I've been throwing MVP pretty much exclusively for around 5-7 years now. I think they've been plenty innovative overall, even recently, considering how saturated the market is. The Glitch, while mimicking some other discs in some ways, is definitely different, and I'll say innovative. I for one am glad that the experimentation they tend to do on mystery boxes is in color and plastic and not in new molds in general. I'm fairly frugal and picky about my discs, and have a hard time justifying buying 14 discs when I only know what 2 will be and only regularly carry one of those (Envy). And yes, I could probably break even by selling most of the ones I don't want, but that is a hassle in itself I don't want to do. So, short answer is, I'm not entirely disappointed. Long answer is, I do wish the experimental glow discs were something like last year, a mold we didn't already have in glow plastic, because it at least gives something newer compared to discs that most of us already have in green glow.
I wholeheartedly disagree, ... sort of.
Speed is absolutely affected by rim width. The wider and sharper the rim, the faster it's going to cut through the air. The numbers are absolutely arbitrary, but based on rim width from most companies for good reason. It's a good baseline that all companies can follow and gives players a good idea of how fast they need to get a disc up to speed for maximum potential.
So about that maximum potential. That's where you're sort of right. Sort of. A 12 speed disc does indeed need more velocity to fly closer to its numbers than a 5 speed disc, but the 5 speed disc still can fly its intended flight at higher velocities. And there are other factors.
The best example of this I have seen is one of Simon Lizotte's YouTube videos from around 6mo- 1yr ago. He is good at controlling his arm speed from all his practice, so he went out to a field with another golfer, and they used a radar gun to test this theory of disc speed = needed speed to throw. They threw putters, mids, and drivers, at 40mph, 50mph, 60mph, and in the case of Simon, 70mph. At 40mph, the putters, mids, and drivers didn't have much distance difference between them, but they still mostly flew their intended flight numbers otherwise, as in the correct amount of turn and fade, with the drivers acting maybe slightly more stable. As the speeds increased to 50mph and 60mph, you saw greater gaps in distance between the putters, mids, and drivers. Now, while that was happening, the putters and mids were still going further than they did at 40mph, which starts to break down the whole "intended flight" thing. Because, by 70mph, the distance driver was far outpacing the putter, but, the putter was still flying straight, and flying further than it did at 60mph or 50mph, etc.
So point a: A 2 or 3 speed putter can be thrown at the same velocity (speed) as a 12 or 13 speed driver and get good results. It won't go as fast through the air, or as far as the 12 or 13 speed driver, but it can obviously be thrown at the same speed and maintain its "intended" flight.
point b: there is more than just velocity that affects a discs intended flight. Simon has great spin control and angle control. The other guy he was throwing with, for the most part, was throwing at the same speeds, but not getting the exact same distance. Simon's were further because they were also spinning faster, had better angles, or some other variables, but speed does not necessarily 100% equate to "intended flight" in that respect either.
So that leaves us with, if speed isn't really how fast you need to throw a disc to match its intended flight, then it's probably best as a guideline for how wide the disc is and how fast it cuts through the air.
To my point above, I agree that MVP tends to feel faster than other companies, and that's likely because, with proper spin control, the angular momentum of an MVP disc lets it spin longer, faster.
But, as far as labeling discs by speed class, I still think the best way to do it for consistency sake, is to just use rim width (which the PDGA notoriously gets wrong all the time). In that case, yes, the Volt is an 8 speed, while the Thunderbird is a 9 speed, because the Volt has a 1.8cm rim width, and the Thunderbird has a 1.9cm rim width, even though the Volt can feel faster or has a little more distance potential. There're so many other factors that can affect it as well. Sharpness of nose and angle, "glide", etc. Rim width just makes the most sense to stick with in my opinion.
100% agree, as with my points above. Technically, you can put less "power" into a putter and still get good distance out of it, where you might not see as much gains from a driver with that same amount of power, but in many cases, the driver still flies further for you than the putter with the same amount of power. The distance gap is just not as dramatic as if you throw both of those discs at higher power.
