I'll be the first to admit I typically think of Paul, Ricky and a few others others to be the best "overall" player in disc golf, but when you get right down to it...perhaps Nate Sexton IS the best overall player in disc golf. He might not be the flashiest player, throw the longest hyzer, make the longest putts, etc, but on "fair" golf courses that challenge your entire bag, Nate is always going to be in contention for the win. His mental game seems rock solid as well, limiting the risk/reward decision making and sticking with the very..high percentage shots he knows he can make. btw..Doss is right there as well, but I think Sexton has a more consistent skill set.
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Nate The Great? [Sexton]
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DinosaurThunder
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Nate Sexton is the world champ this sport deserves! Great on/off the course attitude, honest competitor (our reigning world champ could take a lesson) and outstanding ambassador. Hoping he can take the crown this year!
Because those of us who have man crushes want to express our feelings. Want to make another USDGC wager?
Because those of us who have man crushes want to express our feelings. Want to make another USDGC wager?
Nate Sexton is the world champ this sport deserves! Great on/off the course attitude, honest competitor (our reigning world champ could take a lesson) and outstanding ambassador. Hoping he can take the crown this year!
Because those of us who have man crushes want to express our feelings. Want to make another USDGC wager?
if he has a great attitude why did he call brp soft then get mad when a spectator called him out on his comment?
you still owe me some discs if i recall correctly
i would hate to have you owe me moar
brutalbrutus
* Ace Member *
That BRP thing was way over blown. What he really said was basically this, "I love this course but, IMO, it is a little soft for the top level of competitors." He was right. Should he have said it? Maybe not and being the kind of guy he is, I think it got to him that he let himself say it. He then went out the next day and stunk it up because he wasn't focused.
Last edited:
Quinntastic
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Sexton is the profile of a PGA golfer. Slow, steady, make your pars and let the birdies come. Play position in the field not necessarily for the win. With payouts getting bigger and bigger, it's more incentive to play for top 5 every week then to win one then go 20th all the rest of the time.
As for the Greatest, probably not. What he is, is the most attainable approach to the game any one of us (besides the young guns tossing 550' already) can implement. For that reason I think he is the most popular and probably most influential to date. Even Eagle is talking about using "Sexton golf" attitude and how it's changing his success.
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As for the Greatest, probably not. What he is, is the most attainable approach to the game any one of us (besides the young guns tossing 550' already) can implement. For that reason I think he is the most popular and probably most influential to date. Even Eagle is talking about using "Sexton golf" attitude and how it's changing his success.
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Cgkdisc
.:Hall of Fame Member:.
Nate perhaps has a more developed/experienced cerebral cortex than his younger brethren. Remember Bobby Jones saying, "competitive golf is mainly played on a five-and-a-half inch course…..the space between your ears"
brutalbrutus
* Ace Member *
I really hope he plays Idlewild next year...
opcorn:
opcorn:
Sexton is not typically the most "fun" player to watch, because he often plays it very safe and does not take wild routes or run risky longer putts. However, if you're watching with an eye for shot selection and course management, he is very entertaining to watch. I also appreciate that he has good BH and FH, and that he's very willing to use either in a lot of different situations.
A related thing about Sexton's game, is that he throws almost excusively straight, straight-to-fade, and just pure hyzer lines. He is able to work flex shots and turnovers, but you can tell his preference is to take simpler lines that are higher percentage. Because he has both accuracy and distance for both FH and BH, he has the options to play hyzer-ish type lines on pretty much any fairway shape. So again, you don't see the big flashy hyzer-flip-to-fade triple S-curve shots. What you do see is a lot of variety in technique that all leads to one common result: consistent, safe, well-placed throws.
That's why you see him excel at courses that have a lot of technical challenges, rather than just pure distance. I don't think I'd put him in the very top elite tier of players that are near the top for every tournament. (You know the guys: Paul, Eagle & Simon this year, and I suppose Ricky "Foot Fault" Wysocki has to be on the list.) But there's certainly a class of courses where Sexton is frequently in contention. (And those courses are often more fun to watch!)
Also, as others have pointed out, the guy is just a real class act and a great ambassador for the sport. Always very professional but also fun, he's a good communicator and probably my very favorite disc golf commentator. Also he's a family man, which I think is a very positive image for the sport and sadly it's too rare among the top touring talent. The Sexton brand is expanding: signature CG Firebirds, Sexton Shootout, signature Grip6 belts, signature Octothrope. Overall I think Nate's going to be a force in the pro disc golf community for a long time.
