Disc Selection

[Working Stiff]

I'm looking for some opinions on disc selection, sorry if this gets long.  When I started playing around 1990, I carried an 86 Softie, a Hammer and a Cobra.  I usually played a little pitch & putt, so the Cobra was almost like cheating.  If we went to a real course, I'd pack an Eclipse.  That was about as complicated as it got.  If I needed a hyzer shot, I'd put hyzer on what I was throwing.  If I needed a disc to flip, I'd try to put some turn on it.

By the time my first child was born and I effectively had to stop playing, things had changed a lot.  I putted Magnets, used Comets for my mid-range shots, had a beat Cyclone for turnovers and rollers, threw a newer Cyclone on most drives and carried an X-Clone for hyzer bombs and forehand shots.  The discs did a lot more of my work for me, but I still only carried five discs.  That was in '99.

Now, when I go to the park and see serious amateurs, they are carrying six or seven different DRIVERS.  It seems like there has been a shift in the game, and that players are a lot more dependant on the plastic selection than before.  When I played, you mostly just had to decide stable or overstable on the tee.  Now it seems like the discs are very specialized and a lot of a players success is dependant on what they pull out of the bag.

Is this really what is happening, or am I just seeing the wrong players?  I remember watching pros like Crazy John Brooks and Ron Russell tear up a field carrying three or four discs, but is that unrealistic given the technology out there now?   

I'm starting to play a little again, and I have thrown discs like the Inferno that-given the right conditions-will out drive the Cyclone by a mile.  However, I could throw a Cyclone in about any kind of wind, and the Inferno is helpless in a cross wind or headwind.  That means to throw an Inferno I have to carry another driver to account for the wind that it can't handle.  So I can see how you end up with six or seven drivers.  Is it feasible to ignore the distance you can with an Inferno and a tail wind in order to simplify your disc selection, or has the game advanced to the point that you have to play musical discs to be competitive?

I thought I'd ask for some opinions before I spend a BUNDLE on new plastic.  Sorry that the post is long winded.

[Jon Brakel]

The discs have gotten much more technical, but it's still the Indian and not the arrow. Some of the high speed, long distance drivers are not suited to all situations. Some people's opinions might vary but I think its a little different in the mid-range and putter areas. I think most players only carry one kind of putter. I only carry two kinds of mid-range discs. One a little under stable and the other stable to a little over stable. I usually only have 3 go to drivers. I think it is best to keep the number to a minimum but I think I'm also more accurate when I throw the same type of throw but can have it do different things based on disc selection. I think some people get a little crazy with the number of different molds that they carry but then you see them pull off some great shot and I think "If they need the discs to do that then good for them!"

I bought my first disc golf disc from some guy named Tom McManus in 1980 or so. He had one mold, one stamp and I think only one color. But boy, was it fun to throw!

[Fox Metro Discer]

I would be one of those "serious" amateurs that you were speaking of above.
For me, the selection of discs is so varied, even between the same manufacturer, that for a newer player, it is difficult to find the correct disc for you without going through the trial and error method of getting a disc and throwing it then trying with another one. So, about a year ago, I had 5 or 6 different drivers in my bag because I did not have the proficiency with a few discs you were speaking of above.
Now, I still have 5 or 6 drivers, but they are of only 3 different types. Anewer one to hyzer, and at least one with a bit of wear on it to help it hold the understable anhyzer line I am looking for. Add in a specialty driver; i.e. thumbers and rollers, and the remainder of the bag is for midranges and putters, 3 of each.
I guess in answer to your question, it is, to me at least, more a what disc is really going to work for me since there are so many choices out there, rather than this disc is for hyzer, this one is for anhyzer, and this one is for a "S" curve, type of thing.

As for me, when I first started, I also only carried an Xclone and a Cyclone as my only drivers.

[Working Stiff]

The discs have gotten much more technical, but it's still the Indian and not the arrow.

I totally agree.  I got to see Sam Ferrans play a long time ago.  I'm sure I've never thrown any golf disc as far as I saw him throw Aviars that day.  By the same token, you can't throw Aviars off the tee and win today no matter who you are.  You have to stay somewhat current, and I'm feeling like a disc golf luddite with my outdated drivers.  I'm really hoping to only add a few molds, because I don't want to spend all my time deciding what disc to throw instead of concentrating on the shot.  The old days were great for that.  If you only had one driver, no decision needed.  Those days are gone.

I bought my first disc golf disc from some guy named Tom McManus in 1980 or so. He had one mold, one stamp and I think only one color. But boy, was it fun to throw!

I bought my first disc out of the trunk of some dudes car.  He was really hoping to sell me a bag of weed, but I passed.  It was a white Phantom, and that was the only disc I had for four or five years.  The thought process off the tee back then was 1) set down cooler of beer.  2) Throw Phantom.  3) Pick up cooler of beer and walk toward disc.  I don't count those as "years playing."  They were more like "years delinquent."  I don't think you can consider yourself a disc golfer if you don't know what "hyzer" means. 
I really miss that Phantom...and that cooler of beer!

