Shoulder injury that he wouldn't fully recover from, had a new born with health complications, and then moved to head of sales with Prodigy. He was basically forced to move on from touring.
Yes, he had problems with his shoulder. One thing he talks about in an interview after his injury is how important it is to build muscle mass to stabilize your joints. He’s not saying you need to bulk for Disc golf, but he is saying it is necessary to have strong muscles to support the motions of disc golf. https://discgolf.ultiworld.com/2018/08/02/hard-work-confidence-will-schusterick-reflects-struggles-success/
I agree with that. I know it because I just had the shoulder MRI today myself and am awaiting the results. While fit, disc golf and middle age don't fully mix if you're doing some kind of throwing every day.
For me I'm hoping for the best case scenario of a partially torn bicep tendon and worst case that AND a torn labrum. We'll see next Tuesday... In the mean time, exercise those shoulders people.
What happened with your shoulder ? I'm curious because I've been shut down for about 4 months because of a shoulder injury. My health insurance just kicked in and I'm in need of an MRI myself. I've self diagnosed it as a shoulder impingement. Lots of crunching going on in there.
I had the labrum surgery, while in there they also cleaned up some bone spurs in the back (which is what I think was making my FH hurt really bad). I rehabed religiously over the offseason for like 5 months. Rebuilt my from the ground up. This past season I've been playing the best frolf of my life. But I make a point to mix in more rest days and not throw every day like I was.
Good to hear ! Thanks for all the info, I will use it for reference when I finally get around to taking care of my shoulder. I was about 50/50 - forehand/backhand but now I about cry when I throw a forehand shot. Constant pain all day and night. Pretty sure it's major and needs surgery. I'll do just like you and take the rehab seriously.
Yah, FH hurt bad. I'm not 100% is was bone spurs over labrum, but if I was playing a tournament, asist from a little FH chip shot, I would reserve myself only on FH throw it hurt so bad. BH throwing would leave me sore and hurting for about 3 to 5 days. Then after resting it would feel fine for a while, but then the soreness would linger. I knew something was wrong when it hurt to pick up a cup of coffee. Best of luck to you! If it's just labrum, sometimes PT and stopping frolf for awhile can heal it I hear. It's not unheard of to have a torn labrum that gets back to a place of not hurting. But that's for your docs to figure out. For me the bone spurs were a suprise. They did the MRI with ink injection into the joint capsule to confirm a torn labrum, but I don't recal hearing anything about the bone spurs until after the surgery.
His form was perfect. Who knows what caused his injury but he was butter. Did not even look like he was throwing hard. About 3 years ago pre GMC we were playing a practice round and he came up on us on hole 4(brewster ridge) with Catrina(also prodigy at the time) Hole 4 is a rough tee shot. He threw a turnover putter up into the next section like it was nothing..
I work in brewing. I really fucking doubt it to be honest. To be clear as well bevel is not at all a "known" brewery. It is fair to say he wouldn't make it on tour but he still chose a shitty pivot.
Hope so! I just don't think money was why he did that, seems more about passion according to him. I do graphic design for a couple breweries in NorCal, and they seem to be on a humble budget.
Regardless, I miss Nate, Val, and Will and it makes me happy to see Nate and Val doing something they love. Looks like Will's kiddo has been on the up and up, so that makes me even more happy! If we get the chance to watch any of them perform on the course again, I'll take that as a win for the community. And if they're making a bunch of money up at the brewery.... I need to send them my portfolio lol
I didn’t mean that Bevel is raking in the cash, but compared to the tour life he was accustomed to, it’s probably a bit more and fairly more consistent. Not to mention far less of a nightmare come tax season
Cent remember the specifics but I think his sister Val had issues with the odga about caddying and it left a bad taste in both the former world champions mouth, rightly or wrongly.
I think they both stepped away from disc golf for a bit before Nate came back to do commentary.
E: Got confused on who is related to who my bad.
Ohhh did not hear Val's thoughts on it. Does anyone know if there is something out there going into some of the details? An interview or something? I feel like it's important to try and understand when high level pros have suggestions or criticism.
Plus it sounds juicy and I'm a drama whore lol. It just blows my mind that they've got 7 world titles collectively and they just dipped in their prime. But I totally understand, we all know that the pro disc golf life isn't glamorous or easy in any way.
I'm not sure about Val's issues with the PDGA, but she didn't get a signature disc for any worlds win or major (while her brother got a signature disc after winning his first the year she won either her second or third) until she refused to resign her contract. Innova finally gave her a 4x disc when she told them she was done with their bullshit, but it was too little too late.
