How do you try out new discs?

[bodomdethllica]

field work field work field work field work and a lot more field work. Throw hyzers with all your discs, anny's, max d for all of them, then find a target and park it with all your discs......that goes for trying out new stuff and getting better with old....did i mention field work??

 

[vonDrehle]

First thing I do is ask myself what I want a disc to do. Go left? Right? Long? Short? Approach?

Then I look for a disc that will meet that need, and talk to people about what they might use for that type of shot.

After I get a disc like that in, I go to my practice field and make 50-100 throws, and watch the disc carefully, and study how it flies, how it fades, or turns over, and how far it goes. I also see if I have something in my bag that its going to replace, or if it is going to go in the bag at all, or back up another disc in case I loose one. I do this will all my discs.

I also write the info on the rim, so when I look into my bag, I know what disc will do what for me. Its a great way to find just the right disc for the shot. Also, some discs can do double duty , like your disc for hard fades, can also be the best disc to throw into a strong headwind.

I like to know my discs backwards and forwards, before I ever hit the course with them.

I have several discs coming in right now, and this weekend I will spend 1-2 hours in the field with them learning how they will fly for me.

Anyone else love Midnights answers to questions like this? It's as if Jack Nicklaus' wisdom about golf was turned into wisdom about disc golf and Midnight ate it .

 

[Dude]

I'll throw it in a field alongside discs that I know so if there's any squirreliness due to wind I'll know immediately. I'll also throw it alongside the same disc in a different plastic if possible. Then I'll put it in my bag.

Some discs just click right away, like the River, opto Flow (not the GL Flow though.) usually I can tell right away. All I want is a consistent disc...which is why I've been shying away from most GL plastic (except for the River and mids) I just don't think it likes the torque. Some discs will sit in the bag until I discover a need or figure out they're redundant and take them out. Inconsistent discs get culled right away. I don't care if it can make the shot, if it can't do it every time it's a goner.

 

[drickanderson]

We always throw warm-up drives in the field next to the course we play on our lunch break. I'll take the new disc, and throw it during the second round of drives, next to my others, to get a feel for it, then use it as a second shot (which I obviously don't play) during the round, to see how it flies on the course (and maybe hit a few trees to beat it in a bit).

 

[liamxparker]

with baby bears, for stability.

 

[weaktit]

I'll give 'em a test run in a wide open, soft field so if they don't work for me they are still in near new condition if I decide to get rid of them. If I find them manageable I will try to carry them in place of what they most closely perform like that I already carry in my bag, thus I am forced to use them to achieve the results I'd get from my regulars. From there I just have to decide if they become an addition to the bag, a replacement for what I typically carry or a back-up. Of course, I'm not very good so it is difficult to make up my mind but it sure is fun to try new discs.

Recently I've been learning the mako, comet, TD, wahoo and vulcan. The later two I shouldn't even be throwing but I needed a floater and I've been wanting to throw some of these ultra high speed discs. So far the mako probably won't make it in, though I like the slow speed and the shorter than buzzz distance. The comet shows such promise but will likely be relegated to second throws until I can become consistent with it. The TD seems to be nearly identical to my trusty champ Tbird, maybe even a little better. The wahoo works surprisingly well for me so it will be carried when I play water courses. The vulcan has already given me my longest ever throws, nowhere near what it should be going but it's thin and I think I can find a place for it in the bag

 

[MrMayor]

JOIN YOUR LOCAL CLUB/LEAGUE and get to know some people. Play casual rounds with them & swap discs so everyone gets to try things out. Then, if a disc strikes your fancy, buy one and use any of the methods already listed.

 

[slimshadyemb]

I like to play night rounds or "short disc rounds" to learn a new one. I will take a putter, a buzz/hornet/mako, and whatever disc I am trying out. If it's a mid, i'll take a couple drivers, the new mid, and maybe a putter. Make sure to throw it a ton ON THE COURSE. Field throwing is nice, I don't think there is any replacement for actual on the course testing

 

[E-man]

I put the new disc in my bag and go play. I'll admit I have not given some discs a chance in the past, but now I play many rounds with a disc before I make a decision.


And if I really like a disc, I hit trees with it as hard as possible right off the bat.

 

[jongoff09]

Thanks to this site, since I began to understand what to look for in the flight of discs, I haven't thrown a disc that I didn't like after buying it. My most recent purchase was a pair of Flows in Opto and GL plastic. Loved them after the first throws with them.

Look in my disc organizer and you will see a bunch of discs that I got when I first started, but I have only bought about 10 discs max in the last year. I don't see a reason to change my bag. The only discs I am looking to try are a fuse and nuke. The fuse just to have a consistent flippy mid and the nuke to see if it will get me more distance than the flows in a controlled manner.

 

[CwAlbino]

I put the disc into my bag and throw it on every hole after my normal disc; to see what it can and cannot do.

 

[JamesXC]

I rarely even try new plastic much any more. When I do, I tend to go down to the field and work it with the rest of my bag. If I like it, I keep it in. If not, then it gets put into the pile o' discs. The overbearing size of that pile is one of the reasons I don't buy many discs anymore. If I want to try out a Cro, I probably have one sitting in the pile. I don't have any new stuff, but if I decide I want something between a Teebird and a Banshee, I can pull out a Champ Eagle that I bought 3 years ago and be good to go. It also means that I don't really have to learn new discs much because I have already thrown most of them at one time or another.