Isamoor's ITB - a boring affair

[discerdoo]

C'mon man, you can't rely on a thumber for an unobstructed approach!

Embrace the Berg. I'm old and have a pretty solid FH game so I decided to embrace what I'm good at. I don't have time to become adept at everything. I bag 2 Roaches as dedicated putters, a Berg, a Zone and an Ohm for throwers. Berg is also nice for putting in a headwind.

I carry more discs than you with a full load and gave up on mold minimizing a long time ago.

 

[isamoor]

You are of course correct.

I do usually still carry a dozen or so discs for a "real" round. At least a couple variations of all the molds, and often 4 or more of the mold most pertinent for the course.

As for unobstructed approach? I flick a zone today (and still have very good success rate with that). It's when I'm forced into a ~125' straight approach that I often fumble. When I used envies for a few years I'd just jump putt that range.

The stack of K1 Soft Bergs is still within easy reach of my bag and I'll probably slip one in more often.

 

[isamoor]

Another evening with the tech disc. Briefly tried regular three finger, could only do about flat on the nose angle. Went back to the bonopane and spent the evening working in a callus on my middle finger.

Also worked on picking up the speed and spin a touch. Deeper in the pocket and more closed hit. Did pretty well. Here's tonight's stats (and the diffs from last session):

MPH: 51->53.5 (Felt pretty good about upping that a noticeable amount)
Spin: 1040->1090 (This one I was especially happy about. Plenty of individual throws over 1100. My goal is to milk spin for all its worth to put less wear on my bad foot.)
Nose Angle: -2 -> -2.5 (Actually got it down further. I attribute this to more comfort with the bonopane.)
Launch ANgle: 3->5 (And even got it up more.)

So all the numbers actually moved in the direction I want them to go.

 

[adriens95]

You're definitely right about the Berg. I can flick straight approaches inside 150' pretty accurately with a Berg (and K1 Soft is so nice...).

Not carrying a Berg was somewhat an act of stubbornness. Similar to focusing on Comets I was trying to force myself to backhand approach with a putter. I also never actually practice backhand putter approaches, so I suppose it's not shocking I suck at them.

For a while I'd been practicing Teebird thumbers in that 100-150' range. I had gotten pretty good at that and maybe I should break it back out. (It also helps season the birds, which is a win...)

Or maybe I should just bag a Berg. It just feels so overkill to do a Berg with Wizards and Zones though...


Anyway, sincere thanks for pointing out what is the logical fix (bag a Berg...)

I definitely agree that you should put the Berg back in the bag. I go Wizard-Glitch-Berg-Zone and find them all very useful. I could drop the Glitch for a seasoned Wizard but I have to have a low-glide not super overstable approach disc like the Berg or Scale. They flick great but I also love them for nose up basket runs that I know won't leave me a comeback.

 

[isamoor]

So funny enough, back when I was only a super casual player, all my approaches were Wizard flicks, and I was pretty deadly with them. I did them all "serving the pizza" with my palm to the sky. The reduced speed made them very controllable. Most would be half runs.

I still try Wizard hyzer flicks every now and then. But I just don't have that touch anymore. Partly it's adjusting/fixing my grip and just having more release speed. And partly it's just that I don't do it on every hole.

I'd also bag most SSSS wizards back then. I was probably better off flicking those outside of 15'. So floppy to try and get a clean putt with.

If you read back through this thread I've dallied with many different putters since then. But something about using a Wizard for so long just helps me understand how they are going to react (which is not shocking information I realize). The only other putter I'm as clean and confident with is an Envy... but those lead to such long come backs.

I haven't had a Scale in a while, but I do remember them being a bit more Zone than Berg.

I'm not much of a football head, so I'm probably going to go back and hit that same woods course this afternoon. Maybe I'll have an approach showdown on some of those holes.

 

[adriens95]

So funny enough, back when I was only a super casual player, all my approaches were Wizard flicks, and I was pretty deadly with them. I did them all "serving the pizza" with my palm to the sky. The reduced speed made them very controllable. Most would be half runs.

I still try Wizard hyzer flicks every now and then. But I just don't have that touch anymore. Partly it's adjusting/fixing my grip and just having more release speed. And partly it's just that I don't do it on every hole.

I'd also bag most SSSS wizards back then. I was probably better off flicking those outside of 15'. So floppy to try and get a clean putt with.

If you read back through this thread I've dallied with many different putters since then. But something about using a Wizard for so long just helps me understand how they are going to react (which is not shocking information I realize). The only other putter I'm as clean and confident with is an Envy... but those lead to such long come backs.

I haven't had a Scale in a while, but I do remember them being a bit more Zone than Berg.

I'm not much of a football head, so I'm probably going to go back and hit that same woods course this afternoon. Maybe I'll have an approach showdown on some of those holes.

Wizard flicks are great for scrambling. I love putting one on a huge anny when I'm leaning out of the woods.

 

[isamoor]

Surprising amount of snow here in Indiana at the moment. Got a bit of time in the basement with the Tech Disc instead. Mostly was focused on trying to do some recordings to post over in the form review channel. Did check the stats and they stayed almost constant from a week ago (I wasn't trying to do anything different, so that's good). A bit less spin, but a bit more nose down. But also probably just noise.

