Bag Help for a newbie? I'm sure these get old, so thanks in advance!

[LoPan12]

So I just started throwing a couple months ago. I used to have a mean Ultimate throw-off, so right off the bat, I had a good base to work my drives off of. I can make the disc do sorta what I want 50%, exactly what I want 20%, with the rest as casualties.
My pure distance drives are usually around 300' in a flat field, still working a few kinks out, but I got a fairly consistent throw, and a mediocre snap.
I'm probably a 60/40 backhand/forehand thrower, just depending on the hole really, though I can't drive as far forehand yet. My buddy who got me into DG has been playin for awhile, and is confident enough to play in a tournament coming up this month. Well, he keep's yellin' at me because he and his friend agree that I have way too much distance and control for someone who's only played 10 rounds of DG.
So what I would appreciate is some guidance, mainly with midrange discs, and any other comments you might have about the drivers I've got.

Here's what's in my bag now...
ESP Avenger SS - 167g My First disc, I use it whenever I can see the basket
Champ Groove - 175g Use this when I need to bend through a tight fairway
Z Nuke - 171g Got this recently(I'll admit, initially because I'm a Nuke Engineer :) Been using it for wider fairways with the basket off to the left. Out in the field, just getting it to S-curve like I want...took a few tries though.
Champ Beast - 175g JUST picked up on suggestion and after throwing a few holes with my friend's.

Z Buzzz - 168g My lone mid-range disc...would I make good use of another disc here?

Pro-D Soft Magnet - 175g ...Putter...what can I say?

Once again, thanks to anyone that took the time to read this, and give me some help.

[bcr123psu]

How far can you get the Buzzz and the Magnet? Controllable and otherwise.

[tstack10]

Drop groove. Get a stalker/ teebird.

[bcr123psu]

Drop groove. Get a stalker/ teebird.

I was actually going to say to drop the Groove, Nuke, Avenger SS, and even the Beast in favor of a fairway driver. Stalker & Teebird are both good choices as are Eagles, XLs, and my current obsession, the Assassin *whispers "Assassin!" under his breath*

[sgamerp]

I really like Cyclones. I normally Use Cyclones, Buzzz, Meteor, and Soft Magnet.

[LoPan12]

I can get the Buzzz almost as far as the AvengerSS, maybe 20-30ft on the outside. I can usually place the two within 20' of each other. The Magnet...I only ever tried distance throws with it once when I was out in a field with the Avenger, Buzzz, and itself. (First got 'em all at once) I dropped it maybe 40ft short of the other two? I'm awful with visual -> numerical distance...my phone's GPS is what tells me my drive lengths ^_^

[ArcheType]

all the fairway driver advice is spot on,

as for mids, you might want to check out a Wasp, flies a lot like a buzzz, but its more overstable

and for putters, there's nothing wrong with the magnet, but I've gotta promote my love, try a voodoo if you can get your hands on one, no need to buy it off the bat, but test out a friends if you can :)

[drickanderson]

I really like Cyclones. I normally Use Cyclones, Buzzz, Meteor, and Soft Magnet.
How does the Cyclone compare to the Eclipse? I've thrown an Eclipse quite a few times, and don't really care for it.

[Huk Finn]

The Core by Lat64 is a great mid that flies much farther than I expected. I also use there Fuse. A tad slower, glidier and really holds a mean line.

I like the Teebird/Stalker advice. Or if your into that, Lat64 Striker is money too!

[ArcheType]

I really like Cyclones. I normally Use Cyclones, Buzzz, Meteor, and Soft Magnet.

I've also gotta drop a vote for cyclones, my esp cyclone almost doubled my consistent bh distance, with control, really helps you learn how to shape lines as well, super workable disc

/love.

[LoPan12]

Damn ya'll are fast...it's midnight on a monday! ^_^
BTW: My buddy and went in for the discraft z/esp misprint pack. He's lookin' for a few in particular and I just wanted some more variety. Plus, all my local shops only sell Innovas, so I figured I'd be able to trade/sell any that I don't need pretty easily.

