04/26/2026
Win #22, The ECKL Spring Fling win, may have looked easy, but it was not and it was a ton of fun.
The ECKL Spring Fling was a couple months ago. Cory and Gregg asked me to play with them, and I knew if I was going to say yes, I’d have to put serious time in practicing leading up. Combine the deep field of really good teams and if one teams up with the levels of Gregg and Cory and plays anything under a B+ level, it is going to stick out…and I in no way wanted that to happen. I also knew I could not cheat myself and just show up and expect to play well. For preparing for that tournament I threw batons in the morning before work and evening every day from the Saturday before.
Mental preparation before and reminding yourself of key things during the competition continue to be huge for me. Over the years I have written notes on paper and put those notes in my pocket. Some things are more often on that paper, and some things are on there based on what I was working on in preparation. As they say, talk to yourself, don’t listen to yourself. This helps me talk to myself.
For this tournament, I wrote my notes on a Kings of Kubb sticker for a couple reasons. I had that sticker in my pocket the whole day, and I even had a couple opponents ask me why I was throwing with my hand in my pocket sometimes. I was working on my rhythm the whole week and a couple of the things I have on the sticker relate to that. Cory and Gregg played as lethal as two players could play all day, and it was amazing to experience that. Other than a drop in 8 meter form late in the prelim rounds, I feel like I hung close with them. But the whole day I kept looking, touching, and remembering that note and reminding myself to trust what was on it…and myself. It was a grind all day and I loved it.
Couple still shots from videos on this post. One is from the 2014 World Championship and I’m getting ready to throw the last 8 meter in group play to advance to the 16 team playoff. In the actual video will notice me looking off to the right at the Swedish flag that was waving and then you will see me tapping my pocket…I still have that note. Second, if you think I’m full of crap, tell that to Aaron Donald. The second is from an iconic video of him preparing before the Super Bowl.
When people ask us if kubb can be a sport, we say unequivocally and unapologetically say YES!!
Kubbers…don’t listen to yourself…Talk to yourself! And find ways for you to do it best for yourself.