So I did pick up a couple more lightweight teebirds. Unfortunately, I did it online and they turned out to have a higher PLH than I really wanted. Haven't gotten a chance to try them due to snow.

Got in one half round during the week. Was warm enough to use pure white wizards. Hit two C2 putts for birdies on holes I very rarely birdie from those long pads (in fact one of them I think it was my first birdie ever...). Definitely have to force myself to use firm putters from now on. (I think above I put in a mental rule of 42deg or warmer...)

Then Thursday I hit the used bin jackpot. Someone dumped six proton craves. Barely used with a wide range of weights and PLHs. Proton is definitely my favorite MVP plastic, and the crave is a great old-man disc. I have a few, but the couple R2 halloween craves I have are pretty stable for a crave. Excited to try these out as well.

 

[isamoor]

Finally got some good field work with those craves. Took a spread of craves and neutral teebirds to the field. And damned if those teebirds didn't go further and easier. The craves were perfectly reasonable, but they just felt like more work. I mean, I have one thrashed crave that never comes back in a slight head wind. One crave that kinda feels like it's in a sweet spot. And then 2-3 more craves that just feel sluggish. There's definitely some variety in PLH and dome on them.

For the teebirds, I have enough that I can select those with slightly lower PLH. They on average just want to stay in the air longer than the craves. I know they're 0.05cm wider rim, but they don't feel that significantly faster. I also don't really have a teebird beat into actually flippy.

For both the teebirds and the craves I had a mix of everything from 150g up to 170s.

So for now? I'm sticking with the teebirds. Also easy to stay in supply.

Zones and Comets still complementing nicely. Mixing in some seasoned valks if the course calls for that touch more distance for a chunk less control. And wizards for putting and anything for which a comet feels silly.

 

[adriens95]

That sluggishness is why I'm probably dropping Craves permanently as well. I realized as much as I like the feel of them, I prefer something glidier that doesn't need me to really hit it hard. I never got the effortless distance I see other people rave about.

 

[isamoor]

I've still been doing tech disc sessions off and on.

Tonight I was revisiting the fun bonopane grip. Trying to decide how much it was limiting me. And after an hour of playing around... I decided it's really not limiting me much if any. I've developed enough calluses and grip strength on my middle finger that my speed and spin are basically the same between bonopane and regular three finger power grip. And with the three finger power grip I have to focus much more on flipping the nose down that it really interrupts my "what-feels-natural" swing path. Where-as with the bonopane I can use what feels like a natural swing path.

I was also doing a better job actually using my off arm to assist the throw (I credit that with an extra ~2 MPH). Still fighting the timing on turning back.

Current session numbers (last ~15 bonopane grip throws):
Speed: 56.8mph
Spin: 1107rpm
Nose: -1.3
Launch: 11 (really high this evening)
Wobble: 2.1

 

[isamoor]

Did a few months of the bonopane grip. Paired that with Rivers. Even won the silver tier in a popular local league mostly on the consistency of river+bonopane through the woods.

Then I found some good insights in the "are we just making things up about nose angle" thread and have worked my way back towards a full four finger power grip. Don't have some current tech disc stats because I'm taking advantage of the good weather to mostly throw outside and on the course.

The Rivers aren't quite as reliable with the classic power grip (not terribly shocking). I've really been enjoying Explorers instead. That fractional increase in diameter over a Teebird really does seem to fit my current throw better.

On the mids, I'm currently back in love with the Mako3. It's so easy to find more of the buggers. And you can mixup a fan to a powergrip on them for lots of different flights. The fully convex rim seems to provide smooth response to increases in speed as well. I haven't pulled down my comets in a couple months and I'm feeling a touch guilty about it. I'd probably love a hex, but they're far more expensive than used mako3s...

Also grabbed a Watt finally. I've got hundreds or thousands of throws with a glitch, so having something very close to a heavier glitch was super nice. The gyro effect is stronger with slower discs so I justified the cost of a Watt (when I didn't justify the cost of a hex...).

For the past few weeks, I'd say that Watt, Mako3 and Explorer have covered 90% of my tee shots. Mixed in with the occasional Firebird or Zone.

 

[isamoor]

Not a ton of change here. Messed around with an old stack of craves some. Explorers are still more consistent (not shocking).

A glow round got me to run a wizard and a fuse again. I'm going to try and commit to wizards again. I know how much jumping putters affects my game.

Also, that glow fuse did work for me in the woods. I'm not sure I'd actually swap out the mako3s, but they're not that different (despite the flight number differences).

 

[isamoor]

Had a good week of mostly Wizard, Mako3, Explorer and Firebird. I alternated between bagging a Zone and a Tempo for most rounds. I've gone Zone for years, but the one Tempo I have feels super nice, and I'm okay with it being a bit straighter than the average Zone. The Tempo is a bit skippier though. I'm pushing for more Wizard flicks, and definitely improving with that.

My putting ain't great, but I'm still committing to sticking with the Wizards. I'm getting far more comfortable with them off the tee and appreciating their relatively slow speed.