We are at Rad Coffee in Upland, California. Kind of like a small town
little area but we're right on the edge of LA, reminds me of home a lot which is
really nice. This is sort of like a punk themed coffee shop they have a bunch of
cool band posters. We got 17 pages of screenshots of questions and I'm so
excited to look through all of them! I look through the first page and I'm
already giggling. My first question is from @instagooser. Do you like disc golf? Well
I'm gonna go with a yes. My favorite disc and my favorite course. That's easy my
favorite course since the day I played it has been De Laveaga in Santa Cruz,
California. I love the challenges, I love the types of holes. There's a
really nice risk reward factor you can either go for the shot or play it safe
and lay up and then have still kind of a tricky approach to the green because
they are such fast greens and because there are cliffs right behind a lot of
the baskets. My favorite disc would be probably... it's a tie. My pro Rhyno and My
XT Colt. I love my putter, I love my upshot putter, and I love my Thunderbird so
those are those are top three. Am I allowed to give a top three? @frisbeecollier
asked when do we get James Conrad signature stamps? Normally I would
ignore questions about other disc golfers because this is about me, but I
love James Conrad and I think he was my favorite signature disc artwork last
year with the hair around the Aviar so I am also excited to see James Conrad's
2019 signature stamp. Can I have a free disc? I wonder how many of those I'm gonna get?
The artwork. @naturespinning sounds like an account I would like already. The artwork
on your signature discs are really great. Any plans for the next one? So this year
for the Signature Series Innova is asking that we keep the artwork in-house
but they are still letting me have a lot of say so and what it's about.
@jaredquigg asked who were your disc golf idols growing up? Well I would answer
that question if I played disc golf growing up but I didn't get started till
I was 20 and I didn't actually start paying attention to the sport and being
really involved until I was more along the lines of 25 so
I guess I was still growing up when I was 25 and my idols were, were and still are Elaine
King and Des Reading. What's your favorite course in Florida? That's a
tough question. I really love to throw Down the Mountain course but it is
temporary so I don't know if that counts as my absolute favorite course. But a lot
of the Florida courses that I enjoy playing are sort of swampy. They're in the
palmettos. They're near water. They have sandy bottoms and just like
that true Florida feel. I like all of those and a good example is Blue Angel
Disc Golf Park in Pensacola. It is a short course, it is kind of a
par-3 putter mid-range course but that's my favorite kind of golf. Is the
ivory-billed woodpecker still alive, if so where is it? Thank You Neal Tucker.
So the ivory-billed woodpecker is the bird that I had on my signature disc
last year I called it the Thunderpecker technically extinct technically but a
lot of birders like to remain hopeful sort of like Elvis and Tupac fans they
like to think they're still alive somewhere.
@oilybrethren, interesting name, asked what's your favorite mushroom and your
next disc should have that spore print on it? That is actually a great idea but
I don't know if my favorite mushroom would have a very great spore print. I
really like the Lion's Mane mushroom. It's one of the first mushrooms that I foraged on
my own and ate on my own. Mills Turner asked what's the most underrated Innova
disc. I would be tempted to say the Rhyno but I don't know if that's considered
underrated because I think a lot of people love the Rhyno but I don't know
if that's because I'm hyper aware of the Rhyno disc golf scene because I've loved
them for so long. As far as newer releases go I'm tempted to say the
Wombat3 just from what I've learned in the past few days but we will be testing
that more in the future. I'll get back to you on that. Are you going to tour with
young Vinny this year? @codylarson123 That's still in the works. We're not sure.
No matter whether young Vinny or Calvin Heimberg for those of you guys don't who
don't know who young Vinny is, we're not a hundred percent sure but even if we
don't tour in a vehicle together we will be hanging out all the time whether or
not I want to or he wants to. Is a hot dog a sandwich? @jbinkley91737
Giving us some really tough questions and it is early here in
California. I'm gonna say no a hot dog's a hot dog but that's because I love
sandwiches more than almost anything. Any side hustles to help pay the bills and
stay on tour from @deckcitysu Entering my fifth year on tour I would
say that I am still an entrepreneur, I still have the side hustles but now that
I just got promoted to the Star Team it is a lot more comfortable and I have to
have a lot less side hustle. Bradford Duncan asked favorite fly fresh
and salt? I like the non disc golf questions coming in too. They're all over the
place. I like to do it I've gone a bunch but I'm pretty limited as far as which
fish I fish for. I really like trout and so in fresh water I like to do dry flies
on pocket water like on rocky bottoms. And in salt water I've done some
speckled trout fly-fishing I don't remember what I use but I'm pretty sure
it was, it was something that mimicked a sand flea. Where can I find the best
putting tutorials I have everything else down to a tee spelt "tee" I love dad jokes.
