Powered down fairway drivers

[mashnut]

the best powered-down fairway is a mid.

I've heard all the explanations on here, but nope, I still don't agree with it. Doesn't mean it won't work for someone elses game, but it's a bit of a ridiculous prospect. The "internet gurus" expect you to throw a putter for everything 300 feet and in, yet they also want you to power down fairway drivers, blah blah blah

From a strictly physics prespective, I would assume as long as the thing you were"powering down" wasn't really overstable, you'd be all set.

I think you may have missed the point a little on a couple of the discussions you're referencing (or read posts by folks who didn't really know what they were talking about). The people who understand discing down and mold minimalism only talk about powering down on overstable slower drivers to cover overstable mid and putter shots. None of them advocate replacing your normal mid shots with a powered down fairway, nor do they advocate throwing a putter for every shot inside 300'. Some people who don't really understand the point of those two concepts have taken things to silly extremes at times but don't let that make you miss the point of discing down to build good form and minimizing molds to build consistency and versatility in your line shaping ability.

 

[Curtis_Valk]

What are you trying to achieve by power down a fairway driver? You trying to have a dead straight shot? Low ceiling shot?

Fair questions. Low ceiling of course, which I mentioned. Other times yes I just want a dead straight shot. Sometimes I find my accuracy suffers if I try to put 100% on say, my X Buzzz where I can throw the Polaris a bit more relaxed and get there with confidence.

I find it curious that the Polaris didn't change in character like some of my other drivers during a rapid "growing" time in my game. For instance, my M JLS went from being a headwind only disc for me at the beginning to a turnover or hyzer flip disc now. All the while and to this day the Polaris has filled the role it did from day one, albeit with a little more range now.

Curtis

 

[Curtis_Valk]

I often will grab my TL and throw at 75% power for 250' shots instead of a 100% powered mid. Yeah, I don't use internet throwing distances on here...

I have a Star TL. I've thrown it around a bit in a field and liked it but I think my Polaris is why it didn't make it into the bag.

 

[Halcón]

None of them advocate replacing your normal mid shots with a powered down fairway, nor do they advocate throwing a putter for every shot inside 300'.

It's possible none of them advocate it, but they should not oppose it either. Whoever scores lowest wins. It doesn't matter what you throw to get there.

 

[roclover]

I hardly even think of discs as "mids" "fairways" or "Distance Drivers" any more. Every disc has different flight characteristics that can be useful at different speeds/angles. I used to think that if a hole was 300 or less I had to use a mid/putter or I was a failure. The truth is, if it's 300 and wide open, I'm probably going to throw a firebird spike hyzer. I also might use a powered down firebird for a short 250 ft hole that goes way left and I want the extra hyzer and the skip. I use a lot of fairway drivers on low ceiling shots, even if they are under 300. On the other side of the issue, I'll throw a roc 400 ft if it's a hole that turns to the right and has no ceiling limit. Why not? The roc has less fade and holds the line better. Throw whatever works for the shot.

 

[bthoma1]

Fair questions. Low ceiling of course, which I mentioned. Other times yes I just want a dead straight shot. Sometimes I find my accuracy suffers if I try to put 100% on say, my X Buzzz where I can throw the Polaris a bit more relaxed and get there with confidence.

Well hey get a more stable buzz and you won't have to deal with that. Try a z

 

[jenb]

Only time I'd power down a driver instead of using a putter or mid is if I am looking for that big sideways skip. I like to power down tee birds and firebirds for these types of shots. I've carried a zone in this slot and it worked well, but I when I am trying to carry less molds and discs, the powered down driver fits the bill.

 

[Aim For The Chains]

Not a big fan of powering down discs at all unless its a utility style disc used for weird lies or lines needed. I remember first starting out and hearing talk about how to always try to put 80%+ on a disc and full hits on every throw possible which is the style I have adopted. I feel way off in my timing when try to power down a shot and get a lot more out of my slower discs than my buddies who I play with and power down their faster discs.

Mashnut nailed it on the head in regards to your post Andy as I think you are taking what some say either too literally or not putting the right pieces of it all together.

 

[Curtis_Valk]

Well hey get a more stable buzz and you won't have to deal with that. Try a z

I have a 179g Z Buzzz and love it where I want a straight shot with fade at the end, but it won't work for straight shots with little to no fade (it has big fade and skip at the end, usually). It's really my shorter Teebird.

 

[Curtis_Valk]

I feel way off in my timing when try to power down a shot and get a lot more out of my slower discs than my buddies who I play with and power down their faster discs.

I am sure I will be of the same mind eventually, but for now there are days when I'm spraying discs in all directions at 100% power. I can back it down a notch and drop right in to consistent (for me) accuracy. Grabbing one of my nice float-y Comets and throwing them smooth and easy or throwing my Polaris easy instead of a long mid hard can be a real confidence boost when my game is off.

Sometimes it may just boil down to the amount of faith I have in the Polaris. Maybe because of its rock steady characteristics for me when I was constantly having to adjust for my other drivers changing all of the time.

 

[Monkeypaws]

I've played a lot of 1 disc rounds on the local 9 hole, usually when I get a new disc and want to get to know it: these can be drivers, mids, or putters.

Sometimes you find discs like the Polaris in your case that you can do all kinds of shots with. Nothing wrong with developing a feel for certain discs that allow you to make shots with it that are not necessarily the intended shots for that type of disc. Powering down is no different to me than hyzer/anhyzer, or any of the other tricks you can manipulate a disc with.

As said by many before, Diamond and Underworld are good for this.

 

[bobmcnelly]

Throw a pig instead!

 

[Kodachrome]

well, i found myself using my 165g champ banshee quite a bit today. a couple shots where i'd normally throw putters, it was just much easier with the wind we had to disc up and not quite go at it as hard as i usually do.

it worked marvelously. it handled the winds we had (20-30 mph) and with mine being lighter, it is super easy to throw far or power it down without dumping left. until now, i really wasn't a fan of it.

 

[All Day]

Put me down for another "just use a mid" vote, but I carried Gateway Sabres for a while and those worked pretty well for me.

 

[tampora]

I'd rather lose a few extra feet on a shot by throwing a mid rather than a fairway driver but gain more accuracy

I like to power down for the exact opposite reason. I feel accuracy is lost when throwing near full power. The more you concentrate on power, the less you concentrate on accuracy.

If spit-outs weren't an issue, would you putt with 100% power?

 

[Jesterian]

I hardly even think of discs as "mids" "fairways" or "Distance Drivers" any more. Every disc has different flight characteristics that can be useful at different speeds/angles. I used to think that if a hole was 300 or less I had to use a mid/putter or I was a failure. The truth is, if it's 300 and wide open, I'm probably going to throw a firebird spike hyzer. I also might use a powered down firebird for a short 250 ft hole that goes way left and I want the extra hyzer and the skip. I use a lot of fairway drivers on low ceiling shots, even if they are under 300. On the other side of the issue, I'll throw a roc 400 ft if it's a hole that turns to the right and has no ceiling limit. Why not? The roc has less fade and holds the line better. Throw whatever works for the shot.

This is the most insightful response in the thread thus far.

 

[garublador]

It's probably worth considering distances rather than "power" when talking about what disc to use. Whether or not a, say Gazelle, will be good "powered down" to 70% really depends on how far you can throw a Gazelle at 70%. If 70% gets you a 320' shot, then it will probably work really well. If 70% gets you a 250' shot then it probably won't respond as well as it does a full power. This is one of the reasons certain discs are recommended so often and others aren't. Discs that have a wide distance range where they're controllable will be much more useful than discs that require a much more specific distance (i.e. speed) to fly well.