[Other] Having few molds vs. having many

[ru4por]

Necro bump:

For the old DGR heads, Blake (from what Dan Beto said) put 8 as the max molds one should use.

Personally, I think 10 is the max one should use, and this includes speciality/utility discs. There might be some overlap with other discs, but they serve a purpose.

I think the centerpiece to each speed category should be based around a stable disc. Once the stable disc is settled up on, match accordingly to preference.

For example, here's my setup:

Distance:
Stable- Wraith or Trace (thinking about going back to Wraith)
Understable- Tern

Fairway:
Stable- Vulture
Understable- Drift

Mids:
Overstable- TBD
Stable to understable- Squall

Putter:
Overstable- Zone
Stable- Pilot

Utility:
Fireball

9 molds

I find this setup a balance between the two views. It's not too crazy with the molds, each mold can be learned and thrown on different angles creating less confusion, they can be easily replaced if lost, you have a particular shot if needed without having to go through cycling, and the stages of wear might have greater separation due to their stabilities.

Meh. It is all a personal preference. I think mold minimization is counterproductive. It generally requires cycling discs, to various stages of wear. This is a variable added and the lost disc becomes a major issue, at times. I will throw a caveat out, because many molds now have a handful or better of plastic variations. [ I can throw a Putter Line Zone, an ESP Zone, a Flex ESP Zone, a Z Zone, a Metal Flake Zone and a Glow Z Zone...all having a progressive stability sliding scale] I would much rather find a disc, for a slot in my bag and replace it when the wear starts to significantly impact the flight. There are enough molds now that every flight is covered. Yeah, yeah....I know, your perfectly season ROC cannot be duplicated. Sorry, not buying it. Just different schools of thought.

 

[crd 81]

Meh. It is all a personal preference. I think mold minimization is counterproductive. It generally requires cycling discs, to various stages of wear. This is a variable added and the lost disc becomes a major issue, at times. I will throw a caveat out, because many molds now have a handful or better of plastic variations. [ I can throw a Putter Line Zone, an ESP Zone, a Flex ESP Zone, a Z Zone, a Metal Flake Zone and a Glow Z Zone...all having a progressive stability sliding scale] I would much rather find a disc, for a slot in my bag and replace it when the wear starts to significantly impact the flight. There are enough molds now that every flight is covered. Yeah, yeah....I know, your perfectly season ROC cannot be duplicated. Sorry, not buying it. Just different schools of thought.

For sure, it is a personal preference.

The idea of mold minimalism was to train the new person to shape shots without having to have so many different molds, so I don't think it is necessarily counterproductive. As one progresses, they can move forward with what they are comfortable with how many molds they want. I advocate for making sure all shots are accounted for, and that a person can throw all shots with different discs even if they have those that are generally used for a particular shot.

 

[madbrad]

As a chronic over thinker, I like less molds. Then I know it was my execution, not the disc selection that did me right/wrong.

Also like the idea of having less stuff to haul around or worry about acquiring. One disc that can fight wind, one that can hold anny or flip up from some hyzer

Might be overkill, but I carry a putter too, even though it's not going to make up for my lack of skill or practice at the short game

 

[ChrisinFL]

To each his own. I have over 100 discs, and I often go to a practice field and throw up to 40 different discs - see what flies well for me at different times, especially as I improve. The next time, I try some different ones. But, I learn what is flying best for me, and bag them, and most of my bag stays fairly consistent, but I am always open to switching out one or two or a few if I find something that is suddenly working better. I play with a guy that has over 100 discs, and every time he plays, he empties his bag, and picks out new drivers, mids, and putters, and cycles through all of his discs. Me, if I did that, I would play so much worse. I would rather bag my best throwers on game days. That said, I have played 4-5 months, and he has played 2-3 years, and he still usually beats me on game day (though I continue to narrow the gap as I improve).

 

[ThrowaEnvy]

Best and hardest thing I ever did was go from a innova tourney bag (22 disc with Phenix quads haha) to a 10 disc double nutsac.

It makes me choose my discs carefully, bag loading usually takes up some extra time the night before but I enjoy it in a weird way.

Mold minimalism has happened organically for me. I get ru4por's line of thought, i dislike having one disc at that special broken in spot that i cant replace and I do appreciate off the store shelf replacements.

I am however a big fan of cycling now as well. Thing is I'm a bit of a disc whore-der, if I lose something I have an off my shelf replacement readily available. My favourite discs have multiple backups in different weights and different wear levels. That said I've been working on my backup electron soft envys for about a year, №2 is ready but №3 needs another 4 months. #1 only gets thrown for money rounds not practice rounds.

When I stop and think about how many molds I rely on its crazy but I think I'm down to 4 or 5 core molds, with a few specialty/ flavour of the month.

 

[ChrisinFL]

Best and hardest thing I ever did was go from a innova tourney bag (22 disc with Phenix quads haha) to a 10 disc double nutsac.

It makes me choose my discs carefully, bag loading usually takes up some extra time the night before but I enjoy it in a weird way.

Mold minimalism has happened organically for me. I get ru4por's line of thought, i dislike having one disc at that special broken in spot that i cant replace and I do appreciate off the store shelf replacements.

