Axe Thrower Interview: the Mattador

This dude oozes cool. Calm. I’d seen him around/chatted with him before, but after the person he was with declined an interview (the first time that’s happened to me — which I’m still reeling from, honestly), I decided to do the least cool thing I could: asked if he’d be up for one, instead. He got me back for my dorkitude by giving me my first loss of the day during the US Champs, but it was honestly one of the most enjoyable matches I’ve had in a loooong time. Despite my exceptional nerdness, the dude was up for the challenge. This axe thrower interview covers beginnings, The Axe Lab, and “good” vs. “bad” practice.

How did you get into axe throwing?

My mom worked at the building next door of this new axoring place in Newark, Delaware. She said I’d probably like it. I went over there that night, threw my first ax. Hit a bullseye. I said, yeah, I’m in. I joined the very next league.

What does success look like to you?

A Premier 81 would be nice.

Wouldn’t it though? I’m so fucking far from getting a Premier 81, but I think about it a lot.

I think about it. Every time I go up there.

What are you currently throwing for your axes?

I am throwing Agdor big axe and a Commander, customized by Ripsaw.

Does your local venue or league do anything unique compared to other venues you’ve been to?

The Axe Lab? We’re outdoors. And our throwing space kind of slopes down. Nice.

I don’t know where I heard this, that you’re currently closed because you’re trying to build out a more enclosed space. Is that accurate to say?

Yeah. So we’re going to add a couple more lanes or two more targets, a couple more lanes. And we’re taking down the old structure that we kind of inherited. And we’re going to rebuild and waterproof it and put some plastic vinyl around the outside to kind of keep it a little more climate controlled and make it a little more of an all year kind of affair.

What do you think is going to keep you in this sport and what do you think would drive you out?

What always kept me in the sport was a sense of community. Everybody wanting to help everybody, which I mean, I’m sure everybody says that. Of course. And the fact that I can pretty much go anywhere — I can go to California, I can go to Canada, I can go to Australia and you can still throw inside of the IATF, which I always thought was pretty cool.

What would get me out? I guess what I always liked about the IATF was, it was always fun to throw. I did WATL for a little bit and it was never very entertaining. Everybody was very competitive. And it got to the point where you’re just trying to throw out a dime. To me, it was always like, yeah, the bullseye is big, but I enjoy it. It was always fun, sense of community, sense of camaraderie.

And if it ever changed, it’s more of like a WATL situation.

If you could change one thing in this sport, IATF specifically, what would you change?

Make the clutches the size of bullseyes.

What’s your biggest achievement so far?

Getting to Canada, qualifying for Canada back in 2020. I am going to go back this year.

I was thinking about it, but I’m almost positive that financially I would not recover if I tried to go up there again. It’s so expensive. Anything else?

The venue’s (Axe Lab) doing really well. I have no complaints. Everybody’s been real supportive. People have been coming from all over from different states and stuff, so I really can’t complain about that.

What’s something you would tell yourself — you’re just starting out-self?

Just because you’re practicing doesn’t mean it’s good practice.

People always say practice makes perfect, but if you’re not practicing well, if you’re not really … Even practicing with somebody that get a sense of competition, I feel like you never really grow. Then if you pick up bad habits, and you’re practicing those same bad habits, you’re never going to get any better.

You’re going to hit a ceiling at some point in time. It’s always good to get good coaching. It’s always good to throw with somebody to get that level of competition, like I said. And again, so just because you practice doesn’t mean it’s good practice.

Huge thanks to Mattador for being a chill guy, a great thrower, and for humoring me as I interrupted his lunch to ask a bunch of questions.