📋 Coaching for the future

Santa Cruzmas, Future Building, and Grandmasters

May 12, 2022

Hello and welcome, this is The Players Meeting. Your twice-a-week info bomb of disc golf.Email Read Time: 4 Minutes & 54 Seconds

If you missed the Goat Hill recap, then I got you: The Polarizing Darkhorse

Let’s get into it.

Ulibarri Leadership Institute

Some of you may know that Paul Ulibarri started an institute in the off-season. At first glance, it looks like his portal for scheduling lessons and other events requiring his time.

But this institute is going to be a lot more than that. Uli has big plans for the future of coaching, and he’ll be at the center of it.

This week on the Nick & Matt show, he described what he envisions as the future. Like other competitive sports, there are certified instructors and associations that manage curriculums.

That doesn’t exist right now. Sure, there are hundreds of videos and forums detailing how to reach back and enter the power pocket. But we haven’t created a validated method for teaching and coaching athletes.

Through work with biomechanics experts and using Scratch To Scratch as a proof of concept, Uli is developing his curriculum to certify coaches.

Maybe in 5-10 years, even you could become a professional swing coach with pros paying you $40k/year.

Santa Cruz Masters Cup (Silver Series)

PREVIEW (5/13-15)

The Masters Cup has been played at the DeLaveaga disc golf course since 1986, and it has stood the test of time. Get ready for 2 days of old school shot shaping followed by Championship Sunday at the municipal golf course.

From DeLa’s origins as a motocross track and trash dumping ground, its history has led to many signature holes that more than just locals know…Top of the World, Refrigerator hole, I-5, Barsby’s roller ace hole, Gravity hole

So on the eve of Santa Cruzmas, recap this historic region before watching your favorite pros tackle the courses this weekend.

LAST YEAR RECAP

MPO/ With 2 hot rounds at DeLa, Adam Hammes and Kevin Jones emerged tied with 6 strokes over the next players. But a course like that doesn’t always relent 3 days in a row.

Hammes barely put together a good enough round to win with 1 stroke over the CA native, James Proctor. But it was good enough for $6.5k and to add his name to the prestigious list of winners.

FPO/ Paige Pierce took it down with a wire-to-wire win making her a 5x champ here. Even with that history, she’s taking a break and won’t be playing this year.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

MPO/ After Tuesday’s ratings update, Paul McBeth is back to being the highest rated player in the world (1052). Yes… He didn’t cash at his last event. Yes… It doesn’t exactly make sense.

But as a 5x winner of Masters Cup, McBeast is hungry for this win. Or it’ll at least be interesting to see if he performs below his standards again.

FPO/ Juliana Korver. She’s back on tour after taking a break due to her partner’s health (legendary Jim Oates). She knows this course like the back of her hand and has 3 wins here to back it up.

You’ll be able to watch the coverage live for the final round on DGN. Or on next-day coverage at the DGPT YouTube channel.

Building for the Future

Last week, we were treated to words of wisdom from Benjamin Smith about the future of new courses. This man knows a thing or two about quality courses and the value placed on keeping them “sustainable.”

Let’s first take a peek at his resume:

Smith thinks we’re approaching or are already in an era of building. And during this growth spurt, it’s important for us to remember what we came here for and what we want it to be.

Here are his 3 main points to remember when building:

  1. Sustainable forestry management: “Cut a few and leave a few.”

  2. Don’t waste the opportunity to put in a course, and plant as much as possible.

  3. Continue the unique community of “camaraderie and positivity.”

Read the full blog post here.

Random Dubs

1️⃣ Health Update: JohnE McCray

The Ageless Wonder turned 50 on Tuesday (5/10), and he celebrated with the guys at SmashboxxTV. Coming off of a heart attack, 3 stents, and a defibrillator implant, McCray is feeling 86% and waiting 15 more days to get approved for full activity.

Like a true competitor, he “needs to get back out there” and plans to compete with the best at Idlewild (2 months away). In the meantime, he’ll be training hard and working on adding new shots to his game.

For his birthday wishes, he had 4 things for you all:

  1. Go get a checkup

  2. Get some blood work done

  3. Take care of yourselves

  4. Join his FB group promoting heart health

2️⃣ What’s a better story than a hometown hero beating the best touring pros on his local club’s track?

It doesn’t just happen in the movies. It happened last year in Lockport, IL at Clash at the Canyons. Set aside 30 min to watch Disc Golf Digest’s documentary on Dan Schlitter.

Meme of the Week

Thanks for reading today. Get out and throw this weekend!

- Charlie

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