A related thing about Sexton's game, is that he throws almost excusively straight, straight-to-fade, and just pure hyzer lines. He is able to work flex shots and turnovers, but you can tell his preference is to take simpler lines that are higher percentage. Because he has both accuracy and distance for both FH and BH, he has the options to play hyzer-ish type lines on pretty much any fairway shape. So again, you don't see the big flashy hyzer-flip-to-fade triple S-curve shots. What you do see is a lot of variety in technique that all leads to one common result: consistent, safe, well-placed throws.
That's why you see him excel at courses that have a lot of technical challenges, rather than just pure distance. I don't think I'd put him in the very top elite tier of players that are near the top for every tournament. (You know the guys: Paul, Eagle & Simon this year, and I suppose Ricky "Foot Fault" Wysocki has to be on the list.) But there's certainly a class of courses where Sexton is frequently in contention. (And those courses are often more fun to watch!)
Also, as others have pointed out, the guy is just a real class act and a great ambassador for the sport. Always very professional but also fun, he's a good communicator and probably my very favorite disc golf commentator. Also he's a family man, which I think is a very positive image for the sport and sadly it's too rare among the top touring talent. The Sexton brand is expanding: signature CG Firebirds, Sexton Shootout, signature Grip6 belts, signature Octothrope. Overall I think Nate's going to be a force in the pro disc golf community for a long time.
brutalbrutus
* Ace Member *
How old is Nate?
Quinntastic
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33 I think
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TheOtherBill
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His self-deprecation humor is a nice change of pace from other pros too.
I recall him commenting once on a particularity tight hole that his strategy was to throw into the first cut of rough on one side, then the first cut on the other side down by the basket and try for a putt just beyond the circle. He also said he won't lay down a mini if he is just outside the circle because it improves his circle-2 stats while not being any more difficult of a putt to make, and that it gives a nice mental boost to do so.
I recall him commenting once on a particularity tight hole that his strategy was to throw into the first cut of rough on one side, then the first cut on the other side down by the basket and try for a putt just beyond the circle. He also said he won't lay down a mini if he is just outside the circle because it improves his circle-2 stats while not being any more difficult of a putt to make, and that it gives a nice mental boost to do so.
I agree with most the assessment's of Sexton's game expressed here and would like to add one quality others may have missed...
To me, Nate, and players 'like' him are also the most inspirational players, because players of this stripe demonstrate that 'anyone' can be a champion. He clearly doesn't possess the physical gifts of the more flashy players, but shows that no one 'has to' possess these gifts to obtain success - in this way he reinforces the egalitarian nature of competitive golf which separates it from other sports where these qualities are definitely a requirement. Personally, that's one reason I stopped playing baseball and started playing Frisbee back in the day...
And if nothing else, it also makes it easier to pull for him...
To me, Nate, and players 'like' him are also the most inspirational players, because players of this stripe demonstrate that 'anyone' can be a champion. He clearly doesn't possess the physical gifts of the more flashy players, but shows that no one 'has to' possess these gifts to obtain success - in this way he reinforces the egalitarian nature of competitive golf which separates it from other sports where these qualities are definitely a requirement. Personally, that's one reason I stopped playing baseball and started playing Frisbee back in the day...
And if nothing else, it also makes it easier to pull for him...
BuiltTooLong
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Absolutely love Sexton, but he's not the best "overall" player. He's top notch mentally but lacks backhand confidence (IE: Throwing forehand on Bridge hole) as well as distance putting (switching to a reachback motion trying to throw-in his Dart outside of 45 foot, instead of jump putting). Based on 2018 performance Eagle has shown he is the best overall player.
Audible Vibration
Birdie Member
Nate mentioned this at the Sexton Shootout I went to last month. He said he feels confident in his forehand hyzers up to 380', and a little further for backhand. So whenever he has a shot 380' or closer, and either a FH or BH hyzer is available, he will always take that route and won't even consider any other shot type.
Right, exactly. I am very similar in that philosophy, especially as I've been my backhand the past few years.
(Obviously I'm not as good, but I still appreciate seeing his shot selections.)
It's a very different style of play from the older school style, which I will label as backhand purist, but shaping EVERY line with the BH by using different stabilities and angles (e.g. Philo). Always fun to see different styles of play attacking the same course, so it's cool when Sexton is carded up with a crush boy (e.g. Simon) and a backhand purist.
(Obviously I'm not as good, but I still appreciate seeing his shot selections.)
It's a very different style of play from the older school style, which I will label as backhand purist, but shaping EVERY line with the BH by using different stabilities and angles (e.g. Philo). Always fun to see different styles of play attacking the same course, so it's cool when Sexton is carded up with a crush boy (e.g. Simon) and a backhand purist.
Agreed. I hate five player groups, but...
Throw in Big Jerm, with his love of hyper flipping his forehand and Nikko with his love of the flex line and you would see A LOT of different shot selections on the same holes. :hfive:
Hyzer, not hyper. :wall:
I know. 5 minute edit window can be soul crushing.
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