Blake_T1
* Ace Member *
people often disagree with my push towards disc minimalism (carrying a limited number of molds). here is a story of my first couple of years of disc golf and what i learned from it. hopefully you may learn something from it too if this is a topic you have an opinion on.
i started disc golfing in early spring of 2000 (pre-CE/Z, pre-valkyrie, etc.). i got bit by the disc bug and found myself wanting to know how everything flew as ended up purchasing about 50 discs within my first 3-4 months of playing.
i also mistakenly fell into the "throw everything flat because that's most consistent" mentality and truly attempted to throw every disc the same. by the end of my third month i was carrying a slew of discs and had a fairly consistent and very accurate 330-350' drive. i maxed with my midranges around 175', but was laser accurate at that range and in. all of my discs were dialled in within about 10' of length and about 5-10' of left/right play.
this continued and low and behold, at the end of the first year i was still throwing a consistent and accurate 330-350'.
my bag around this time was:
drivers
1) gazelle
2) eagle
3) teebird
4) tl
5) cheetah
6) leopard
7) firebird
exp1
9) polaris ls
10) viper
11) whippet
12) x2
13) xl
14) #2 driver (for over water shots)
midrange
1) roc
2) aurora ms
3) mrv
4) mrx
5) sentinel mf
6) comet
7) stinger
putters
1) apx
2) swirl apx
3) rattler
my second round of disc golf i played with a friend that carried two discs, a cyclone and an aviar. he was pretty good and he was by far the best of my friends that played (but was going to college 90 mins away). midway through year two, i played another few rounds with him. i was much better, and he still only carried those same two discs. he beat me during every round even though we both had the same distance and were both equal putters.
basically, while i had every disc for every type of shot, very few holes are perfect for any of those situations. he, on the other hand, only had 1 driver and was able to throw it differently and make it do everything.
i stubbornly tried to hold onto the philosophy i had been using (and had spent a ton of money on) until the end of year two. before the start of my third season i did a lot of internet searching and realized that most pros carried a very limited number of molds. i was also able to speak with a pro distance thrower that basically said i had to change my throw if i wanted to throw farther (my distance did not increase by more than about 10' from months 3 through 24).
that year i decided to "do it right" and i dumped out my bag, and worked off of what i knew the pros were throwing to build my bag. at that time (late 2001/early 2002) the most common discs: eagle, teebird, firebird, banshee, cyclone, x-clone, x2, roc, mrv, magnet, aviar.
my bag became:
1) teebird
2) eagle
3) valkyrie
4) xtra
5) roc
6) big bead aviar
during the first few months i struggled as i both changed the discs i threw and my style of throwing, but i can say i learned more during those few months than i had over the past 18 months.
i learned to do everything with 6 discs that had previously taken me 24, and i was doing it better than i had before. while my consistency was a bit down, my scores slowly shattered all of my previous bests.
to sum things up, i feel as if my first two years of locked mindset stole two years from my development as a player. if i could go back and do it over again, i would and make things more simple, forcing me to develop the skills i put off for far too long.
since making the switch, i have developed a much greater understanding of the throw and how to make discs "work" (which oddly enough didn't really happen until i dropped all the champ/z plastic from my bag).
if you can gain anything from this story, please do.
i started disc golfing in early spring of 2000 (pre-CE/Z, pre-valkyrie, etc.). i got bit by the disc bug and found myself wanting to know how everything flew as ended up purchasing about 50 discs within my first 3-4 months of playing.
i also mistakenly fell into the "throw everything flat because that's most consistent" mentality and truly attempted to throw every disc the same. by the end of my third month i was carrying a slew of discs and had a fairly consistent and very accurate 330-350' drive. i maxed with my midranges around 175', but was laser accurate at that range and in. all of my discs were dialled in within about 10' of length and about 5-10' of left/right play.
this continued and low and behold, at the end of the first year i was still throwing a consistent and accurate 330-350'.
my bag around this time was:
drivers
1) gazelle
2) eagle
3) teebird
4) tl
5) cheetah
6) leopard
7) firebird
exp1
9) polaris ls
10) viper
11) whippet
12) x2
13) xl
14) #2 driver (for over water shots)
midrange
1) roc
2) aurora ms
3) mrv
4) mrx
5) sentinel mf
6) comet
7) stinger
putters
1) apx
2) swirl apx
3) rattler
my second round of disc golf i played with a friend that carried two discs, a cyclone and an aviar. he was pretty good and he was by far the best of my friends that played (but was going to college 90 mins away). midway through year two, i played another few rounds with him. i was much better, and he still only carried those same two discs. he beat me during every round even though we both had the same distance and were both equal putters.
basically, while i had every disc for every type of shot, very few holes are perfect for any of those situations. he, on the other hand, only had 1 driver and was able to throw it differently and make it do everything.
i stubbornly tried to hold onto the philosophy i had been using (and had spent a ton of money on) until the end of year two. before the start of my third season i did a lot of internet searching and realized that most pros carried a very limited number of molds. i was also able to speak with a pro distance thrower that basically said i had to change my throw if i wanted to throw farther (my distance did not increase by more than about 10' from months 3 through 24).
that year i decided to "do it right" and i dumped out my bag, and worked off of what i knew the pros were throwing to build my bag. at that time (late 2001/early 2002) the most common discs: eagle, teebird, firebird, banshee, cyclone, x-clone, x2, roc, mrv, magnet, aviar.
my bag became:
1) teebird
2) eagle
3) valkyrie
4) xtra
5) roc
6) big bead aviar
during the first few months i struggled as i both changed the discs i threw and my style of throwing, but i can say i learned more during those few months than i had over the past 18 months.
i learned to do everything with 6 discs that had previously taken me 24, and i was doing it better than i had before. while my consistency was a bit down, my scores slowly shattered all of my previous bests.
to sum things up, i feel as if my first two years of locked mindset stole two years from my development as a player. if i could go back and do it over again, i would and make things more simple, forcing me to develop the skills i put off for far too long.
since making the switch, i have developed a much greater understanding of the throw and how to make discs "work" (which oddly enough didn't really happen until i dropped all the champ/z plastic from my bag).
if you can gain anything from this story, please do.