Herb's 2020 ITB

[HERB brooks]

Vitals:
Years playing/experience: roughly 6 years
Right/left-handed/ambidextrous: right-handed
Throwing Style: 60%-RHFH, 40%-RHBH
Golf Distance (avg/max') FH: Pig: 250/275'; OLF: 340/375'; XCaliber: 375/400'
BH: Omega: 250/275'; Roc: 275/300'; OLF: 330/375';
Age: 32
Sex: M
Injuries/handicaps?: Nothing major
Other sport proficiencies?: Lacrosse, Hockey
Additional Information:
What do you like/dislike about your current bag?: I am quite happy with how my bag is set up going into 2020. If I can continue to stretch out my BH distance I may add in a Wraith again. Also, I'll probably get a few Roadrunners again at some point to better compare with my JLS. If decent Sentinels prove too hard to track down I may replace them with Champ/Star Rancho Rocs. Otherwise, I don't see myself changing much about my bag this season, minor tweaks only.

Specific areas of desired feedback: This is mostly a thread where I can track what I've been throwing throughout the year like a journal, but any feedback is appreciated.
Immediate and long-term goals:
-Consistently throw 400' with accuracy both FH and BH.
-Throw an average of 50-100 Putts per day on my practice basket for the year.
-Throw more field sessions, at least once per month to work on form.
-Finally learn to throw BH rollers.
-Beat in some more Rocs for backups.
-Continue to develop a stronger mental game. Learn to limit negative thoughts and emotions while playing.
-Read each of the Bob Rotella books on golf at least once this year. Write affirmations.
-Renew PDGA membership, win a tournament playing MA1, and finish the year with a 940+ rating.

ITBs from Previous Years:
2019
2018
2017
2016

Bag:
Putters:
1x Polecat- Finesse upshots, patent pending and other awkward lies
3x Omega- Main putter, BH driving putter, most BH upshots
2x Pig- FH driving putter and upshots
Midrange:
4x Roc- Workhorse midrange, from fresh KC to Flippy DX(#2-#5 Rocs)
1x Sentinel- Headwind midrange shots, low ceilings (overstable), faster and more OS than a Roc
Drivers:
2x JLS- Tailwind driver, hyzerflips BH and FH, low ceilings (understable), late turning shots
4x OLF- Workhorse control driver BH and FH
3x Firebird- Utility, FH placement shots, headwinds, skip shots, FH rollers,
2x Xcal- Distance FH

This setup is what I would likely carry for a tournament at this point in time. I'll be heading down to Austin for the holidays and will probably be taking a different travel bag with me. We are driving this time around so I may just bring the Octothorpe and full setup along instead. It would be cool to try and play Roy G with my entire bag available. Either way, will be fun to finish 2019 playing some Texas courses and come back home for a fresh start in 2020.

 

[jmcarriere]

Vitals:
Years playing/experience: roughly 6 years
Right/left-handed/ambidextrous: right-handed
Throwing Style: 60%-RHFH, 40%-RHBH
Golf Distance (avg/max') FH: Pig: 250/275'; OLF: 340/375'; XCaliber: 375/400'
BH: Omega: 250/275'; Roc: 275/300'; OLF: 330/375';
Age: 32
Sex: M
Injuries/handicaps?: Nothing major
Other sport proficiencies?: Lacrosse, Hockey
Additional Information:
What do you like/dislike about your current bag?: I am quite happy with how my bag is set up going into 2020. If I can continue to stretch out my BH distance I may add in a Wraith again. Also, I'll probably get a few Roadrunners again at some point to better compare with my JLS. If decent Sentinels prove too hard to track down I may replace them with Champ/Star Rancho Rocs. Otherwise, I don't see myself changing much about my bag this season, minor tweaks only.

Specific areas of desired feedback: This is mostly a thread where I can track what I've been throwing throughout the year like a journal, but any feedback is appreciated.
Immediate and long-term goals:
-Consistently throw 400' with accuracy both FH and BH.
-Throw an average of 50-100 Putts per day on my practice basket for the year.
-Throw more field sessions, at least once per month to work on form.
-Finally learn to throw BH rollers.
-Beat in some more Rocs for backups.
-Continue to develop a stronger mental game. Learn to limit negative thoughts and emotions while playing.
-Read each of the Bob Rotella books on golf at least once this year. Write affirmations.
-Renew PDGA membership, win a tournament playing MA1, and finish the year with a 940+ rating.

