[Help] Disc wear and cycling—what can I expect?

[jupiterboy]

I'm getting close to the end of my first year back, and I'm noticing that the new discs I bought at the start of summer that were notably overstable are now flying pretty straight and true. For example, F2 Star Teebird that was consistently overstable new now after more than 100 rounds is a very reliable straight disc with not so much fade.

I attribute the changes to:

1.) Hitting lots of trees
2.) Improving form and nose angle

But I recently got a box of fresh discs and pulled a nice G* Teebird out and it was pretty beefy, like I remember the Star Teebird mentioned above when it was new.

I could tell the same story about other discs in my bag. Jawbreaker Zone, etc.

My question is this—do I keep cycling in new stock or do I buy more notoriously overstable discs and start working them in? This seems like it's going to be too many molds.

I've simply found myself with few overstable discs after one summer of play until this new box cam in. Even a Star Wraith, which was not in my bag until the last few weeks, seems to have become more neutral.

Do discs just off-gas as they sit around and change? That's kinda what I'm thinking. Maybe Star does that. Maybe it's not just the use and smacking trees.

Does a premium plastic like Z deviate less over time?

Time to disc up a little? I'm not throwing far. Most of the local courses have very low ceilings so I'm throwing lots of low drives that never get higher than 10 feet or so.

I have a Millenium OLF that stays beefy, like a Z Zone with more distance. What else should I look for?

Is it just a fact that everyone ends up with boxes of understable, old beat discs?

 

[ray1970]

Firs, that's a lot of questions.

I will say that how beat in a disc gets really depends on where you play and which plastic you throw.

Allegedly, trilogy plastic is the worst for holding up over time but I have a lucid Trespass that I have had in my bag for the better part of four years and it has finally gotten to the point where it is too unpredictable for me. Now, I only play two or three rounds a week and can probably count on one hand the number of trees I've hit with that disc over the last four years.

I've also been throwing the same DX Roc all summer and I'm barely starting to notice a difference in flight. Probably played roughly sixty rounds with it in my bag.

 

[twistedraven]

The ideal way to do it is to find your favorite overstable molds, and cycle them over long periods of time. That way you minimize the molds in your bag, so you're most confident with disc selection and grip.

Every manufacturer has an ultra durable translucent plastic that is usually their most durable plastic, and beats in slower than their grippy premium opaque plastic. Sometimes Innova champion molds take multiple years before you notice a noticeable change.

 

[ThrowaEnvy]

I second the cycle.. If there is something you like double down and get a backup you can start working in before you need it. As far as beating an extra overstable disc in to straight flight that's a bit of a tough go. Once you get adisc there after a few years it's great, if you lose it it's another two years to get a freshy beat in to where you want.

I think some discs do season a bit on the shelf or bag but I couldn't tell you how or why.

Personally I throw a lot of premium plastic and the only baseline is my envy. Where I live is tough on discs, dx drivers aren't an option. So I stack my bag with some similar speed discs with slightly different stabilities that relate well to each other. I play small bag, lightweight and throw 300ish on the flat.

Relay 6 5 -2 1
Insanity 9 5 -2 1.5
Volt. 8 5 -0.5 2
Tesla 9 5 -1 2

The tesla is out right now for the volt since I have some seasoned lightweight ones and all my teslas are fresh but you get the gist.

 

[Deuzzz]

Cycling molds is great if you play a alot especially if your local courses are wooded (tree hits->beats in quicker). You can use plastics like Star that beat in quicker than champion, but hold up quite long on the sweetspot of stabilty. If you dont want to wait too long gstar/pro plastic tend to be the least stable plastic out of the box. Pro plastic beats in really quick, but it wont hold the sweetspot that long. Some players have 6 pcs of star destroyers and it fills every distance driver need they have.

A shortcut would be to do the following(depending on your armspeed):
OS: Halo or Star Destroyer
Straight: Gstar Destroyer
Understable: Pro/Dx Destroyer

If you dont have too much time to play its better to have a certain mold for a certain stability. For example:
Overstable - Destroyer
Straight - Lat64 Grace
Understable - Shryke

You can have for example two of each so you have one fresh and one seasoned. This way losing the most US disc will not lose you years of beating in X disc.

