[Innova] Is the Groove really that bad?

[Twmccoy]

Had another field session today. On a lark I decided to add a 172g champion Groove I found in a lake a couple weeks ago. I haven't thrown a Groove in several years, and I feel the general dislike for the mold around here is justified.

I feel like I've been making some gains lately and throwing well. I wanted to see how a Groove might work when put on a variety of lines. The disc is fairly flat, just a hint of dome.

First thing I noticed was that the Groove doesn't glide really at all. The disc actually flew a nice looking S curve, but it didn't penetrate or glide. It would slow down toward the end of flight and limply fall to the ground. The Groove lost a lot of distance from this. I can't even really call it a fade. The disc just stopped going forward and fell straight down.

The Groove definitely has high speed turn. Thrown flat and hard the disc would turn fairly easily, sometimes all the way over. On several throws I blistered it straight into the ground. The disc is touchy. If you don't throw it hard enough to turn, it'll stall and fly badly. If the Groove starts turning, it usually keeps doing so for the entire flight.

The Groove has a weird hand feel. Compared to a Shryke or Katana I didn't like it. IDK if its the rim configuration or what, but I feel like the Groove flies slower than speed 13. Even when I felt like I mashed it the disc never really sizzled.

Overall, the Groove is as bad as I remember. It actually flies a decent line, but winds up WELL short of where I thought it would. The Groove also has an annoying tendency to flip over whenever you try to really power it up.

Groove: 12, 4, -2, 2. I took a number off for speed and glide. The Groove seems slow compared to other 13 speeds. It also glides rather poorly. My top distance with this disc today was probably right at 400'. It was not easy to achieve. The Groove is finicky and loves to flip over whenever you really lay into it. This disc is acceptable for holes where you're worried about losing some better disc, but I can't possibly recommend it as a main driver to anyone. The Groove is probably 50' shorter for me than other drivers of similar speed/stability.

Interestingly, this disc flew better than I was expecting. That said, it was still plenty bad. I would rate it as the worst performing high speed (12 or more) driver that Innova makes.

 

[GripEnemy]

Which Grooveopcorn:

 

[GoobyPls]

Yes.

 

[Casey 1988]

Had another field session today. On a lark I decided to add a 172g champion Groove I found in a lake a couple weeks ago. I haven't thrown a Groove in several years, and I feel the general dislike for the mold around here is justified.

I feel like I've been making some gains lately and throwing well. I wanted to see how a Groove might work when put on a variety of lines. The disc is fairly flat, just a hint of dome.

First thing I noticed was that the Groove doesn't glide really at all. The disc actually flew a nice looking S curve, but it didn't penetrate or glide. It would slow down toward the end of flight and limply fall to the ground. The Groove lost a lot of distance from this. I can't even really call it a fade. The disc just stopped going forward and fell straight down.

The Groove definitely has high speed turn. Thrown flat and hard the disc would turn fairly easily, sometimes all the way over. On several throws I blistered it straight into the ground. The disc is touchy. If you don't throw it hard enough to turn, it'll stall and fly badly. If the Groove starts turning, it usually keeps doing so for the entire flight.

The Groove has a weird hand feel. Compared to a Shryke or Katana I didn't like it. IDK if its the rim configuration or what, but I feel like the Groove flies slower than speed 13. Even when I felt like I mashed it the disc never really sizzled.

Overall, the Groove is as bad as I remember. It actually flies a decent line, but winds up WELL short of where I thought it would. The Groove also has an annoying tendency to flip over whenever you try to really power it up.

Groove: 12, 4, -2, 2. I took a number off for speed and glide. The Groove seems slow compared to other 13 speeds. It also glides rather poorly. My top distance with this disc today was probably right at 400'. It was not easy to achieve. The Groove is finicky and loves to flip over whenever you really lay into it. This disc is acceptable for holes where you're worried about losing some better disc, but I can't possibly recommend it as a main driver to anyone. The Groove is probably 50' shorter for me than other drivers of similar speed/stability.

