Kind of new - will driver speed matter?

[Glades Rat]

Been playing for about 6 months. I throw fairway drivers like Teebirds and Rivers about 275 feet. When I use faster spped discs such as Saints or Hatchets I dont get much more distance. Maybe 300 feet if Im lucky.

My question is this. Since I'm not yet able to get the full distance potential out of discs like the Saint, should I expect to see any increase in distance if I move up to something like a Wraith? I know I wont be getting what I should from a Wraith but I'm wondering if I should expect lets say 325 feet from a Wraith vs 300 from a Saint? Or, ist it more typical that I'll throw them both 300 feet only the Wraith will just go in a big hyzer?

 

[GripEnemy]

I'm gonna keep my post short and sweet, someone else will go in depth for me.

Don't bother moving up. Learn your Teebirds and Rivers. Use them for a long time - you'll thank me and other posters in the future:thmbup:

 

[slowplastic]

No, you're likely strong arming your throws (only using arm muscles) and will likely cap out ~300' with any disc that can handle your full arm strength without flipping over from torque.

I feel like Saints don't start to fly/glide like they are meant to until they start hitting the 330-350' range. I feel like Teebirds and Rivers are much more forgiving to work with if you're throwing them 275-300', and will glide nicely at that power and further. I have thrown both of those discs over 375' so they can handle more power than that too.

 

[youdidwell]

I don't think you'd see any additional distance. Since the disc will hyzer more it would likely take away distance unless maybe you threw a big flex shot with it.

If you wanted to move up in speed, just cause.... You'd probably better off with a Mamba or Vulcan.

In the long run you'll do better and likely improve more using slower discs for now. But if your goal isn't competitive disc golf, do whatever you want and have fun trying different discs.

 

[discmeister]

weight

You could try a very light saint as an alternative

 

[Mornius]

I don´t think it makes a difference for beginners or advanced players. I can throw my Teebird about 100 meters (330 feet I think?) and it caps out at that distance. If I throw a Krait (11 Speed), a Destroyer (12 Speed) or a Raketen (15 Speed) or a Teebird doesn´t really matter only the lines I shoot with them are different.

Keep throwing with your Teebird and try a disc with a higher speed rating from your friends sometimes to see if your shot has improved somuch that the speed really makes a difference.

 

[Dajinni]

Here's a great web resource: http://www.inboundsdiscgolf.com/content/?page_id=573#Power
It's part of: http://www.inboundsdiscgolf.com/content/?page_id=431&id=LR65247525536882345876O777921OO

The gist is that you're not going to get the intended flight characteristics of the disc if you can't throw the disc with the appropriate speed/distance.

They make a helpful chart that recommends discs that are within 25' of your top distance. So a generous distance of 300' your top distance is 325'. The TeeBird and River are rated at about 350' on their charts.
A Leopard is rated at 325'. I would recommend sticking where you are or discing down a bit.

I'm in a similar range as you and I've been throwing a Roadrunner. I thought I was doing well because it turned pretty well and then came back. After playing rounds with putters and trying to remove the flutter on the drives with putters, I found that I couldn't turn the Roadrunner hardly at all. The flutters are a symptom of Off Axis Torque(OAT). Throwing with OAT made my discs fly less stable, aka bad form.

I've found a few unlabeled fast discs like the Boss, Sorcerer, & Tern. When I do field work they don't go any farther than my River.

I'm discing down. I picked up a Leopard to hopefully do what I was getting from the Roadrunner with OAT. I'm not moving up in discs until I can get better distance.

 

[riltim]

If you're getting 275' with a teebird/river you aren't going to see much gain from a wraith. You will see a loss in control as wider rim drivers are more nose angle sensitive and I'm going to assume nose up is what's robbing you of distance if you can throw the river fairly straight.

 

[grotto]

If you want to move up in speed just because, get a Pro Valkyrie.

Unless your injured, on the old and slow side or just plain nonathletic towards the pathetic end, I wouldn't suggest unstable drivers just to eek out a few feet if your goal is to improve. A Valkyrie is a still a good learning disc that pairs up well with a Teebird.

If you don't care to improve and just want to have fun, try a Wraith and have at it.

 

[slowplastic]

If you want to move up in speed just because, get a Pro Valkyrie.

Unless your injured, on the old and slow side or just plain nonathletic towards the pathetic end, I wouldn't suggest unstable drivers just to eek out a few feet if your goal is to improve. A Valkyrie is a still a good learning disc that pairs up well with a Teebird.

If you don't care to improve and just want to have fun, try a Wraith and have at it.

