We received some delightful news lately when we heard that Simon Lizotte will be making his return at the opening event of the 2017 Disc Golf World Tour! The German disc sling famed for his aggressive plays and awe-inspiring distance shots was forced to the role of a follower at halfway through the 2016 season due to a knee injury. After a surgery and lengthy recovery process Simon is feeling confident about making his first appearance of the 2017 season already in January at the Aussie Open where he will be challenging some of the other top players.

We reached Simon for a short interview to check up him and ask him about the injury, recovery process and plans before the 2017 starts. After the injury Simon has spent the last months mostly at home enjoying an exceptionally long break in the company of his family and friends. While the break was nice Simon was also sad that he didn’t have a chance to play the huge events later in the season and is very eager to throw again.

Your 2016 season was cut short because of a knee injury. How did you hurt your knee? How badly was it injured?

During my Finland summer tour I slipped and fell during a 360 speed gun throw and twisted my right knee. I had many consecutive distance shows and clinics and my body just wasn’t ready for it. I partially tore my front ACL. It’s not really that bad of an injury but it takes very long to heal correctly and I need to regain my strength in my right leg now.

At first I was told to just take it easy and relax my leg. But it never really got better so after 8 weeks of resting I decided I wanted the doctors to cut my leg open and look inside to really see what was wrong. Lucky everything looked pretty good and stable enough so they didn’t have to replace my ligament. It was a big mess inside my leg though and things grew together weirdly. So they cut some stuff away and cleaned everything up so it can heal properly.

How is your knee doing now and in the long run? How about yourself in overall at the moment?

My leg is doing better than it’s ever been since the injury right now. I’m really working hard to make sure I don’t injure myself again. I don’t know how things will be in the long run but I will do everything I can to make it as positive as possible. I myself am doing fine and dreaming of disc golf every night. Just trying to get fitter and a healthier lifestyle.

What happens next?

I will be in Switzerland until Christmas. This is the perfect place for me to recover. It’s very lonely and peaceful. My goal is do be able to throw again by the end of my personal training here so I have couple more weeks to prepare for the Aussie Open.

Your season starts in January in Australia. What are your thoughts and expectations on the event based on your 2015 experience?

I remember it being a good finish for me and I played well that weekend. My goal is to play well again. That being said I don’t expect anything regarding my game. All I want honestly is to finish the tournament without any problems and feel strong. It’s just going to be exciting to see my disc golf family again and of course play that amazing course. Also I expect it to be quite warm.

My best memory is probably the amazing sunsets and a good party. We were a great crew out there in 2015 and it was such a good time. It was my first time in Australia and I’m really looking forward to my second!

We think that we’re not the only ones who are eagerly waiting to see one the most entertaining players out on the course again. He’ll make his return in tough company since he’ll face Paul McBeth, Eagle McMahon and Dave Feldberg in the opening event of 2017.

More about Aussie Open 2017

Aussie Open website

Aussie Open on DGWT website

Aussie Open registration

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