Alcuin's Bag

[Alcuin]

Vitals:
Years playing/experience: a year (started last June)
Right/left-handed/ambidextrous: right-handed
Throwing Style: RHBH, Golf Distance (avg/max*) for putter/mid/driver:
Anode: 275/300'; Buzzz: 300'/325; Teebird: 350'/375'

Optional:
Age: 30
Sex: M
Injuries/handicaps?: nope
Other sport proficiencies?: corn hole, L4D2, Super Meat Boy
What do you like/dislike about your current bag?: I can cover almost every shot I need, but I'm looking to learn to throw faster drivers for distance
Specific areas of desired feedback: There are two slots I'm looking at changing here: one is the OLS slot (not sure if I need it), the other is the max D slot
Immediate and long-term goals: I'm pretty consistent (when I'm consistent), I'd just like to shore up some of the slots in my bag; long term I want to increase my TB distance (natch) and learn forehand

Bag:

Drivers (weight/plastic/model/(condition)/use):
170 Pro Leopard (seasoned for turnovers, flips)
167 Champ Leopard (pretty fresh, I throw it flat for some turn and flex or hyzer flip it up hills)
168 Star Teebird (one of the first discs I bought but still nice and stable; bread and butter)
175 DX Teebird (one of my longest discs, but I don't like the fragility of the plastic)

168 Star Sidewinder (long turnovers and hyzer flips up hills or for lasers)
165 Star Firebird (utility, thumbers, etc.)
170 1.1 QOLS (feels like a longer champ leo, but I'm considering dropping it from the bag)
168 1.1 QOLF (fresh, flips up off a slight hyzer, thrown flat it turns slightly and glides really well, looking to break it in to a nice hyzer flip machine)
171 1.2 QOLF (beefy--my distance wind disc)

168 GL Flow (fresh: in the test phase)
167 X Nuke (brand new: test phase)

Mids:

180 ESP Buzzz (still pretty stable, doesn't turn much; used for lower, straight shots)
175 ESP Comet (starting to season in, longest mid; will hold any line: great for long sweeping hyzers, anhyzers, flips for distance if I have enough sky)
168 X Comet (light and seasoned for turnovers to the ground, hyzer flips)
180 Z Hornet (longer than I thought it would be, but I like it; fighting for its spot with the Zone though)


Putters:

175 Medium Ion (putting)
173 Soft Anode (driving and approaching)
172 D Zone (utility, drives with healthy fade and small skips, windy putter drives; I'm interested to see how this one breaks in)

My questions:

I like the flight of my DX Teebird, but I'm concerned about it's longevity. I bought it about two weeks ago. Out of the box it flipped from a slight hyzer and showed some turn if thrown flat. Now it's a great, glidey disc that will turn over and flex out for some nice D if thrown high; it comes up just 15-20' short of my distance drivers. I like it, but I wonder if there's something similar to this in premo plastic. TL? Saint?

About the QOLS--I think the DX Teebird is doing what I wanted this disc to do, but doing it better--a distance control disc. I liked the OLS because it's similar to the Sidewinder, so I kept it for familiarity's sake. But I don't throw it much and when I do, I don't have a lot of confidence in it. I'll either start throwing it more to get used to it/see if I like it, or replace it with the disc that fits the DX Teebird slot. Any suggestions?

The Flow and the Nuke. Both are pretty flippy: the Flow is slower and controllable (it really goes wherever I throw it) but the Nuke is slightly longer and more fun to throw. I'm just getting used to throwing fast drivers, and its fun, but I don't have a ton of confidence in the Flow because it's very susceptible to wind and sometimes I fail to flatten my hyzers with it, other times it turns over too hard. Just lack of familiarity I guess.

I just picked up the Nuke yesterday and field tested it against the DX TB and Flow--it went farther and was really fun to throw on laser beam hyzer flips or aired out distance. I'm concerned it will get a little too flippy because of the plastic: how does a Z Nuke compare? Will it turn at all at my power level out of the box?

Any other suggestions for the max D slot for discs I should try out? Any general suggestions for the bag? Thanks!

 

[tdschrock1]

For big D, id say try a pro and/or star destroyer.

Also, pick up something beefy like a firebird, predator or XxX

 

[Alcuin]

Yeah I was thinking of picking up a Pro Destroyer with some league cash I won this week to test against the Nuke. I haven't had a chance to throw the Nuke on the course, but I really enjoyed throwing it in the field. I'm going to head to a course that has some really long holes and see how it goes tomorrow--maybe I'll pick up the Destroyer for comparison's sake first.

 

[Dan Ensor]

I don't throw TBs, but the guy I know who does says the Jackal does what you're looking for. I also had a Z Xpress that I liked for those flip-up shots.