[LoPan12]

May I ask why the large voice for fairway drivers? I'm still kinda new to the terminology and all. I looked at Joe's Universal Flight Chart and wondered how they're range/power ratings translated to speed? I'm under the impression that my drivers are all "faster" discs than the ones suggested here (teebird, cyclone, etc). What does that really translate to for the disc's flight? Like I mentioned, I'm an engineer, so feel free to throw in any physics know-how you've got =]

[ArcheType]

May I ask why the large voice for fairway drivers? I'm still kinda new to the terminology and all. I looked at Joe's Universal Flight Chart and wondered how they're range/power ratings translated to speed? I'm under the impression that my drivers are all "faster" discs than the ones suggested here (teebird, cyclone, etc). What does that really translate to for the disc's flight? Like I mentioned, I'm an engineer, so feel free to throw in any physics know-how you've got =]
Fairway drivers don't go quite as far, but are easier to control, and fade (the drift at the end of the flight) less. I'm not 100% sure on this, but I'm pretty sure its because they don't rotate as fast as faster drivers, and therefore have less deflection/turbulence.

The main reason why they are more recommended is they help beginners a lot more, you need better technique to throw them as far, and they're more reliable to fly consistently for you.

Coming from a fellow beginner, I highly recommend getting at least one fairway driver, personally a cyclone, but whatever your choice may be, because they are far more consistent for those of us without perfect form. I can get my cyclone out to 300' consistently. I could probably throw my nuke 350', but it would be one out of ever 10-15 throws. To be able to get the distance and lines I want consistently, is far more useful than the extra 50 feet, that might land more left or right than I want.

Also, the groove sucks, sorry. :)

[wolito]

I say drop all of your drivers there and get a little bit slower discs for driving. A Leopard or Teebird might do you well. At 300 feet, the drivers you are currently throwing are too fast to be of benefit for you. Work on the basics with some slower discs first.

[wolito]

May I ask why the large voice for fairway drivers? I'm still kinda new to the terminology and all. I looked at Joe's Universal Flight Chart and wondered how they're range/power ratings translated to speed? I'm under the impression that my drivers are all "faster" discs than the ones suggested here (teebird, cyclone, etc). What does that really translate to for the disc's flight? Like I mentioned, I'm an engineer, so feel free to throw in any physics know-how you've got =]

In order to utilize the speed and distance potential of a high speed driver, proper amounts of snap need to be applied to get the right amount of spin on the disc. This is done by snap. Snap is a skill that is learned after many hours of practice both on the course and in the field. If you have less snap or spin on the disc, then you are essentially trying to muscle it down the fairway for distance. THus your control over the disc is much less. Learning to throw lower speed discs allows you to have more control over the disc. Once you are able to get fairway drivers out past 300 feet or so, your snap is probably enough to start with some distance drivers, say speed 9 of Innova's scale.

[LoPan12]

Fair enough. I'll see what pops up in the mis-print pack...otherwise, I guess I'll go pick up a Teebird. But, till then, I'll keep working on my throw. No course around me has a hole longer than 400 ft anyhow, and I can make my current drivers do what I want fairly well.

[LoPan12]

after sitting about and thinking on it for awhile, I think I've got a better grasp of the effects spin will have on the flight path of a disc, and secondarily, on it's distance. But since we know that it's not always (hell, a small percent of the time) distance that matters more, but how you get there, it seems its just a matter of better spin control. Luckily, I'm a rock climber, so my forearm to wrist muscles are better accustomed to being worked more ^_^

[bcr123psu]

Oh, LoPan12, if nobody said it yet, welcome to the site and to disc golf!

[garublador]

after sitting about and thinking on it for awhile, I think I've got a better grasp of the effects spin will have on the flight path of a disc, and secondarily, on it's distance. But since we know that it's not always (hell, a small percent of the time) distance that matters more, but how you get there, it seems its just a matter of better spin control. Luckily, I'm a rock climber, so my forearm to wrist muscles are better accustomed to being worked more ^_^Here's are the top couple drivers I recommend for beginners:

For fariway drivers going under 320' - Polaris LS or DX Cheetah

For fairway driver going over 320' - D Cyclone or DX Gazelle

You might be getting close to the point where the second set would be more appropriate. If you have the means (which I'm assuming you do as a rich engineer ;)) then it might be worth checking out discs from both categories. Use the ones from the top category at first and then when you're throwing over 320' or so you can add one from the bottom category and treat the first disc as a beat version of the second one until you get the second one beat in, too. FWIW I don't normally recommend the Teebird for newer players. It's kid of difficult to throw correctly and doesn't give very good feedback for slightly off throws.

