Ricky Wysocki is the best Disc Golfer in the world. But not too long ago he was sleeping in his car and living off the dollar menu. We talk Disc Golf, the secrets to improving your game and pursuing your passion. Then, we countdown the Top 5 Funnest Things to Throw.
Ricky Wysocki: 01:55ish
Pointless: 24:25ish
Top 5: 37:42ish
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Topics we discuss:
How Ricky Wysocki became the best Disc Golfer in the World
Ricky Wysocki’s exercise, practice and diet routines
How much does Ricky Wysocki Practice
The best tips for new disc golfers
The best tips for experienced disc golfer
How to throw a disc golf disc
How much do professional disc golfers make
What discs are in Ricky Wysocki’s bag
Interview with Professional Disc Golfer Ricky Wysocki
Nick VinZant 0:11
Welcome to Profoundly Pointless. My name is Nick VinZant Coming up in this episode, disc golf, and the funnest things to throw,
Ricky Wysocki 0:20
I think that's so entertaining. And that's what drew me to the sport when I first started, and how much more involved it is than just throwing a disc. You got to shape the disc go around trees, and there's so many more variables than I started off sleeping in my car traveling around all the tournaments that the professional tour had. And I wasn't making any money sleeping on sleeping in my car. And so it just turned into a battle with myself to fight off what people are telling me and as a young kid, that's hard. For anyone, that's the difference between four or five years ago and now is there's a little bit more benefit. I think, now that people more people know about it.
Nick VinZant 0:58
I want to thank you so much for joining us. If you get a chance, like download, subscribe, share, leave a review, we really appreciate it really helps us out. So our first guest is now the best disc golfer in the world. But just a few years ago, he was sleeping in his car, eating off the dollar menu. So it's really a fascinating story about not only the ins and outs of what it's like to be a professional disc golfer. But also what can happen if you stay committed to something that you're passionate about. This is professional disc golfer. Ricky why Saki real quick. I did something to my audio. But Ricky's is great. His story is fascinating. And I don't usually talk much in interviews anyway. So I hope you enjoy. So from an outsider's perspective, it seems like disc golf is suddenly way more popular.
Ricky Wysocki 2:00
Yes, our sport has grown leaps and bounds throughout the just the past two years, I think the pandemic was actually we have a professional organization that PDGA. And they actually grew to, like 10 years worth of growth in two years. So like I said, the pandemic, people want to be outside people want to be in the local parks. And why not throw throw discs around and play a local course and gain a new hobby in the process?
Nick VinZant 2:25
Do you think that will last? Or do you think this is like a blip and we ride this thing as far as we can.
Ricky Wysocki 2:31
So for me personally, I think that the sport and as fun as it is, and how exciting it is to throw shots and see how it just flies, I think that's so entertaining. And that's what drew me to the sport. When I first started that I think that once people try the sport out and really see how fun it is, and how much more involved it is than just throwing a disc, you got to shape the disc go around trees, and there's so many more variables than, than what meets the eye when you first play it that people will will continue playing even after the hopefully the pandemic is over. And so I think that, that the growth is sustainable, and the people that the people that are playing are going to continue to play and then there's just going to be more and more people that see find the passion just like the people that already are playing Disc Golf.
Nick VinZant 3:16
Okay. So like outsider again. To me, it looks like you're throwing a Frisbee, right? Explain to me why that it's so much more complicated than that.
Ricky Wysocki 3:27
Just like any professional sport, you can. There's so many different levels to it. There's someone just starting like a lot of the people over the pandemic. And then there's people like me that practice train workout, and it's my career. That's what I do. I travel and I'm a professional disc golfer. And so I think that that's the beauty of it. Is there somewhere for everybody to fit into the sport.
Nick VinZant 3:47
When did you realize like you were Oh, I'm good.
