Kristin Tattar: Being the disc golf favorite brings with it challenges

World number one women's disc golfer Kristin Tattar says she is pleased with her start to the 2024 season, taking a month's break after the opening rounds. Tattar currently lies second in the overall standings.
Two-time world champion Tattar, 31, returned to her home country for a month this week following the first eight rounds in the U.S., where disc golf is a much bigger market than it is in Europe, despite growth here too.
Tattar said: "Looking at the bigger picture and those eight weeks in the U.S., I think it has been a very successful start to the season. It's unfortunate that physical and mental fatigue coincided with the week of the Majors, but overall, I think it's good."
The season had started off quite tough, Tattar, who had to shake off a bout of the flu, added. She had also had a last minute scramble to get her U.S. visa sorted ahead of the opening competitive rounds.
But then: "After my first win, the tension dropped, and while fatigue then set in, I gradually started to cope with that, week by week," Tattar added.
As a hot favorite at many tournaments, Tattar said she found last season's dream season, in which she won the grand slam of all the majors, was at the same time a millstone which needed to be managed.
"It's definitely proved a challenge because I've set in place such a strong foundation for myself that the bar I want to surpass keeps getting higher," Tattar reflected.
"I feel that I'm no longer the underdog, but rather the one with a target on my back every weekend. It's certainly a different feeling when competing, and it has posed its own challenges in dealing with that. I think I've managed well. Sometimes it's harder, sometimes it's easier," she went on.
At the same time, Tattar welcomed the increasing level of competition this season, which has been particularly noticeable. "In all competitions, except the last one, the women have had to play with an average rating over one thousand to win."
Whereas the bulk of top competitors have been from North America, that, too, is changing, she added.
"We've had winners from different countries. I've just managed to bag several wins, but on top of that, we've seen new champions from Finland, Norway, etc. I feel the bar is constantly rising, and this inspires me and motivates me to put my back into things and to train more, to keep up with everyone," she continued.
Tattar has won four out of the first eight competitions this season and has made it to the podium six times. However, she did not finish in the top three in either of the season's majors, placing sixth in Texas in March and fifth in Illinois last week.
Now back in Estonia for a month, Tattar plans to get some rest and recuperation in, as well as some training for a month before heading back to the U.S.
She will only be on the other side of the Atlantic for a couple of weeks; in mid-June, she is due to compete in Europe, not least in the domestic Estonian championships, and the European disc golf festival, also to be held in Tallinn.
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Editor: Anders Nõmm, Andrew Whyte