[Other] Having few molds vs. having many

[Sewer bill]

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

Why would they only bag one? There's so much fun variation in the flight of wraith speed or faster type discs. So much utility in having a flippy one for uphill or turnovers and a stable one for hyzers.

 

[ODRB]

Why would they only bag one? There's so much fun variation in the flight of wraith speed or faster type discs. So much utility in having a flippy one for uphill or turnovers and a stable one for hyzers.

One mold, but several discs of that one mold in various stages of wear. Look at PMcB's Innova bag from his dominant years, for one example

 

[the1discChallenge]

Why would they only bag one? There's so much fun variation in the flight of wraith speed or faster type discs. So much utility in having a flippy one for uphill or turnovers and a stable one for hyzers.

After learning Rocs and Teebirds, I finally understood the benefits of one mold to cover many shots. I think the answer is in your question: "theres so much fun variation". Pros don't necessarily want a lot of variation, they want more or less consistency. Yes, any mold will have variation to it, but a slightly more or less stable Destroyer will still fly like a Destroyer. Going back to the Roc/Teebird comment, as they beat in, sure I can find something that flies straight or understable, but nothing quite flies straight or understable the way a broken in Roc or Teebird does (or any disc, for that matter). In the same way, a more ovestable Destroyer out of the box will still feel and fly with Destroyer-like characteristics like a straighter one will.

For Ams, definitely, I love throwing different molds and trying things out! It's fun, that's part of what makes this game interesting. Not trying to knock your comment, but since we're talking about mold minmalization...

 

[HyzerRoc]

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.

Im not sure on the circumstances but for some reason Paul Mc Beth lost his Roc3s back when he filled his bag with midranges. The rumors said he hired a guy to chuck champ Roc3s at a wall to get some seasoned replacements for the next couple of tournaments. Otherwise he would just be lost without a decent stack of seasoned Roc3s.

I think there is another layer to this question: some manufacturers lend themselves more to cycling and other more to carrying singles. MVP discs are harder to beat in and have less variance in their molds than other manufacturers. This makes them less appealing for a cycling approach. Innova obviously has good variation in their drivers be it by error, by chaning molds all the time or by design. Cycling is also falling a bit out of favor as pros favor the approach of carrying singles for each disc instead of huge cycles. Watching older ITBs you will see more people going the cycling route. My guess that is because cycling has carried over from the age when base plastics were the standard and you had to cycle those. Going forward we will see less and less cycling and more special editions of discs like Discmania is doing.

 

[the1discChallenge]

Cycling is also falling a bit out of favor as pros favor the approach of carrying singles for each disc instead of huge cycles. Watching older ITBs you will see more people going the cycling route. My guess that is because cycling has carried over from the age when base plastics were the standard and you had to cycle those. Going forward we will see less and less cycling and more special editions of discs like Discmania is doing.

I feel like you're right in that cycling is old school, but most of it was the DX plastic from back in the day. That's all there was. So Innova made discs with beads like the Roc, Teebird, Firebird, etc so that when they broke in they would still have some integrity. Thus cycling was born. (I think. Other history buffs can correct me).

I'd also venture to say that there were just simply less pro-level discs to work with, so many pros just used one disc and cycled (i.e. discs that weren't workably overstable and torque resistant enough). Even Doss back in the day threw that crazy beat up blue TI Buzzz as a turnover disc rather than going for the Comet, Meteor, or Buzzz SS.

FWIW, I'm not trying to say that cycling is better. I've just recently experienced it and am really enjoying it, and wanted to offer reasons why one may want to cycle vs. not. I'm here for the banter, not any dogmatism

 

[madbrad]

Dx eagles and rocs are a blast to cycle, but no one really throws them anymore and the (maybe, could just be in my head) dx plastic isn't always good.

Only Rocs have a bead. Teebirds and firebirds do not. Dave loves to design mids and putters that utilize the bead

I don't think they care to bother making good dx. The lack of quality and lack of popularity perpetuate each other. Dx only sells for half as much, but probably takes nearly the same time to make as star.

Used to love my dx Teebirds, Eagles, Leos, Rancho Rocs, Classic Rocs

But I'm done ice skating uphill.

I'll just find premium discs that fly good brand new

Plus, star plastic comes in brighter colors. Maybe that's on purpose too because they want people to prefer star and not have to "waste" time making too much dx?

