klodkrawler's lefty bag

[klodkrawler05]

I think I've started to iron out a bag that doesn't have too many overlapping slots so figured I'd post it here.
I'm 31, lefty and fairly healthy. Typically play 830 ish rated rounds. Current max distance is around 300-320' if I really get things clicking. I consider 260' and under to be my sweet spot for birdie looks on golf lines.

Distance Drivers
- 156g pop top Hades: this only sees use maybe 1-2 throws per round but seems to be the disc I most consistently get out to 300'

Fairway Drivers
- Night Strike 2 FD: my workhorse BH driver straight to hyzer finish.
- DX Teebird: Laser straight tunnel shots or forced anny's.
- '18 Sexton Firebird: I rotate through 2 of these, 1 super beat in and 1 pretty fresh, for hyzer FH or BH with a skip.
- '19 Big Jerm Thunderbird: new addition to the bag. I'm finding it fills the slot my beat in FB does so likely kicking this or the beat FB out of the bag soon.
- ESP Undertaker, primary FH driver, just slightly more stable than the FD which keeps me from accidentally turning it over as often.

Midrange:
Cryztal Wasp: used for most everything inside 250' unless the shot shape dictates otherwise
Jawbreaker Wasp: seems to glide longer than my Crzytal, still trying to learn if this has a permanent spot in the bag. I've been reaching for it when I question if I can reach the pin with my Cryztal.
Mako3: One of my first discs. still seems to occasionally get flight time for straight touch shots or powering down instead of a putter approach but I'm finding it a bit too flippy for the shots I used to use it on.
ESP Archer: Ultra flippy- used for stand-still anny's or hyzerflips nothing else I've thrown late turns the way this disc does. I'll tee shot this disc when I question my forehand distance.
Z Archer: Just a couple ticks more stable than it's ESP twin, useful for those moments my form seems to be failing me and I keep turn/burning the ESP archer. Also seems to get sneaky distance when Hyzerflipped but it's a bit less consistent than my Teebird for tee shot lasers.

Putters:
Firefly: Used for all putts inside 40' or so
Fierce: throwing putter for shots where I want absolutely no hyzer finish although sometimes I struggle landing near the pin because I aim accounting for hyzer and it doesn't. I also find the extra glide helpful for running 50-60' putts. And reach for it on all Anny putts regardless of distance because I can count on it not fighting out early.
ESP Zone: Zone things, BH/FH approaches
Jawbreaker Zone: Trying to beat into doing non zone things aka gliding before hyzer finishing
S-line P2: throwing putter, used on shots that I want the Jawbreaker zone to take eventually.

I've seen some threads where folks keep track of how many shots they use each disc for in a round, that seems like a pretty cool way to see what discs are getting the most air time and which aren't being utilized (and could be removed from the bag. If anyone sees glaring holes in my setup I'd love to hear them!

 

[autocrosscrx]

What do you grab if want something just a tick below the Hades? Like if you are worried about the wind or you aren't sure if you have enough room to work it or you got trouble long?

Is that the Undertaker or do you grab the FD?

 

[klodkrawler05]

What do you grab if want something just a tick below the Hades? Like if you are worried about the wind or you aren't sure if you have enough room to work it or you got trouble long?

Is that the Undertaker or do you grab the FD?

It would depend how windy, but generally I'm reaching FD backhand any shot where I don't have the room to air out the hades. If it's a touch breezy into a mild head wind (say 5-10mph) I find that's just enough help to flip the FD a little bit and get an S curve similar to the Hades, and distance that's sneakily close. Without wind the FD is straight to hyzer for me. If it's even more windy I'm likely throwing the Thunderbird and hoping the wind stands it up, but we've had a fairly calm summer so I haven't played with that slot too much. I have an FD2 I've been wanting to try out on a windy day also.

edit: Also, whether it's just me throwing the disc too slow or it's actually the disc itself (I've seen people talking about how inconsistent the Hades are in stability) mine seems more on the stable end. It flies straight to hyzer unless I purposely put it on Anny and let it flex back. I feel like it's much closer to a 1.5 stability than the 1.0 that Discraft rates it. I have another hades I keep meaning to test out in a field. If they're truly as inconsistent as people say I may be able to use my white Hades for slight wind and then the other hades for calm/tailwind

