[Latitude] Ballista

[slowplastic]

Yeah I'd skip the World as well, especially in that distance range. The flippy ones will go that distance well for you, but will not handle wind. The stable ones will have an uncontrollable skip since they still have so much speed when they hit the ground, and still likely not handle moderate to heavy wind.

I agree with Sheriff as another option, good glide and distance...not as much fade or speed as the World but much more glide. The Captain is less stable but seems to go very far, I just haven't thrown them enough. I just don't know how much you'd want to throw either of those in wind.

 

[aphilso1]

The World I have now goes relatively far for me on a pure flat-to-hyzer; I can get it to the same distance range as my Escapes go full hyzerflip, although obviously that's a MUCH different line. I've thrown my World into an 18 mph headwind and all that did was make it go longer and straighter before eventually fading out. Agreed that it does have a huge skip, even compared to other warpspeed drivers like the Ballista or Sheriff. Frankly, if all Worlds flew like the one I've got, then I wouldn't even be debating this. I'd just buy a stack of Worlds to cycle from super OS down to usable OS, and Ballistas to cycle from stable to US.

I actually have a fairly fresh Sheriff in my basement which I should give another try. Good recommendation. I didn't like it when I bought it, but I was also only throwing in the 300'-320' range at that time so I really wasn't ready for it yet. I recall it being too much disc for me in calm conditions and a bad wind fighter in blustery conditions, so really just unusable for me back then.

I'm going to check out the Ballista Pros at the shop tomorrow, and if they feel the same as regular Ballistas then I'll grab an Opto and Opto-X. For sure picking up an extra regular Ballista, too. We'll see how the Ballista Pro experiment goes. If the Opto-X flies similar to my current World and the Opto is between that and a fresh regular Ballista, then I'd say I've got my molds sorted out. If only the Ballista wasn't such a perfect disc fresh out of the box, I wouldn't have this dilemma of what to bag around it. Oh well. The Lucid-X Trespass is actually filling in the 'Usable OS' slot for me rather well right now, but once it beats in to normal Trespass stability I don't plan on buying another. I'd like to have my molds paired down by then, hence why I'm trying to mentally build the game plan now.

 

[slowplastic]

The World I have now goes relatively far for me on a pure flat-to-hyzer; I can get it to the same distance range as my Escapes go full hyzerflip, although obviously that's a MUCH different line. I've thrown my World into an 18 mph headwind and all that did was make it go longer and straighter before eventually fading out. Agreed that it does have a huge skip, even compared to other warpspeed drivers like the Ballista or Sheriff. Frankly, if all Worlds flew like the one I've got, then I wouldn't even be debating this. I'd just buy a stack of Worlds to cycle from super OS down to usable OS, and Ballistas to cycle from stable to US.

I actually have a fairly fresh Sheriff in my basement which I should give another try. Good recommendation. I didn't like it when I bought it, but I was also only throwing in the 300'-320' range at that time so I really wasn't ready for it yet. I recall it being too much disc for me in calm conditions and a bad wind fighter in blustery conditions, so really just unusable for me back then.

Yeah that's a good World then. My VIP World is one of the more stable I've thrown, it is very straight with speed to hefty fade, but if I threw it in that much wind it would flip. It would eat up like 5-8MPH wind and get more distance like you said, but then there's a certain amount where suddenly it's gone. Eventually after some beat in it showed turn and I had to hyzer flip it, but the hefty fade was still pretty present so it wouldn't be a max distance disc or controlled placement disc. I have also thrown many that were less stable than mine, and definitely would turn over in calm for me...they bombed but I also would get better control with a Destroyer class disc. So I would stay away from more unless you can test/trade someone for them first, because they are often less stable than yours from what I've seen.

The Sheriff will not fight wind like your World, but it will probably be fun for you to throw now, try it since you have one. Keep in mind I have found that they have a bit more late fade than a normal plastic Trespass, so for big distance you'll need to make sure it has a bit of turn to it before flexing out...either by throwing it hard enough to flip a bit or giving it a touch of anny at release. If they don't have any rightward drift RHBH then they won't glide out, but if they flex then they glide a real long time...kind of a weird disc that way in that it's very apparent and different for me.