 

[Sewer bill]

One mold, but several discs of that one mold in various stages of wear. Look at PMcB's Innova bag from his dominant years, for one example

OK that makes sense. I thought you meant only one disc. I bag 3 star wraiths from nearly new to beat up.

 

[HyzerRoc]

I'd also venture to say that there were just simply less pro-level discs to work with, so many pros just used one disc and cycled (i.e. discs that weren't workably overstable and torque resistant enough). Even Doss back in the day threw that crazy beat up blue TI Buzzz as a turnover disc rather than going for the Comet, Meteor, or Buzzz SS.

FWIW, I'm not trying to say that cycling is better. I've just recently experienced it and am really enjoying it, and wanted to offer reasons why one may want to cycle vs. not. I'm here for the banter, not any dogmatism

That one Doss example also reminds me of the extremely beat-up PD-Freak by Niklas Anttila that he can play late hyzerflips with. Niklas doesnt cycle much but he cant replace tht one either. So the problem of replacing beat-up stuff is had by both factions so to say.

To your second point: I also prefer cycling. When I started I didnt buy much stuff and am now stuck with Aviars, Roc3s (pls put that one in your bag), and Teebirds. Cycling makes it harder to try out all the new toys that pop up and glues you to known stuff.

Going forward I think Simons approach to building a bag will be the way most go: having singles of a mold with special editions sprinkled in. There is so much variety among discs now and so much FOMO with special stamps going on and this is also the best way for companies to sell more stuff so they market towards that approach.

 

[HyooMac]

Going forward I think Simons approach to building a bag will be the way most go: having singles of a mold with special editions sprinkled in. There is so much variety among discs now and so much FOMO with special stamps going on and this is also the best way for companies to sell more stuff so they market towards that approach.

Since McBeth went to DC, there's been a growing trend of manufacturing discs especially for pros, with the Simon Line being the most recent case. This will likely reduce the need for those pros to lean on/cycle other discs - if they can get something exactly what they're looking for, right out of the box.

But the other effect - let's not kid ourselves here - is that the manufacturers are creating additional molds for us to buy. So the knock on effect is that more players will carry more molds, because the typical backpack is made to have plenty of room!

 

[RahvinKing526]

Going forward I think Simons approach to building a bag will be the way most go: having singles of a mold with special editions sprinkled in. There is so much variety among discs now and so much FOMO with special stamps going on and this is also the best way for companies to sell more stuff so they market towards that approach.

I find this interesting because this is how I "cycle", and always have. Three of the four Fortresses in my bag are special editions: a Nikko VIP-X and two 2017GBO VIPs. They don't fly (much) different from a stock run but this way I can Have All The Stamps! *play the Pokemon theme*

 

[dndelli]

That one Doss example also reminds me of the extremely beat-up PD-Freak by Niklas Anttila that he can play late hyzerflips with. Niklas doesnt cycle much but he cant replace tht one either. So the problem of replacing beat-up stuff is had by both factions so to say.

To your second point: I also prefer cycling. When I started I didnt buy much stuff and am now stuck with Aviars, Roc3s (pls put that one in your bag), and Teebirds. Cycling makes it harder to try out all the new toys that pop up and glues you to known stuff.

Going forward I think Simons approach to building a bag will be the way most go: having singles of a mold with special editions sprinkled in. There is so much variety among discs now and so much FOMO with special stamps going on and this is also the best way for companies to sell more stuff so they market towards that approach.

Part of why I prefer cycling, is it isn't as bag breaking when I lose a disc. Obviously there will always be a disc or two that is hard to replace, but usually I have something that can relatively closely replace the lost disc.

 

[ThrowaEnvy]

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.

So you're saying that after a few years of beating in a disc it is more reliable than one that you are just getting to know off the shelf?

 

[HyooMac]

Part of why I prefer cycling, is it isn't as bag breaking when I lose a disc. Obviously there will always be a disc or two that is hard to replace, but usually I have something that can relatively closely replace the lost disc.

^^^^^^^
This.

I currently bag 19 discs (8 molds).
My Fieldwork Box has 20+ discs, including backups, multiples of some - so something is always in the process of being "broken in."
My Fieldwork Box also has some other molds that are pretty similar to what I bag (example: Rhythm for Crave), so there's often a little testing going on.

In those instances where I do lose something, replacement out of the Field Box is pretty much no-drama.

