Dynamic Discs moves into a new house

Happy Friday! You’re In The Circle, we help you navigate the world of disc golf. Kinda like apple maps, but more reliable.

📝 On today’s card:

• Throw farther with Gannon

• House of Discs umbrella gets bigger

• Waco Annual Charity Open

Read time: 5 minutes

UP YOUR GAME

If you hear "power pocket" and don't know what it is or why it's essential, Gannon Buhr has you covered.

What is the power pocket? The point in your throw (backhand) when the disc is closest to your chest and your elbow forms a 90-degree angle. This will create a slingshot motion as you release the disc.

Why is it important? When your arm is stiff and straight as you pull through, it forces you to swing the disc out wide reducing your power and limiting the transfer of energy from your lower body into your throw.

Gannon breaks down his throw into three segments.

1. Power Pocket

2. Timing

3. Footwork

While all three contribute to distance and overall better throws, Gannon places emphasis on the power pocket. He displays that even with bad footwork and poor timing, he can still hit 450+ feet of distance with proper upper body form. Even though Gannon tries to display bad form, it’s still much better than the average player’s best. However, that’s a testament to what years of practice can do for you.

Nonetheless, the concept still works. Nail down the power pocket, then move on to improving your footwork and timing.

Mastering the power pocket will come with consistent practice. To help with the process, follow these tips from Gannon.

Drive with your shoulders - Your shoulders are what drive your body (and the disc) forward. You shouldn’t pull with your arm.

90-degree elbow - Extend the disc out on your reach back, then as you drive and rotate your shoulders, have your elbow bend in to form the right angle you need.

Disc tight to your chest - You drive with your shoulders, and the elbow is at 90 degrees, where is the disc? Answer: close to your chest. Keeping the power pocket tight will help get maximum efficiency.

Get the power pocket form down, followed by timing, then you can add footwork to increase distance, but none of it matters if you don’t have the power pocket.

HOUSE OF DISCS UMBRELLA GETS BIGGER

House of Discs brought Dynamic Discs into its fold on Wednesday. The powerhouse, majority owned by two VC firms (Vendis and Equip), is now comprised of Latitude 64°, Dynamic Discs, Handeye Supply Company, Westside Discs, Kastaplast, and Spinoff Games.

The new partnership will allow Latitude 64° to leverage the reach Dynamic Discs has in the U.S. market while providing Dynamic Discs access to R&D at Latitude 64°.

What’s next?

House of Discs may be looking to keep its foot on the gas. Additional acquisitions are currently under discussion and we can expect to see more entities join the already full house in the near future.

Other key initiatives for House of Discs:

• Grow the sport of disc golf worldwide

• Franchise expansion

• Contract disc production

• Continue disc R&D to produce the best plastic on the market

WACO ANNUAL CHARITY OPEN

The Disc Golf Pro Tour continues today with the start of the Waco Annual Charity Open, or WACO for short. If you missed the pre-tournament press conference, check it out here.

The tournament is held at Brazos Park East in Waco, Texas. Free live coverage of the FPO division is already underway on the DGPT YouTube channel. Live coverage of the MPO lead card for round one will start at 3:30 EST. Rounds two and three can be watched on the Disc Golf Network.

Follow the live scores 👇

Previous Winners

• 2022 (ES) - Paul McBeth / Valerie Mandujano

• 2021 (ES)- Nikko Locastro / Kona Panis

• 2020 (ES) - Colten Montgomery / Eveliina Salonen

• 2019 (ES) - Paul McBeth / Catrina Allen

• 2018 (ES)- Jeremy Koling / Paige Pierce

Things to know

The wait continues for Ricky Wysocki and Valerie Mandujano as both stated they will not be playing in Waco. Ricky continues to battle the same wrist injury that held him out of the All-Star weekend and LVC. Valerie is still rehabbing a sprained ankle.

This weekend will be the season debut for the top two ranked females in 2022, Kristin Tattar and Paige Pierce.

Cale Leviska is coming off back-to-back wins in the MP40 division at LVC and the Memorial Championship. Also having placed top-5 at Waco for the last three years, Cale has all the momentum he needs for a solid performance.

WEEKLY PRO RANKINGS - TOP 10

LATEST PLASTIC

The PDGA approved five new discs over the past week.

• X 090 from Shenzhen Reanson Products Co., Ltd

• NX-01 from Newb SimHouse Custom Discs

• Stig from Kastaplast

• Timberline Apollo (variant) from Alfa Discs

• Zone OS from Discraft

Total PDGA-approved models: 1,717

HIGHLIGHTS AND TAP-INS

• Paul Ulibarri, Team Discraft captain tests out the new Zone OS for the first time

• Caroline Henderson started playing disc golf in 2020, but is now “all gas no brakes”

• Texas Womens University is conducting studies in its biomechanics lab by capturing and measuring throws by the best disc golfers in the world

RULE OF THE DAY