Interestingly, this disc flew better than I was expecting. That said, it was still plenty bad. I would rate it as the worst performing high speed (12 or more) driver that Innova makes.

Yeah when I found two in a Gas Station Store in in Minnesota selling Gotta Go Gotta Throw in 2015, one had the Monarch width for the gap and the other had normal but with flashing so bad it would never go away being it is in the gap. This alone mad me not want the mold as each mold would have a night and day flight. Also I have read from a number of reviews on here, Amazon, and Disc Sellers online that unless you can 100% to the exact thing reproduce the disc from disc to disc each one will fly very different from the other, with some flying OS and others very US. No way to tell like a Destroyer or a Katana what type of disc you are getting unless we can figure out what gap makes a disc do what as well as the traditional stuff you look for in other molds.

 

[wolfhaley]

Which Grooveopcorn:

There's more than one of these? Did they modify it or something? I have no experience with these.

 

[zenbot]

Had another field session today. On a lark I decided to add a 172g champion Groove I found in a lake a couple weeks ago. I haven't thrown a Groove in several years, and I feel the general dislike for the mold around here is justified.

I feel like I've been making some gains lately and throwing well. I wanted to see how a Groove might work when put on a variety of lines. The disc is fairly flat, just a hint of dome.

First thing I noticed was that the Groove doesn't glide really at all. The disc actually flew a nice looking S curve, but it didn't penetrate or glide. It would slow down toward the end of flight and limply fall to the ground. The Groove lost a lot of distance from this. I can't even really call it a fade. The disc just stopped going forward and fell straight down.

The Groove definitely has high speed turn. Thrown flat and hard the disc would turn fairly easily, sometimes all the way over. On several throws I blistered it straight into the ground. The disc is touchy. If you don't throw it hard enough to turn, it'll stall and fly badly. If the Groove starts turning, it usually keeps doing so for the entire flight.

The Groove has a weird hand feel. Compared to a Shryke or Katana I didn't like it. IDK if its the rim configuration or what, but I feel like the Groove flies slower than speed 13. Even when I felt like I mashed it the disc never really sizzled.

Overall, the Groove is as bad as I remember. It actually flies a decent line, but winds up WELL short of where I thought it would. The Groove also has an annoying tendency to flip over whenever you try to really power it up.

Groove: 12, 4, -2, 2. I took a number off for speed and glide. The Groove seems slow compared to other 13 speeds. It also glides rather poorly. My top distance with this disc today was probably right at 400'. It was not easy to achieve. The Groove is finicky and loves to flip over whenever you really lay into it. This disc is acceptable for holes where you're worried about losing some better disc, but I can't possibly recommend it as a main driver to anyone. The Groove is probably 50' shorter for me than other drivers of similar speed/stability.

Interestingly, this disc flew better than I was expecting. That said, it was still plenty bad. I would rate it as the worst performing high speed (12 or more) driver that Innova makes.

Try another and you'll have a drastically different experience.

That's what the Groove hate is all about.

 

[GripEnemy]

There's more than one of these? Did they modify it or something? I have no experience with these.

Dubbed, "A unique snowflake of suck." meaning every single Groove is uniquely awful. QC on them is allegedly worse than any other mold in existence, and it's become an old meme at this point.

I was gonna 'Rube this (if you're unaware, prerubing is "destroying" someone via links from the search function) but...I should let this thread die instead of killing it myself

 

[wolfhaley]

Dubbed, "A unique snowflake of suck." meaning every single Groove is uniquely awful. QC on them is allegedly worse than any other mold in existence, and it's become an old meme at this point.

I was gonna 'Rube this (if you're unaware, prerubing is "destroying" someone via links from the search function) but...I should let this thread die instead of killing it myself

I'm too lazy to search and honestly don't care that much about the groove to search lol. Thanks for not Rubing me though Grip

 

[zenbot]

I was gonna 'Rube this (if you're unaware, prerubing is "destroying" someone via links from the search function) but...I should let this thread die instead of killing it myself

Bless his heart. MISS YOU EVERY DAY, PRERUBE!