Lastly, after a lot of experience buying and searching for replacements, I've tended toward molds that are almost always easy to find in stock (Wave / Virus / Crave / Hex / Uplink / Reko / Berg - with the new Stig being the only one that doesn't have a track record of sales yet).

I might have trouble finding a particular weight in a particular plastic, but by keeping to very few manufacturers - MVP and Kasta - I have a pretty good idea what effect their plastics have.

I haven't given up on experimentation - and there's ALWAYS the temptation to buy that super special new disc (Conrad has been throwing a new. unnamed mid???). But this effort has helped limit wasteful purchases, and kept me focused on tuning my technique.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

The needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few.

 

[the1discChallenge]

That one Doss example also reminds me of the extremely beat-up PD-Freak by Niklas Anttila that he can play late hyzerflips with. Niklas doesnt cycle much but he cant replace tht one either. So the problem of replacing beat-up stuff is had by both factions so to say.

To your second point: I also prefer cycling. When I started I didnt buy much stuff and am now stuck with Aviars, Roc3s (pls put that one in your bag), and Teebirds. Cycling makes it harder to try out all the new toys that pop up and glues you to known stuff.

Going forward I think Simons approach to building a bag will be the way most go: having singles of a mold with special editions sprinkled in. There is so much variety among discs now and so much FOMO with special stamps going on and this is also the best way for companies to sell more stuff so they market towards that approach.

This 100%. I watch a good amount (probably too much) disc golf content and it's really easy to see a new disc with cool plastic or a cool stamp and want to try it. But when I get on the course, I throw what's in my bag and play just fine. One of the unforeseen benefits of throwing DX Rocs and plain-a** star Teebirds is that there are always plenty to choose from in any store I go to.

@ThrowaEnvy
Those few years of throwing a disc definitely builds confidence, at least for me. A new disc will have some level of variation to it, regardless of what mold or manufacturer it is from. But I completely understand why some people like yourself feel totally the other way!

As an aside, I feel like this is the beautiful thing about the game, and one of the better parts of the sport growing so much. There's something for literally everyone! Cycling? You can do that. Prefer beaded or unbeaded putters that fly the same? You can do that. 56 unique molds in your bag? You can do that!

 

[wims]

So you're saying that after a few years of beating in a disc it is more reliable than one that you are just getting to know off the shelf?

I got like 15+ spare discs for each of the molds I'm bagging at various stages of wear. If I lose one disc I'll just replace it with one of my 15 other

 

[ThrowaEnvy]

I got like 15+ spare discs for each of the molds I'm bagging at various stages of wear. If I lose one disc I'll just replace it with one of my 15 other

Haha I know right? I have enough envy, comet and rhythms to last the rest of my DG career. It makes it so much easier to practice.

 

[madbrad]

Absolutely, 1 disc! It's the most freeing game!

I can change my mind about how, when, where I play, what I throw. Night or day, here or there, 1 disc or 50, for ten minutes or half the day. Meet up, go by self, have a beverage, just drink water, stop and get some food, drop crumbs all over the course, ace, triple bogey, watch MPO, watch FPO, see people play courses all over the world. Do course work, skip it, play advanced, play open, go somewhere else to get away from the crowd. Any way I like.

 

[TiltedFlipCurves]

So you're saying that after a few years of beating in a disc it is more reliable than one that you are just getting to know off the shelf?

More like a few rounds...these were DX discs (Wraith vs. Mamba, Valkyrie vs. Archangel, Roc/Cobra vs Stingray)

 

[foxdawg10]

One mold, but several discs of that one mold in various stages of wear. Look at PMcB's Innova bag from his dominant years, for one example

The one mold in different stages of wear used to be a necessity back when there were fewer mold and cheaper plastic. Everyone did it, and you would have to replace / cycle your discs every few months. I had Climo 10x Eagles that I cycled - New good overstable driver, slightly beat in were good for hyzer flip bombers and anhyzer driver, very beat in were great rollers. I changed them out at least twice a season.

I left the game in 2002, and this was the way it was. A disc would stay in the sweet spot for 2, 3 weeks at the most. Fast forward 15 years later when I picked up the game again. What a shock it was to find you could pick up a disc right off the shelf and it would do exactly what you want it to do. AND it would stay that way for much longer. I still carry drivers from 2017 in my bag and the flight characteristics haven't changed much.

Of course mileage may vary depending on the type of plastic used.