Getting close...

[whentherainscome]

I played a round to day with only Rocs and my putters. It went... surprisingly well. Almost too well, actually. My Buzzzes went from cocky to nervous.

First day putting with Magics. They did very well except when the wind screwed with me. Using an SS Magic for main putter, might be what they call "chalky". Great grip, grabs the chains.

 

[Scouser17]

sounds like a good day at the course

 

[primal dg]

i played a round with just a buzz for drives mids and putts and i played way better than expected.

 

[whentherainscome]

I always go to the "easy course" to do these stripped down rounds. My best there is -6 with a full bag, and I've shot -4 with just Pures and -3 with Rocs (I had a KC Pro and a DX Glow) and Magics (Full disclosure: I think I used a pure once and a Sinus once for upshots).

I plan on doing the same round with Buzzzes soon. I was really impressed with the Rocs though. The KC still seemed really sensitive to tiny release issues and wobbled/turned a few times. Much better than before I disced down and worked on form. This disc was my first Roc and has been floating around for a couple years. It's also the reason I don't/haven't had Rocs in my bag.

 

[whentherainscome]

Oh, and try that round again but use the Buzzz as a driver, only off the tee, and putter(s) for everything else.

 

[whentherainscome]

Went to the disc store yesterday and picked up:

SS Magic: because I left all my putters in my practice basket and didn't notice til I was 20mins down the highway. :wall:

Flat Z Wasp: Seems overstable enough for my mid duties, feels great in my hand. Had some good times throwing it FH. In heavy wind I've just been going Firebird, so this should see more use than my Drone had been lately.

S JLS: I found a pretty low-dome one in the stack and noticed later in the day it's a 1.1 First Run. In field throws after my 3rd round of the day yesterday, it was my longest throw. I had wanted a sparkle QJLS, but they seemed just as domey as my SFDs. Really, I just wanted a lower profile straight fairway, now that both of my Rivers are seasoned to be flippy.

2x SSS Wizards: I stopped back in the shop after my round to pick up a Glide for a friend, and the Wasp I had eyed earlier. I took advantage of the 4/20 sale and added a couple PINK SSS Wiz's, based mostly on my horrible wind putting. These are the first wizards that have felt really good in my hand. They def. drop sooner than Magics on putts 20'+, so I'll still be using Magics in calm and tailwind, Wizards for drives and headwind and the Sinus for heavy wind.

The bag's a little messy right now:
Putters: 2x SS Magic (one chalky, one new), Banger GT, SSS Wizard, Hard Sinus
Mids: Z Wasp, Z Buzzz, Ti Buzzz, Super Stingray, Star Stingray
Fairway: 2x GL River, SJLS, CFD
Distance: Firebird, 2x SOLF (Flat S-OF, mild dome 1.3), 1.2 QOLF, 2x GL Saint (one flippy, one fresh), Star and Champ Sidewinder

Biggest thing is the Saints - I don't need 'em. But I can't quite hyzerflip the SOLF (just long, straight, then fade), and the Champ SW isn't quite stable enough (or good in wind). Furthermore, I don't want to deal with constantly cycling MOLFs (what's the wear cycle like on these?) or PPDs (would keep with the Firebird rim theme).

2 rounds today with this setup @ MSU DGC. Pretty boring course, but they're having a fundraiser for the 3 stolen baskets. I hope it's not too windy!

 

[whentherainscome]

I played 5 rounds between Friday and Sunday at 4 different courses with the following bag:
Wizard, Pure, Magic, Sinus | Wasp, Buzzz, Super Stingray, Stingray
River, JLS, CFD | Firebird, OLF, Viking, Sidewinder

Friday's round, I tried my old Beasts instead of SW/Viking/Saint. They're still very stable for me, even "the flippy one".. I couldn't turn it over in a tailwind. So back to SWs and I'm using the Viking for hyzer flips and distance. I ended up 20' past a flat, open 340' hole with it. That's new distance territory for me. Nailed the putt too!

The biggest thing though, is that those ^^^^^^^^ SSS Wizards I picked up have been stickin in the chains all week. They aren't as stable as I thought they would be for long drives. Its to where I still feel I should carry the Opto Pure for longer upshots, or if I need 200'+ hyzers that won't straighten out. I'm using a MED Wizard I had lying around, there are some gouges in the bead, so that might be part of it. I like the way it flies though.

