discspeed said:
Guess what I got in the mail today? A beautiful red proto medium Ion! It feels exactly as I had hoped! The surface of the plastic has the same grippy feel, but the flex is MUCH firmer. I would compare it to the stiffer runs of Soft Gateway putters...not a dinner plate like a medium Wizard, but it still has very little give. The shoulder molded up a tad bit higher as well. I'm betting that its going to be a little more stable just as I hoped. I will be testing in thoroughly this afternoon (after my baby's first pediatric appt.).
I got in a round with my Medium Ion today. I need to do much more testing, but I really loved how it was flying for me. First of all, its much closer to what I am used to putting with, so it had the flight characteristics I have been looking for all along with the awesome Ion feel. The softs are very dynamic and definitely spring out of my hand a little more, but the Medium felt steadier in the air. On both drives and putts it seemed to have more HSS and less LSS. It dropped a little faster than the softs, but for my style that's not a bad thing. I was most impressed using it on my jump putts. It seemed that the grip or something else about the softs caused me to get some OAT on my jumpers, often causing the disc to flip on me. The Medium Ion was totally straight. I hit a couple of 40'ers and connected with some metal on every jump putt I had. It drops a lot straighter than the softs, which tend to fade out if given any height. This is going to be my putter now, no doubt.
As a driver, I also preferred the Medium. It did not hold the hyzer as well, as it wanted to fly straightish no matter what, but for straight shots and forced gentle annys it was perhaps the best putter I've thrown. I also found that it was flying farther for me than the softs. It flew all around more Buzzz-like than my softs. I do still prefer the softs for approaches, short runs at the basket, and more extreme hyzers/anhyzers. The softs have more LSS, and that is often desirable. I have actually made more long forehand putts with the Ion than any other disc, and my runs from 130' and in have been better throwing the Ion forehand than my backhand runs have been in years. Though I find this strange, I like it.
The Medium still has the same outer "bumper" overmold as the softs, so it seemed to hit the chains the exact same way. With an overall straighter flight character, I dare say the mediums hit the chains/basket with even more shock absorption than the softs. I did notice that it kicked just a bit harder off trees at speed than the softs, but still better than any other discs. I'll be comparing the medium/softs head to head for a while, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to end up carrying them both for different purposes.
I think people who were a bit put off by the softness of the previous runs are going to adore the mediums. I also think those with more of a "push" putting style rather than a spin style will like them. Either way, I think everyone should try on an Ion...and keep their Ion the basket! 8)
