Next up in our Q & A Series is an interview with Paige Pierce. Paige is a 5X FPO World Champion and is the 2019 Ledgestone champion.
Paige Pierce at the 2019 PDGA Professional Disc Golf World Championships
1 - COVID-19 has thrown the world upside down. What have you been up to the last 6 weeks as the world has essentially been on shutdown?
Honestly the last 6 weeks have been very productive. With the season being postponed I have had endless time to work on all the projects I can. I have been renovating my tour van and also putting in a lot of work on the private course we are quarantined at. I just held an invitational 2 round tournament, The Avocado Open, which was just released to my YouTube channel.
2 - Last offseason you switched your manufacturer sponsor to Discraft. How has the transition been?
The transition to Discraft has been so amazing. They really make it easy every step of the way. The discs are great of course, but what has been the biggest benefit thus far has been the amount of communication and trust. We make almost all of our decisions together!
3 - The season was only a few weeks old when things got shut down. How have you been able to stay active and sharp with your game?
As I said I have been hard at work cleaning up this course we are at, and that of course means getting lots of reps in out here. I have 19 baskets right outside my window and the best weather I could imagine!
4 - Last year you won Ledgestone for the first time after several close calls. 7 weeks later you won your 5th World Championship in Peoria. Did winning Ledgestone help you win Worlds?
I wouldn't say that winning Ledgestone helped me, more so just all those times of playing at the Ledgestone Open. The more times you play a course the more comfortable you feel. By the end of the practice week before Worlds I had so many reps in at each of the courses that I was feeling very prepared.
5 - A lot of people were excited (and maybe surprised) when you chose the Sol as one of our your signature discs. What drew you to that disc?
The Sol feels so good, that was my first observation. I picked it up in the factory and couldn't put it down. It is a type of disc that some people overlook in their bag lineup, but I think it is a slot all disc golfers should have. A slower speed under stable glide machine, this is crucial for coming into greens slow and with that feared left to right angle.
6 - What advice would you give to someone just starting out in disc golf?
Watch and learn. Watch videos of course but also make sure to watch every shot that is thrown near you. If you are paying attention each shot can teach you something, you just have to be in the mindset where you are open to analyze. Watch what the wrist is doing, how high the arm is on the pull through, how fast the feet are moving, what angle the disc starts on, what angle the disc finishes on, and so much more. There is so much to learn, so be ready to soak it all up!
7 - What was it like getting to design your own putter with Discraft?
Wow, the Fierce design was such a crazy experience. In one afternoon we went from looking at options and tracing rim shapes on a piece of paper to having the first run out after lunch. That turn around time with that amount of precision I didn't even think was possible!
8 - The professional tour looks to be shut down for at least several more weeks with the cancellation or postponement of many top tier events. Would you support professional events coming back later this summer without fans?
I would love to see events come back as soon as possible, the competitor in me is eager for a challenge. It is very hard to imagine tournaments without the fans though, that is what really gets us all so amped up out there.
9 - What's your favorite thing about Ledgestone and coming to Peoria?
My favorite thing about Ledgestone is the mass of disc golfers flooding through Peoria. It is really cool to see our community join the local community and how welcoming the people of Peoria are. The courses are top notch and I can't forget to mention the biggest fundraising efforts our sport has ever seen is during Ledgestone!
10 - Many people dream of going on road full time to play disc golf. You are living the "dream". Is it always easy and fun, or are there hard times?
There are definitely hard times, but I would never wish for a different life. I know I am living the dream so I try to remind myself that every time I am missing my family or experiencing any sort of challenges of the road.
Thanks to Paige for answering our questions and make sure to subscribe to her youtube page! Still to come we have interviews with Dan “Stork” Roddick and Paul McBeth.