I'm still playing a Drivers-and-Putters game, due to this everlasting callous/blister at the first joint in my index finger. If I throw Buzzzes a lot, or Comet/Wasp even a few times, it gets aggravated and swells a bit and compounds the aggravation/pain. So I only have them for rare FH shots.

I'm going out on Tuesday for some field work and I will be taking my Comets and Buzzzes and working on a fan grip. This appears to be the same as my stacked grip/fork grip/modified power grip/whatever, just with the index finger not wrapped under the rim. It sounds like just what I need to get healed up.

 

[SSquirrel]

Don't suppose using a band aid on that finger gives enough cushion to keep it from getting worse when you throw?

 

[whentherainscome]

I haven't tried it on the course, but I keep it covered w/antibiotic ointment and a bandage at night, based on picking a disc up/putting practice with the bandage on, it would be very weird!

Leaving the mids in the bag hasn't had any negative impact on my scores. Rivers and my CFD power down very well and everything under 230 or so gets done with putters. :thmbup:

 

[whentherainscome]

Packed my Med Wizard for upshots. This was a used Wizard when I got it, some chunking action on the bead, so it had a really great turnover line. I promptly lost it in a large mud puddle, no name or anything. I can't really find Med Wizards, are these the ones that are too hard for sanctioned play? I ordered 2 softs, they should be firm enough. Going to use these for approach discs along with a Magic and Rhyno and/or Sinus.

I also ordered 2 P-PDs and 2 MOLFs, around 167-172g range. I know the wear cycle of the PPD, and I'm curious to see how the MOLF breaks in. Either way, I should have my less stable lines covered as well as having over half my drivers with the same rim/feel. Eventually, I should be able to cover my Sidewinder shots with the PPDs and maybe just keep a Champ Viking in the bag for durability's sake. C-FD/Rivers are still my $$ fairway drivers.

It hit 80 degrees yesterday at leagues, and humid. Everything's a lot less stable now than a week ago, when it was still snowing. My Firebird straightened out a lot, so I added a flat one in. The CFD finishes straight and my Rivers are very flippy. Stupid weather, I thought I had it all figured out!

 

[whentherainscome]

It's been.. about a week.

MOLF is awesome. Glide for days, goes super straight then fades. It'll start turning soon, and that's okay too.

The P-PD is softer/domier than the one(s) I had before. It has more turn out of the box than the MOLF, and easily more distance potential. I haven't figured out the release angles with it just yet. Play ~4 days/week, and am otherwise busy, so as much as I dream of field practice, I don't know if I'll ever get to it.

The SJLS proved to be as stable as my C-FD, so I went back to the S-FD.

Wizards are working out great. I've been using one of the Softs for everything off the tee and upshots. I've had grip issues off the tee, mostly just too loose, causing me to 3 a lot of "birdie holes." I've also done some ****s-and-giggles powergrip (I generally fork grip everything) throws with the Wizards, getting 300'+

Lastly, after years of on-again-off again success spin putting, and my recent slump, I bit the bullet on pitch putting. It's extremely comfortable. Even though I made the switch on Tuesday, my putting was as good or better than normal for Leagues last night. So far so good!!

 

[JAKE master]

I've also done some ****s-and-giggles powergrip (I generally fork grip everything) throws with the Wizards, getting 300'+

thats what turned me onto wizards so much. i love the fact i can crank on them

 

[whentherainscome]

I was looking through my Sidewinder backups, and.. 2/3 of them are +mold, the rest aren't. I don't actually mind this, I might even prefer the slanted rim, but they fly so much more stable! I saw the same thing in the last Valkyrie I had.

The Viking (might be +rimmed too, now that I think about it) turns enough where I think I'd be fine with River/FD, OLF/Viking and then Firebirds for beef. I think I'd benefit from fewer choices in the bag, in molds and # of drivers in general. I'm going to redo the separators and carry one more Buzzz (a Pro D) and one more Putter and cut down on drivers.

I've been having some terrible rounds too. I finished DFL in a tournament this weekend (out of small field, 6 guys, but still..). And then this weeks' sanctioned league posting was rated 814! >.< +8!! I shot -2 the day before on the same course w/o feeling like I was doing anyting particularly special. It's gotta be mental/blood sugar related, plus some bad luck OB and tree hate. I'm going to work on my mental state, cut caffeine back again, and do more non-DG activities.

