Has Paige Pierce peaked?

[Lazerface]

Paige's athleticism, displayed by great form and arm speed is the best this sport has ever seen. It's better than Juliana. I can't wait for the day we have 10 Paige's, but it may be a while. Paige may break Climo's record.

 

[RistoS]

And can't a similar comparison be made of any 975-rated player vs any 945-rated player?

Maybe, but my point was there's more to it than just "learning to hyzerflip".

 

[DiscFifty]

Here's a comparison between Paige and Lisa:

Look how much better Paige is braced on the front hip compared to Lisa, who is not in a very athletic position and opening up the hips. Not being braced shows as that head turn you're talking about, she's losing a lot of distance and some accuracy there.

(from footage of 2018 W.A.C.O. | FPO R2 F9, Disc Golf Pro Tour)

Very true. Paige's bracing is incredible. I'd like to track her disc speed through her x-step, I'm guessing it's going from 0-60+ at a very fast speed.

 

[DiscFifty]

Maybe, but my point was there's more to it than just "learning to hyzerflip".

Oh for sure.....alot more. I'm not saying she would equal PP by just learning to hyzer flip, but I do think she could gain some easy distance by utilizing a better hf. Actually...I screen grabbed one of her drives, and at first she is lined up for a good hyzer pull through, but she suddenly raises her arm almost shoulder height, and then pulls downward through the release. I think...this is similar to V Jenkins??? I'm no form expert, but if she could pull through on that same hyzer line, I'd be curious what kind of distance/power she could get.

 

[slowplastic]

Oh for sure.....alot more. I'm not saying she would equal PP by just learning to hyzer flip, but I do think she could gain some easy distance by utilizing a better hf. Actually...I screen grabbed one of her drives, and at first she is lined up for a good hyzer pull through, but she suddenly raises her arm almost shoulder height, and then pulls downward through the release. I think...this is similar to V Jenkins??? I'm no form expert, but if she could pull through on that same hyzer line, I'd be curious what kind of distance/power she could get.

She goes "over the top". She pushes her upper body over her plant foot. You can see it with her weird right leg stride, it kind of goes out and drops, then she pushes her upper body onto and past that front leg, shoulders leading the way. It's like her throw is an aided fall or aided tip....it's a very very common form flaw that you see tons on this site in critiques and obviously all over every course out there. Because her spine is constantly tipping forward during the whole throw that's why her arm does wacky things to try to throw flat relative to her intended line, rather than flat relative to the spine as that is always changing.

Paige on the other hand has perfect form, she drives her whole spine in balance to the front leg, catches it, and unwinds around that spine.

Edit: I'd probably be throwing 500' line drives no problem with Paige's form, and it'd probably be 330-350' full flight Tern shots with Lisa's, if I had to guess just how different their throws are.

 

[lyleoross]

The question isn't whether Paige has peaked or not, she has. The question is how long will she stay at the peak and will anyone climb up there with her?

 

[RFrance]

I'd probably be throwing 500' line drives no problem with Paige's form...

Even though it's not needed for her game, can Paige get to 500' with Paige's form? She seems to be throwing a lot farther this year than last.

 

[SD86]

The question isn't whether Paige has peaked or not, she has. The question is how long will she stay at the peak and will anyone climb up there with her?

If "peaked" means she can't possibly get any better, you might be right. However, I think she still has some room to improve, especially in her putting and approaches. Not saying she's not already good, but if she were to get where McBeth was in 2015-2016 and Ricky was last year in their putting... it wouldn't be a question of if she'd win, but by how many strokes/throws, and the over/under would be "by double digits".

 

[@iDiscGolf]

The question isn't whether Paige has peaked or not, she has. The question is how long will she stay at the peak and will anyone climb up there with her?

Well, she's going to continue to get better and better too, so there's that...

 

[@iDiscGolf]

Even though it's not needed for her game, can Paige get to 500' with Paige's form? She seems to be throwing a lot farther this year than last.

Jennifer Allen can throw far, but we can agree that accuracy in combination is much more important. Otherwise your spraying shots all over the place

 

[slowplastic]

Even though it's not needed for her game, can Paige get to 500' with Paige's form? She seems to be throwing a lot farther this year than last.

Disclaimer is that I have never seen her play in person. But from the last few tourneys I have watch footage of her from, it seems like she has 450' or so of golf distance. Meaning 450' with good accuracy on several lines. I don't doubt that a less stable disc thrown on the typical hyzer flip high and hope it holds and pans out type of shot she could hit 500', but I've never seen her try a shot as uncontrolled as that.

Check out 24:10 on this video, I bet this is 450ish on what I would consider a pretty consistent golf line...of course if anyone knows that course personally they'd have a better idea of exactly how far it is. It's a -1/2 type flight where the disc is pushing pretty straight, it's definitely not a turnover and pray shot, and it's very accurate. She has to have confidence to do this in a must execute situation, with water and OB all over.

Edit: Does anyone know if this is a Bio Defender or a Sheriff or what?

 

[DiscFifty]

^^^ I could be wrong, but I think it's about 490 from tee to pin.

 

[Zanguini]

I think the question is not whether or not Paige has peaked, but whether or not playing MPO would be more profitable.

 

[slowplastic]

^^^ I could be wrong, but I think it's about 490 from tee to pin.

Yeah that's what I'm going by...she ends up about 60' right of the pin, on the "short" side of it. If you trace that putt over equidistant from the tee it to in line with the basket, would be short of the basket by a bit I think. It's an absolute crush.

 

[Halcón]

I think the question is not whether or not Paige has peaked, but whether or not playing MPO would be more profitable.

Not a chance.

She has a legit opportunity to win every event she plays in FPO. She was what...3rd last year in earnings overall? Why would she give that up to be a middle of the pack MPO player who struggles just to cash.

 

[RFrance]

^^^ She bombs one at 9:20 in the video on Hole 1 at 555' and on her upshot at 10:48, Terry said there was only a little over a 100' left.

 

[SD86]

I think the question is not whether or not Paige has peaked, but whether or not playing MPO would be more profitable.

Not a chance.

She has a legit opportunity to win every event she plays in FPO. She was what...3rd last year in earnings overall? Why would she give that up to be a middle of the pack MPO player who struggles just to cash.

Exactly. She won't pick MPO if there is an FPO. Also, she's tried out for the USDGC a few times. I think she made the Performance Flight( maybe? Maybe not?), but did not qualify for the open field.

Having said that, Catrina played in a few events where she was the only woman, so if there's an event with no FPO, Paige could see how she does in one of those...

 

[VictorB]

Exactly. She won't pick MPO if there is an FPO. Also, she's tried out for the USDGC a few times. I think she made the Performance Flight( maybe? Maybe not?), but did not qualify for the open field.

Having said that, Catrina played in a few events where she was the only woman, so if there's an event with no FPO, Paige could see how she does in one of those...

No, she qualified for the premier event last year. She didn't finish well, but still qualified.

 

[SD86]

No, she qualified for the premier event last year. She didn't finish well, but still qualified.

Thanks for the correction. It would be interesting to see a card with Paul McBeth, Ricky Wysocki, Nete Sexton, and Paige Pierce. Open and technical courses, and see how they do.

 

[VictorB]

Thanks for the correction. It would be interesting to see a card with Paul McBeth, Ricky Wysocki, Nete Sexton, and Paige Pierce. Open and technical courses, and see how they do.

I think she was on R1 feature card at USDGC last year.