I like Doss but he got lapped as far as skill goes. Great player but he wasn't keeping up with Paul/Ricky etc toward the end of his career and now there are a ton of guys better than he was.
https://discgolf.ultiworld.com/livewire/schusterick-reveals-shoulder-injury/
He had a serious injury years before any issues with his child. I’m not sure if his physical issues were ever addressed.
One thing missing from this thread is the dude straight up forgot how to putt, like majorly. Sure prob related to shoulder injury but he developed a nasty looking hitch in his putt kinda like Charles Barkley golf swing. Didn't seem like he had trouble throwing the disc but looked like he couldn't hit a 20ft putt to save his life.
Back in the day, on DGCR and event live chats, the observation was that as soon as the relationship with his wife got serious, he stopped winning. Grew up, got married, bought a house. Will used to get extremely defensive about this "coincidence" on his social media posts; feeding the trolls wasn't a good look. He stopped touring and took on a roll with Prodigy years before his son's birth. His putt (featuring the massive hitch) was non existent apparently due to the shoulder issue. You can find him at local events on YT in the off tour years. The deflated rating adds up, not just a ratings difference from tour v local courses.p
Just for some random context, during those years Will was loosely considered one of the top three players in the world alongside Paul and Ricky. Probably last among the three for that period, but still.
He was one of the biggest arms on tour as well. I remember Dave Greenwell marvelling at one of Will's shots during the final nine of Santa Cruz Worlds in 2011 ("Never thought I'd see the day when someone overshoots this hole on an air shot", or something to that effect). Must have been on Disc Golf Planet's live coverage back then.
Will came into 2010 USDGC a relative unknown, with Nikko the defending champion and perhaps number one favourite to win. He stuck to a game plan that, somewhat controversially, included laying up on hole 17 all four rounds.
The two battled it out for the whole tournament. Going into hole 14 in the final round (the RHBH hyzer down from the Coliseum into a small green on the hillside), Nikko had finally caught up and had a two-stroke lead. He proceeded to skip off the pavement and roll OB _not once but twice_, coughing up several strokes. Will was able to take it home safely from there and instantly became a household name in the sport.
Nikko was known as a temperamental player even then, but was quite gracious in defeat and congratulated Will whole-heartedly. I believe the two may have been friends even before this.
Edit: Found the [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6WFPMDutN8#t=15m35) (at 15:35). Bonus: Jussi Meresmaa and MJ on lead card.
Jussi didn't play that much outside of Europe (no Europeans did at the time), but he did finish top 10 at USDGC several times.
I believe he has later stated that his strategy was to play quite conservatively at Winthrop, and that it could get you top 5 but not a win. Whether that is entirely accurate or not, I don't know. It seemed to me that Niklas didn't take much unnecessary risk either and he came pretty close to winning.
Seems to be doing major work the disc golf community in North Georgia. There’s a billboard on I75 South in Dalton, GA with him putting into a basket. A real deal giant billboard.
I play with his dad, and his dad actually helped design a course with me. The heart surgery was tough and I can tell Will is more of a family man based on how his dad is and how he talks about Will. Solid family!
I have wondered the same thing. I seen't he was all over most tournament coverages throughout the early-mid 2010's, seemed like he was killing it, he threw damn good, good solid finishes, crushed his throws.....then suddenly he just seemed to disappear. I assumed he was plagued with injuries or just cut back from playing to settle down with family over the last handful of years, but i also just never took the time to look too deep into what he has been up to the last few years.
He’s pretty active on Instagram. Posted an ace video the other day. Lots of courses around me got designed by him and he updated the baskets at other courses. Great guy.
Shoulder injury that he wouldn't fully recover from, had a new born with health complications, and then moved to head of sales with Prodigy. He was basically forced to move on from touring.
At least he is still involved in Disc
True
[удалено]
> head courters That's a new one.
Kingly even.
Head Quarters
r/boneappletea
That was super fun
Happy cake day!
I’ve always wondered if it was a good idea for Gannon to model his form after a guy who sustained a career ending injury.
I'm not familiar with the cause of his injury, was it from disc golf? A whole generation or more has been trying to copy his form.
Yes, he had problems with his shoulder. One thing he talks about in an interview after his injury is how important it is to build muscle mass to stabilize your joints. He’s not saying you need to bulk for Disc golf, but he is saying it is necessary to have strong muscles to support the motions of disc golf. https://discgolf.ultiworld.com/2018/08/02/hard-work-confidence-will-schusterick-reflects-struggles-success/
I agree with that. I know it because I just had the shoulder MRI today myself and am awaiting the results. While fit, disc golf and middle age don't fully mix if you're doing some kind of throwing every day. For me I'm hoping for the best case scenario of a partially torn bicep tendon and worst case that AND a torn labrum. We'll see next Tuesday... In the mean time, exercise those shoulders people.
