April 12, 2021 by Charlie Eisenhood in Livewire, News with 0 comments
After rehabbing an elbow injury for the past six months, Simon Lizotte has announced plans to compete in his first Elite Series event of the year at the OTB Open in California in just over a month.
“I am not throwing at 100% effort or speed and I won’t be doing that for (maybe) the rest of the season,” Lizotte wrote on Facebook. “But after many months of reviewing my injury, rehab, and figuring things out, my therapist team has given me the green light to go back to competing.”
Lizotte has not played in a tournament since the 2020 US Disc Golf Championship, where he finished in 69th place and failed to cash. He subsequently dropped out of the Disc Golf Pro Tour Championship and, after suffering through pain in his elbow on forehand shots all season, took five weeks off of playing disc golf entirely. When he returned to throwing after that break, the pain was worse and also flaring up on backhand throws.
He was diagnosed with triceps tendinopathy and has spent months seeing personal trainers, physical therapists, and a chiropractor to work on addressing the pain. “Basically, what I have to do is strengthen my triceps muscle so much that my tendon gets relief,” he told Ultiworld Disc Golf.
His medical and training team also works with professional athletes from other sports — Lizotte said he sometimes works out alongside MLB pitchers — and he said he feels like he’s in “great hands.” His doctor told him that he he has reached a point where further rehab won’t make a significant difference.
“He doesn’t think it’s going to get any better in the next couple of months than it is now,” said Lizotte. “He thinks it’s going to be a part of my life for a while, maybe forever. Throwing hard is going to hurt my elbow.”
Lizotte said he doesn’t expect to be throwing at maximum power any time soon, but that he still feels capable of competing on Tour. “I can throw 450′ with my DD3s without worrying about hurting my arm,” he said. “And we all know at the end of the day is that it’s a mental game and you’ve got to make your putts and take those chances.”
Earlier this month, he shot a bogey-free 7-under par on Paul McBeth’s new home course in Virginia, setting an early course record in a round that was documented on YouTube (front 9, back 9) while clearly dialing back on the power and eschewing any “Simon lines.”
“Who [knows]?” he wrote on Facebook. “Maybe being forced to throwing more controlled and simple lines will actually help my game a bit.”
He plans to return to competition first at a B-tier near his home in Massachusetts at the end of April before heading out West for the OTB Open.
Lizotte said that he has low expectations — though he still hopes to finish inside the top 20 — and plans to work on his putting a lot over the next month. He’s excited to see his fellow competitors back on the course.
“I kind of hope they throw me on the feature card first tournament back, but I also kind of hope they don’t so that I can ease into it a bit,” he said. Always a showman.