I am however a big fan of cycling now as well. Thing is I'm a bit of a disc whore-der, if I lose something I have an off my shelf replacement readily available. My favourite discs have multiple backups in different weights and different wear levels. That said I've been working on my backup electron soft envys for about a year, №2 is ready but №3 needs another 4 months. #1 only gets thrown for money rounds not practice rounds.

When I stop and think about how many molds I rely on its crazy but I think I'm down to 4 or 5 core molds, with a few specialty/ flavour of the month.

Wow, that's intense!

 

[ThrowaEnvy]

Wow, that's intense!

Well it didn't happen on purpose haha. It was a natural progression towards what people have been telling me for a decade. The wife will tell you about the first away tournament when I took milk crates of discs in the tiny camper just in case. Haha.

I play nightly for 5-9 holes with the dog, so I do a lot of 2-4 disc rounds, so i work my backups and get lots of head to head rounds. Envy/envy glitch vs glitch, blue vs red etc. I have finally settled on my discs and I'm getting older so weight in the bag is a factor and a double nutsac is really comfy with about 6 or 7 discs and bulky with 12. My arm speed is declining so i also finally figured out that an 8 speed is awesome enough.

Core bag for me is from least to most stable:

Glitch or spin, E envy, Plaz or N envy
Uplink and/or comet
Rhythm x 2/3 and a tesla (utility)
Max D disc, if I take one or two.

 

[the1discChallenge]

Best and hardest thing I ever did was go from a innova tourney bag (22 disc with Phenix quads haha) to a 10 disc double nutsac.

It makes me choose my discs carefully, bag loading usually takes up some extra time the night before but I enjoy it in a weird way.

Mold minimalism has happened organically for me. I get ru4por's line of thought, i dislike having one disc at that special broken in spot that i cant replace and I do appreciate off the store shelf replacements.

I am however a big fan of cycling now as well. Thing is I'm a bit of a disc whore-der, if I lose something I have an off my shelf replacement readily available. My favourite discs have multiple backups in different weights and different wear levels. That said I've been working on my backup electron soft envys for about a year, №2 is ready but №3 needs another 4 months. #1 only gets thrown for money rounds not practice rounds.

When I stop and think about how many molds I rely on its crazy but I think I'm down to 4 or 5 core molds, with a few specialty/ flavour of the month.

I've come to a similar conclusion. There's a great course about ~10min from my house, so I find myself playing rounds with just 1-4 discs to work on certain molds (usually a putter, mid, fairway, and driver). Since I've been doing this frequently, and then going out to other courses and playing them with my full bag, I tend to lean on the core discs I rely on.

It's easy to sit down and say "Okay, well I definitely need my straight mid, and then an understable one, and an overstable one. But there's this one hole at my home course that needs a slightly more OS mid, so I'll choose one for that. And the what if it's really windy, I'll get a super overstable one". And then your bag looks like Feldberg's (no disrespect to Feldberg, he's a legend, but my goodness he carries(ed) a lot of plastic), then when you get on the course, you throw the same 4 molds mostly.

I've mentioned it here a few times, so pardon the redundancy, but I tried a bag of Aviar/Roc/Leopard/Teebird last summer as a way of taking a step back. I figured if people were making these discs work since the 80s, I could learn them too. And I 100% get cycling now since I focussed my time on really learning those 4 molds better. Becasue of it, I'm now a Roc cycler, something I never thought I'd be. But it's not because I told myself I want to be one. It's just because I threw my DX Roc so much that it got beat up so I got another one....

I feel like I've been especially prone to ranting here recently so sorry for that. But tl:dr, try throwing less molds. You may be surprised how much you do/don't actually need like I was.

 

[HyooMac]

There is a special satisfaction that comes with realizing you're really getting to know your discs. To look at a shot, know instantly which disc to pick and how you want to throw it, and.....darn it - execute.

It's come for me with narrowing the number of molds I bag. I hope everybody gets to experience it.

 

[the1discChallenge]

There is a special satisfaction that comes with realizing you're really getting to know your discs. To look at a shot, know instantly which disc to pick and how you want to throw it, and.....darn it - execute.

It's come for me with narrowing the number of molds I bag. I hope everybody gets to experience it.

It's the best feeling. That, or not even being technically the right disc for the shot, but you feel so comfortable with a disc that you can make it work. Like throwing a sweeping hyzer with a Leopard3 for example.

I forget where I heard it, but someone mentioned how the pros carry so many discs because at their arm speed they do different things. I think PM carried 8 Destroyers when he was with Innova, and if any am tried throwing them, 5 would fly almost the same because we don't have the arm speed to get them to shape like he can. We need maybe 2-3 distance drivers total, but that's just me. As much as I don't like to admit it, I definitely get caught up in what the pros are throwing and are swayed by it a little. I sometimes have to remember that I am a casual mortal.

 

[madbrad]

@theonediscChallenge,

Maybe I'm not speaking for everyone, but I enjoy reading rants if they make some kind of sense. Keep typing, you're not bugging this fellow ranter. I like to see how people think

 

[Serious-OLD]

My sig has the discs I throw 95% of the time. I think Millennium's simple lineup really helped my lock in the core of my bag. I have more confidence in the discs I use most often than I've ever had.