 

[brutalbrutus]

An MVP style Groove flight chart would look like a palm tree. Grab a stack and you'll have a disc for every shot...





...just don't lose one because you will have to buy another stack to find a replacement.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

Dubbed, "A unique snowflake of suck." meaning every single Groove is uniquely awful. QC on them is allegedly worse than any other mold in existence, and it's become an old meme at this point.

I believe it was Three Putt that originally said that, almost 6 years ago. At least here's the the first time I recall anyone saying that:

The issue with the Groove is not that you can't take one and find a use for it. The issue is that some Grooves are overstable, some are flippy, some have glide, some drop like a brick, etc. That's not terribly uncommon, but in most discs that are inconsistent you can find a tell; the domey ones suck or the flat ones suck or the ones with the flatter wing fly less stable or look at the PLH...SOMETHING gives you a clue as to what the disc is going to fly like to help a player with some experience find the one that will fit his needs. The Groove doesn't. Two discs that look identical will fly differently. You just have to buy one and hope it's going to fly the way you want it to. Nobody wants to do that. It's that "every one is a unique snowflake of suck" quality that people hate.

If you have one that you like, or you like buying discs that you have no way of knowing how they will fly, the Groove is a fine disc. I'm just not going to throw my money away like that when there are other discs that I can buy and I do know what they will fly like.

I thought that was a great post. He didn't just bash it. He offered up a valid arguement and rational reasons for the hate.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

Few people know the Groove was available in it's own, special blend of glow plastic:

 

[GripEnemy]

I believe it was Three Putt that originally said that, almost 6 years ago. At least here's the the first time I recall anyone saying that.

Oh, no...it's DGR worthy! Approved 12/5/08 and was made fun of more than a decade ago. For some reason I can't think of the OP (I do know!) right now, either someone else will chime in or I'll find it:thmbup:

I always love seeing that image

 

[ray1970]

So, if you could only pick one of the two, would you rather hit the course with a Groove or an Albatross?

Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[Twmccoy]

Try another and you'll have a drastically different experience.

That's what the Groove hate is all about.

Oh, I know. I didn't take anything seriously today. I hadn't thrown a Groove in a long time. I've seen everything with them. Some are super flippy, and others fly like Firebirds. The mold is a joke. I can't believe these are even still out there..... but they are.... in large numbers.

 

[GripEnemy]

Confirmed, it was the great Mr. Franky D! That hot dogging son of a gun

 

[BogeyNoMore]

Confirmed, it was the great Mr. Franky D! That hot dogging son of a gun

That explains it. Thanks. I never joined DGR, and hardly ever checked out the forum there.

 

[GripEnemy]

That explains it. Thanks. I never joined DGR, and hardly ever checked out the forum there.

Thanks to me (just kidding, TimG!!!!!) DGR still lives on...http://www.dgcoursereview.com/dgr exists. If you ever want to read up on some awesome older threads it's worth sifting through. Main page hosts all of the OG Blake form/disc selection articles. I will warn you the search function in the forums is atrocious.

Even hosted a wonderful DGCR thread lol

 

[Casey 1988]

Oh, I know. I didn't take anything seriously today. I hadn't thrown a Groove in a long time. I've seen everything with them. Some are super flippy, and others fly like Firebirds. The mold is a joke. I can't believe these are even still out there..... but they are.... in large numbers.

The mold is still made because Innova knows some new players will spend $$ to get the mold to fly the same as the old one even similar is 100% impossible. This has been known to turn of some players froever to Innova discs, some for the first few years until they find it is just the Groove that massively needs to be stopped. This to me seems like it will be impossible to find the same disc. Sad but Innova knows how to take advantage of the new player very well.

 

[wolfhaley]

Few people know the Groove was available in it's own, special blend of glow plastic:

So that's how you hot stamp a disc. Who knew?