Discraft Nuke

[Widdershins]

I cannot keep my two yellow ones clean. Dirt and grass stains are almost like dye. I am unsure where I rate its durability. I had one pierced through the flight plate by a twig but I was able to bend the hole back into shape and it has not affected its flight in the least. I have several incredibly minor dings and gouges on the rim, but nothing that bothers my grip anywhere I hold it. They look like they have been tossed for years and or been through a war but as much as I thought the durability sucks, they have held up incredibly well compared to some of the catastrophic damage I have seen other discs take. To top it off, nothing has seemed to change their flight characteristics yet. They fly almost the same as the day I bought them, which is great because once I learned what they were capable of, how I should release them, they have become by far the furthest thing I can throw consistently no matter what the wind conditions (except maybe a direct headwind).

I don't like dirty looking discs so I regularly clean them (it improves the grip as well, especially putters).

On some plastics soap and water doesn't help much. I keep acetone and a product called "Goof Off" (both are in hardware stores) in stock to clean discs, take off hotstamps and remove accumulated stick-um (I use a brand called Pow'r Tac which is spraying onto the disc).

I have been throwing a couple Nukes (first run in red, second run in yellow). The red one has gotten a ton a abuse in the couple months it has been in the bag and shows scrapes and dirt/grass stains. It has not changed its flight path at all (I live in Michigan for those wondering if warm weather is a factor on their break-in rate).

After reading this post I cleaned off the red one. Soap and water did nothing. Goof Off was marginally effective. Acetone worked great (and took off the hotstamp) and the disc is looking shiny and clean again. Thanks to smartquark for bringing this up. I like my Nuke better than ever. The original hotstamp color was blue, which didn't look all that hot. Underneath the removed hotstamp now shows pink and it looks much better.

My Nukes continue to fly farther than anything else and and in my hands, fight moderate headwinds well.

Mark, are you still a forehand dominant player? Do you mind if I ask how far you drive with this disc? You've pretty much taught me everything I know about throwing a golf disc (via youtube), and I'm curious about how far forehand drives "should" go

Yep, still a forehander. Keep in mind that I an 55 years old (PDGA math, so a couple months shy by regular math) and age drains off distance. If the distance markers are accurate on several holes then I have thrown the Nuke about 450 feet. Most of my drives do not go that far. I have to hit it right for it to go 400'. My maximum distance backhand is about 250-270'.

The strongest forehander I have seen is Geoff Bennett. He blows past 400' seemingly without throwing hard. Geoff thinks he can break 600' in a distance competition. I wouldn't bet against him.

On a frigid cold day in the winter (cold kills glide), on an icy tee pad, into a screaming headwind I watched Geoff park a 450' hole forehand. It was one of the most amazing shots I have witnessed in the game. I followed that throw with my own which that felt decent off my fingertips. I went about half way to the pin.

 

[ChrisWoj]

Geoff's forehand is retarded. I've watched him pin a 380' slow-sky-turnover forehand with a Talon, in the dark, his second time ever playing the hole. You can't even compare him to other golfers, or compare how he throws any of the discs. I don't think I've ever seen anyone bury the disc as far in their hand as he does. I'm scared to imagine the Nuke in his hand... then again I doubt we have to worry about it. One of his major disadvantages is his tiny hands - he has stated he has major issues throwing anything with a super-wide rim and dislikes trying... saves the golf world from competing with a 700' forehand. hah.

 

[jubuttib]

The strongest forehander I have seen is Geoff Bennett. He blows past 400' seemingly without throwing hard. Geoff thinks he can break 600' in a distance competition. I wouldn't bet against him.

How does Ville Piippo compare (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYVDrOL9wDs)? That was a 440 something foot hole. Watch the Tali Open 2009 (I think this is the fourth day, so the final round) videos on youtube to see what this looked like from the tee. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3TXXvgqBXU starting at 2:20 or so)

Just looking for an opinion from a guy who knows his forehand. =)

 

[Widdershins]

The strongest forehander I have seen is Geoff Bennett. He blows past 400' seemingly without throwing hard. Geoff thinks he can break 600' in a distance competition. I wouldn't bet against him.

How does Ville Piippo compare (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYVDrOL9wDs)? That was a 440 something foot hole. Watch the Tali Open 2009 (I think this is the fourth day, so the final round) videos on youtube to see what this looked like from the tee. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3TXXvgqBXU starting at 2:20 or so)

Just looking for an opinion from a guy who knows his forehand. =)

From watching the video clips it looks like Ville has a short punching style form with his elbow tight to his side and is, obviously, a skilled player. If God gives you enough snap then that form can still generate lots of torque but nowhere near what a full arm swing could. Geoff uses more of a full arm movement, so unless Ville has much greater natural snap I would expect Geoff to throw farther.