Ricky Wysocki 3:50
So I grew up in Ohio and I just grew up near a local course that had a local park near me I could I could almost throw this to the course from where I grew up. So that was a definitely a bonus. And and so I just grew up I went to the course played and practiced every day and I just fell in love with with with this Golf I just enjoyed watching it disc fly. I enjoyed when all the body movements work together and you through a good shot. It's much like golf the form and is so important in how you move your body propels the disc and so I like the individuality of it. It's you control your destiny if the shot goes good or goes bad, it's all up to you. And and so yeah, that was that was what really drew me to it and and yeah,
Nick VinZant 4:35
why are you good at a lot of
Ricky Wysocki 4:37
different reasons. But I think that um, I've always been athletic. I've always loved competition. I've always been the type of person that find something and I go all in on something whether it's, for me, it's been like nutrition, health and wellness, disc golf. And so I just I did whatever it took to to grow as a person as a as an athlete, and do whatever it takes to just keep getting better and going, going up the pyramid have grown through the ranks of the sport and growing up as an amateur Junior and amateur than a professional. And so for me, it was just, I dove out in the deep end, I went on tour on the professional tour, and I was like 1617 years old. And, of course, I didn't succeed at first, I started off sleeping in my car traveling around all the tournaments that the professional tour had, and I wasn't making any money sleeping on sleeping in my car, eating off the dollar menu at McDonald's just to make it and but that allowed me to get exposure allowed me to gain experiences that I would have never been able to experience if I didn't sleep in my car and eat off the dollar menu. And so that's kind of what shaped me in my career. And I think it's just a test of my personality of, I'm going to do whatever it takes, and you know, put all my eggs in one basket, because you always hear people saying, Oh, you don't want to put all your eggs in one basket. But sometimes you have to, to really get paid off on your, your career path or what your vision is.
Nick VinZant 6:03
Did you ever think of like the same kind of work?
Ricky Wysocki 6:07
Obviously, you know, as a young kid, you know, you don't mind? You know, I think it's easier to grind it out in like I said, sleep in your car and do all the things I was doing as a rookie to try and make it and so there was times that yeah, there's adversity, there's, there's, you're like, I'm not making any money. I'm out here just basically donating my entry fees to the professional field. And, and, and, you know, cost money to live cost money to enter the tournaments. And, and so you just kind of reflect and just think, hey, maybe this isn't for me. But, but I fought through that. And I just kept practicing. And I kept my mind to doing everything I needed to do to get better and grow even if it was just a little bit you know, from week to week, you grow that little bit even if you're not making money, you're growing as a player and that is going to slowly pay dividends as as my career career developed. And that's luckily what happened for me.
Nick VinZant 7:00
from a physical standpoint, though, it's not like Ricky's got the best design wrists for snapping the Frisbee, right? Like, there's not something like a basketball player, right? Like, you got to be pretty tall. There's not something physically about you. They're like, Ooh, man, that guy's who is a DISPRO right there. So actually,
Ricky Wysocki 7:21
they're they're kind of is a lot of the a lot of top players are long and lanky. That's kind of like a very common trait for people that can throw far. So obviously, that's one of the many ways to measure someone as a player is how far you can throw. And just like any sport, you're always you're always wanting to push the limits how far can far can you throw, how can I gain more distance, just like golf, you know, you'd be more distance you have, the easier it is to play courses because you're farther a lot closer to the hole. So same to disc golf. Same for Disc Golf. So a lot of the top players, obviously not all of them, there's just like basketball, there's some players are five foot seven are good. And there's players are seven foot two that are good, you know, but in general, longer, lanky, 6465 a lot of players I'm six for myself, a lot of the other top players are 6465 that long, you know long arms, being able to get full, better extension when you're reaching back and trying to get the leverage on the disc. So to answer questions, yeah, there is a certain build that are better off and set you up to throw further. Don't like I said, don't get me wrong, loose. They're shorter players on tour that harness a lot of energy and throw really far as well. But but it's just like a lot of sports that you know, they may have to work harder. They have to, you know, fight a little harder to to gain that same distance that maybe someone of my height or even taller than me would.
Nick VinZant 8:45
So what what separates a pro like you from somebody who's just really good? Like are you throwing it farther? Are you more accurate? Can you like carving around a building? Like what what's what makes you a pro?
Ricky Wysocki 8:58
I think it's my training I think that you know, I take it serious I'm you know, I work out a lot I do a lot of resistance bands stretching, eating healthy, stable stability, mobility drills with with my workouts, I'm doing a lot of that. And so, and then when it comes to physically on the course, it's it's a lot of Yeah, I can make the shots when I need to I but I've been on tour for now 1011 years. So I've got a lot of experience. And so that all pays off. And it's just just like any sport, you want to be able to make that putt or make that long shot down the stretch of a tournament to win that tournament. And so the people that can handle the pressure and handle adversity are going to separate themselves within the sport. Being from a good to you know, a top 1% In your sport me being the best player in the world. Yeah, there's certain things in certain shots that I've been I'm better at a higher percentage. It's just like any sport higher percentage of if I have let's say just for Disc Golf, we use feet so like a 30 foot putt Say the 20th place guy in the world, you know, we both may make that putt, but I may make it at 95%, he may make it at 87%. And so that percentage doesn't come into play eventually. And, and that's where that small minute difference makes a big difference. Say that last let last putt maybe for the win on the last hole of a tournament. And that's why I'm number one. And that's why maybe some other people are not, it's all about, it's all about percentages, and how you get the highest percentages in each category putting driving approach game.