That said, there's always some shit going on in my bag.

- Astronaut for standstill distance
- Orbital for hyzerflip to cutroller, stupid understable magic
- Vela and Trident are fighting. Vela is going to win. This one is becoming a mainstay.
- Flat top CG Draco. ive named it Calvo Fireberg and It only gets thrown in headwind and when I want flare skips. it spends the rest of the time hanging out in my bag showing very little reaction to my successes and failures.
- Trying a 145g GStar destroyer for tailwind distance and not liking it. Thinking about digging out 175g Sorcerers, Terns or Trespass for this.
- I just found my Elasto Giant for headwind distance that I thought I'd lost, so that just replaced a PD2 I chucked way up in a tree.
- My distance drivers are most commonly Scorps/Destroyers but I toss all kinds of stuff in there that's close enough depending on how my arm is doing, or what I need on a particular course. Shrykes, Colossus, Catapults get mixed in.

I forget a lot of this stuff is in there until I need it, but I'm glad its there when I do and it doesnt impact what I reach for most of the time.

 

[Joecuzzi]

If you're just playing casually for fun with friends then bring the discs you enjoy throwing. If you're trying to get the lowest score possible bring your best disc for every tee shot, upshot, etc for each hole on the particular course being conquered.

 

[txmxer]

Its conundrum. You could throw an OS meat hook that is highly consistent.

But nobody wants to do that. We want that perfect throw. S curve. Max D, etc.

In science experiments, we try to reduce variables. If you are confident in your repeatability of your throw technique, then allowing the disc to be the variable makes sense to some degree. If your technique/form is sketchy probably best to throw plastic that is most consistent.

Where I struggle with "cycling" is when? Base plastics can change in with a good tree hit. I don't want a disc that I trust to land me in trouble on the next hole.

I want my "tools" to be dependable. Thats just me—I know I'm inconsistent.

 

[ThrowaEnvy]

In the end I think everyone has to REALLY look in their bag and see what they actually throw. Too many mold choices and unfamiliarity leads to trouble.

I'm very happy doubling down on a mold in different weights, at least I'm only guessing which weight is best, not what disc.

Lots of times when I play a 2 day tourney I take 12 discs the first day and 7 or 8 the second. I take out whatever isn't working despite irrational emotional attachments.
It's been tough shelving my Ash envy or a favourite comet but sometimes you just can't take them with you.

Another strategy is to minimalize until you miss it. I've tried some 2 and 3 mold bags before and it's not bad, but there is always something you miss. I have a putter called a Spin that will hold an anhyzer or flip to anny from flat etc... good for 3/27 holes and indispensable for tourney play but most days I can do without. Kinda like an OS meat hook in the Occasional Yet Necessary category.

Most of my cycles are premium discs, the only base plastic I throw is an electron envy. I don't lose many so some of my cycles are decades in the making. I ff@#$##nnnn hate dx.

 

[ODRB]

I'm still of the opinion that having maybe 4 molds you lean on is the most productive way to play consistent golf. And consistent golf is good golf.

If you need some utility discs to cover a specific shot your core molds won't, then add that disc. If you need to replace something beat up that gets lost until you season another core mold, then add that disc.

Every mold comes off your hand differently. You can be and play great with 20 molds, for sure, but it will take more reps to get consistent releases with all 20 than it will to get consistent releases with 4. Bonus if you can work in a few molds that use the same bottom wing (e.g. Firebird/PD/Thunderbird/OLF) or similar shapes (e.g. Toro/AviarX3).

For me, it's Thunderbirds and OLFs (same bottom wing), Rocs, and Invaders. Everything (Vela, Toro, AviarX3) else is just filling specific roles/gaps.

 

[Sewer bill]

For 350 and in I think 5 molds can cover the majority of shot shapes. Past 400 it starts becoming necessary to be familiar with different molds at different stages of wear for different shot shapes and wind conditions.

 

[RahvinKing526]

I agree with the idea of having core molds for consistency in driving, and run a garu bag of one mid, two fairways, and one distance driver. Most of the mold-minimalist bags I've seen have enough overlap that the loss of a particularly beat disc in a cycle isn't typically crippling. It's losing the ones you're in the process of actively beating in that's annoying.

That aside, I have no qualms about maximizing utility (approach/putting) molds. What works for a pitch may not work for a spin or a turbo, and a great FH roller disc probably doesn't do patent pending BHs well.

 

[TiltedFlipCurves]

I guess if you have 1 each of 25 different molds and know what they all do, or 25 of 1 mold and know what they all do, it's all the same in the end.

I will say almost every understable off the shelf mold I tried has not been my favorite. Probably skill issue but maybe beating up beefy discs until they're flippy is the way to go even if it takes years.

 

[ODRB]

For 350 and in I think 5 molds can cover the majority of shot shapes. Past 400 it starts becoming necessary to be familiar with different molds at different stages of wear for different shot shapes and wind conditions.

There are lots of 500' throwers who use exactly and only one HS driver mold. Most often, a Destroyer (or equivalent).