[Westside] The Westside Shield

[thelonepup]

Waiting on that VIP shield to come out one day.

 

[Noahlearner]

I live at 5300 feet in Colorado so keep that in mind when reading my thoughts. Everything flies more Overstable up here. I am consistently impressed by my Shields. I throw mainly the soft as a driving putter, hit and sit approach disc and also sometimes for putting into the wind. I practice with them and am totally comfy with how they feel in the hand, but for some reason putt with pure and swan reborn recently.

The shield totally took me by surprise only recently. I started throwing it right at the basket on slight hyzers and I have ht metal 3 times (no aces yet) from 200 - 250 feet. If thrown on slight hyper, it flips to flat and stays on a super reliable line. You can throw in all directions and is reliable upwind up to ...15-20mph?!? In the trilogy world it slots for me between Judge and Sinus. Has less turn and glide than Judge and is a straighter and longer than Sinus.

I'm also waiting for a premium(Elasto) version to come out, as I will Drive the S**t out of it.

I also like it for annies where I need it to pan to flat ---read NO CUT ROLLERS.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[PMantle]

My Shield experiment lasted all of two rounds. That lack of glide thing is for real. Color me underwhelmed.

The quickest I've ever unloaded/given up on a disc. Possibly my least favorite disc ever.

 

[tomte]

What lack of glide? I threw wizards and shields last night and the shield went 10m farther than the wizard every single time.
Inbounds has them 1ft apart...

 

[eric40817]

I haven't thrown Shields yet, I've been wanting to try them out. I'm actually pretty shocked reading this post consider JohnE (I think it was JohnE) had probably 5-7 Shields in his ITB video. I expected this to be a much loved putter.

Anyone that has Shields and hates them let me know

 

[slowplastic]

What lack of glide? I threw wizards and shields last night and the shield went 10m farther than the wizard every single time.
Inbounds has them 1ft apart...

Depends on how far you throw them and if that's because the Wizard has some flutter that the Shield fixes...at least that would be my experience but different people gel with discs differently. That 10m gap is a ridiculous amount...as much as I would expect between putters and mids rather than 2 kind of similar putters. Again, different people throw things differently.

I initially hated the Shield, and now I have it as a practice disc. It holds hyzers well and I can throw it into wind without worrying about it flipping. It is ok for little flick approaches as well.

I still never throw it on the course though...but I have it with me in case, on windier days.

I see how some people like it now that I am throwing some more OS discs throughout the speed classes in my bag, but I still don't love it for how I play.

 

[Monkeypaws]

I played the Trilogy Challenge where they introduced the Shield, and frankly, nobody liked it, me included.

That low regard I had for it made it my winter beater 1 disc round disc, and over the course of a month or two throwing one disc rounds in the snow, I really came to appreciate it, so much to the point that after I thought I had lost it(got it back), I bought another.

It still hasn't usurped my Swans, but if you give the Shield a chance, this is a solid putter.

It takes some getting used to, but is worth it.

 

[Earic02]

Shields are my slightly OS approach disc. I have 2 matching 174 hards, both blue. Where they excel (for me) is 100 to 200 foot, slight nose up, fan grip approaches. They can take a little anny, too. They don't fade a whole lot, just throw them right at the basket or slightly to the right for RHBH. Nice grip, absolutely awesome and highly recommended.

Two hard Swans have putting and US approach duties. Swan / Shield combo FTW.

 

[Snaques]

Has anyone managed to beat a Medium/Hard into having turn and no fade at 250-300'?

 

[Snaques]

Got to throw the VIP and TP shield quite a bit over the weekend. Really interesting disc.

At least when new, both are really overstable. Where my Medium Shield is just straight and drifts a bit in the headwind, the TP and VIP would start fading almost right out of the hand in calm weather and in headwind would hold straight for a long way before still showing some fade. There wasn't any flashing on them so I suppose they will hold the stability quite well. I had a slightly beat in VIP Harp with me as well and it was actually a bit straighter than the premium Shields, go figure.

The interesting thing here is that even with the added stability, I still think they were a bit more glidey that the Zero ones. I think that after a bit of beating they will become perfect compliments to the Opto Pure as a driving putter.

 

[SpikeHyzer]

As a recent convert to the Shield, I am intrigued by a premium plastic shield. Might have to sell some plastic and pick one up.

 

[BirdieMachine]

Anyone else throw a VIP/TP Shield? I want to try this disc out.

 

[BirdieMachine]

Almost Aced with my Medium Shield from 225', hit the upper part of the cage, skipped up in the air into the chains and fell out. Damn inch more height and it was in. I do have one Shield Ace, still hunting for #2.

Awesome disc!

 

[Gump]

Just got my VIP in. Can't wait to get it on the course.

 

[Gump]

I putt with Shields so it'll be my approach disc and off the tee on some holes.

 

[eric40817]

I finally got my hands on a couple shields - a BT soft and a hard. I havent used the hard much, although Im hoping it holds up better than the soft. I liked the soft for upshots and uphill approaches but it hit one tree and the flight plate warped like a SOB. the rim also got chewed up pretty quickly from just landing on the ground and hitting the basket. This was only a few weeks use. I like the feel of the shield, it flies alright, I just cant seem to find a good spot for it. I havent really found where it shines yet. I cant see this taking a putter spot over my KC Aviars or Atoms. Maybe a driving putter but I just dont know that its better

 

[PeterMonk]

I have been tossing Shields for a year now. I have BT mediums and they have proven themselves to be tough, though dimpled clear around on the rim. The flight is still straight with a little fade at the end.

As for warping I had a Soft Judge that warped and a Classic Blend Warden that ironically warped on an ace shot. No so the Shields, not so. They are still nice and flat on top.

 

[Gump]

Even Mediums can warp a little bit. Not like a soft though. Softs are suppose to.

 

[eric40817]

No, the warping that occurred to mine isnt supposed to happen. Although Im not SUPPOSED to smash trees either. I can post a pic later when I get home.

 

[Monkeypaws]

Any Westside putter in premium plastic is welcome to me.

I'd love a Swan 2, because it could fly like an US mid in VIP.