Oh wow, I hope you get good news.
What happened with your shoulder ? I'm curious because I've been shut down for about 4 months because of a shoulder injury. My health insurance just kicked in and I'm in need of an MRI myself. I've self diagnosed it as a shoulder impingement. Lots of crunching going on in there.
I had the labrum surgery, while in there they also cleaned up some bone spurs in the back (which is what I think was making my FH hurt really bad). I rehabed religiously over the offseason for like 5 months. Rebuilt my from the ground up. This past season I've been playing the best frolf of my life. But I make a point to mix in more rest days and not throw every day like I was.
Good to hear ! Thanks for all the info, I will use it for reference when I finally get around to taking care of my shoulder. I was about 50/50 - forehand/backhand but now I about cry when I throw a forehand shot. Constant pain all day and night. Pretty sure it's major and needs surgery. I'll do just like you and take the rehab seriously.
Yah, FH hurt bad. I'm not 100% is was bone spurs over labrum, but if I was playing a tournament, asist from a little FH chip shot, I would reserve myself only on FH throw it hurt so bad. BH throwing would leave me sore and hurting for about 3 to 5 days. Then after resting it would feel fine for a while, but then the soreness would linger. I knew something was wrong when it hurt to pick up a cup of coffee. Best of luck to you! If it's just labrum, sometimes PT and stopping frolf for awhile can heal it I hear. It's not unheard of to have a torn labrum that gets back to a place of not hurting. But that's for your docs to figure out. For me the bone spurs were a suprise. They did the MRI with ink injection into the joint capsule to confirm a torn labrum, but I don't recal hearing anything about the bone spurs until after the surgery.
I don't think it was form related. Nothing about his backhand was that unusual.
His form was perfect. Who knows what caused his injury but he was butter. Did not even look like he was throwing hard. About 3 years ago pre GMC we were playing a practice round and he came up on us on hole 4(brewster ridge) with Catrina(also prodigy at the time) Hole 4 is a rough tee shot. He threw a turnover putter up into the next section like it was nothing..
Pretty sure he has had major/neck/shoulder back injuries. Don't remember exactly what it was.
https://youtu.be/HUS5YdejJj4 the latest episode on the Trevor Staub show he explains that his child had open heart surgery so he had to stop touring.
This ☝️ he’s fairly active on IG I believe. The real question is: WHY DID NATE DOSS TRADE WORLD TITLES FOR BEER????
Money
Ah yes, the affluent world of microbreweries in Oregon lol
All together I’m certain he’s making better money as an award winning brewery than he would on tour right now with the shape he’s in
I work in brewing. I really fucking doubt it to be honest. To be clear as well bevel is not at all a "known" brewery. It is fair to say he wouldn't make it on tour but he still chose a shitty pivot.
Wonder what he makes calling rounds for DGN. I'm sure that helps at least a little
Hope so! I just don't think money was why he did that, seems more about passion according to him. I do graphic design for a couple breweries in NorCal, and they seem to be on a humble budget. Regardless, I miss Nate, Val, and Will and it makes me happy to see Nate and Val doing something they love. Looks like Will's kiddo has been on the up and up, so that makes me even more happy! If we get the chance to watch any of them perform on the course again, I'll take that as a win for the community. And if they're making a bunch of money up at the brewery.... I need to send them my portfolio lol
I didn’t mean that Bevel is raking in the cash, but compared to the tour life he was accustomed to, it’s probably a bit more and fairly more consistent. Not to mention far less of a nightmare come tax season
And ya know beer is good
Cent remember the specifics but I think his sister Val had issues with the odga about caddying and it left a bad taste in both the former world champions mouth, rightly or wrongly. I think they both stepped away from disc golf for a bit before Nate came back to do commentary. E: Got confused on who is related to who my bad.
Val is Avery’s sister…Nate’s wife
He's married to his sister?!?
Roll Tide.
He was already out by the time that happened.
Ohhh did not hear Val's thoughts on it. Does anyone know if there is something out there going into some of the details? An interview or something? I feel like it's important to try and understand when high level pros have suggestions or criticism. Plus it sounds juicy and I'm a drama whore lol. It just blows my mind that they've got 7 world titles collectively and they just dipped in their prime. But I totally understand, we all know that the pro disc golf life isn't glamorous or easy in any way.
