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New Highest Rated Player
Happy Friday, keep your discs close. It's a dangerous world out there.
ON TODAY'S CARD 📃:
New highest rated player in the world
Friday form check
Circle's edge
Estimated read time: 4 minutes and 10 seconds
PLAYER SPOTLIGHT
If you saw Tuesday's newsletter, the PDGA updated player ratings on Tuesday, and Manabu Kajiyama overtook Paul McBeth by one point to become the highest-rated player in the world.
With a rating of 1051, Manabu is now the highest-rated player in the world. Manabu is not a new face to disc golf, especially in the pro scene. He has been competing professionally since joining the PDGA in 2002, going head-to-head with disc golf legends like Ken Climo, Barry Schultz, and Dave Feldberg.
Over his career, Manabu has racked up 115 career wins and cashed out $44,927.19. He has consistently been over 1000 rated since 2006 and 1034+ since 2020. He's competed in 23 PDGA Majors, including an 11th-place finish at the 2006 USDGC. He is also on an 11-year winning streak at the Japan National Championships, having won every year since 2012.
Manabu has not competed in a tournament outside of Asia since 2019, likely due to travel restrictions beginning in 2020. Since his last appearance in the States or Europe, Manabu seems to have been using the time at home to his advantage. He has been increasing his rating over the last few months and just rose above 1050 for the first time in his career.
Recently, his time has been spent cleaning house at tournaments (8 tournament wins this year), reviewing Prodigy discs, and testing out new moves.
The DGPT has slowly seen more players outside of the U.S. come and compete on tour as travel restrictions are lifted, and 2023 will likely be more of the same. As a member of Team Prodigy, many hope to see Manabu back at tour events for the 2023 season.
FORM CHECK
How to get more distance with Simon Lizotte. Spoiler, it doesn't involve throwing the Full Tilt.
Simon Lizotte is one of the top pros on tour and consistently one of the farthest throwers. All the pros can throw far, but someone has to throw the farthest. What about Simon's form gives him the extra distance?
In this video, Simon breaks down the differences between his form and fellow pro, Casey White. He finds three main differences between their forms:
Straight Reach Back - When at peak reach back, Simon's arm and the disc are extended slightly away from his body, whereas Casey has the disc back behind his body. This forces Casey to bring the disc around his body before his release, reducing both power and accuracy.
Less Disc Movement - Simon is in the "less is better" field when it comes to disc movement. He tends to move his body around the disc, while Casey does the opposite. This may not affect power as much, but it can impact accuracy.
Rotation Timing - Casey starts to rotate his shoulders earlier in the release than Simon, causing his arm to be late in the release. This split-second can be another area where Casey is losing some power potential.
Simon has posted multiple videos covering things like form, distance, and arm speed. Here is another popular video that is worth the watch.
WEEKLY AMATEUR RANKINGS - TOP 5
Male
Female
CIRCLE'S EDGE
Tickets are on sale now for 8 DGPT events through April, including 5 Elite Series. The next wave of tickets for events from May through July 9th goes on sale in January
Scott Withers will not be with Discraft for the 2023 season, no word yet on a new sponsorship for next year
James Proctor is moving on from Innova in 2023 after 3 years with the team
ACE OF THE DAY
via reddit
RULE OF THE DAY
B. In order to complete a hole with a basket target, the thrower must release the disc and it must come to rest supported by the tray or the chains below the chain support.
Thanks for reading!
Sending good vibes your way from In The Circle
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