Up and Coming- Hailey King Q and A

We all have to start somewhere in the Disc Golf professional scene, and it is no different for Discraft team member Hailey King. Hailey King is an amateur Disc Golfer who is on the cusp of becoming a professional herself. She is young but she plays very well for her age and has a ton of room to grow. I got the pleasure to interview her so enjoy the questions and her answers below!

1A) How are you doing ?

A) I am doing alright. Just got off a back injury and my pointer finger and middle finger on my throwing hand are still swollen from something that happened months ago.

1B) How are your travels going?

B) I have been traveling a lot for me this year, I am 15 and I can't drive yet so my dad is still driving me to these events. He has to make sure he has enough vacation days so we can do these events. We just used up all of his days at Ledgestone.

2) What got you into disc golf?

I knew of disc golf when I was in 6th grade because I found a star archon in my schools parking lot and there wasn't a disc golf course within miles so It was kind of odd. But a few years later my dads friend took us out to play disc golf and we instantly fell in love with just being out door and traveling time with friends.

3) How is it being pro?

I have a lot of fun playing with the pros. The only reason I'm not professional and I haven't excepted cash is because there isn't many professional women in Wisconsin. But I think there are a lot more women this year compared to last year. And I should be turning pro soon because I'll be able to travel more.

4) What is your favorite memory from over the years within the sport?

My favorite memory was from Am Worlds. A little girl named Virginia came up to me and started talking to me. I was in a lot of pain then and she just started talking and I didn't really notice the pain.

5) What is your favorite disc?

I don't really have one favorite disc, but I'd say the Zones, Forces and Buzzzes are my go to discs!

6) Any advice for young players who want to try to go pro?

I didn't get this opportunity handed to me, I have been working my butt off. So with that, I just want people to work for things and if it doesn't work out right away, keep pushing and don't give up.

7) What is your favorite course?

My favorite course would be Camden 2

in Illinois. It is wooded but has an awesome design. Many wooded courses have problems with not making lines or having lines that aren't fair. Well Chris Sprague nailed this course, I absolutely love it!

8) What can we look out for the remainder of this year from you?

I am just going to keep shooting well, hopefully hit a 1000 rated round just hit my high at Ladies at the lake with an 983.

9) Do you have any pre-tournament rituals?

Sometimes I jam out to some music. I always plan to get to the course and hour early, invade traffic is bad or I need to get some holes in. I very rarely play holes before the tournament, instead I will putt from 20,30,45, then practice jumpers. And move to upshots. If there is a field around my dad will usually run to the other side and return my discs so I can practice throwing. We will do that a couple times if necessary.

10) Who did you look up to when you were starting up in disc golf?

Well I just started discing a few years ago so I wasn't really that into know pros, but Barrett White has been there and I play the way I play now because of her. She keeps pushing me. She is always there for me Disc Golf related or not. She is my mentor and best friend

11) What was it like getting sponsored? How did it feel?

It was awesome getting sponsored by Discraft. I got a few offers but I tried Discraft discs and I just loved their plastic so consistent from the box. Most reliable discs out there. I am doing great, I am just pushing myself so I can be better than what I dream of. I am traveling a lot more this year and I plan to travel a lot next year when school is out. It's awesome traveling with my dad, but I also miss my family when I go on long trips. My family keeps pushing me and is very supportive. They want me to be out there doing what I love and it's awesome having somebody on board with me.

I want to thank Hailey for answering my questions and i wish her the best of luck on the rest of her tour this year. If you want to keep up to date with her you can follow her on her various social medias as well as go to discraft.com to learn more about Discraft Disc Golf.

Picture credit goes to http://www.discgolf.discraft.com/team_juniors.html