[Abelardo Arenas]

He was really hoping to sell me a bag of weed, but I passed.

That was your first mistake.  Passing on some good weed can only lead to bad karma. 

[Working Stiff]

Passing on some good weed can only lead to bad karma.

That's the best reason I've ever heard for my futility in disc golf.  Bad karma indeed!
Actually, I was there with a buddy.  We both bought something.  I'm the only one who bought a golf disc.  You can fill in the blanks.

[shawn]

By the same token, you can't throw Aviars off the tee and win today no matter who you are.

Sorry but not true...  I witnessed Cam Todd throw the course record @ Sandy point long course with a Challenger..  in a one disc event.

Played with some guy @ Dreska that only had 6 disc, no bag...  he was great, and all he threw was super puppys...  nothing else...

I would suggest that if you want to up grade to some of the new drivers to stick with something understable, since you have skills that most of the people playing today do not have....   finesse.

if you have an extra poop brown eclipse I would love to get one for memories...  p. m. me

[Working Stiff]

I witnessed Cam Todd throw the course record @ Sandy point long course with a Challenger..  in a one disc event.

To paraphrase Lloyd Bentsen.."Senator, I'm no Cam Todd."
I was actually starting to get the hang of things yesterday when I finally started throwing the Diablo.  Does anybody else think that the Diablo goes farther in a cross wind than with no wind?  Weird disc.  However, if I can throw the Inferno with no wind or a tail wind and mix in the Diablo with a cross wind, then really I just need an overstable disc for forehands and headwind shots to replace the dearly departed X-Clone.  Then I can hang on to the Cyclone for rollers and when I need a disc that I have more confidence in.  Six different molds is OK I guess, and I might find that I never use something and chuck it.  I walked around with Stingrays for years before I realized that I never threw them.
So, right now my new and improved bag is:
Putter-Wizard
Midrange-Buzzz
Cyclone
Inferno
Diablo DT
Overstable disc-???
Any suggestions?

if you have an extra poop brown eclipse I would love to get one for memories

I'm stupid.  I never collected anything except those WWII airplane stamped Lightning discs.  Great move, hun?  I wish I still had a Phantom, and one of those Hammers with the big mallet on the stamp.  Alas, it's all gone.

[myndcraft]

For a overstable disc you could go with any of the following...

Innova: Starfire, Monster
Discraft: Reaper, Predator
Gateway: Speed Demon

As for general suggestions I have none really.  I haven't thrown the Diablo DT or the Inferno so can't really comment on what flies similar.  I do know though that I am in love with the Surge in the ESP and FLX plastic.

[tacimala]

I don't fully agree with the Starfire call for overstable, but it is a good disc in the wind. Firebird or heavy Tee Rex would be more overstable than a Starfire. The Monster and the Max are both super overstable.

[mirth]

I was throwing my Monster yesterday morning on holes where I knew I needed the extra fade into a cross/headwind where my Wraith wouldn't have faded enough.

[myndcraft]

I don't fully agree with the Starfire call for overstable, but it is a good disc in the wind. Firebird or heavy Tee Rex would be more overstable than a Starfire. The Monster and the Max are both super overstable.

Ahh, sorry bout that.. I should mention I haven't thrown those myself I was meerly going off the Innova charts and the Tee Rex was not on the graph I looked at.  The Monster and Starfire were.

[discmonkey]

Overstable, but slower and more controllable like your clones:  EXP1 or Banshee

[Bruce Brakel]

The Predator is Discraft's best overstable disc.  The Reaper has never seemed all that overstable to me.  I really liked a Reaper for a reliable hyzer disc, back when I had one, but not into a headwind.  I was throwing the Predator into headwinds at Kenosha and was getting nice straight flights.  The Venom is also beefy overstable, but they can only make it in D plastic because in Z it was too stiff -- it failed the crush test. 

[Jon Brakel]

I prefer to throw slower into head winds rather than use overstable discs. If its really windy I'll use something just a little overstable. Going really overstable makes me lose my control.

[Working Stiff]

I prefer to throw slower into head winds rather than use overstable discs. If its really windy I'll use something just a little overstable. Going really overstable makes me lose my control.

Headwinds kill me.  I either throw my regular driver and flip it, or try to beef up with an overstable disc and loose my control.  I guess thats why I'm an Am. 

Overstable, but slower and more controllable like your clones:  EXP1 or Banshee

I mostly use overstable discs for forehand shots.  I forgot about the Banshee, that was a great forehand disc.  I mostly use forehands when I'm in trouble, and I still have a Banshee with the star stamp that I wrote YDGFUB! on...it stood for "You Done Gone F*#!ed Up Buddy!"