Nick VinZant 10:30
So hope this question doesn't come off as like a jerk question. But did people ever kind of tried to discourage you or other pros, right? Like I'm imagining the scene in the movie where the dad is like, Ricky, you? Can't you? What's he doing with his life? He's preventing professional golfer, right? Like, Do people ever kind of do that to you?
Ricky Wysocki 10:52
People definitely tried to say, Hey, you can't make can make this a career, you can't do that. You can't you know, and it just goes back to like, my parents actually did it. Because my parents wanted obviously, they want to look out for the best for the kid. And I was playing a lot of baseball. And I was I was very good at baseball. And I feel like I could have went to college potentially. And but they but I decided to go on to this Golf Tour instead. And so there's people that my parents were were the number one obviously, at 1617 years old, I want to call them and tell them about my life. But they weren't really interested because they wanted me to go the conventional path. And at the time, disc golf wasn't really what it is. Now, there wasn't really much of a career path there. And and so for me, it was different than most other people because nowadays, I think there's there's career paths for for young kids and players coming up and way more than it used to be. But yeah, for me, I definitely it was, yeah, I had to fight through, you know, people telling me no, you can't do that. And, you know, and then you start doubting, like, hey, maybe, you know, maybe this disc golf thing isn't, you know, isn't for me, or it's not gonna make me any money or it's not gonna give me what I want. But, you know, I get to travel, I got to travel the world, I got to see so many new places, new courses, that it wasn't just all about the money either at the time.
Nick VinZant 12:06
This is something that kind of fascinates me, right? Because we've talked to people who have a kind of a similar story in the sense that, like, how do you stick with something when everybody else is like, You're wrong, but you know, you're right. Like, how do you stick with that?
Ricky Wysocki 12:22
Yeah, that's, that's a hard question. Because it's like, you know, it's I didn't you know, at the time, you don't really, you know, you have to, it's basically it comes to a point where it's all mental. It's all hey, this person is telling me one thing, I know something else. So what's gonna, what's gonna, what's gonna win? Am I gonna let someone else win? That's telling me how you can't do this? Or am I going to be mentally strong and say, Hey, no, I'm going to do this. So for me, it was the mental fortitude to fight through that and say, Hey, like, the sport can grow, I'm going to grow as a player, as an athlete, I can get better. And at the time, it was like, you had to be like, you know, top one or two in the world to really make any money. Now, it's like the top 50 or 100 can really make money in the world. And so so for me, it was like very far fetched to say, Hey, I'm going to be the number one player in the world at one point and make money make a brand, and really have a following enough to where I can make a living out of it. And so it just turned into a battle with myself to fight off what people are telling me and as a young kid, that's hard because you get easily influenced by other people. And, and you know, they're just looking out for your best interest. So you're like, alright, if these older, more experienced people are telling me this, that could be true. So you had to just completely even though you know, it was kind of true, you had to just kind of kind of avoid it and not really think about it and just focus on yourself and focus on what you can control and not what other people are saying.
Nick VinZant 13:49
Are you ready for some harder slash listener submitted questions? Yeah, do you have a general strategy when approaching the course I will
Ricky Wysocki 13:57
I normally play if it's a tournament event ProTour event I will show up about three or four days ahead of time, scope out the course play three or four rounds take mental notes on each hole, how my how my disc reacts in certain holes, how it skips off the ground how how the winds affecting it on that hole. So there's so many dynamics within each hole and each course that I'm dialing in mentally so that way when I play the tournament, I have I have a mental note saying hey, this hole does this this whole you know disc roll off of this hill and generally trickle to the right or there's water on the left that dislike to skip into naturally. And so there's just all these different variables that I'm thinking of to to make my shot perfect as best as I can.
Nick VinZant 14:41
Do you get mad if somebody says frisbee golf instead of disc golf?