 

[jupiterboy]

Thanks for the replies. I think this OLF may just be my utility OS go-to for a while when I need more distance than my Zone. I'm not having any major issues with the plastic and it of all my discs remains consistently beefier than its numbers. It works for me for forehand shots, too, so there's that.

Too many trees around here for DX.

 

[Three Putt]

I'm getting close to the end of my first year back, and I'm noticing that the new discs I bought at the start of summer that were notably overstable are now flying pretty straight and true. For example, F2 Star Teebird that was consistently overstable new now after more than 100 rounds is a very reliable straight disc with not so much fade.

I attribute the changes to:

1.) Hitting lots of trees
2.) Improving form and nose angle

But I recently got a box of fresh discs and pulled a nice G* Teebird out and it was pretty beefy, like I remember the Star Teebird mentioned above when it was new.

I could tell the same story about other discs in my bag. Jawbreaker Zone, etc.

My question is this—do I keep cycling in new stock or do I buy more notoriously overstable discs and start working them in? This seems like it's going to be too many molds.

Basically if you were happy with the Star TeeBird out of the box and new ones still fly like that one did out of the box, there isn't a reason to go more overstable. Cycle those babies.

I've simply found myself with few overstable discs after one summer of play until this new box cam in. Even a Star Wraith, which was not in my bag until the last few weeks, seems to have become more neutral.

Do discs just off-gas as they sit around and change? That's kinda what I'm thinking. Maybe Star does that. Maybe it's not just the use and smacking trees.

I've never had a disc change flight from sitting around.

Does a premium plastic like Z deviate less over time?

I mean it beats in more slowly so yes? Or no. It will deviate the same, just over a longer period of time. BUT...they start out different i.e. for me a Champ TeeBird out of the box is waaayyy beefier than a Star TeeBird. So when you switch plastics you may have to switch molds to get the same flight.

Time to disc up a little? I'm not throwing far. Most of the local courses have very low ceilings so I'm throwing lots of low drives that never get higher than 10 feet or so.

I wouldn't. The faster you go, the more nose angle sensitive the discs get.

I have a Millenium OLF that stays beefy, like a Z Zone with more distance. What else should I look for?

Is it just a fact that everyone ends up with boxes of understable, old beat discs?

Actually no. The LSS beats out of the disc first, so generally what happens to me when cycling is that an OS disc beats into straight and then the next OS one beats straight before the HSS beats out of the first one. I have shelves and shelves of beat into the sweet spot stable discs. It takes so much longer for me to beat a disc understable than it does to beat one stable that there is always a backlog of seasoned discs that I have no spot for in my bag. Once I do have a spot, there will be so many to choose from that some just are never going to make it back in.

 

[jupiterboy]

Actually no. The LSS beats out of the disc first, so generally what happens to me when cycling is that an OS disc beats into straight and then the next OS one beats straight before the HSS beats out of the first one. I have shelves and shelves of beat into the sweet spot stable discs. It takes so much longer for me to beat a disc understable than it does to beat one stable that there is always a backlog of seasoned discs that I have no spot for in my bag. Once I do have a spot, there will be so many to choose from that some just are never going to make it back in.

^

This is where I'm headed, I suspect. I'm gonna be taking some of this middle bulge to the local shops for the used bin.

 

[adb83]

I think this OLF may just be my utility OS

If you like the OLF and think it's too OS, try it in Millennium Standard. That's their pro-type plastic. Run 1.3 is pretty OS at first but break in so amazing. I had a 1.3 that was like a broken in Valk. I miss that disc. Run 1.4 has a little dome and is a touch mellower in stability than the 1.3s. 1.4s will probably be the ones that are most available right now.

 

[jupiterboy]

If you like the OLF and think it's too OS, try it in Millennium Standard. That's their pro-type plastic. Run 1.3 is pretty OS at first but break in so amazing. I had a 1.3 that was like a broken in Valk. I miss that disc. Run 1.4 has a little dome and is a touch mellower in stability than the 1.3s. 1.4s will probably be the ones that are most available right now.

How do you tell the difference? Mine is Milennium.

 

[discerdoo]

How do you tell the difference? Mine is Milennium.

Should mean it's standard so you're already cycling, bruh. It should lose some fade over the next couple months and keep getting straighter. Eventually you can get a sirius/star that will hold it's stability longer. A quantum can handle firebird type shots too.

Like everything Innova molds, the OLF is run dependent.

 

[azplaya25]

How do you tell the difference? Mine is Milennium.