When I was at that stage (throwing ~275) I found a DX Valkyrie and it was very stable for me. I could give it my all and on best throws it would go ~300', and usually it would nose up sky hyzer stall pretty short. There was barely any difference between it and a Pro Leopard when I was at that point, except the Valkyrie was harder to control. I remember I could also get mids out ~250-275' with less oomph but more height because they would just glide out there.

My point is that the disc really didn't matter much, my arm speed was limiting how far absolutely any disc would fly, and the faster the disc the more likely it was to fade out on me or be nose sensitive and go up really high. If you want to get over 300' without straining yourself throwing with all of your might, form work will help more than any disc I have to say. I do remember throwing that distance and the driver not mattering all that much for me, but I didn't have a ton of discs to test then. I do think that the Teebird and River will fly and glide at your current distance more than a fast driver which will just want to fade.

 

[grotto]

When I was at that stage (throwing ~275) I found a DX Valkyrie and it was very stable for me. I could give it my all and on best throws it would go ~300', and usually it would nose up sky hyzer stall pretty short. There was barely any difference between it and a Pro Leopard when I was at that point, except the Valkyrie was harder to control. I remember I could also get mids out ~250-275' with less oomph but more height because they would just glide out there.

My point is that the disc really didn't matter much, my arm speed was limiting how far absolutely any disc would fly, and the faster the disc the more likely it was to fade out on me or be nose sensitive and go up really high. If you want to get over 300' without straining yourself throwing with all of your might, form work will help more than any disc I have to say. I do remember throwing that distance and the driver not mattering all that much for me, but I didn't have a ton of discs to test then. I do think that the Teebird and River will fly and glide at your current distance more than a fast driver which will just want to fade.

I couldn't agree with you more! But, and this is an in my experience "but", Like many of us when we first started out and were looking for more distance, instead of learning to throw right, we bought discs. After a few years of chasing discs to mask my stupidities I finally came down to reality and 4 years later, all the hype discs for the noodle arms are gone and the Valkyrie remains. Sometimes it takes the school of hard knocks and money to realize one needs to change.

The Teebird, River and Leopard are all great discs and I still bag two of them.

 

[Brokensaint]

From lessons learned through bad advice, ill say this: stick with slower speed slightly understable discs. The river, eagle, lighter teebirds, leopard, maul, witness, cheetah are all good drivers. Buzz ss, claymore, element are good mids to use. High speed drivers are not a good choice with out high throwing speed. If you hyzer out a saint or a valkyrie and don't see a distance difference, you don't throw "fast" enough for them. You will learn incorrect form if you try to muscle them out. (oat ) Trust me. I'm a 325-350 thrower at my best consistency, a noodle-arm, if you will. I learned the hard way (ie buying every amazingly fast driver that came out looking for that magic) that I threw about speed 8 max when I started.

 

[KniceZ]

Go try a Valk - if it doesn't go any further put it away. Pull it out every few months and try again.

Also trying to use discs that are too fast for your arm will lead to frustration. They are more nose angle sensitive and you'll have a hard time getting a consistent trajectory. i.e. Us noodle-arms should not use a max speed understable driver as a substitute for an overstable fairway driver.

 

[DavidSauls]

I agree with all this, and yet......

Go ahead and try the wraith. It won't hurt, and you might like it. At the very least, you'll know more than you do now. Just don't get your expectations too high.

This from an old guy who's never-big arm has declined below where you are now......yet I find a place for wraiths in my bag.

 

[Jenga54]

welcome!

and if you're throwing the fairways 275 i bet you could throw your mids 225 - 250. Mids (and putters) are my favorite to throw. you get almost the same distance, with little to no fade at the end. my favorite is mako3 but there are lots of "straight" mids with minimal fade. then when you get to a tee at 250', you don't need to adjust for the dump at the end of the flight, just throw at it with that awesome form you learned by not throwing speed 9-14 with a speed 7 arm.

and enjoy!

 

[Glades Rat]

Thanks for all the great responses. They were very helpful. You were all spot on. I do actually get just about as much distance from my Fuse or Truth as I do from my Teebirds.

 

[Puckstopper]

Thanks for all the great responses. They were very helpful. You were all spot on. I do actually get just about as much distance from my Fuse or Truth as I do from my Teebirds.

That being the case, try a round where you leave the drivers at home. I was surprised at how similar my scores were when I played putter only and putter/mid rounds. Not only did my scores stay the same or even improve on some courses, my course management skills got significantly better as well. Learning to pick a landing area and hit it instead of throwing as far as possible every shot was a revelation, and was a major contributor to my scores dropping over the last couple years. Finally, by trying to push your mids longer you'll gain even more distance on your drivers.