ITBs from Previous Years:
2019
2018
2017
2016

Bag:
Putters:
1x Polecat- Finesse upshots, patent pending and other awkward lies
3x Omega- Main putter, BH driving putter, most BH upshots
2x Pig- FH driving putter and upshots
Midrange:
4x Roc- Workhorse midrange, from fresh KC to Flippy DX(#2-#5 Rocs)
1x Sentinel- Headwind midrange shots, low ceilings (overstable), faster and more OS than a Roc
Drivers:
2x JLS- Tailwind driver, hyzerflips BH and FH, low ceilings (understable), late turning shots
4x OLF- Workhorse control driver BH and FH
3x Firebird- Utility, FH placement shots, headwinds, skip shots, FH rollers,
2x Xcal- Distance FH

This setup is what I would likely carry for a tournament at this point in time. I'll be heading down to Austin for the holidays and will probably be taking a different travel bag with me. We are driving this time around so I may just bring the Octothorpe and full setup along instead. It would be cool to try and play Roy G with my entire bag available. Either way, will be fun to finish 2019 playing some Texas courses and come back home for a fresh start in 2020.

My question is do you actually put the number on the roc to remember

 

[HERB brooks]

My question is do you actually put the number on the roc to remember

Nah they are easy to tell apart

 

[HERB brooks]

Bag Since Last Update (5 rounds):

1x Polecat (XT)- 3 throws.
3x Omega (DT, Super Soft, & Gummy Quantum)- 147 total throws (133 putts).
2x Pig (R-Pro & Pro)- 38 throws.
3x Roc (DX & KC Pro)- 12 throws.
1x Sentinel (Quantum)- 2 throws.
3x JLS (no run MJLS, no run Quantum, & 1.3 Sirius)- 7 throws.
4x OLF (1.1 SOLF, 1.1 MOLF, & 1.3 MOLF)- 16 throws.
3x Firebird (Champion & Color Glow Champ)- 29 throws.
2x Xcal (PFN Star)- 15 throws.

Since I drove on down to Austin this holiday season, I was able to bring my whole bag, minus Sentinels. I didn't have any backups other than the two I bag until going to Disc Nation while out there, and didn't want to lose one. The couple of Brinster Sentinels I picked up are very nice, and I'll enjoy working them into my bag straight away this offseason. I was able to bag a couple new courses out there (Steeplechase Shorts and Flat Creek Winery Longs) and shot under par on both which was nice. Flat Creek was a fantastic! I really should have shot from the longs on Steeplechase for a better challenge, as the Blue pads looked like a fun layout. These type of courses with multiple par 4 holes are easily my favorite as they usually require more strategy to score well. I played that first/last tag match of the year and for once played a decent round instead of completely crapping the bed. So that was a pleasant change from that past couple of years.

 

[HERB brooks]

Bag Since Last Update (3 rounds):

1x Polecat (R-Pro)- 5 throws.
3x Omega (DT, Super Soft, & Gummy Quantum)- 89 total throws (81 putts).
2x Pig (R-Pro & Pro)- 29 throws.
3x Roc (DX & KC Pro)- 3 throws.
2x Sentinel (Brinster & Sanny Q)- 3 throws.
2x JLS (no run MJLS & 1.3 Sirius)- 5 throws.
4x OLF (1.1 SOLF, 1.1 MOLF, & 1.3 MOLF)- 7 throws.
3x Firebird (Champion & Color Glow Champ)- 21 throws.
1x Xcal (PFN Star)- 3 throws.

Windy conditions recently mean that I have leaned on my Firebirds and Pigs to do the heavy lifting. One tags match recently was bad enough to where many holes I ended up putting with a Pig to cut the head and crosswinds. I have an unsanctioned doubles event coming up this Saturday, and will be playing with one of my good friends. It will have one round of best shot doubles and another of singles combining scores for both teammates. Definitely looking forward to this one, should be a good time.