Think about throwing a baseball as a comparison. If a catcher is trying to throw out a runner stealing second base (given the limited arm movement possible from a catcher's stance), compare that to a center fielder charging a single and trying to throw out a runner at home plate. The center fielder has a full arm motion while the catcher just snaps from behind his ear. Given equal power we would expect the center fielder to throw with much greater velocity.

I would also expect the catcher to be more prone to elbow problems.

On a another thread somewhere in the past couple weeks Blake T opined that "elbow close to the body" form is more protective of injury than "elbow away from the body" form for forehand throws. I looked for this thread to comment on it but couldn't locate it. Anyway, I have given this some thought and I disagree. Not just because my personal experience is the opposite. A couple well known forehanders have blown out their elbows (Scott Stokely, Timmy Gill) and both used the close to the body form. Small sample, admittedly. But in my former sport of racquetball a forehand kill shot is the most common swing in the sport and every good player I witnessed used elbow away from the body form. While aging athletes might injure any body part, there appeared to be no rash of blown elbows in the sport among long term players (knees, rotator cuffs, backs, etc were all more common).

Last night at a league round, following a drive on a long hole, I was looking at my lie sitting on the left edge of a big bush and my only route to the basket was a 300'+ and high around a tree lefty hyzer (aka righty forehand hyzer). The bush prevented me from throwing with my elbow away from my body, I could only throw forehand with elbow tight to the body or try a backhand or overhead. My forehand was the only shot which gave me the needed distance so I threw it. Damn that stung. I felt an elbow strain which hurt for the next half hour. I don't know how players throw that way.

 

[Scoot_er]

"Backhand Bennett"

I had the pleasure of watching him play Cass horribly one day since he was learning the backhand every round Monday-Thursday. It was pretty fun to watch and he could actually launch some 500ft although the form was less than pleasing to the eye.

Ever since then he is know to me as "Backhand Bennett"

 

[jubuttib]

From watching the video clips it looks like Ville has a short punching style form with his elbow tight to his side and is, obviously, a skilled player. If God gives you enough snap then that form can still generate lots of torque but nowhere near what a full arm swing could. Geoff uses more of a full arm movement, so unless Ville has much greater natural snap I would expect Geoff to throw farther.

I've never seen Piippo go all out but I've read him note that while can get vastly more speed on the disc he can never seem to beat the backhanders in a distance competition. Side note: He used to be a javelin thrower and held the world record for mobile phone throwing so he's a monster when throwing from that side of his body.

Think about throwing a baseball as a comparison. If a catcher is trying to throw out a runner stealing second base (given the limited arm movement possible from a catcher's stance), compare that to a center fielder charging a single and trying to throw out a runner at home plate. The center fielder has a full arm motion while the catcher just snaps from behind his ear. Given equal power we would expect the center fielder to throw with much greater velocity.

I would also expect the catcher to be more prone to elbow problems.

You're lucky that I've watched Major so I have a fair idea what you're talking about. Baseball isn't that big outside the States and Japan, so those comparisons might not translate well. =)

 

[smarkquart]

so threw it some more today, and holy cow they are long. Clearly MUCH longer than anything else I have in the bag. That said I doubt I will be throwing them very much. They are very sensitive to power and OAT. I is very fast, but pretty understable which probably is why it has such good glide. Whenever I tried to put on the power they would flip way too much. And if I threw it soft it would obviously hyzer out short. Because of the wide wing, it still has a lot of LSS.

This is exactly the issue I had when I started with the Nuke. However, I started switching up how I throw them and I have really got them flying perfectly. Instead of trying to throw flat or with just the slightest of hyzer, this is where OAT can kill you, I started throwing slightly out to the left, about 10 feet off the ground with a flat to slight anhyzer release. It then immediately screams out to the right but flat. Its glide is amazing as it loses no height throughout the greater portion of its flight in which it slowly fades back to the left. By the end of 400+ feet it has finished inline with the teebox. Basically I treat it as an elongated S-Curve. After a little practice I noticed that this disc was the only one I could do that consistently with. It has a phenomenal flight as it never needs to get more than 10 to 15 feet off the ground, perfect when I have a lower ceiling but a little horizontal room to work with.

 

[Frank Delicious]

Side note: He used to be a javelin thrower and held the world record for mobile phone throwing so he's a monster when throwing from that side of his body.

Please tell there is a video of this.