Thank You @connord43. There's a couple of putting videos that I released one
with Innova last year that I'm sure you guys saw on the commercial on any Innova
sponsored coverage last year. Also I did one with Infinite Discs last year at
the Las Vegas Open that you can find pretty easily
@keeganpalusomusic asked favorite slash most gifted book I
would say my favorite book is The Hobbit my most gifted book is probably the
Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. What is your favorite putter made by Innova? @josj_mason_sport
I think it I've made it pretty clear how much I love my XT Colt
and my Rhyno so those are the best but for putting I love my XD Colt great for
small hands great for kids. It's also the XT plastic, is really nice and tough and
it doesn't beat in very fast so you can have your putters for a long time
without feeling like you need to replace them or without your putter
getting down to 155 grams as you just take Nick's off of it. Any tips for new
female players? My partner is wanting more distance. @lead_express She's wanting
more distance I think the big thing is getting your legs involved a lot of
women will throw standing up with just their arm so I think a big thing
making sure that she's down in an athletic stance. Mr. recovery part 2 - Do
you like courses that are wide open with little obstruction or wooded and tight? I
am a hundred percent wooded and tight. I do not like golf course style golf, I do
not like wide-open golf. I play it because we're required to on tour but in
reality I think disc golf, the art of disc golf and what makes me enjoy the
sport is lining up those shots and kind of having the fairway laid out for you
and you have to find a tool in your bag that makes that fairway, makes that shot
do what it has to do it kind of forces you to be a disc golf artist. Wilson Kaden
and asked what color is your toothbrush? Is it weird that I can't remember? I
think it's white and green. I'm thinking about moving to a wooden toothbrush
because I'm trying to use less plastic and my toothbrush is plastic right now.
@nickel77790 just pointed out that Grand Canyon, the Throw Down the Mountain
course and Hawk Hollow the VTI course are both cowpie slash
dual use courses which means half the time they're a course the other half of
the time there a place for cows to hang out and I would say Hawk Hollow
is I said that De Laveaga's my favorite course but Hawk
Hollow is up there with a very close tie for first or second. I highly recommended
here taking a disc golf vacation go check out Northern Virginia. @sereno312
asked it's ridiculously snowy and windy here in Michigan and he asked me a
Floridian, any tips on throwing in the winter? I don't have any tips if I played
or if I lived in a place where there was snow I probably would not touch a disc
in the wintertime except for maybe putting like I guess
that people have basements there we don't have that in Florida either so I
would putt in my basement. Scott Fairchild - do you ever use a driver
as a pizza cutter? No but I will. Thanks for the idea.
If you had to play a round with only one mold of discs what would it be. If you
had asked me that last year I would have said a driver of some sort. If you ask me
that now I would a hundred percent say a putter. I've been throwing putters
during this offseason working a lot with my backhand putter shot and now I see
why most people would pick a putter if they're in
their right mind. So I would say definitely a putter probably my Colt.
Are there any discontinued Innova molds you wish were still produced from
@birdseyeview. Yes and no. Yes because I used to throw all designer discs and I
love my old flat top Star Firebirds. I used to throw KC Pro Teebirds. I used to
throw KC Pro Rocs. But as time has moved on I've realized you don't really need
those expensive old molds. Non disc golf idol? from Glenna Stacey. Oh I like that
question. It would be Eugenie Clark. She's a scientist slash scuba diver that studied
sharks. She was kind of the pioneer Woman in scuba diving and science studying
Elasmobranchs which are sharks, skates, and rays. Hello! I like that she's a pioneer
Woman. I like that she was going out and getting uncomfortable and being the only
woman doing what she was doing and that not only did she make a name for herself
she made more of a name for herself than most other scientists and scuba divers
at that time when she was starting to study. Brian Railroad Watson asked
what's the holy grail of your collection? I'm not sure this is a disc golf related
question or not because I'm a collector of many things.