 

[autocrosscrx]

It would depend how windy, but generally I'm reaching FD backhand any shot where I don't have the room to air out the hades. If it's a touch breezy into a mild head wind (say 5-10mph) I find that's just enough help to flip the FD a little bit and get an S curve similar to the Hades, and distance that's sneakily close. Without wind the FD is straight to hyzer for me. If it's even more windy I'm likely throwing the Thunderbird and hoping the wind stands it up, but we've had a fairly calm summer so I haven't played with that slot too much. I have an FD2 I've been wanting to try out on a windy day also.

edit: Also, whether it's just me throwing the disc too slow or it's actually the disc itself (I've seen people talking about how inconsistent the Hades are in stability) mine seems more on the stable end. It flies straight to hyzer unless I purposely put it on Anny and let it flex back. I feel like it's much closer to a 1.5 stability than the 1.0 that Discraft rates it. I have another hades I keep meaning to test out in a field. If they're truly as inconsistent as people say I may be able to use my white Hades for slight wind and then the other hades for calm/tailwind

Gotcha. I would want something in the 9 or 10 speed range with a -2 or -3 turn to slot between the Hades and the FD, but it doesn't sound like you need it for the holes you play.

 

[klodkrawler05]

That's probably an area that's worth exploring for me. I need a field work day to mess with them again after picking up a bit of distance the last month, heck I probably haven't even attempted to throw anything faster than a the undertaker/firebird in a couple months. I've got a handful of discs that would slot in there, Avenger SS, Wraith, CD2, sidewinder (found that more stable than I expected)

I'm thinking the CD2 or wraith might be good choices, I've never thrown the CD2, just received it in a mystery box last week, and I've probably picked up 80-100' of distance since I last tried throwing the wraith.

 

[klodkrawler05]

Spent some time doing field work this week with a handful of faster stuff that I don't normally bag.

ESP Undertaker backhand, usually I only use this for forehand because I tend to turn the FD more than I meant too when throwing it FH. Distance wise backhand I could pretty consistently land this within 5-10' of my FD. So despite it's faster speed rating I'm really not seeing much of a reason to reach for this BH over the night strike, unless. I need more finish. I was having to aim a bit more left than I would with the FD. and it would still hyzer back to where the FD was. I think it would need to be a pretty specific shot where I reach for this on a backhand line instead of the FD or Thunderbird.

Color Glow Wraith. I want to like this disc. It's got a cool stamp. but I just can't seem to make this disc do anything that I can't already cover with the FD or Hades. I think I'll need to build some more form/power and then re-evaluate. Could be the color glow but this thing just seems like a glideless brick to me.

Champ CD2, Recently received this in a mystery box. I expected based on the numbers that this would fly more like an undertaker but it flew much more like my 6/10 Sexton Firebird or my 8/10 Big Jerm Thunderbird. I'll keep it on the shelf as a backup for that glidey overstable utility shot where I want some ground action, but nothing revolutionary or new for my bag.

DD3 Cloudbreaker, Way more disc than I need, I'm pretty comfortable admitting it. But I won it during a putting league and it's been sitting on my shelf taunting me. I'm not sure which run this is but it honestly was not nearly as much of a meathook as I was expecting. I can push it out around 320-350' just like my Hades but I need to give it a much flatter/slight anny release and aim a fair bit further left to let it hyzer back to around the landing spot as the Hades. I could see myself using this disc into big head winds where the Hades would be sure to flip over on me. But just like the Hades, this wouldn't be something I'm reaching for more than 1-2 times per round typically.

Result of this fieldwork, no new additions/subtractions to the bag but I did find a new backup off the shelf disc and a headwind driver.

Next time I head out for some field work I have a star TL3, a champ eagle, an FD2 an FD3 and a luster FD to test out, see if anything fills a gap or kicks something out of a slot in my bag.