 

[ChrisWoj]

Think about throwing a baseball as a comparison. If a catcher is trying to throw out a runner stealing second base (given the limited arm movement possible from a catcher's stance), compare that to a center fielder charging a single and trying to throw out a runner at home plate. The center fielder has a full arm motion while the catcher just snaps from behind his ear. Given equal power we would expect the center fielder to throw with much greater velocity.

I would also expect the catcher to be more prone to elbow problems.

It isn't just something you can expect: it is something of a proven thing. Over the years many catchers have come up with obscenely fantastic "snap throws" - the ability to put a ball on 2nd base from the crouch. Almost every single one has either seriously injured himself or evolved to come out of the crouch and throw using his entire body.

As for Piipo vs. Bennett - Bennett, hands down. The real debate right now, from what I've seen, would be Bennett vs. Koling. Bennett and Koling both can hang with the big backhands. Bennett also has an amazing amount of control over his forehand distance lines. Right now I think I can hang with him for pure disc-speed and hyzer distance, but I can't even compare when it comes to getting it out on that helix. Its sick... I think it has something to do with how deep he buries the disc in his hand. I tried his grip for a month or so a year and a half ago, and couldn't stick with it, lost a lot of control - but gained a LOT of distance because discs flew more like they did on backhands, allowing me to put more into the shot without worrying about it coming over the top and burning.


(PS: I second Frank's statement)

 

[Frank Delicious]

Koeling was the first guy to get a flick over the lake at USDGC last year if I remember correctly.

 

[Star Shark]

Yep... Big Jerm hit it well...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqI7jt5zNRY

 

[rehder]

so threw it some more today, and holy cow they are long. Clearly MUCH longer than anything else I have in the bag. That said I doubt I will be throwing them very much. They are very sensitive to power and OAT. I is very fast, but pretty understable which probably is why it has such good glide. Whenever I tried to put on the power they would flip way too much. And if I threw it soft it would obviously hyzer out short. Because of the wide wing, it still has a lot of LSS.

This is exactly the issue I had when I started with the Nuke. However, I started switching up how I throw them and I have really got them flying perfectly. Instead of trying to throw flat or with just the slightest of hyzer, this is where OAT can kill you, I started throwing slightly out to the left, about 10 feet off the ground with a flat to slight anhyzer release. It then immediately screams out to the right but flat. Its glide is amazing as it loses no height throughout the greater portion of its flight in which it slowly fades back to the left. By the end of 400+ feet it has finished inline with the teebox. Basically I treat it as an elongated S-Curve. After a little practice I noticed that this disc was the only one I could do that consistently with. It has a phenomenal flight as it never needs to get more than 10 to 15 feet off the ground, perfect when I have a lower ceiling but a little horizontal room to work with.

I havent had any luck throwing these flat or slight anhyzers, they are too understable for me. (Unless I throw it higher, but then it becomes even more difficult to guess the full flight of it.) I have had most success with low, straight hyzerflip throws. That said I try to avoid throwing shots, where I have to throw with a little anhyzer, because for me these are more difficult to hit the angle correctly. Most of the shot I throw are with hyzer (since it is easier to control and put on power), I can throw big anhyzer lines, but I prefer to have a 10-20 degree window, rather than a 1-5 degree window.

As for Piipo vs. Bennett - Bennett, hands down. The real debate right now, from what I've seen, would be Bennett vs. Koling. Bennett and Koling both can hang with the big backhands. Bennett also has an amazing amount of control over his forehand distance lines.

Have you seen Piipo throw? Im not going to say he is better than Bennett, because I havent seen Bennet throw. (I can just say that Piippo played the Copenhagen Open with a fracture in his shoulder, so he didnt throw any overhead shots. Only forehand throws (except on putts). In the final he threw a straight line drive at 3 feet of the ground for around 144 meters. (472feet) (Im not sure what one can say about his technique in terms of damage potential, because he is not built like 99% of discgolfers. He is built like an athlete.)

In the end the only thing I can use to give a weak shot at comparing the two is their pdga-rating, and they are close. Bennett at 1010 Piippo at 1019

 

[jubuttib]

(I can just say that Piippo played the Copenhagen Open with a fracture in his shoulder, so he didnt throw any overhead shots. Only forehand throws (except on putts)

That's the other thing that's so weird about him. If the courses allowed it he'd probably be close to overhead dominant. =)

Frank: Probably not, but here's one video to get you started: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BopBMWFc-Pg Just search youtube for mobile phone throwing if you want more. The winner of that competition threw 89 meters. The current world record stands at ~95 meters (~310').