Ricky Wysocki 14:46
No, I don't get mad I think it's just you know, newer players or newer people in the sport they just they think they see a frisbee and they see we're playing golf and it's pretty easy to say hey, it's frisbee golf. But everybody in our in the sport like Professional and everybody anybody that's been around it just calls it disc golf but I think it's just all today's is, you know, you can tell if someone's a newbie or newer player or or more seasoned veteran or someone that's been around the game they you know that that's how you can kind of decipher the two. But it's not really like, hey, we judge the people that call it Disc Golf. It's a frisbee golf. It's not like that. It's just it's just another way to call it and it doesn't we don't really take offense to it some. Some people do but me I'm I don't really I don't take offense to that.
Nick VinZant 15:28
Like, what's the difference between the Frisbee and the disc, right, because I've tried the sport before and I can throw a Frisbee, but I tried to throw that thing and I'm like, What the fuck?
Ricky Wysocki 15:37
So frisbee is like, what you think of like a beach Frisbee? It's real, like real thick. It's real big, big in the hand. And then so I'd say like, it's thick like that. I would say like that thick versus a disc golf disc is like real thin. Yeah, it's real thin in the end, and it has, it's really aerodynamic. So that's the difference between a frisbee and a disc is the aerodynamics how far it goes. So regular Disc Golf disc can go way further if you throw it right then then actual like beach frisbee or an ultimate frisbee or whatever. Something with a real thicker lip and not quite as aerodynamic. So that could be that's a big difference between frisbee golf and disc golf. Potentially, if you really want to get you know nerdy with it.
Nick VinZant 16:17
Do you throw it differently?
Ricky Wysocki 16:19
Um, no, you So you throw it similarly, but the motions the same but there's little intricacies like how you release your wrist on certain shots based on how the Frisbee flies. So, in this golf, you basically your your wrist and your arm is is the is where the disc is going to go. So it's just think of it like a club. If you if you finish with your clubface open your ball is gonna go right. So I finished my wrist down on my arm like this, my Frisbee is gonna go left just based on the gravity and aerodynamics of how a disc flies. So essentially, your arm and your wrist control were the discos and and that's the most important thing in the throat.
Nick VinZant 16:55
When you look at like an amateur, what are you seeing that like, Oh, you're doing this.
Ricky Wysocki 17:02
So the biggest flaws when I see newer players is they like to throw it like right up in straight up in the air. And it's just like lifting your shoulders up one way or another instead of trying to keep on good posture, and rotating. That's the most important thing. And and almost what I like to tell people is it's like, if you want to throw straight, which is the most important shot when you're first learning is you got to feel like you're sliding your arm across a table tabletop to keep that nice flat plane coming through. Yeah. So so if you if you deviate from that if you go too low or too high, you're you're not going to be on that tabletop. So if you can slide across that tabletop all the way through your shot all the way through your throat, then you're going to have a nice flat shot. And so in general, that's a great tip for beginners to start and learn how to practice throw straight,
Nick VinZant 17:49
favorite course course that just has your number.
Ricky Wysocki 17:53
So my my favorite course is probably in Vermont. So Vermont, they have a ski resort smuggler's notch resort in Vermont, it's a well known ski resort. And then in the summer, they turn it into like a world class disc golf course. And we have big events. We've had the World Championships out there. We have big events every year. So it's an amazing property. And it's one of the most well known on the tour. And then of course, it has my number let's see here. Um, there's, there's a course and and so in Europe, there's a European Open, it's in Finland, that course is it always seems to challenge me a lot. It's a it's a course that has this a lot of OB a lot out of balance. And I just sound for some reason don't play very well there. And it's in. It's in Finland, it's in Tampere, Finland. So there's always a big disc golf major there. And it's a European Open. And that's a that's one of the obvious biggest tournaments, Europe.
Nick VinZant 18:54
Is there like a mecca for Disc Golf? Right? Like you think of snowboarding you're thinking of like Park City or something?
Ricky Wysocki 18:59
Yeah, I would say Charlotte, North Carolina. So Charlotte Scott per capita want some of the most courses and the most pros are there because the best courses, but yeah, if you're in the say, the downtown area of Charlotte, and you drive like let's say 30 or 40 minutes in a circle, any direction you can hit. Probably like a couple 100 courses.
Nick VinZant 19:21
What's in your bag right now.
