Disc golf and Roller Derby

A natural combination, no doubt. What follows is a recap of last Saturday. A couple notes before we get to the video madness. 1) I just got a memory card big enough to start playing with the video settings on my new camera (Casio Exilim) and the work so far is rough. 2) I am in the process of growing my hair out and it has reached "long enough to be annoying, but not quite long enough to fully fit into a ponytail". This is not an intentional style choice, but rather one of the (several) horrific stages between short and long. Anyway, onto the video and some shot analysis.

Peters Creek #6


This is only my 4th or 5th round of the year and both my form and my fitness are still working there. On my forehand shots, I am not fully closing my shoulder and, as a result, my shots are a bit too far to the right. This still turned out relatively well, but I should be in birdie range on every throw by midseason.

Peters Creek #9



As you can see, I am not getting anywhere near level on this shot. My right arm angle is way below where it should be and the disc came out high and sailing to the right. It turned out ok (about 9 feet to the right of the basket), but it is not where I would like it to be.

Peters Creek #11



As you can see from this shot, the disc goes straight down the middle of the trail before cutting to the right. Ideally it should be s-ing to the left side of the trail before cutting back. Once I am getting my shoulder closed all the way, it should s a bit more and get over to the left side. Again, a good result, as the shot ended up at the base of the hill below the basket.

Peters Creek #12



I purchased an Innova Star, with the hopes that it will become my backhand disc for left turning holes. This is an early shot and a definite work in progress. I think this will be good in the long run. I need to get my footwork on my approach worked out, as I have an over-exaggerated hitch out, followed by closing my shoulders too far at the start of my delivery.

Peters Creek #13



We call 13 "dotting the i" This is my buddy Moesepheus shooting. He got on a run in this round and dropped 5-6 good shots with this disc (the Predator, I believe, but I could be wrong). This shot landed about 3 feet past the basket. Great shot.

Peters Creek #18



This is one of the better shots I have thrown in the last year or so (despite looking like a schoolgirl while watching it fly). 18 is a fairly tight hole that breaks wide to the left, then cuts back straight at the end of the hole. Also, there is a line of trees to the left, with two breaks that go down to the creek. There is a landing area there, but it is below the hole and a tough approach. This shot went directly over the basket, about 3 feet above the top. It turned about to be not as good a result as I would have liked. Despite only going 10 feet past the basket, the shot was really not all that makable, as there is a dopr off about 8 feet past the hole. Thus, the disc ended up 7 feet below the hole. Still a good shot. I can usually throw the overstable hook, but I usually lose it to the left. This time I kept it level enough that it tailed back to the right at the end.

After we finished up the round, Moesepheus and I met up with KTG and some other friends to hit the Roller Derby, more specifically the Rage City Rollergirls. The evening turned out to be awesome! I did not have any expectations going into the evening (besides being told that the players came in all shapes and sizes), particularly considering I had never seen a roller derby and that I did not have the first clue about the Rules. Here is what it boils down to: Imagine that you have two football teams consisting of 4 lineman and a running back. The goal is to have your running back run past the other teams lineman as many times as possible. And you are all running the same direction. In a circle. On Skates. Thats pretty much it. Once you know that, it goes from a confusing tangle of women to a sport with some pretty cool strategies and neat things going on. Imagine football before you knew what the hell was going on. But with hot women in miniskirts on roller skates (whoever was rocking 1/2 tsp. was garnering some admirable comments from the beer garden). Anyway, here are a few jams from the second half.







The only downside to the event? The lack of seating in the beer garden. There were 4 rows of seats in the front, then one section of bleachers tucked in the corner. The other 200-300 people in the beer garden had to stand up. So everyone was ready to go as soon as the event was over because we had been standing on a concrete floor for two hours by the time it was over. Had there been somewhere to sit, it would have been 1000% better.

Overall a fun day. I think this is going to be a good season discing and that I am going to get my game to places where it has not been since I left Ann Arbor. And I will probably go back the next time the roller derby goes off in town.