I have a lot of high speed drivers.....Do I need to get away from these discs and work with lower speed drivers? If so, what would be a good bag setup? For the most part, I use the Wraiths and the Buzzz. I have been putting with the Buzzz recently as well; the shots feel better than with the Aviars. Here are the discs I have right now.
Any help would be appreciated. I am having fun playing and get out by myself usually 3-4 times a week.
I would recommend it. I'd make yourself putt with a putter too. I did what you're doing when I started out and I wish I had learned a putter sooner. Go buy a new putter if you have to, to find one that's comfortable to you, or just stick with the Aviar. But make your putter your most used disc. Putt with it, approach with it, and drive with it. Buy a second for driving if you have to, so your putting one doesn't get to beat up. Here's a bag I'd say you should try out:
DX Aviar - Putts
Star Aviar - Drives and approaches under 200' or so.
Buzz - Long approaches and medium length drives, anything under 275' or so.
DX Stingray - Understable utility mid
Predator - Overstable utility disc (Use for headwinds, not as main driver. Also utility shots like thumbers, certain roller shots etc.)
DX Teebird - Main driver. Buy a star one if you need the durability, otherwise just buy two dx and carry the 2nd when the 1st gets beat.
Pro or DX Leopard - More understable compliment to the Teebird.
You could also use Cyclones, Gazelles, Cheetahs and a number of other slow, controllable drivers.
Throw this setup until you are matching your current distances. In addition to the distance goal, try to learn to throw your Buzz and Aviars further, and learn to use them instead of drivers when possible. If you haven't started learning them, start trying FH and BH rollers, overhand shots, FH drives etc.
One last thing. Once a week or so, play a round with just your putters and mids, or just your putters. Play long tees with just them also.
--Personal anecdote you should probably skip over--
Disc golf is more about control than distance, as much as I hate to admit it (I love going to open fields and just throwing far
). Slower discs are easier to control. This is true for any kind of shot, whether a distance drive or a putt.
I used to max out around 350' and I can't even remember how many discs I tried in an attempt to find the one that would fly 400' for me. Roadrunner, Destroyer, Firebird, Surge, Beast, Force, Excalibur, Wraith and more. Then a few things happened to got me on the road to where I am today. I really started reading on DGR about discing down, disc selection, how to build a bag, how to tell if you're getting a disc up to speed and so on. I also had a friend remind me as he was teaching me the game, throw the slowest disc you can on a given hole.
So I took out my distance drivers based on their advice. I played with Rhynos, Rocs, Leopards, Teebirds and a Firebird for headwinds. I threw all of my distance shots with Teebirds and Leopards. I made an attempt to disc down on holes too. Hole #9 at my home course is a 325' dogleg right. I threw Valks, then threw Leopards, then Rocs, then Rhynos (Which didn't work well, but once I switched to Wizards they became my disc of choice for this hole), surprising myself each time.
What discing down taught me was to focus more on controlling my shots. When I was throwing those fast, overstable drivers for D, I was trying to torque them as hard as I could, because I've always been a brute force kind of guy. I just try as hard as I can at something until it works. But this didn't work. So after a lot of reading and practicing I learned how to control my power a little better. I went from flipping Xcals and Firebirds on
every distance shot to throwing Leopards on flattened hyzers that never flipped over for the same distance. I went from "This disc isn't stable enough for someone as strong as me, too flippy" to I can throw any disc I want. I can also throw putters now as far as I threw the high speed stuff back then. I also found that mythical disc that gives me 400' +. It's any disc faster than my midrange.
EDIT:
I threw a TeeBird that another guy had like I had been throwing the high speed discs and it flipped quick and drove into the ground to the right around 100' (I throw RHBH). Did I use poor technique or try to throw it too fast?
Take all the drivers out of your bag, replace with a dx teebird or two, and don't look at this thread again until you can drive it dead straight.