 

[Lloyba]

The nuke is most certainly long, but at least the ones i have (second run, max weight, orange and pink, mild dome) were quite flippy and of no use in any golf situation

i probably got one or two throws over 150m with them, but i had to throw them max hyzer and aim like 40 metres left for them to get enough space. At least for my max. distance throwing style i'd prefer if they fought back jjjjust a little bit more. I feel like some of my throws would have gone even further if the disc had fought the turn back just a few degrees or something.

to me they're just fun to throw in the field but i don't really see them as golf staples.

EDIT: could just be OAT though...

 

[HeartlessCynic]

Since Marshall St. still had them for $11.99, that was all of the justification I needed to try one. Damn plastic junkieing.

 

[ManU]

I know it is more disc than I should probably be throwing but my FR 166 yellow is starting to find a permanent place in my bag
it has given me more distance on certain types of shots than my OLSs and OLFs...it just gives me more distance

I have actually been able to shape some decent lines with it on some of the holes we play rather than just needing a wide open bomb hole

although I did not use it for headwinds I was able to use it with and somewhat into the wind to shape certain shots

I'm liking it but it does not seem to be adding to my minimalism

 

[StumperTX]

The strongest forehander I have seen is Geoff Bennett. He blows past 400' seemingly without throwing hard. Geoff thinks he can break 600' in a distance competition. I wouldn't bet against him.

How does Ville Piippo compare (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYVDrOL9wDs)? That was a 440 something foot hole. Watch the Tali Open 2009 (I think this is the fourth day, so the final round) videos on youtube to see what this looked like from the tee. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3TXXvgqBXU starting at 2:20 or so)

Just looking for an opinion from a guy who knows his forehand. =)

From watching the video clips it looks like Ville has a short punching style form with his elbow tight to his side and is, obviously, a skilled player. If God gives you enough snap then that form can still generate lots of torque but nowhere near what a full arm swing could. Geoff uses more of a full arm movement, so unless Ville has much greater natural snap I would expect Geoff to throw farther.

Think about throwing a baseball as a comparison. If a catcher is trying to throw out a runner stealing second base (given the limited arm movement possible from a catcher's stance), compare that to a center fielder charging a single and trying to throw out a runner at home plate. The center fielder has a full arm motion while the catcher just snaps from behind his ear. Given equal power we would expect the center fielder to throw with much greater velocity.

I would also expect the catcher to be more prone to elbow problems.

On a another thread somewhere in the past couple weeks Blake T opined that "elbow close to the body" form is more protective of injury than "elbow away from the body" form for forehand throws. I looked for this thread to comment on it but couldn't locate it. Anyway, I have given this some thought and I disagree. Not just because my personal experience is the opposite. A couple well known forehanders have blown out their elbows (Scott Stokely, Timmy Gill) and both used the close to the body form. Small sample, admittedly. But in my former sport of racquetball a forehand kill shot is the most common swing in the sport and every good player I witnessed used elbow away from the body form. While aging athletes might injure any body part, there appeared to be no rash of blown elbows in the sport among long term players (knees, rotator cuffs, backs, etc were all more common).

Last night at a league round, following a drive on a long hole, I was looking at my lie sitting on the left edge of a big bush and my only route to the basket was a 300'+ and high around a tree lefty hyzer (aka righty forehand hyzer). The bush prevented me from throwing with my elbow away from my body, I could only throw forehand with elbow tight to the body or try a backhand or overhead. My forehand was the only shot which gave me the needed distance so I threw it. Damn that stung. I felt an elbow strain which hurt for the next half hour. I don't know how players throw that way.

Thanks Mark, I appreciate the feedback - I think this is the thread you where looking for (re: elbow close): http://www.discgolfreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=179

If you're ever in the Dallas-Ft Worth area (for a tourney or other reason) shoot me a pm, my wife and I will take you out to dinner/drinks

 

[Widdershins]

Thanks Mark, I appreciate the feedback - I think this is the thread you where looking for (re: elbow close): http://www.discgolfreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=179

If you're ever in the Dallas-Ft Worth area (for a tourney or other reason) shoot me a pm, my wife and I will take you out to dinner/drinks

StumperTX, thanks for the offer. While I have no Texas plans at the moment, I will work on building up a hunger and thirst to rival your generosity.

 

[ChrisWoj]

Stay away from Gatorade, its the thirst quencher.

 

[xeroxed44]

I had my first go'round with this disc today, its a FR 174 (green). I've only thrown this disc RHFH, which is basically how I throw all max D drives, my BH is atrocious. I was pleased with how I was able to throw a nice low (10-15 ft off ground) line drive. Trying to do the same result with my destroyers is a bit of a chore.

Im curious how the FR's compare up to the current production for someone thats a forehand thrower. Im sure this has been discussed several times before, but 46 pages is too time consuming to sift through. Someone can even post a link or page number if they have it for where this may have been talked about.

Thanks.