 

[klodkrawler05]

3 rounds of tournament golf this weekend, shot a new personal best during round 2 of 903 rated, and then promptly followed that up with an 832 round to finish the tournament.

the bag for the weekend:

Distance Drivers
- 156g pop top Hades

Fairway Drivers
2 Night Strike 2 FD's (similarly beat in case I lose mid round)
DX Teebird
'18 Sexton Firebird 1 beat, 1 fresh
'19 Big Jerm Thunderbird
ESP Undertaker

Midrange:
Cryztal Wasp
Jawbreaker Wasp
Mako3
ESP Archer
Z Archer

Putt/Approach:
2 Fireflies
1st run Fierce
ESP Zone (Switched to a backup Z zone after losing the ESP warming up)
Jawbreaker Zone

Pretty much all of the discs got some air time this weekend, with exception to the beat up firebird which didn't see a single shot. and the Mako3 which saw a single unsuccessful anny flick.

Either the beat up firebird or the Thunderbird should be able to leave my bag, I need to do a bit more field work with them to decide which. On one hand the pair of firebirds appeals to the mold minimization strategy. On the other hand replacing the firebird if lost requires finding another already that beat-in while I could walk into the store and buy another thunderbird if I lost this one.

 

[klodkrawler05]

Prepped my bag for Ledgestone last night. Minor changes from previously:

Distance Drivers
- 156g pop top Hades

Fairway Drivers
Night Strike 2 FD
Luster C FD using this as a hopefully longer lasting replacement to a new DX teebird
DX Teebird (has started beating into more of a slow panning turn or hyzer flip laser)
'18 Sexton Firebird 1 beat, 1 fresh
'19 Big Jerm Thunderbird
ESP Undertaker

Midrange:
Cryztal Wasp
Jawbreaker Wasp
Mako3
ESP Archer
Z Archer

Putt/Approach:
2 Fireflies
Cryztal Fierce just a tick more stable than my 1st run, gives me a bit more confidence during tournament nerves
Z Zone
Jawbreaker Zone

I still haven't been able to decide which Firebird to remove, at this point they might be both staying. The Thunderbird can fly almost mirror identical lines/distances to my beat up FB, but it just doesn't seem to get quite as much ground action. It feels silly to have 2 discs that fly the same flight. Although I suppose since the final resting place can be 20' different it's not truly the same shot shape. And it helps keep the discs from rattling in my bag. so for now it stays.

 

[autocrosscrx]

How do you like the Fireflies?

I've been trying to figure out a bad weather alternative that feels as close to my grid Aviar as possible and the P2 and the Firefly seem to be logical considerations.

 

[klodkrawler05]

I like the fireflies a lot I keep hearing they're just like the p2's but they feel slightly different in hand to me. They're for sure a touch more stable than the aviar which works well for me in particular, I think I have sort of a spush type putt so a bit of stability helps, if you push putt you might find them a bit too stable. I use the fireflies inside about 35-40' and then switch over to fierces for 40-70' ish type step putts.

Flight pattern is a bit like some of the more stable wizard plastics, but without as much glide. I was visiting a buddy recently and didn't have any discs with me so just played from his bag and found myself constantly gliding high/past the basket with the wizards whereas I normally miss a touch low with my fireflies.

 

[klodkrawler05]

Swapped my entire bag out for a round yesterday:

Drivers:
Ti Vulture
C-line CD2
Color Glow FD2
ESP Avenger SS
Halo TL3
Champion Valkyrie
Star Teebird

Mids:
G star Roc3
KC Pro Roc
Tournament Warship
EliteX Express

Putt and Approach
Glo Zone
Big Z Fierce
First Run Fierce
Firefly

Didn't throw the Avenger SS, Teebird or KC roc at all so i'll still need to try those out. Threw everything else, but nothing really stuck out as "wow that fills a shot much better than what's in my bag now" I could see spending some more time with the Valk and having it potentially become a longer shot compliment to my FD or swapping out the Thunderbird for the FD2 as an easier to get up to speed forehand disc vs the Thunderbird.

But for now I still think the bigger gain will come from form improvements so I swapped back to the molds/bag I'm already comfortable with since there's a doubles tournament this weekend at Flip City, a course I've never been too. I figure playing the course blind will be hard enough, no point trying to learn new discs at the same time.