 

[elmexdela]

i love how you track the throws

i wish i had a tracker on each disc the number of throws and or total feet traveled the disc has seen

 

[HERB brooks]

i love how you track the throws

i wish i had a tracker on each disc the number of throws and or total feet traveled the disc has seen

It would be interesting to see how far in distance travelled some of the older discs would have. There's probably a few in there with several miles on them.

 

[elmexdela]

It would be interesting to see how far in distance travelled some of the older discs would have. There's probably a few in there with several miles on them.

same here i have a few long time in the bag favorites that i lean on

i bet i have miles on them too and probably over 1000 tree hits each

one days well be able to pull data like this

 

[HERB brooks]

I played in an unsanctioned doubles event on Saturday, my buddy and I took second in the AM division (event was split into am and pro pools each with 9-10 teams). We really choked during the first round which was a modified alternate shot format, and could have easily kept pace with the team that eventually won. We were paired together for the first round, and they had us by two strokes with two holes left to play in the first round. We turned two straightforward birdie looks on 17 and 18 into stupid bogeys while the other group got par on both. Thankfully we played much better in the best shot round and came back from last card to get 2nd, we just shot ourselves in the foot too many times in that first round.

I did add one beat Pro Wraith for the event, which I only threw once. I still don't feel like my BH is strong enough to warrant permanently adding a Wraith again, as I could have easily gotten an OLF to where I threw my Wraith. The OLF typically flies within 10-20' of a Wraith in terms of distance so there is really no reason to add one at this point in time. Once I can consistently get 400' BH, the Wraith will be a useful addition but until then I can just throw my Orions. I'd rather disc down and keep in the fairway, 10-20' is nothing.

 

[HERB brooks]

Bag Since Last Update (5 rounds):

1x Polecat (R-Pro)- 6 throws.
3x Omega (DT, Super Soft, & Gummy Quantum)- 153 total throws (129 putts).
2x Pig (R-Pro & Pro)- 35 throws.
3x Roc (DX & KC Pro)- 7 throws.
2x Sentinel (Brinster & Sanny Q)- 3 throws.
2x JLS (no run MJLS & 1.3 Sirius)- 10 throws.
4x OLF (1.1 SOLF, 1.1 MOLF, & 1.3 MOLF)- 13 throws.
3x Firebird (Champion & Color Glow Champ)- 27 throws.
1x Xcal (PFN Star)- 7 throws.

One trend so far this year with my game is that my worst rounds have been much better, while I haven't thrown many great rounds. I have yet to finish over par on any course in the state thus far in 2020, but only have one round, where I really put up a good score at the end. I really hope that I can continue this trend of raising the floor of my game, even if my ceiling is essentially the same. If I can stop having catastrophic rounds and actually develop some more consistency that would be a great result for the new year.

This past week I read Putting Out of Your Mind by Bob Rotella this past week, which was a fantastic decision. I really can get too negative about my putting if things are not going well during a round. This usually prevents me from putting well once I get into that funk. However, I had a 100% inside circle 1 my second round after finishing the book. So if I can keep applying what I have learned, it will continue to help. While I don't expect to be perfect on the greens every round, the change in mentality was a huge help. Instead of dreading a tester putt for birdie or to save par, I was excited for the challenge and it really made a big difference. Hopefully I can stay disciplined and improve my mental approach to improve my putting.

 

[HERB brooks]

Bag Since Last Update (2 rounds):

1x Polecat (R-Pro)- 3 throws.
3x Omega (DT, Super Soft, & Gummy Quantum)- 65 total throws (55 putts).
2x Pig (R-Pro & Pro)- 14 throws.
3x Roc (DX & KC Pro)- 4 throws.
2x Sentinel (Brinster & Sanny Q)- 1 throw.
2x JLS (no run MJLS & 1.3 Sirius)- 7 throws.
3x OLF (1.1 SOLF & 1.2 SOLF)- 5 throws.
3x Firebird (Champion & Color Glow Champ)- 4 throws.
1x Xcal (PFN Star)- 3 throws.

First tournament of the year is coming up for me in the next couple weeks. First tournament that I will attend out of my hometown, should be a good time.