I have never thrown a Ballista Pro. I really like the Bio Defender though, it is what I wanted the World to be. Granted it is not a bomber for me, but for big arms it is. It should be quite to very OS initially, but after the short Trilogy beat in time for bio plastic it will pick up some glide and maybe a bit of turn, but not be unpredictable like lots of Worlds can be. A touch slower and a bit more glide than the World. Again though expect it to be OS for the first month or so then they suddenly get that notch of HSS loss and still have a large fade.

 

[aphilso1]

I'll keep Defenders in mind if the Opto-X Ballista Pro isn't quite OS enough. It's definitely a fine line between just enough stability to be a headwind fighter, vs. too much stability so I never actually throw it enough to break it in. Defenders/Ballistas would probably be a great combo though. Will likely give the Ballista Pros a couple months of audition time before I even consider buying any more molds, but Defenders would definitely be on the short list. I'll give the ol' Sheriff a few more tosses too, just for fun.

Thanks for all the ideas, TWM & SP.

 

[slowplastic]

Sounds good. If you don't have the chance to feel these in a store before buying, the Defender is a bit more similar in hand to the Sheriff whereas the Ballista is a bit more similar to the World as in speed 13ish vs 14ish and depth. If you do end up trying the Defender, just make sure it's in Bio since they do beat in faster. I've only thrown fresh Lucids and never Fuzion, but they had positive HSS and were too much for me, whereas the Bio's seem to be a solid 0 to a -0 and do wear in to show turn but not get unpredictable. Whereas Worlds can be firm 0, to a sudden flip when there is just enough wind.

 

[aphilso1]

I'm lucky enough to live 30 minutes from discstore.com's warehouse, so I always feel a mold up before buying the first time. And oddly enough the World/Ballista size rims feel great in hand to me. I do appreciate the tip though!

 

[Twmccoy]

The World can be a fairly long distance driver, but for me the Ballista was always much longer. The World has a much dumpier fade, and doesn't seem to flex out on big S curves as nicely as a Ballista. Honestly, the World isn't really made to even be a flippy mold. I've thrown 3 Worlds. One was beefy, like the numbers on the disc indicate. One was an air World, so it was fairly flippy. The other was a heavy VIP World that for whatever reason flipped like mad. The mold is way too inconsistent for me to really get into it.

At least with Ballistas you know what you're getting. Somewhat flippy, fast, and very long.

I'd definitely try a Defender before a World. Defenders are fairly beefy, but eventually beat in to nice distance bombers. They aren't a disc I'd throw for open distance unless it was into a headwind. The Defender reminded me of a beefier Sheriff.

I agree with the Sheriff being lousy in wind. That said, its one of the better distance drivers I know of for calm or downwind conditions.

 

[BrotherDave]

Look for a Ballista with some dome to it.

This is a good rule of thumb for Trilogy distance drivers in my experience. All the unpredictably flippy ones I've had were flat (actually use flat Kings for rollers so silver lining).


A bio/recycled/whatever Gladiator might be worth checking out too. I'd have more experience but the only one I've seen in my store is the color of red clay and I live in NC so that's no bueno for me. But the upper 160s Opto Gladiator (with dome) I had was a moderately OS driver with decent glide. It was sneaky long on hyzer lines.

 

[Twmccoy]

This is a good rule of thumb for Trilogy distance drivers in my experience. All the unpredictably flippy ones I've had were flat (actually use flat Kings for rollers so silver lining).


A bio/recycled/whatever Gladiator might be worth checking out too. I'd have more experience but the only one I've seen in my store is the color of red clay and I live in NC so that's no bueno for me. But the upper 160s Opto Gladiator (with dome) I had was a moderately OS driver with decent glide. It was sneaky long on hyzer lines.

I usually avoid flat distance drivers from any brand. I just feel like flat discs don't glide as well. The only time I want flat drivers is for overstable stuff, like a Flick or XCal. For big distance shots I want something with a dome.

I've thrown 2 flat Ballistas. They weren't bad, but they weren't as good as the domey ones. Less glide.

 

[aphilso1]

I picked up a 174 Opto-X Feldy Ballista Pro and a 169 Opto Ballista. Both with just a little dome to them. I'll start keeping my eyes open for super domey ones in the future. Maybe it's just in my brain, but the Pro actually feels just a touch less wide-rimmed compared to the normal Ballistas. Similar feeling for sure, but not quite identical in the hand. World on the (figurative) other hand feels exactly like a high PLH Ballista to me.

