Help make a better Wizard

[roman]

I created this thread on DGCR but I want the opinions of the club members here as well so I'm going to paste it here and hope you guys will chime in with your preferences. For those that don't know, Dave recently brought back the old G9i Wizards. They're nice and firm but not too slick. Great putter for use off the tee or if you prefer stiff putters. His goal is to make this a step up from the base plastic Wizards with similar feel to the old 9x and 10x KC Aviars.

----------------------

I spoke with Dave at Gateway tonight and he mentioned to me he was trying to tweak the plastic blend to make the G9 Wizards a bit more durable. I've been throwing mine for a solid month now and I don't see any rapid wear, but I do understand that some people have had big chunks of the disc taken out by unfortunate hits on concrete. Dave says this is because the discs are so firm that when they come in contact with another really hard surface they just chunk up. He's not happy with that because he wants the G9s to be sort of a step up from the sure grip (base) plastic Wizards.

He threw out some ideas on the phone tonight and gave the pros and cons of them. I want to try and repeat what he told me and get feedback from the users here. Key word is try because Dave knows a lot more about the materials and disc tech than I do so often times he mentions things that I don't understand.

One of the solutions he had was to throw in more of another chemical that would make the discs a little softer. The plus side is that this will prevent the chunking when hitting hard surfaces like concrete and will provide additional grip, but at the same time the discs will as a result also be a little softer. I know one of the big points of the G9s was how firm they were.

Another idea he threw out was to try and blend in a little of the Evo plastic into these to give them some of the durability of the Evo Wizards. The downside to that is that Evo plastic tends to cool with a bid of dome to it, which is why the Evo Wizards are a bit domey. He likes that the G9s are flat and wants to preserve that, so he'll just try to do it and see how they come out. If they do end up coming out with a bit more dome, is that a deal breaker for you guys in exchange for more durability?

Last but not least he considered adding some glow to the mix. Not for durability but just for the sake of them being glow. He said he has two different glow compounds - one that is really bright but doesn't last long, and another one that is a bit dimmer but lasts longer. He plans on mixing both of them into the G9s.

So again, let's hear your feedback about what you want from a future rendition of the G9. Keep it the same? Try to get more grip? Try to make them more durable? What is important to you guys, and what changes would make it a deal breaker? Dave's open to suggestions if you have any.

[Ron Huebner]

I picked up a G9 Wizard in the Saint Louis Open players pack. I have thrown it for a few weeks and it seems pretty durable. As Roman noted, it is a firm putter but not as slick as say the Gateway medium blend. At this point I am pretty happy with this blend as it feels good in the hand and seems durable. It will hold up better than the SSS and SS plastics.

Ron