 

[klodkrawler05]

Meant to put this in the above post but don't know how to edit it. I wound up shooting +5 which is pretty much exactly in line with my avg at the course for 2020, so the strange bag wasn't "that" bad. although my last half dozen rounds avg closer to +2 so not quite as good as I was hoping to shoot.

 

[klodkrawler05]

Ratings update week and bag update. Since making this thread I've had a string of pretty decent tournament rounds. Shot a 922 rated round at sunset during Ledgestone with my last 6 rounds averaging 883.

Current bag
Distance Drivers
- 156g pop top Hades

Fairway Drivers
Night Strike 2 FD
Luster C FD
DX Teebird
'18 Sexton Firebird
'19 Big Jerm Thunderbird
ESP Undertaker

Midrange:
Cryztal Wasp
ESP Buzzz
Mako3
ESP Archer
Z Archer

Putt/Approach:
2 Fireflies
Cryztal Fierce
Z Zone
Jawbreaker Zone

I've finally settled on keeping the newer Firebird in the bag, pulled the older one as it flies similar enough to the Thunderbird. Also pulled the jawbreaker Wasp in favor of a players pack buzzz. The JB Wasp suffered several tree hits during Ledgestone at 250-275' power and no longer flies anything like it did when new. I like the flight it has now, (still torque resistant and straight with a hyzer finish but far straighter than my cryztal Wasp) But worry about how quickly it's changed from normal wasp flight to this new flight. I don't want to have to swap out a disc after every few heavily wooded rounds. I recall my buzzz's flew like this Wasp currently does and it seems like every tournament you get a buzzz in the players pack so I'm going to take that for a spin in my neutral midrange slot between the pretty beat in US mako3 and the OS Wasp

 

[klodkrawler05]

Started slowly prepping for winter leagues. for instance I don't want to suffer the heartache of losing a Night strike in the middle of the fairway when it burrows under the snow and skitters off who knows where. I was struggling to find any FD's in stock and I like my DX teebird so I picked up a 165g star teebird hoping for winter to cover the slots of both the DXTB and the Luster FD. Hopefully with a bit of beating in it gets better, definitely doesn't show nearly the glide of either the DXTB or the Luster FD. Right now it's closer to filling the spot of my NS2 than either of the discs I hoped to cover with it. I also picked up a champ TL, but haven't gotten to throw that enough to form an opinion on it yet.

 

[klodkrawler05]

End of October bag updates. I've removed the jawbreaker zone, esp buzzz and esp archer for a Surge SS and neo Essence. A few other discs have changed but are still the same mold, (designated by >>)
I'm also carrying a pair of DX teebirds now, one more beat in as the go-to and then one fresh one for longer throws and open fairways.
Current bag
Distance Drivers
- 156g pop top proto Hades >>>> 175g first run Hades, it's more flippy, great for big tee shots or long par 4-5's where I need to move left of my lie. I've been having moderate success hyzerflipping this as well.
- Surge SS More stable than the hades, but same distance potential on a straight to hyzer line.

Fairway Drivers
Night Strike 2 FD >>>>> switched to a less used one because the orange I was using blends into the leaves. I swear its less stable
Luster C FD
DX Teebird
'18 Sexton Firebird
'19 Big Jerm Thunderbird
ESP Undertaker
Neo Essence (this might be the premium plastic disc that replaces my dx teebirds. hard to say so far. it's a bit faster and we're still figuring each other out. But the potential is there, hyzer flip to dead straight lasers are it's jam, it just needs a bit more power to do it, which has it sailing longer than the teebird would. Sometimes that's good, sometimes it's not)

Midrange:
Cryztal Wasp >>>> swapped to a z glo ledgestone wasp, easier to find in the dusk hours
ESP Buzzz >>>>>gone, still don't click with buzzz's idk why. They just don't do anything I can't accomplish with the wasp/mako
Mako3
ESP Archer >>> not bagging, the Z archer is covering all the turnover shots I need right now
Z Archer

Putt/Approach:
2 Fireflies
Cryztal Fierce
Z Zone
Jawbreaker Zone >>> Not bagging either, although possibly coming back soon, there's an alternate pin location at the local course I think this disc is perfect for.