On a couple positive notes, I got the last bit of splinter out of my index finger and it's healing up quickly. I can BH Buzzzes, Wasps and put a little more on my Wizard drives w/o stinging pain and swelling! I've been dealing with this for about seven months now, so it's quite a relief. I didn't even have a Wasp when I had to stop throwing [stable] mids. I like it a lot, and have parked a few holes with it in the couple rounds I've used it. It's a very flat-top Z Wasp and, honestly, not that much more stable than my Buzzz until it slows down. It definitely hooks a touch at the end, and that's all I need from it.

The last thing I'm looking forward to is COMET ROUNDS! I got my first comet right before I got this splinter that I thought was just a blister that I got from throwing Comets. LOL! I'm gonna go out and 1-disc it before leagues next week.

 

[whentherainscome]

Oh, the second positive was a comment someone made after I complained about slipping on a dusty teepad. Thinking about it later, I think I have some ideas about how to time my hit with my weight shift. As it is, my weight is already forward, and I'm throwing with mostly arm. Maxing ~350' with the Viking and MOLF.

Chrome + Youtube with HTML5 enabled + tournament videos = watch the pros in slow mo!

 

[JAKE master]

FYI icthamal, i think its spelled, is like a black tar, that draws up splinters, and bee stings from what i understand. works well, just got and used it on a deep splinter in my GF finger. i busted out a razor knife to get it out and she almost fainted, so this was the alternative.

 

[whentherainscome]

Interesting. Mine was healed over before I even knew it was there, at first I thought it was just a blister from throwing Buzzzes too much/hard. I'll keep that in mind. It sounds like it's also good for soothing hooves, which... I mean, you never know.

Mostly, though, I'll be grabbing my discs out of raspberry tangles with my OFF HAND from now on!

 

[whentherainscome]

I got all screwed up for a couple weeks there, trying to work my mids back into rotation. I kinda realized how many great discs I stopped using and how many I favored simply because they didn't hurt to throw. I didn't add anything new here, so much as I reverted to some old standards. So, let's go down the list!

Putters: Everything inside 230', excepting utility shots.

SSS Wizards x2 - 173g, 174g - Pinky and the Brain. All putts and "valiant effort" jump putts.
Pro Rhynos x2 - both ~170g - one soft and one firm. Longer approaches with fade/wind, but mostly they're the most comfortable disc to FH for me. I can drive the firm one 300+, but I haven't gotten in the habit of using it for that on the course.
Opto Pure - 176g - This was one I took out due to discomfort. Having it back in the bag is great! Used for dead straight and anhyzer drives out to 240'. Also used for form checks. When I get more in tune with it I'll trust it on hyzer lines, but for now it's 50/50 on whether I'll flip it or not.
I also have a Soft Wizard for short BH approaches and drives. Sometimes the Pure is just too fast.

Mids 240-270. As I've mentioned, I couldn't comfortably throw my more stable mids for ~7mo, I'm just getting them back in my game. My goal is to get them in use out to 320' on the course. At current, I'm not smooth enough all the time to do that w/o a bit of strong-arming. On my good days, it's easy; on my bad days it's disastrous.

Star Stingray - 176g - Always. I played the infamous Toboggan course yesterday, and this guy saved my ass more than twice, including 250' uphill hyzerflip approach on 17 that was... it was a thing of beauty.. til I missed the putt.
Buzzz SS - 174ish? - Replacing my Super Stingray for the moment. The Super Stingray had a lot of overlap with my Ti Buzzz. The Buzzz SS isn't very understable, it will hold lines really well. It has a little turn a little and fade for 200, and a bit of turn and no fade for 300. The Stingray is my go-to for turnovers, and this has been my go to for Anhyzers. I only have a couple rounds with it, but I'm using it everywhere I had been using a powered down River. Most importantly, I'm parking holes with it!
Ti Buzzz - 177+ - might be obsolete with the Buzzz SS, but IDK yet. The Ti's fly like a seasoned Z Buzzz out of the box. Great for neutral drives or slight hyzer flips.
10y Buzzz - 177+ - Stable Buzzz. My buddy's has developed some turn and I'm sure mine will some day, but for now it doesn't turn and has a medium-light fade at 250'.
Z Wasp - 175ish? - same HSS as a Z Buzzz with more fade. Flex shots, wind, FH and Buzzz lines that I need to end left. I know there's a bead, but it still feels like a Buzzz to my hand.

Fairways: I'm still using these starting at 260', and up to 300 or so but not much farther. Would like to get them to 350' on predictable lines. Teebirds I can throw farther, but I don't end up using them much on the course.

