C. Leslie Charles, an oldish player with a youngish attitude and a world distance record (women 65 - 75).

So the other day my 4 year old daughter Madeleine was all excited because I bought her running shoes. She had been begging me to take her running for a few weeks. I asked her, "Would you like to go disc golfing with me?" Her eyes lit up and she said, "Yes! Tomorrow!" :-) It is truly a blessing to me how much she loves doing things with Daddy. We went disc golfing for the first time yesterday. She did 8 holes with me! She threw about 40' backhand when she felt like it and then ran along side me to get my disc. She often carried her disc up the fairway after a few throws, but she always holed out! After 7 holes she spotted a playground and conceeded to play one more hole with Dad before we hit the slides and monkey bars. Then she ran a half mile with me (and insisted on holding my hand the whole way) to the light house, or "castle tower" as she renamed it. It was a wonderful day and she slept great that night!

I tried to take my 3 year old Britta out the day after that and she just wanted to hold her disc and hike and run in various directions...oh well, she had fun too and got to feel like a big girl because she went disc golfing with Daddy like her older sister.

My 1 year old son Soren likes the mini basket I bought for the kids (for under $25!). He hands me the minis and waits by the basket for me to putt. If I miss he toddles off to get them and slam dunks them into the chains with great relish!

So there's a disc golf snapshot for you of my little ones at present. It's great to make your acquaintence.

Brandon

Interesting to hear that you're working on sidearm. People have suggested I try that multiple times, and I've just never gotten the hang of it. I was never able to throw a baseball sidearm either. So, at least for me, that will wait for another day.

I was so excited yesterday, that I got my first birdie! It was a short hole -- about 150 ft, and down. It's a little like a mini top of the world shot. I'd been getting par there the last few times I'd played the course (improved to par when I took the lesson), and I ended up about 30 ft from the pin, so I expected another par. I was amazed when I made the putt for my first birdie! I haven't been able to do long putts since I was "drive putting", and able to make 40-50 foot putts by driving, since I was just so consistent. I've given that up in exchange for a longer drive, and it's good to see that I can actually make a significant putt with a putter!

Hope your writing camp was fun! It's always nice to do creative things.

I attended my second tournament this past weekend. My husband was playing, and I was caddying for him. He's been playing just over a year, and he's on the verge of cashing. He's hoping to do that this year, then move up to advanced grandmasters next year, if he makes sufficient progress. I'm still waiting to play my first tournament. I'd thought about playing this one, but the highest scoring player (a seven year old) got a 150, and I'm guessing that the best I'd probably do would be about a 180. I don't think this was the right tournament. If I can get my drive fixed this year, then I'm hoping that I'll be enough improved next year that I can play.

I'm finally (maybe) starting to get the hang of driving. My husband and I had a lesson on Sunday, and I think it helped! I'd already starting to do a little better -- a 58 on a 12 hole course (first time I've gotten under 5 per hole), and a 118 on a course where I'd started at about 150. After the lesson, we tried a new course, and I got a 120' drive on a flat hole, and a 5 on a 380' hole. You certainly have to have more than a 70' drive to do that! I can't wait to try a course I'm familiar with, to see how much better I can do.

Thanks for getting back to me. My husband attended his first tournament last weekend, and discovered he wasn't as good as he'd thought. We'll just say he has room for improvement. However, I realized what a long way I have until I can play in a tournament. I'd have been about 90 strokes over the bottom scores, and it would have been extremely ugly. I wish there were tournaments for worse people. It looks like a lot of fun, but I don't want to be that much worse than everyone else. It's tough, when they have multiple holes that are almost 700 ft, and so even if I drove straight there and putted clean, it would take at least 11 strokes each on those holes.

So, how did you get better? I've been staying pretty static, and even maybe going down a little. I've made about one 100 ft drive each month (out of about 1000), and I don't know what I did right. I've figured out about three things I'm doing wrong -- very little spin, not drawing straight across the chest, and overrotating my hip. I've heard that all three are probably contributing to my problem. I've seen lots of videos of people doing it right, and I know I'm doing it wrong, but I'm not sure exactly how to change. I know to only work on one thing at a time, so I'm thinking I should work on pulling closer across my chest. I'm not sure how to get more spin. So, are these some of the things you had to deal with? Any suggestions? I'm hoping that maybe I can work on some of those things indoors during the winter.

On the positive side, I've now gotten three pars! Two were on a 120' hole, but one was on a 170. Some of those short holes though, can be pretty tricky. I've also made a 55' putt. Not bad with a 70' drive!

Karen

Thank you very much for your post in On the Short Tee. I keep thinking myself totally incompetent, that I've been out practicing almost every day for 10 weeks, and I've only worked myself up to a 70 ft. drive. It gives me hope to hear that you've gotten up to over 150 ft, and it took over a year to get there. My goal for the year is 100 ft, and I'm not sure whether I'll make it before the weather turns for the season.

Happy and safe travels, and take care!
the Rudibaughs

Leslie! How are you! My how time flies, much like discs actually...anyway, will we still be seeing you in Evansville tomorrow? If so, Give us a call 8127748755
Kendra and David

Have a great time this weekend, Leslie! And tell all the ladies I played with at Disc Girls I said Hi!

Hi, Leslie! I had a great time in Michigan and loved the DGLO and Disc Girls Gone Wild. I also received my package when I got home. Thanks and thanks and hope to see you again next year!