 

[HERB brooks]

Bag Since Last Update (1 round):

1x Polecat (R-Pro)- 0 throws.
3x Omega (DT, Super Soft, & Gummy Quantum)- 34 total throws (29 putts).
2x Pig (R-Pro & Pro)- 8 throws.
3x Roc (DX & KC Pro)- 1 throw.
2x Sentinel (Brinster & Sanny Q)- 0 throws.
2x JLS (no run MJLS & 1.3 Sirius)- 2 throws.
3x OLF (1.1 SOLF & 1.2 SOLF)- 1 throw.
3x Firebird (Champion & Color Glow Champ)- 5 throws.
1x Xcal (PFN Star)- 3 throws.


Some lingering gastrointestinal health issues have kept me from playing for a couple weeks. I finally felt well enough to play tags this morning at Aviary. It took a few holes to get some power back into my throws, the first four holes I couldn't get any pop on my drives. I could have shot a nice rounds, but was undone by some bad bogeys and couldn't get much going from circle 2 (a decent round though considering the circumstances).

I'm glad to be feeling more or less back to normal, since my first tourney is coming up on Saturday up in Boulder. I'd like to go up and be in contention for the win. The course is a deuce or die layout, so I'll need to be confident in my putting to have a legit chance.

 

[HERB brooks]

Bag Since Last Update (2 rounds):

1x Polecat (R-Pro)- 0 throws.
4x Omega (DT, Super Soft, & Gummy Quantum)- 57 total throws (49 putts).
2x Pig (R-Pro & Pro)- 23 throws.
4x Roc (DX & KC Pro)- 6 throws.
2x Sentinel (Brinster & Sanny Q)- 0 throws.
2x JLS (no run MJLS & 1.3 Sirius)- 0 throws.
2x OLF (1.1 MOLF & 1.1 SOLF)- 4 throws.
3x Firebird (Champion & Color Glow Champ)- 3 throws.
2x Xcal (PFN Star)- 0 throws.

I will be using the above set up for my tournament up at Valmont park this Saturday. The course has a pair of holes above 360 feet, but the rest are pitch and putt length. I'll probably only need to throw an Xcal once each round, and an OLF once per round as well. Other than that, I'm really going to lean on my Omegas, Pigs, and Rocs for this event. Luckily the yips I was having late 2019 with my Pigs have disappeared, and I've been throwing them very well again this year. I'm thinking that I will have to hit double digits each round to have a chance to take the win in MA1. My goal is -16 total at minimum, since I've played the course a couple years ago and shot -7 each time (I have improved quite a bit since then). I could probably leave the JLS and Sentinels at home, but I'd rather be safe than sorry since I haven't been up to Valmont for quite some time.

I played a couple rounds earlier today at my local short course, Cumberland Green, to serve as a facsimile for Saturday. In my opinion Cumberland is slightly more challenging than Valmont, and I shot -7 and -9 today despite struggling on the putting green. I'll put in some extra time on the practice basket tonight and tomorrow to smooth that out. Feeling pretty good going into the first event of the year despite not getting much time to play this month.

 

[HERB brooks]

My first tournament this season was a bit of a mixed bag. I had a solid first round, was tied for second going into the final round at -12. This was my first time on lead card while playing MA1. Unfortunately I didn't have a very good second round, shooting -8. Pretty much the entire field played better in the second round, so I allowed a good portion of the chase card to surpass me. There was a five-way tie for second place at -21, so I had to settle for 7th out of 30, shooting a -20 overall.

I shouldn't be too disappointed, but it doesn't feel good knowing I spit the bit to blow any chance of taking home the win. At the very least, all my cardmates both rounds were good guys and I really had fun out there. I really leaned on my pair of Pigs, easily my most thrown mold for the day. Hopefully the official ratings are adjusted since the layout didn't change and the weather was consistent all day, yet equal scores were about 35 points lower for the second round. I put up rounds of 972:thmbup: and 886:gross: respectively.