Millennium has Quantum, Sirius, and "Millennium" plastic. Quantum is champ, Sirius is star, and millennium is pro. The OLF might be the best cycling driver of all time. If there's a play it again or used disc store in your town, I'd check the used bin for a beat in OLF to compliment your overstable one.

Side note - discs don't lose stability just sitting on a shelf - if you find that stuff is flying more flippy than is used to, it could be a form thing. Trying to throw overstable discs straight can lead to developing lots of off axis torque - happened to me so I speak from experience.

 

[Three Putt]

How do you tell the difference? Mine is Milennium.

"Millennium" as a word in disc golf is slightly confusing because it is the name of the brand (Millennium Discs) and also the name of a plastic (Millennium Standard). The basic plastics for Millennium Discs is Millennium Standard, Quantum and Sirius. In Innovaspeak, Millennium Standard=Pro, Quantum=Champion and Sirius=Star.

So far as someone knowing, a Millennium Standard disc with a stock stamp will just say "Millennium" and the disc name. The other two will say "Millennium Q" or "Millennium Sirius" and the disc name.

Basically if your disc just says "Millennium Orion LF", it's Millennium Standard plastic.

To add to this general confusion, no one calls it "Millennium Standard plastic". We call it "Millennium plastic" or "M plastic" or even "Millennium base plastic", but no one calls it Millennium Standard plastic.

 

[jupiterboy]

Sry folks, it is Quantum 1.6 and it feels like it has real weight in the flight plate, which seems to be common to some of my more OS discs. (Still learning about the plastic and I get it wrong sometimes.)

 

[jupiterboy]

Side note - discs don't lose stability just sitting on a shelf - if you find that stuff is flying more flippy than is used to, it could be a form thing. Trying to throw overstable discs straight can lead to developing lots of off axis torque - happened to me so I speak from experience.

I used to only throw forehand but I've absolutely lost it. I have serious flutter and other issues with my forehand. I'm certain I have backhand issues, too, but I only started throwing backhand at the beginning of the summer so I don't know that I do anything consistently. I plowing too many backhands into the ground at the moment, so nose angle consistency and timing are what I'm thinking about.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

Sry folks, it is Quantum 1.6 and it feels like it has real weight in the flight plate, which seems to be common to some of my more OS discs. (Still learning about the plastic and I get it wrong sometimes.)

For Millennium discs, the 1.6 refer to a specific production run, or batch of discs. To the best of my knowledge, Millennium's the only brand identifies the specific production run on their discs.

How Millennium run #'s work.

The funny thing is that Innova does the manufacturing for Millennium. I bet a ton of people wish Innova stamped run #'s on their discs.

 

[Three Putt]

For Millennium discs, the 1.6 refer to a specific production run, or batch of discs. To the best of my knowledge, Millennium's the only brand identifies the specific production run on their discs.

How Millennium run #'s work.

The funny thing is that Innova does the manufacturing for Millennium. I bet a ton of people wish Innova stamped run #'s on their discs.

Fun Fact: Run numbers can be kinda fubar. Maybe now they are better about it, but back under the original ownership the stories were endless; The CE EXP 1's have two run numbers because when they started stamping them the forgot to change the number. The yellow 1.8 QJLS that are actually QPLS. A lot of runs were stamped with no run number. I stopped looking at run numbers a long time ago.

They could be better about it now, though.

 

[elmexdela]

Fun Fact: Run numbers can be kinda fubar. Maybe now they are better about it, but back under the original ownership the stories were endless; The CE EXP 1's have two run numbers because when they started stamping them the forgot to change the number. The yellow 1.8 QJLS that are actually QPLS. A lot of runs were stamped with no run number. I stopped looking at run numbers a long time ago.

They could be better about it now, though.

the ce exp1 were amazing

i wonder how old they are

do you know by chance 3p

 

[elmexdela]

For Millennium discs, the 1.6 refer to a specific production run, or batch of discs. To the best of my knowledge, Millennium's the only brand identifies the specific production run on their discs.

How Millennium run #'s work.

The funny thing is that Innova does the manufacturing for Millennium. I bet a ton of people wish Innova stamped run #'s on their discs.

it would be brilliant to do the run numbers

any downsides to that tho

 

[Three Putt]

the ce exp1 were amazing

i wonder how old they are

do you know by chance 3p

18 years.