
Highest rated FPO player, Kristin Tattar, was meant to be back, but her touring partner Silver Lätt tested positive and their trip is canceled. Meanwhile, Eveliina Salonen, Henna Blomroos, & Paige Pierce are back.
LAST YEAR RECAP
MPO/ Immediately, we were treated to a -15 (1089 rated) round from Ricky Wysocki. Then we grabbed our popcorn for the 3-way battle between Wysocki, McMahon, and McBeth.
They kept it close all the way showcasing FHs we may never see again and several raptor leg putts. Wysocki birdied the last 7 holes to beat McMahon by 1.
FPO/ It almost felt like a blowout after 1 round. Kristin Tattar was on another level with a -7 round (rated 1005) and separated herself by 4 strokes.
She then grew her lead to 7 in Round 2 and finally completed her wire-to-wire win with a 10-stroke victory over Pierce.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
2 months ago, Wysocki won DDO easily then limped his way to a 5th place finish at OTB Open. But he couldn’t handle the knee swelling anymore and took a break.
Now he’s here to defend his title. If in good condition, he’s the clear favorite with McMahon missing, McBeth in a slump, and Lizotte having to pull off an impossible 3-in-a-row.
You’ll be able to watch live all weekend on DGN. Or on next-day coverage from JomezPro, Gatekeeper Media, and GK Pro.
And for an in-depth stats preview, check out my fellow newsletter writer PDGA Stats with Tour Series Talk.
Coming Soon 🎬
Jamie Thomas, DGPT’s content development manager, was on The Upshot to discuss how DGN is expanding its horizons. It’s more than just live broadcasts (e.g. Wiggins mini-doc).
Here’s a peek into what’s coming this off-season:
Finding the Lines Season 2: Avery Jenkins collab with McBeth’s foundation installing the 1st DG course in Montenegro
“Story of the Season Series” like Hard Knocks: 6 part, 1hr long episodes, docuseries on what happened this year
Lots more to come like instructional footage, form breakdowns, etc.
DGN is trying its best to be the one-stop shop for high-quality entertainment. You be the judge with your wallet.
Random Dubs
1️⃣ Rules Clarification: You can no longer do the infamous Matt Bell Blowfly technique. You were likely never able to do it, but the PDGA has clarified in their Q&A section.
On SmashboxxTV, Terry Miller brought up a good point, “where does the line get drawn?” On various vlogs, pros have discussed bending rims up or down to adjust stability.
This won’t impact your Sunday Tags or even your C-Tier this weekend. But it’s something that could come into play with all the taco-able discs now.
2️⃣ Last month, Ryan Sheldon shared tips to go from a tweener to a FH bomber. But some aren’t there yet, so this week we got fundamentals to a solid FH from Buhr and Overthrow DG x Marwede:
Bend upper body over the disc, not towards the target
Weight transfers to front foot before arm finishes
Maintain a loose arm, then coil shoulder, and generate snap
Rolling the wrist during follow-through is fine
Meme of the Week
Thanks for reading today. Get out and have fun this weekend!
- Charlie
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