Ricky Wysocki 19:23
So Dynamic Discs, that's my sponsor right here. They're a disc golf manufacturer and, and so I throw a lot of their discs and latitude. And so they latitude this and also Westside this so those are the three companies I throw right now.
Nick VinZant 19:38
First Date, man, correct me on the numbers, right. 4,000,004 years. Whoo. First thing you bought,
Ricky Wysocki 19:47
actually, first thing I bought was crypto. Yeah.
Nick VinZant 19:50
And that is a that is a modern purchase, isn't it?
Ricky Wysocki 19:53
So yeah, I just I I've just always been a believer and I wanted to invest invest in something and I felt coming trouble with that, and I, you know, I'm a firm believer in it. So yeah, I wanted to invest in that. And yeah, I wanted to, to make good investment I think that will pay off in the next five to 10 years.
Nick VinZant 20:09
Now. He said, Okay, so you're a professional, you can obviously do this full time right now. Right? Can you though retire, like when I'm done, this is um, done like you're set financially for the next the rest of your life, or you make a pretty good mount and then you got to go get a job at Goldman Sachs or whatever.
Ricky Wysocki 20:28
So So yeah, the for me in my where I'm at in my career, the disc golf, you can the disc golf career, I would say is much like an I would say an NBA or baseball player, it's like 37 to 40. It was usually depending on how you take care of your body injuries, all that. But yeah, and then after the after you retire. For me, it'd be getting into like course design. So using my brand, my name, and everything. And in going to city parks and saying, Hey, I'm a world champion, I can design a par disc golf course for your city. And so I have a brand and I have, you know, a following that, that would be totally worthwhile. And people would want that it would be a big draw. And so that stuff you can get into even after your playing days, is working with the manufacturer to be a team manager for all the top professional players of that team, doing course design. So there's lots of different opportunities that once you build your brand, you can kind of parlay your playing career into your business career. After that.
Nick VinZant 21:30
I'm going to ask this question exactly as it has been written so that it doesn't sound like I'm asking it, does being a disc golfer help you or hurt you when looking for love at the bar?
Ricky Wysocki 21:45
Anyone? So I guess I'm not I don't, I don't go to the bar for that. But if I did, I think it would be a lot more beneficial lately now that the sports grown a lot, because more people have heard about it. If you you know, say if you went to the bar four or five years ago and said, Hey, I'm a professional disc golfer, they'd be like, what's that? And then you got to like, explain to them what disc golf is. And it kind of kind of ruins the moment, you know, like, you have to explain what you are professional of it's like, okay, well, that's, that's you kind of killed the vibe there. But if you're like, Oh, I'm professional disc golfer, and they've heard about it, they're like, Oh, that's cool. You know, it kind of impresses them. So yeah, that's the difference between four or five years ago. And now is there's a little bit more benefit. I think, now that people more people know about it.
Nick VinZant 22:29
residual benefits, man, you can't go wrong with that. Um, that's pretty much all the questions we got is like, what's kind of coming up next for you? I know the tours getting started soon.
Ricky Wysocki 22:38
Yeah, so I'll kind of share a little bit of my schedule. So yeah, I'm heading to Las Vegas. So the lot the Las Vegas challenge is the first tournament of the year. So we have a professional tour of like 20 to 25 events that go anywhere from from Vegas, to Texas to Vermont, to Portland, Oregon, to all the way to Europe, we have events in Norway, we have events in Finland. So as a huge presence and in Finland and disc golf in Finland is probably is, is they did a study on it, or stat and it's the second most popular sport in Finland, behind hockey, so it's hockey, and then Disc Golf. So that's how much it's grown in other countries. And I definitely who knows in the States, but maybe five years down the road disc golf. I definitely see college sports, you know, getting into sponsorships, or scholarships, I should say. So I don't think that's too far away. But yeah, so I'm going to be going on the tour. And you know, every week is a grind, you know, traveling every week going to new city, plan, plan new courses, it's a great, it's a lot of fun, but it's a lot of work. It's a lot of stress, and a lot of driving, as well. So we're doing a lot of that doing a lot of signing disk signings at local shops and different things like that. But yeah, and if you guys, if you're falling wants to get a get a hold of my schedule, you can check me out on Instagram on Sokoban 13 or Twitter, that's soccer mom 13 as well. So that's kind of where I keep up, up to date on my tour what I'm doing and you can get yourself involved in the disc golf world.