Z Nukes are pretty stable. ESP is more manageable, and plenty durable to use for a long time. I haven't thrown X, but I'm assuming ESP is a bit more stable.

 

[Crazy Runner Guy]

A couple of thoughts:

First, your putters and mids look really solid.

Second, I'd be a little concerned that you're a) flipping fresh DX Teebirds; and b) flipping a fresh X Nuke. Sounds like a case of OAT or something similar. Teebirds are finicky discs and don't tolerate OAT, but they can handle as much power as you can put behind them. As they wear in, they get longer and straighter. Like Comets, they'll teach you to throw smoothly. How does the flight of your Comets look? The smoother your throw, the longer the Teebirds will go.

 

[Alcuin]

I don't think it's OAT but I could be wrong.

My X Comet is beat in to a turnover disc, so if I want it to finish dead straight with no fade I put some hyzer on it. The ESP Comet is getting seasoned in, so for longer distances (300'+) I like to hyzer flip it too. If I'm in an open field, I'll put some hyzer and height on the ESP and it will go dead straight about 20-25' in the air and gently fade out. For shorter distances, the ESP is point and shoot.

As for the DX Teebird, when I first got it it was nice and glidey. I hit a tree or two with it and now it turns over a bit thrown flat and I like to throw it with a bit of hyzer for a laser straight flight pattern. On the other hand, my Star TB, which I got when I first started playing, is still stable/overstable. It doesn't go as far, but still has healthy fade and I've never turned it, not even in decently strong wind. The same is true of my Buzzz. I bought it over the winter, and have been using it a lot (I play almost every day these days), and I get no turn out of it even on a 325' shot. It must be a pretty overstable Buzzz I guess, but that resistance to turn is why I like it. In heavy wind, it just loses some of its fade and tracks a little right maybe (so I'll use the Hornet then).

Most X Nukes I've seen thrown have some turn to them if thrown with at least around 350' of power (that's why I wanted to try it out).

But this is something that I do wonder: would OAT make the disc turn at about 250-275' on a 375' throw? Maybe some invisible flutter to the disc or something that only shows itself later in the flight? Because that's what I'm getting--the disc goes out straight, turns about halfway or 2/3rds into it's flight pattern, then flexes out. There's a whole at my home course that's listed as 359 and it's a big dogleg right (can't see the pin from the teepad). I throw a Sidewinder with some hyzer slightly to the left, and if I do it right (enough spin, speed, and correct height and nose angle), it will start turning at about 300' straight to the pin for the drop in.

If that's OAT, I'm screwed because I love that shot! One of the reasons I started using Comets is their sensitivity to OAT. New Comets (of any plastic) are quite stable and don't want to turn really at all. With some seasoning, they start to break in to an understable disc.

 

[Alcuin]

I don't throw TBs, but the guy I know who does says the Jackal does what you're looking for. I also had a Z Xpress that I liked for those flip-up shots.

Z Nukes are pretty stable. ESP is more manageable, and plenty durable to use for a long time. I haven't thrown X, but I'm assuming ESP is a bit more stable.

I was thinking about trying out an ESP for that reason. I think Z might be too stable for what I'm looking for (in windy conditions, I'm happy using the 1.2 OLF and sacrificing some distance).

I'm going to pick up a Pro Destroyer today and see how I like that. I'm thinking I'll just go with base plastic, then if I like one of these molds I'll consider some premo stuff.

I've literally never thrown wide rimmed drivers, always sticking to the idea that you should only throw them when you're ready. It's fun to try out some new stuff though, even though I don't need and won't use fast stuff for most of the courses around here.

 

[Alcuin]

Went to the disc store with the intention of picking up a Pro Destroyer, but I didn't. I tried out some store samples of Discmania stuff, a P-PD and a P-DD2. I threw the DD2 against my X Nuke and I liked the flight of the Nuke more, so I picked up a mis-stamped ESP Nuke in the same weight range as the X (167-69). I'm just going to play around with the Nukes a while to acclimate myself to these wide rimmed drivers. The ESP Nuke exhibits no turn whatsoever, unless I throw it into a headwind, then I get a tiny turn out of it.

More importantly, the shop owner was unboxing some new Neutron Anodes and Ions! They were too beautiful for me to pass up, so I bought a 169 Anode and max weight Ion then went for a putter only round. I scored my putter only average (-2 from the shorts at Hiestand park) and the discs felt really good, just like my Proton putters. The key difference is that the Anode is hot pink and you can see it from a mile away, unlike the Proton. I'm bagging both, but I'm not sure if I'm going to de-bag the others yet...