C-FD - 175g - a longer stable buzzz. A better Stalker. It replaced my Teebird, but I don't feel they compare well. TBs are faster and glidier and more LSS. The C-FD gets used on all kinds of lines 280-325'.
S-FD - 171g - hyzer flips with light fade, tailwind, turnover. I need to clean up my hyzer releases a little more to get the most out of this guy. I know it will go FAR, but a little OAT will send it turning right forever.
GL Rivers x2 - 167g, 172g - Hyzerflips and turnovers. I'm starting to realize how much I was using these as midranges for the last 6mo, in the 240-300' range. They power down really well, and I'm trying to learn how they do when powered UP.

Utility Drivers

Champ Firebird x2 - FAF 175, domed 176 - The domed is my hard-fade, windfighter, flex shot, thumber, overstable driver. The FAF is pure utility, longer thumbers, FH rollers, 40' super flex shots from the rough, severe flex FH shots that border on being tommies, etc etc.
Champ Roadrunner - ???g - I found this on the course, no name/#, pearly, iDye, pre-flight #. It's understable, and completely different personality than the sidewinder, with slower turning action. One of my best shots at Toboggan was on #15. Stuck 1/2 down the corridor off the tee, I flipped this out of the tunnel, over the valley and landed partway up the hill to the basket. I can also throw rollers with it, but so far they only work if it's NOT during a round!

Hybrid Drivers Hybrid as in, a mix of distance and control. I've been using these as max distance drivers for over a year now. 320-360'.

OLF - in Q, S and M plastics, most around 167g - I put the Q in when its windy, and have a 1.3 SOLF that isn't a salad bowl and is pretty beef. Mostly I use the MOLF and 1.1 FAF SOLF for laser beam drives with late, predictable fade.
Champ Viking - 170g - Do-it-all driver. Nothing is more controllable, IMO. Turnover lines, anhyzers, huge hyzers, hyzer-flip. Learn the angles and the Viking can do about anything. L64-level glide to boot. I'm talking about the current run here. I have an old, gummy, flat one that's more like my MOLF - dead straight.

Distance Driver Testing the wide-rimmed waters after a year of discing down.

Pro Destroyer - Big-boy driver with training wheels! I picked this up yesterday, shaved the flashing off and was getting effortless 340' drives at Hudson Mills (after wearing my ass out on the Toboggan course). We'll see how it goes when I'm not so fatigued.

 

[whentherainscome]

I think it's really important to have just ONE approach disc.

A stable putter, whichever one you like. I am very fond of two discs: my Opto Pure and Soft Wizard. The Opto Pure is hands down one of the best discs I've ever ever used, but I play noticeably better golf using a Soft Wizard. It's slower, it's better in the wind, and I can still carve lines with it. I don't think it'd be a bad idea to have both, except.. It's better to have just one, and to know it inside and out.

I'm also crutching on a SS Magic til I can get a Wizard really seasoned. I was getting close on one, but lost it in a river.

 

[whentherainscome]

No changes, except I took the Pro Destroyer out. I can't throw it any better than my MOLF and the rim size is an adjustment I'm just not ready to make right now. I put a 1st run C-FD in its place.

The bag's working out really well as-is, I broke par for the first time at Sleepy Hollow yesterday, and bested my previous record by 3 strokes w/a -2.

 

[StarFirebird]

I think it's really important to have just ONE approach disc.

A stable putter, whichever one you like. I am very fond of two discs: my Opto Pure and Soft Wizard. The Opto Pure is hands down one of the best discs I've ever ever used, but I play noticeably better golf using a Soft Wizard. It's slower, it's better in the wind, and I can still carve lines with it. I don't think it'd be a bad idea to have both, except.. It's better to have just one, and to know it inside and out.

I'm also crutching on a SS Magic til I can get a Wizard really seasoned. I was getting close on one, but lost it in a river.

I'm fond of two approach putters as well.

I use my Wedge for anything 80ft to where I can't reach With a Jump Putt.Then I use My Opto Pures for anything outside of that.

No changes, except I took the Pro Destroyer out. I can't throw it any better than my MOLF and the rim size is an adjustment I'm just not ready to make right now. I put a 1st run C-FD in its place.

The bag's working out really well as-is, I broke par for the first time at Sleepy Hollow yesterday, and bested my previous record by 3 strokes w/a -2.

Good job on the score man. :clap: