Building a Bag For a Tournament - how do you do it?

[BillFleming]

How do you build your bag for and during a multi-round tournament?

Do you keep your bag the same because you know what discs you are going to throw regardless of the course?
Do you adjust your bag between rounds?

I adjust my bag between rounds. I start my first round with a bag having all the discs I think I might need. When I throw a disc, I move it to the right side of my bag. When the round is over, I take out any discs I didn't throw. Then I review my throws and make any changes I think are needed. But once I make the change, I don't rethink it any more; I play with what I chose. For example, I recently played in the Flagstaff Treebash, which was three days - one round each day at the same course. At the end of the first day, I reworked my bag. As I went through the throws in my mind I got to hole 4. I threw my Innova Teebird (7/5/0/2) from the tee, hit the top of the basket and bounced past the basket. Okay....almost aced it, but if I miss the basket how far past will I go? Is the speed or glide the issue? Should I change out the Teebird for a Kastaplast Kaxe Z (6/5/0/2) or an Innova Roc3 (5/4/0/3)? Or should I go with an Innova Banshee (7/3/0/3)? Once I made my decision (stick with the Teebird), I stuck to it and didn't rethink it.

I think, for me at least, having a minimal amount of discs in my bag that I know I'm likely to throw, makes the round go better for me. It takes away over thinking a shot - this is the disc I have for this shot, make it work.

I'm curious whether you adjust your bag or leave it alone...and why.

 

[Horsman]

My bag does not change based on the course. I have built a bag that I can be successful with no matter the course that I play. Now my bag does have about 3 slots that can be changed and are not essential so I use those slots to put discs in that need to be broken in but those slots will be filled with important backups for a tournament in case I lose something during the round. If I had a bad first round and threw all the wrong shots, I know that it was me and not the discs.

 

[Moose33]

Your cycling slot idea is interesting to me, I always have them arranged from slowest to fastest left to right.

I only replace something if I lose something, I have tons of backups in the car but almost exclusively things in my bag.

 

[txmxer]

Don't have much tourney experience, but I've been thinking about reducing the # of discs I carry in general. I usually throw about 4 discs during most rounds and could probably get away with just two or three including putter.

 

[Horsman]

Your cycling slot idea is interesting to me, I always have them arranged from slowest to fastest left to right.

I only replace something if I lose something, I have tons of backups in the car but almost exclusively things in my bag.

Yea, I think that cycling slots just come from me having a big bag and me having figured out what molds I like a long time ago and sticking with it.

 

[jmdaire27]

I used to be of the mentality that my bag is built to tackle any course. And to a degree, it is. However, depending on the course, the lineup could change. In general, the change might consist of removing some discs from a specific category.

For instance; if I am playing a short, more technical course, or the course is mostly wooded, I would likely take out the distance drivers—and bag down to the C Grip. If it's mostly long and open, might remove some mids/putters. If I am playing a course blind, or it offers a wide variety of shots, I'll bring the whole bag (usually 18-20 discs—B Grip). I do have my core molds, though. They don't change on a tourney day.

I will bring extras in case I lose one during the first round, but I don't go out counting on losing one, so I won't have two discs that do the same thing in the bag, generally. Bags are heavy enough, and most tourneys are in the hot/humid summer, so less is more.

Fun topic. TLDR-I have my core molds; which of those molds make the bag depend on the course I am playing.

 

[BillFleming]

Thanks everyone for the comments. One thing that I didn't mention was that I play tournaments in different elevations. I live at ~1500 foot elevation and play at local courses, but I also play courses at ~5300 foot elevation. So, I do have discs for lower elevations and ones for the higher elevations.

But I do have a few core discs (putter: Legacy Clutch, approach: DGA Breaker, mid: Discraft Buzzzz, fairaway: Innova TeeBird, distance: Kastaplast Falk). I add in others depending on what I think I will need for a course and then I remove what I didn't/won't use for the next round.

Maybe I need the philosophy that what I have in my bag will work for any course and carry a handful of discs as backups or if I find there are shots I couldn't make the first round.

Hmmm....things to think about.

 

[Horsman]

Thanks everyone for the comments. One thing that I didn't mention was that I play tournaments in different elevations. I live at ~1500 foot elevation and play at local courses, but I also play courses at ~5300 foot elevation. So, I do have discs for lower elevations and ones for the higher elevations.

But I do have a few core discs (putter: Legacy Clutch, approach: DGA Breaker, mid: Discraft Buzzzz, fairaway: Innova TeeBird, distance: Kastaplast Falk). I add in others depending on what I think I will need for a course and then I remove what I didn't/won't use for the next round.

Maybe I need the philosophy that what I have in my bag will work for any course and carry a handful of discs as backups or if I find there are shots I couldn't make the first round.

Hmmm....things to think about.

Going from low to high elevation would def make me change my bag up quite a bit. I tend to never play at elevation so my bag stays the same but when I travel to play in CO and others at high elevation I will change my bag up. Take all the normal OS stuff out and toss in super flippy things.

 

[BillFleming]

Going from low to high elevation would def make me change my bag up quite a bit. I tend to never play at elevation so my bag stays the same but when I travel to play in CO and others at high elevation I will change my bag up. Take all the normal OS stuff out and toss in super flippy things.

When I play in higher altitudes, I change out my fairway drivers (I don't throw distance drivers) from overstable to understable. But I leave my mid ranges and putters the same.

 

[biscoe]

My bag stays the same for the most part. I may add or subtract one or two discs based on the course (generally adding a driver if I am playing at Lake Marshall or dropping a driver or two if I am playing something very short) but that is it. It has been a long time since I played at any real elevation so that is not a factor.

 

[JRW III]

I rarely change my discs for the course, but I also don't change elevation. I have a Zuca transit cart. When I play tournaments, I will add a small bag on the bottom with back ups in case I lose a disc during the round. I also put a buckhorn bin with a full complement of back ups in my car in case I need to replace a disc in between rounds.

 

[jdw80550]

My bag stays the same, but I do add in backups just in case.

I also never throw a disc i dont have at least 50 throws with. Its just too tempting to say, "hmmm...let's see what this bad boy can do! Oh ****, I'm OB!"

Elevation does have me but everything up or down in stability. Use my comet way more in the mountains, and my buzz at lower elevation.

 

[BillFleming]

My bag stays the same, but I do add in backups just in case.

I also never throw a disc i dont have at least 50 throws with. Its just too tempting to say, "hmmm...let's see what this bad boy can do! Oh ****, I'm OB!"

I agree with that. I test discs out in the field or in practice rounds. I never have a disc in my bag for a tournament unless I am comfortable with it.

Elevation does have me but everything up or down in stability. Use my comet way more in the mountains, and my buzz at lower elevation.

That's interesting. I switched out my DGA Rift (5/4/-1/1.5) for a Discraft Buzzz (5/4/-1/1.5). But I hadn't thought about switching out to the Comet (4/5/-2/1) for higher elevations.

 

[jdw80550]

My normal mids in my bag are Comet, buzz, wasp, jokeri. When I go up to the mountains, my comet becomes my buzz, my buzz becomes my wasp, I drop the wasp, and the Jokeri becomes my OS disc.

I just played my highest elevation course a couple of weeks ago, it was at 10,500' for reference. My Comet would only anny if I throw it hard and on a 45-degree angle. I could not get the buzz to move for the life of me. I really struggled to adjust. Then I came home, 4,800', and things were back to normal.