There are a lot of differences between fast and slower drivers, but the short version of what's important now is that throwing a disc that's too fast can encourage bad habits. You'll probably plateau at the same distance whether you're throwing an Avenger or Cyclone, but if you do it with the Cyclone all of your other discs (including your Avenger) will go farther with more control.

Welcome to the board and sport! What type of engineer are you? I'm an EE and I know there are a couple other engineers around here, too.

[LoPan12]

I'm a Nuke Engineer...like I said before...I wouldn't have bought a ZNuke yet except well, y'know :D

[garublador]

I'm a Nuke Engineer...like I said before...I wouldn't have bought a ZNuke yet except well, y'know :DApparently I'm not a reading engineer. I somehow missed the nuke part.

I actually carry a Star Destroyer just because of the name.

[Technohic]

Apparently I'm not a reading engineer. I somehow missed the nuke part.

I actually carry a Star Destroyer just because of the name.

Does that mean you are really Darth Vader?

[ArcheType]

Does that mean you are really Darth Vader?
Nope, he's Shia Lebouf,- every actor he stars with has their career destroyed.

[LoPan12]

Nope, he's Shia Lebouf,- every actor he stars with has their career destroyed.

HA! Well played sir, well played. :clap: (why doesn't this forum have a golf clap?)

[LoPan12]

So in my goodie bag of misprints, I got an ESP Stalker. How is that compared to a Cyclone?

[Mike C]

They're a bit faster and more stable.

[LoPan12]

Ohh, and here's everything else I got...anything particularly good?
BTW, here's what else I got...
Flx Surge SS 174g
ESP Predator 169
ESP Buzz 174 & 173
ESP Stalker 166 with a PDGA stamp
ESPAvenger SS 166
Crystal Buzzz 168 from some tournament
Z Crush
Crystal Z Magnet
Some sort of putter, its stamp reads, 2009 Ace Race, which, apparently, is now the Focus?

[craftsman]

Lopan, I'll try to get you up to speed....
While there are many different approaches to DG, we here(for the most part) on dgcr, as well as (IMO) our more technical "brother" site, dgr, subscribe to the American style of throwing. Also known as Blake/Bradley/Beato, Timmy Gill (iirc), bent arm....
It is the use of body positions to enable turn of the body leading to the "hit". So, feet set up hips, hips turn torso, planting front foot pulls hips, turning shoulders, whipping the bent arm like a catapult- all while pulling it in and across the chest while maintainig nose down. I would suggest finding the Dan beato and discrafts Scott papa beginer video for visual, or just about any pro.
This approach is favored by those that wish to compete, and those that see dg as a life long passtime. The common technique of new players is to tilt the disc on an anhyzer angle, swing their arm around, and push a S type of flight. Fast, overstable drivers are favored due to their glide and dependability to fade back from being pushed to the right. This is all poision to a player working on the bent arm technique.
The bent arm requires discs in ones ability. It can be a lil harder at first, but it will allow use of all discs- not just overstable- and provide a sound base to improve on. - you will only be able to huck it so far with just arm.
Some other points to mention is that slower drivers are capable of big distance and hold most distance records. The other is that most pros are using fairway and mids to drive off most holes- if not a putter.



With all that said, I suggest a magnet, comet, and cyclone. The buzzz and stalker will do but the former loves height and are just plain better;)

[LoPan12]

Thinking about it, that sounds like how I throw. I might still have a bit of a swing sometimes, but I drive through my trunk. The first time I went out with my friend, I was home later that night, and I thought I had eaten something bad, because my side was in PAIN. After not too long thinking about it (and poking it) I realized, damn, I must've pulled the hell outta my lower torso!

[ArcheType]

They're a bit faster and more stable.
So, I'm relatively positive that the stalker is not faster, or more stable than the cyclone, fwiw