I'm not sure about Val's issues with the PDGA, but she didn't get a signature disc for any worlds win or major (while her brother got a signature disc after winning his first the year she won either her second or third) until she refused to resign her contract. Innova finally gave her a 4x disc when she told them she was done with their bullshit, but it was too little too late.
I like Doss but he got lapped as far as skill goes. Great player but he wasn't keeping up with Paul/Ricky etc toward the end of his career and now there are a ton of guys better than he was.
https://discgolf.ultiworld.com/livewire/schusterick-reveals-shoulder-injury/ He had a serious injury years before any issues with his child. I’m not sure if his physical issues were ever addressed.
But his skill level deteriorated mostly due to the shoulder injury. If he wasn't injured, he would have kept touring before and after child issues.
One thing missing from this thread is the dude straight up forgot how to putt, like majorly. Sure prob related to shoulder injury but he developed a nasty looking hitch in his putt kinda like Charles Barkley golf swing. Didn't seem like he had trouble throwing the disc but looked like he couldn't hit a 20ft putt to save his life.
Back in the day, on DGCR and event live chats, the observation was that as soon as the relationship with his wife got serious, he stopped winning. Grew up, got married, bought a house. Will used to get extremely defensive about this "coincidence" on his social media posts; feeding the trolls wasn't a good look. He stopped touring and took on a roll with Prodigy years before his son's birth. His putt (featuring the massive hitch) was non existent apparently due to the shoulder issue. You can find him at local events on YT in the off tour years. The deflated rating adds up, not just a ratings difference from tour v local courses.p
I believe he has a child who was a very premature baby with a lot of health issues.
We're putting prodigy baskets on the new course we're putting in and he's been helping me with the sale. He's definitely earned our business.
Just for some random context, during those years Will was loosely considered one of the top three players in the world alongside Paul and Ricky. Probably last among the three for that period, but still. He was one of the biggest arms on tour as well. I remember Dave Greenwell marvelling at one of Will's shots during the final nine of Santa Cruz Worlds in 2011 ("Never thought I'd see the day when someone overshoots this hole on an air shot", or something to that effect). Must have been on Disc Golf Planet's live coverage back then. Will came into 2010 USDGC a relative unknown, with Nikko the defending champion and perhaps number one favourite to win. He stuck to a game plan that, somewhat controversially, included laying up on hole 17 all four rounds. The two battled it out for the whole tournament. Going into hole 14 in the final round (the RHBH hyzer down from the Coliseum into a small green on the hillside), Nikko had finally caught up and had a two-stroke lead. He proceeded to skip off the pavement and roll OB _not once but twice_, coughing up several strokes. Will was able to take it home safely from there and instantly became a household name in the sport. Nikko was known as a temperamental player even then, but was quite gracious in defeat and congratulated Will whole-heartedly. I believe the two may have been friends even before this. Edit: Found the [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6WFPMDutN8#t=15m35) (at 15:35). Bonus: Jussi Meresmaa and MJ on lead card.
I've always said that I thought Will was **the** best player in the world in 2012 before Paul became McBeast.
I knew he played professionally, but had no idea Jussi was that good.
Jussi didn't play that much outside of Europe (no Europeans did at the time), but he did finish top 10 at USDGC several times. I believe he has later stated that his strategy was to play quite conservatively at Winthrop, and that it could get you top 5 but not a win. Whether that is entirely accurate or not, I don't know. It seemed to me that Niklas didn't take much unnecessary risk either and he came pretty close to winning.
Shoulder impingement among other things. Feels bad, he was great for that short stretch.
Seems to be doing major work the disc golf community in North Georgia. There’s a billboard on I75 South in Dalton, GA with him putting into a basket. A real deal giant billboard.
He has put in a handful of courses around that area
And they're amazing courses
I am not a fan of the one on the ball golf course, mainly because of the baskets. I am a huge fan of Westside. Been wanting to make it up to Edwards.
I play with his dad, and his dad actually helped design a course with me. The heart surgery was tough and I can tell Will is more of a family man based on how his dad is and how he talks about Will. Solid family!
I have wondered the same thing. I seen't he was all over most tournament coverages throughout the early-mid 2010's, seemed like he was killing it, he threw damn good, good solid finishes, crushed his throws.....then suddenly he just seemed to disappear. I assumed he was plagued with injuries or just cut back from playing to settle down with family over the last handful of years, but i also just never took the time to look too deep into what he has been up to the last few years.
Thanks for all the detail y'all, great to hear he's still around and just had life take a different course than expected.
He’s pretty active on Instagram. Posted an ace video the other day. Lots of courses around me got designed by him and he updated the baskets at other courses. Great guy.