 

[HERB brooks]

1x Polecat (R-Pro)- Nice and US, beat up Polecat. I may have to break out a new XT at some point in the near future.
3x Omega (DT, Super Soft, & Gummy Quantum)- I aced hole #4 at Valmont the day before my tourney this past weekend with my gummy Quantum. I have a small bead 11x Aviar ready to slot in as a replacement, but will probably try and grab some more of the 1.15 Omega APs as a cheaper option.
2x Pig (R-Pro & Factory Store Pro)- Found some more of the white R-Pros that I am partial to just in time. My last one is quite flippy for a Pig, and mostly sees upshot duty (rarely used off the tee). Factory Store Pig gets the more OS approaches and most looks off the tee.
4x Roc (DX, KC Pro, Star Rancho)- Star makes another appearance, substituting for the two sentinels
2x JLS (no run MJLS & 1.3 Sirius)- One flippy, one with some beef for a JLS. The Sirius should be able to cover any Sentinel shots that the Rocs can't.
4x OLF (1.1 MOLF, 1.1 SOLF, & 1.2 MOLF)- These three work together nicely. I have a couple more of the 1.3 MOLFs on the way, so that I can have a more stable option in the bag again.
3x Firebird (Champion & 2018 Sexton)- Flat top pearly Champion and the two Sextons have been in my bag for quite some time, I don't see that changing anytime soon.
2x Xcal (PFN Star)- One more beat in and one fairly fresh, both are PFN goodness. I'm like the poor man's Nate Sexton with the way I approach the game.

I will be using this setup for March as I prepare for my next few events. Sentinel is on the chopping block right now since its easily my least thrown mold this year (less than 3% of all throws in 2020). I was throwing them quite a bit when they first went into the bag to get a feel for how they fly. Now I tend to throw my Rocs instead of the Sentinel unless there is a very specific low ceiling shot that needs a strong fade, while being too short for a JLS. That situation rarely comes up so I'm trying out he Star Roc once again, with a Champ X-out also on the way from Infinite. More reps with the Roc will translate to more confidence throwing them.

 

[SD86]

Looking forward to hearing how your XT Polecat does for you once you get it and bag it... opcorn:

 

[HERB brooks]

Bag Since Last Update (2 rounds):

1x Polecat (R-Pro)- 1 throw.
4x Omega (DT, Super Soft, & Gummy Quantum)- 69 total throws (58 putts).
2x Pig (R-Pro & Pro)- 11 throws.
4x Roc (DX & KC Pro)- 2 throws.
2x JLS (no run MJLS & 1.3 Sirius)- 4 throws.
2x OLF (1.1 MOLF & 1.1 SOLF)- 4 throws.
3x Firebird (Champion & Color Glow Champ)- 7 throws.
2x Xcal (PFN Star)- 5 throws.

Stupid Saturday classes for the semester will prevent me from playing MA1 at Aviary Fools this year, so I decided to get froggy and play MPO for the first time ever. We'll see how that goes first week of April, hopefully I can acquit myself well. I've played well pretty much all year long, so at the very least I'll go into the tourney with no real expectations and full of confidence. Worst thing that could happens is I suck for a pair of rounds . Still have yet to shoot over par all year long, but a few niggling injuries have kept me from playing as much as I'd like so far.

 

[ray1970]

That's an average of about-8 a round by my math.

I'd be curious to know which course or courses those two rounds were at so I can judge your awesomeness.

 

[HERB brooks]

That's an average of about-8 a round by my math.

I'd be curious to know which course or courses those two rounds were at so I can judge your awesomeness.

Both of those rounds were at The Aviary in Colorado Springs. It is not a particularly difficult course, but can punish you if you are not throwing your lines cleanly. The linked course info has not been updated since 2015, when Aviary was installed and it has seen some major improvements. There are now multiple pin locations on every hole except for hole 10. Depending on the layout, 1000 rated rounds are anywhere from -10 to -5.

Your math is a bit off though, the totals add up to 103 throws on a 19 hole, par 57 layout (I also threw a Roadrunner a couple times yesterday and had one OB stroke which I didn't include in the stats so really 106 strokes). I shot a -6 and a -2 for those couple rounds respectively. According to UDisc I average between -2 and -3 there so I'm really nothing special, I tend to hold my own playing in MA1 but have yet to win since I moved up from MA2 last year.

 

[ray1970]

I'll admit I was mostly trying to gauge my own game. Thought maybe it was a course I was familiar with but I haven't had the chance to play any courses in the Springs yet.

I'll definitely check it out if I make it down that way.

Thanks.