Relevant

 

April was a little slow and had to shake off the winter rust.  At the end of April I felt things were falling in place and I was happy with how I was playing.  May came and I felt it was on of the strongest months I had in years.  I got 4th in the St. Louis Open, 2nd at the Iron Lion Open,  1st at the Legion of Doom, 4th at the Illiana Open, and finished the month with a 2nd place at the Des Moines Challenge.  Then last week I got 2nd again behind Chris Sprague who won back to back A tiers.  Hopefully the season continues to go well and I'm locking forward to hitting the road.  Up next are the Peoria Open, MN Majestic, taking the 4th of July off, then continue with Brent Hambrick and the Iowa State Championships.

I've been on the road a lot the last 2 months and the season has gotten off to a good start.  The year started off with the Team State Championships.  Cedar Rapids swept but lost on the final hole of the finals.  I then went to Omaha and competed in the the Spring Fling and and Walk the Plank.  I played ok in the two events but several bad holes kept me from placing really well.  The next weekend I went to Emporia Kansas for the GBO.  I was hoping to qualify for the USDGC there but that didn't happen.  My game was up and down but managed to finish well.  The next weekend was in Lamoni, IA and this is where things began to click.  MDR and I played well and won pretty easily for JnB dubs.  The next day was the Graceland Open.  I shot a stellar 1st round and finished off ok for the win. The St Louis Open followed and I got to see Nikko dominate and was untouchable.  He sank putts over and over and over again.  I got to witness the best round of my life and got to see one of the seldom 1100 rated rounds.  I think I was amazed about how well he played vs focussing on my game.  I still had a strong finish and made the final 9.  The following week I played well again but Nikko was too tough.  The wind was also blazing and it was about 50 degrees.  Finally, last weekend I played solid pretty much all weekend and won my hometown tourney, The Shawn Geers Memorial Presents the Legion of Doom.  Every year this is one of the best and Doug Peyton and crew put on a great event.  I also got an ace and took home $730 for the weekend.  It's pretty cool to see what the mind can do.  Last year I played relatively poorly and for my expectations.  I didn't have the focus and drive and I took disc golf for granted.  I spent much of the winter focussing on staying positive, healthy, and working out.  I also spent a lot of time thinking ab0ut the 2010 season.  I needed to stay positive, focus on the shot in front of me, and take the good with the bad.  So far this seems to be working out really well for my game and I think I'm regaining my 2008 form.  My confidence is growning and I am looking forward to having some really good showings this season.

Spring is just around the corner and the 2010 season isn't far from starting.  I completed my proficency exam and I'm ready to start tournaments.  My mind and body feel refreshed.  I really didn't play any winter disc golf, other than 2 rounds, and I've been making sure I eat healthy and I've been playing basketball 3 nights a week, which is nice.  I've also been walking the dogs 1 if not 2 times a day.  The new puppy is crazy and got to keep him tired.  Anyway, looking forward to 2010!

 Mar 26-28 Ocala FL? NT
Apr 3-Ia State Team Championships NS
Apr 9-10 Walk Plank and Spring Fling both B
Apr 17-18 Emporia Glass Blown Open A
Apr 24-25 Graceland and J. B. Dubs both C
May 1-2 St. Louis Open A
May 8 Iron Lion Safari B
May 15-16 Legion of Doom C
May 22-23 Crown Pointe, IN A
May 29-30 Des Moines Challenge A
Jun 5-6 River Cities Rumble A
Jun 19-20 Greater Peoria Open A
Jun 25-27 MN Majestic NT
July 10-11 Brent Hamrick ?NT
July 17-18 Ia State Championships , Iowa City C
July 24 QC or Joliet B
July 27-31 Worlds M
Aug 7-8 Mad City Open A
Aug 14-15 Cedar Creek or Vibram ? B/A
Aug 21-22 Wildcat Springs ? Don't know if it is going to happen
Aug 28-29 St. Joseph Open, MN A
Sept 4-5 Lac du Flambuea, WI A
Sept 11 K9 Carnival B
Sept 18-19 Hub City Open NS
Sep 25-26 Topeka KS A
Oct 1-3 US Dubs? A
Oct 6-9 USDGC M

I felt the 2009 season was a mediocore season for me.  I felt like a could never get things going and only had 1 win.  My putting was off at times and I had a lack of focus.  I don't know the reasons but they were pretty frustrating.  All in all I played around 25 pDGA events this year and enjoyed most of them.   I felt like I preformed best at the World Championships and the Mad City Open.  I was again owned at the USDGC but feel I finished there on a good note and can have a strong showing in 2010.  I want to say congrats to Tanner and Sprague.  They had a very strong season and will be just as competitive next year.   I also ran my first tournament ever in Oelwein, Iowa called the Hub City Open.  That was a fun and new experience and will be doing again late next September.  Finally, I want to say thanks to my sponsors...Discraft, which I've been part of their team since 2005, Iron Lion Disc Golf Supply, and Phenix Disc Sports.  See you all in 2010.

So after the Des Moines Challenge I needed to work on things...in particular my mental game.  For several weeks I was trying to win every tournament, throw the perfect shot, and make every putt.  This way of thinking led to just about everything opposite in which I was trying to accomplish and then led to me getting frustrated and not really enjoying disc golf.  So right after the Challenge I changed my mindset, btw was not easy for me, especially when you are stressing about everyshot.  I slowed down my game whether it was tee shots, upshots, or putting.  I practiced putting in the yard for several hours the week before Worlds and just reminded myself that I really like disc golf and I needed to trust my skills and plastic.  IMO this way of thinking didn't take long to get results.  I started Worlds off well and it just kept going throughout and continued since Worlds.  I'm not stressing out about shots, making putts, recover well from mistakes, take advantage of good shots, and most of all gotten perspective back that you can't play perfect disc golf but you can put forth your best with focus and determination.  Why I love disc golf and think it is a GREAT sport!