Discmania's Jussi Meresmaa during filming of Deep in the Game. (photo courtesy of Discmania)
Are you ready?
Discmania is hoping that disc golfers everywhere are ready to go Deep in the Game.
On Monday, the disc golf company will release the first of its five video instructional series “Deep in the Game.”
All episodes will be free.
Discmania released the trailer for the series earlier this week:
Deep in the Game will air for five episodes and will cover the topics of putting, backhand, sidearm, mental game and monster distance.
Putting is on the schedule for Monday and the remaining episodes will be released every second Monday.
The schedules for the series is as follows:
- Episode 1: Putting (April 16)
- Episode 2: Backhand (April 30)
- Episode 3: Sidearm (May 14)
- Episode 4: Mental Game (May 28)
- Episode 5: Monster Distance (June 11)
The idea of the seems simple enough — a video series aimed to help disc golfers improve. But it goes much deeper as the series will incorporate interesting camera angles, high definition and a different feel than other instructional videos.
Jussi Meresmaa, left, and Avery Jenkins prepare for a shoot on the set of Discmania. (photo courtesy of Discmania)
Discmania CEO Jussi Meresmaa, who has been involved in disc golf for 17 years, said when the idea first came up, he knew where to go.
“I remember when I found this sport in Finland, there were no written materials, no educational videos available,” he said. “Everything we did, we learned from each other or figured things out by ourselves. I remember I was eager to learn more.
“The idea of the Deep in the Game began last year, when I was thinking what to do next,” he continued. “The winter is long in Finland, so I decided to use it effectively. Immediately when I got this idea, I knew who to contact and where to film this production. I’ve been traveling around the world playing disc golf and I wanted to make this one in California — where this all started.”
That’s also where the star of the series is located — Avery Jenkins. Meresmaa said Jenkins was the perfect match.
“I’ve know Avery for years,” Meresmaa said. “We have the connection. Avery understands the sport and he’s been around for a long time. He is one of the most professional disc golfers out there. I like his mentality when he throws himself into a project. There is a perfectionist living in him and I like that.”
Esa Arokki shoots Avery Jenkins taking a shot during the filming of Deep in the Game. (photo courtest of Discmania)
Besides being top proffesionals, the pairing of Jenkins and Meresmaa was strong because both are top spokesmen for the sport.
“They are both very respected and influential players and ambassadors of the sport with a whole bunch of know-how on both disc golf technique and the competitive side of the sport,” said Janne Lahtinen, a member of the Discmania staff.
The idea
There aren’t a ton of high-quality instructional videos, so this seemed like a good project for Discmania to undertake.
According to the company, if the sport is going to continue to grow and become bigger, everyone — including disc manufacturers, disc golf companies, players and associations — need to take it to another level.
These videos are not just for existing players, but for others who will play in the future.
Discmania is aiming to release the videos each Monday in the afternoon, Finland time (the company is located in Finland). That means the episodes should be out in the United States sometime during the morning.
Notes from the filming of Deep in the Game. (photo courtesy of Discmania)
The series wasn’t easy to produce.
Discmania reserved 12 days for shooting and used every day. Meresmaa said they knew the schedule was tight and there was no room error. Still, despite some bad weather during early shooting, things worked out.
“We had an incredible time together,” he said. “I think these kind of projects bring the best of you when you need to work under a pressure and in a small time window. Most of the days were 14 or 15 hours.”
As the videos are prepared to be released, Meresmaa said he’s excited for them to be finished.
“I’m looking forward to those clips,” he said. “They represent the legacy that Avery and I want to leave to disc golf community. This means a lot to me, when I can share something valuable to all who are interested at the same thing than us. These videos are free to watch and learn. Information should be free.
The series
Meresmaa said he is hoping the series will inspire players. He said this is all about sharing information.
“These days it’s easy to go out and shoot a clip or two and put it into YouTube,” Meresmaa said. “I wanted to make this deep.”
The production, he said, took about two months and hundreds of hours to prepare. The learning experience was positive as well.
Meresmaa also singled out the work of Esa Arokki for his planning, filming and editing of the series. He also said Greg Marter was important to the project for being multi-talented with filming projects.
“Without these guys, this production would have only been a great idea,” he said.
Lahtinen said he hopes the series will be a big addition to the disc golf world.
“I’m really stoked about everything,” Lahtinen said. “I believe this series should and will have an impact on the whole disc golf community and, as a bonus, we will have a set of great videos for marketing the sport for beginners.”
Discmania on the web:
P.J. Harmer is the lead blogger for Rattling Chains. If you have any comments, questions, thoughts, ideas or anything else, feel free to e-mail me and the crew at: pj [at] rattlingchains.com. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook!
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