Probably my KC Pro Teebird. It's a really pretty one but i don't throw it anymore
so I'll call it a holy grail. Non disc golf: I found a really really awesome fossil
in Tennessee earlier this year. It's a Crinoid fossil but i'm a big fan of it. It's
a really long one really nice one so I have it displayed on the shelf. @zhf.etc
asked what is your go-to overstable driver? I would say probably a Firebird. I
think that's always been my go-to. I like the little bit less stable over, less
over stable Firebirds. I like the flat top Star Firebirds and the Sexton style
Firebirds and if we're going distance drivers I throw an overstable Destroyer
so I would say those are my go-to. @danadiscgolf asks can you babysit the girls
next Friday? I love my tour buddies. Yes I can babysit them. @1970weezy
asks what do you do to keep your mental game solid during a competitive round of
disc golf? That's something I'm still working on. At the end of last year I
definitely lost it mentally a little bit. I like to think that I have it dialed in
but I like to practice positive counter talk. A big thing is focusing on
your positive shots and celebrating them instead of only focusing on your
negative shots and downing yourself on those. Mental game is tough. I think
it's almost tougher than doing fieldwork or practicing putting. I think it is the
toughest thing because it's the hardest thing to practice. @jron25 asks Hey cloud
girl! That's a good nickname. Do you always go back to defend titles
you've won the previous year. Well that's actually a new problem for me.
I haven't had to defend that many titles because I didn't have that many titles
@jron is this in Wisconsin at the Silver Cup? Which I was very excited to
win last year it's one of my favorites - disc golf stops on tour I don't know if
I'm gonna make it back depending on if I go to Europe or not this year but
hopefully ideally I would like to make it back to Missoula and to Wisconsin
where I had some really awesome gratifying wins at some of my favorite
stops on tour. @brewdog84 asked as a sponsored team member when you go to
Mecca parentheses Innova do you have free rein. Yeah they just let me do whatever I
want. No they treat me really well but you
know we have rules just like anyone else. I like that you called it Mecca
Definitely is Mecca and I'm very happy and fortunate to be here. Zach Wagman
asked do you have a house or do you just live in a tent in the woods? I kind of
wish I just lived in a tent in the woods. But in reality I live half in my car like a
homeless person and other half on other people's couches and beds. Oh someone asked,
There was lots of free disc questions and now someone asked if they can have
the hat that I was wearing during the putting video. I'm sorry DJ Sherwood
that's my hat. I feel like I have chocolate on my teeth. Aren't you supposed to like
not ever eat while you're doing videos filming? I'm breaking the rules. Biggest tip
for people new to disc golf from @quickjumpmaster15. A lot of people get
handed popular disc Destroyers, Firebirds Thunderbirds, stuff like that. That's a
little bit too high speed and a little bit too overstable for a newer player.
Try to find something a little bit straighter or more understable
and a little bit slower speed, a mid-range I think is a great place to
start or a lower speed driver like a Leopard. Using those discs will help you
hone in your form and once you can get those discs to fly you'll be able to
throw any discs in any lineup. @nick_vega90 I think this is his second question.
Do you have any on course superstitions? A lot. I don't use a mini very often
unless I have to. I feel like almost when I put my mini
down I miss it so because I'm thinking about it so I like to always putt from
where my disc lies. Lots of Calvin fans on here. Are all my
fans Calvin fans too? What weight Thunderpeckers do you throw from @ufgoods. I
throw 170 Thunderpeckers. In the wind I like to go a little bit higher,
max weight because you can trust a max weight disc to cut through the wind a
little bit more in my opinion. Topher the Gopher asks what was the hardest shot to
learn when you started playing? I was throwing all four hands and it came so
naturally I did not have to learn it, it just kind of I don't know if it was
softball or Ultimate Frisbee, I played in ultimate before disc golf. That being
said I couldn't throw a backhand so I would say learning a backhand was really
challenging. It's unlike any other sport I've ever played where you're turning
your back turning your eyes away from your target and just trusting that your
body's lined up in the right way and that was a really tough thing for me to
understand and tough thing for me to trust. What's your favorite restaurant or
food while you're on the road? Jordan Heilmann.
I'm kind of a food diva. I like to eat sort of healthy and I also like to eat
local as much as possible. I try to avoid chains.