We've got 5 inches of fresh snow on the ground and I didn't want to lose a brand new disc (nor did I really want to test them out in sub-par conditions). So even though I played today I haven't thrown the new plastic yet. Hopefully the snow will melt enough to give them a tryout this weekend. I'm super intrigued by the Pro in particular and hoping it's going to be a long windfighter for me.

 

[aphilso1]

I've gotten a handful of rounds in this week now that the snow is gone, and also done some fieldwork with my Ballista Pros and Ballistas. I'm sold -- these bad boys are going to be my distance drivers for 2019. No more auditions needed.

The BalPro seems like a great headwind driver for my power level. I've yet to throw it in monster winds, but I feel like it's got plenty of stability as long as I give it a touch of hyzer. As for OG Ballistas, right now I'm bagging a Moonshine and Opto. Both crush. I could probably get by with just bagging one, but I find myself throwing lots of mulligans as I re-familiarize myself with the mold. Love these discs! Also bagging a Plasma Wave for when I want to take a little off of a throw, or be able to turn it over more controllably.

 

[Twmccoy]

I've gotten a handful of rounds in this week now that the snow is gone, and also done some fieldwork with my Ballista Pros and Ballistas. I'm sold -- these bad boys are going to be my distance drivers for 2019. No more auditions needed.

The BalPro seems like a great headwind driver for my power level. I've yet to throw it in monster winds, but I feel like it's got plenty of stability as long as I give it a touch of hyzer. As for OG Ballistas, right now I'm bagging a Moonshine and Opto. Both crush. I could probably get by with just bagging one, but I find myself throwing lots of mulligans as I re-familiarize myself with the mold. Love these discs! Also bagging a Plasma Wave for when I want to take a little off of a throw, or be able to turn it over more controllably.

Yeah, the Ballista is really fun to throw. I don't bag one, but I could. It would take the spot currently occupied by a Shryke. Lots of speed and high speed turn for me. Massive distance. Ballistas don't do well in wind, especially headwinds. I love them on open bomber holes.

I want to try a Ballista pro. That could be a disc that actually makes my bag.

 

[mark996]

The Ballista and Ballista Pro are threatening to become my main drivers and pushing more and more Tresspasses out of my bag. The Recoil, Ballista and Ballista Pro are taking over.

 

[MaxFlight]

Anyone throwing Ballistas these days? Surprised to see such a short thread dedicated to them here.... Had to go back like 5 pages to find this one.
Just picked up a 171G Opto Ballista. Looking forward to it's arrival!

 

[twistedraven]

I would bag one if they made it in goldline down to the 160g like they do the Ballista Pro. But since they don't, I just use a beat 160g Ballista Pro as my flippy driver.

If you can find a 160g gl Ballista, I'd get it instantly.

 

[MaxFlight]

I just throw a Thrasher or Shryke for my flippy driver. I'm looking for full on distance with reliable finish

 

[BrotherDave]

Still my main tailwind/max D driver. Mine has beaten in to a nice spot where I can actually shape some tight lines with it if I use enough clean hyzer. If I have unlimited room on the right and calm wind it's my go-to for distance.

 

[aphilso1]

I bagged them for a season and lost all three. :|

In hindsight, I just think I was trying to use them in too many situations. I really wanted them to be my main driver, and they are just too unwieldy for that role. Or at least for me they were.

I ended up filling the flippy max distance slot with Vanishes this year, thinking the smaller rim would yield more control. Ended up losing just as many discs while not getting as many of those "oh wow, it's still going" crushs. At this point I may just live without a flippy out-of-the box distance driver, or I might go back to Ballistas. At least with Ballistas that 1-in-10 crush kinda makes up for the shots that go OB.

 

[twistedraven]

I figure if I can get my 160g ballista pro beat up enough, it will become as flippy or more flippy than the ballistas at full weight, with the added bonus of being easier to release up to speed thanks to the higher weight.

I have a 167g opto knight for true understable duties, but I rarely find a situation to use it on my local courses.

 

[MaxFlight]

Are Ballistas really as flippy as everyone seems to claim?