🔑 Cole Redalen wasn't an overnight success story

Hello and welcome, this is The Players Meeting. The only newsletter that listens to every disc golf podcast at 3x speed so you don’t have to.

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If you missed Ledgestone’s recap, then I got you: Midwest’s Major

Let’s get into it.

PLAYER PROFILE
Cole Redalen’s Come Up

After the best performance of his career, the 18-year-old went on the podcast circuit this week. He went into detail on his intro to the sport, touring life, and the struggles that got him here.

Growing up home-schooled, Redalen found disc golf at the age of 11. It became a family activity, and they had lessons with Zoe AnDyke at Milo McIver.

He didn’t think it could become his career until the Covid boom. Before 2020, he’d play in Oregon events until he turned pro at the 2019 Next Gen Championship.

In 2021, he hit the road with Discraft on his back. But his rookie season wasn’t an overnight success… He had one Top-10 (Ledgestone) and missed cash at 3 Tour events.

The following year the struggles began. He switched to an open bag with Infinite Discs and went from putting with Lunas to the EV-7 Phi. The switch was not kind.

In Sept 2022, Redalen was at a breaking point and sought help from experienced coach Scott Stokely. Over dinner, they realized it wasn’t mental, it was mechanical, and they fixed it tableside.

One of the changes was his backfoot angle and use. Before Stokely, Redalen’s backfoot was perpendicular to his front. He changed it to closer to 45°.

Now he’s touring the country solo in an RV and knows his trajectory is only up. In fact, Redalen is in 3rd place with the # of hot rounds (5) this season.

The field can blame Zoe AnDyke for the next 10 years of him fighting for the win. It’s a question of when not if he will win a Major. The future is now.

TOUR COVERAGE
LWS Open at Idlewild

PREVIEW (8/11-13)

On the northern tip of Kentucky, the Idlewild course lies in wait for pros and bucket listers to make their yearly pilgrimage. For the local Cincinnatians, this property is their crown jewel.

If you’re reading this newsletter, then you know this famous track well. It’s wooded, OB-lined, has rolling hills, and frames its iconic greens with cylindrical blocks.

Starting tomorrow, pros will attempt to weave shots around these magical woods. Besides tree whacks, the frequent plane noise will be this weekend’s soundtrack.

LAST YEAR RECAP

MPO/ 🥇Isaac Robinson (-33) 🥈Chris Dickerson (-29) 🥉Kyle Klein (-23)

With 2 days of rain, the course played like a Slip 'N Slide. But to Robinson, it was a playground.

He put on one of the best performances by averaging -11 per round, putting 100% in C1X, and making 60-footers look casual. It was his 1st DGPT win.

FPO/ 🥇Catrina Allen (+2) 🥈Missy Gannon & Ohn Scoggins (+4)

Dealing with more rain and a lightning delay, Idlewild played hard for the women. As card mates threw OB and missed putts, Allen stayed in control to close out her 3rd win of the season.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

European Open Champ Corey Ellis cites Idlewild as his favorite course on Tour. He’s played it every year since 2017 but has yet to finish better than 9th.

Outside this event, he has winning experience on this property. He’s won the Nati Big 3 (B-Tier) four times from 2017 to 2019 plus 2021.

With this stop only 2.5 hours from his WV hometown, Ellis always has friends and family out to spectate. But right now, he may not be at 100%…

Last weekend, he had to DNF at Ledgestone due to overuse pain in his wrist/hand. Fingers crossed the extra rest was enough, and he’ll be carving up Idlewild.

POWERED BY POWERGRIP USA
Unwrap Gold This Week

Powergrip USA has more than just discs. Fresh in are the Brixton Golden Era Box Sets which contain trading cards of your favorite pros.

Some have rare Golden Packs that are guaranteed to hold a 1-of-1 or an Artifax card. These can house disc or clothing fragments straight from the player.

Right now, there’s one with Heimburg’s ace disc listed for $3.5k on eBay. So grab a box today from Powergrip USA and maybe you’ll strike gold…

EURO TOUR & VISUALIZATION
Random Dubs

1️⃣ If you were sad to see the Europe Swing come to an end, then I’ve got some good news. The Alutaguse Open is happening right now.

MPO coverage is on YouTube today at 9:30 AM ET and will continue on DGN for the next 2 days. Two of Estonia’s top courses will be played: Alutaguse & Mäetaguse.

Players in contention include Väinö Mäkelä, Mauri Villmann, Jakub Semerád, & Albert Tamm. Here are the storylines to watch:

• Coming off of the Estonian Nationals win, Villmann is the favorite and already has 3 other Euro Tour wins this season. Could he be the next to attempt a US Tour in future seasons?

• In FPO, there will be a 3-way battle between Finnish Champ Heidi Laine, Norway’s best Anniken Steen, and UK’s Rachel Turton. These 3 have been playing phenomenally and have a combined 8 wins in Europe. Check Round 1 scores.

2️⃣ Everyone always says to visualize your shot before you throw. But what does that even mean?

Let’s say you want to throw a BH flex with your Star Thunderbird. Typically, you’ll aim at a tree on the left side of the fairway, remember to lean back, then let it rip.

From Another Round DG, Joseph “Ace Whisperer” Phillips shared how he does it. He pictures 2 hula-hoops on the fairway that he’s trying to throw through.

Despite his many filmed aces, he says it doesn’t always work BUT it does work better than only aiming for one spot. Either way, his results speak for themselves so give it a go yourself.

Meme of the Week

Thanks for reading today. Get out and make your putts this weekend!

- Charlie