I try to be cognizant of what I'm putting in my body cause I feel like it
makes me feel better every day. @caleb.spoo asked how did you get
sponsored? Did you catch the attention through tournaments or what? I played
local events at first just out of love of the game?
I was waiting tables when I kind of started playing disc golf more often in
between getting my bachelor's degree and looking at a master's degree and I
realized that I was making a little bit more playing disc golf on the weekends
then I was waiting tables and I enjoyed it and I loved the community. Michelle
and Clay Jones they saw me play a few times. We became friends and they
decided you know what this girl needs to go to Worlds
Michelle is actually an Innova Ambassador as well. She set everything up
for me, she helped get my plane flight organized, she found a place for me to
stay, she found someone to go with me and next thing you know I was going from
playing C-Tiers in Georgia to playing a major. I did not play an A-Tier, I
didn't play a national tour and I just jumped straight into Portland Worlds in
2014. I ended up getting 11th which was better than I guess I was supposed
to have finished and after that it kind of, I met page Pierce she invited me to go touring
and at that point they kind of set me up it was seemed like the only right thing
was to find a sponsor. I contacted Innova and the rest is
history. It happened pretty quickly. Yo Adrian what's your favorite animal? My
Dog Booji. I also really like flying fish and I love all sea and shorebirds.
@rcarp256 asked what music are you listening to these days? Music is one of
my true passions, it always has been. I played piano growing up. I was always
in little fun bands with my high school friends. I was going to live music
constantly in college and taking music elective classes. So music is a big
deal to me. I have a pretty wide range of music and I like to make playlists on
Spotify. You guys like Spotify find me follow me I'm making playlists
constantly and you can decide if you like it too.
A lot of female led bands. I've been listening to a lot of David Bowie, that's
pretty normal since I was in high school. Someone really did ask who are you? Kia
Chi asked where is your favorite surf spot? Can you hang ten? Short or long
board? I don't have a favorite surf spot right now. The longest and best wave I
ever caught was in Santa Cruz at Surfers Beach. Longboard 100%. I tried to short
board for a while, not my thing. I like easy paddling I like easily getting into
a wave and I like being able to move around on the board after you catch. Can
I hang ten. No, I'm not that awesome yet. What traits do you look for in a guy
that you would date? Michael Lee: how would I convince my parents to let me
tour a year / summer before College? I think it's very important you finish
high school make sure you do that. I think education is very important but
we're in a time now where college is not necessarily the only way to go. If you
have your heart set on touring for a year before you go to college
you might as well try. I think College in my
opinion as someone with a degree, I think college is very important and I think
college is one of my favorite parts of my life so far. How do you counteract
pain in an elbow area after a forehand shot from Tim McMasters Tam. You can't
really counteract pain right after a forehand shot. You're going to have pain
if you have elbow issues. I think the big thing is taking a break from forehand
shots and letting your elbow rest and letting your, most of the time it's
tendon pain. Letting your tendons recuperate a little bit and in the
meantime working on forehand strength, doing you know little, you know you can
get like a soda can and do a little lift like that. That helps strengthen
all the muscles in your forearm. Disc Golf Strong has some really good
exercises with shoulder stabilizer work, forearm muscles, and giving yourself lots
of rest if you notice that you're injured. Erin Shell said what's your
motivation? And I believe that's our last question, it's a good one to end on? I
would say I'm motivated by the fact that I feel very lucky to get to do this as
my job right now. It's pretty cool that I get to obviously tour around and compete
and that's great but really I just think I'm lucky that I get to work with people
all the time. I get to stay at host houses and interact with them in their
daily life and really get to know people at a level that you don't normally get
to know people. I get to give clinics and work with kids and work with adults that
are due, helping them do something they love better. I think that's what keeps me
inspired and keeps me motivated is, it's getting to get to know people up close
and personal making social connections and then helping people do what they
love to do. So I want to say thank you to Innova and thank you to Rad Coffee for
letting us invade their personal space. This place is awesome, come check it out!
Thank you guys so much for submitting questions. I had so many to look through.
I had to skip some I'm really sorry about that, but I really appreciate you
guys taking the time to ask and I hope that you'll stay tuned for the 2019 tour.
I'm so excited! My game is very different and I can't wait to show you guys what
I've been working on in the off season.
Thanks guys.