 

[autocrosscrx]

I really want to try an Essence. There seem to be several holes where I risk losing a disc if I get a good hit with any of my 9/10 speeds, but I best I can hope for with any of my 7 speeds is about 20 feet short.

The first run Hades is also interesting. I expected them to sell out immediately, but our store has a massive stack of them, but virtually nothing else Discraft.

Also, you ever throw Leopards? I was curious how a Z Archer compares to a Pro/Star/Champ Leopard.

 

[klodkrawler05]

I really want to try an Essence. There seem to be several holes where I risk losing a disc if I get a good hit with any of my 9/10 speeds, but I best I can hope for with any of my 7 speeds is about 20 feet short.

The first run Hades is also interesting. I expected them to sell out immediately, but our store has a massive stack of them, but virtually nothing else Discraft.

Also, you ever throw Leopards? I was curious how a Z Archer compares to a Pro/Star/Champ Leopard.

I've had a couple dx leopards pass through my hands, but no premium plastic ones to compare. A buddy might throw one, I can't recall, if he does I'll try to get some reps with it next time I see him to compare.
My impression from the DX leopards I've had is that a perfectly seasoned one probably flies about like an out of the box Z Archer. The nice part is the Z archer hasn't really changed it's flight in the 7 months I've been throwing it, and it gets a lot of reps especially in the woods. For my current form/power/distance whatever it's just such a useful disc. I throw it for a lot of scramble shots where I don't have a forehand but need that fading left shot. It doesn't take much power with an anny release to get it on a nice floaty 150-175' anny line that lands flat left of the starting point. I'll also throw it flat and high off the tee for a 250' ish shot that travels out right, fading left throughout the flight then nestles back to just enough hyzer finish to land flat and avoid a cut roll. Finally, my favorite is to throw it hard on a steep hyzer and watch it climb out of the hyzer mid flight then fade left as if it was thrown forehand or rhbh, it can get sneaky long that way, for a tweener mid/fairway at least.

It's not really a disc for trying to bite off max distance so I'm always throwing with some amount of touch. And I have one buddy who is an absolute torque monkey and thinks it's the worst disc in the world. But the archer and I just click. I feel like it is a true utility disc and has a massive range of distance and line shapes compared to most everything else in my bag. No other disc do I really throw for shots from 150'-300'. Kind of the anti-firbird, little/no ground action and it makes nearly no effort to fight out of anny.

My advice with the Hades if you decide to try them out would be to buy in person and pick out 2 that have noticeably different dome/PLH or wing shapes. A bit of field work should show you which one fits your throwing style better. My 156g has gone 400'+ on a pretty much straight to hyzer line (not me throwing) meanwhile my 175g gets a healthy turn first before fading back towards the middle, even at lower powers.

 

[klodkrawler05]

The last few rounds I've played anytime I throw the Hades I also throw the Surge SS. Ultimately unless I really need that thrown flat turning left distance driver type shot I'll probably be reaching for the SS now. It's got just enough extra stability that I don't have to question if there was a bit of a breeze, or a slightly bad throw doesn't turn into a cut roller. Tailwind I'll still probably use the hades and try to flex some extra distance out, but so far every shot into calm or mild head winds has seen the surge within 5' of the hades distance wise, and often times much closer to where I intended to land.

 

[TheSecondZ]

Hi fellow lefty!

I noticed my mid-range lineup was very similar to yours. I use 3 discs: Star Mako3 for straight shots, Z Archer for anhyzers (especially useful since I only throw backhands currently, and it seems like a lot of courses in this area are designed for RHBH), and PFN Star Shark for hyzers.

The Shark is definitely more overstable than the Mako3, but not by a ton. As those both beat in, I think the Shark may become my straight disc, and I may just remove the Mako3 since it'll overlap with the Archer. Do you find the Wasp fits well as an overstable mid? I also considered the Discraft Malta or Innova Roc3.

Additionally, regarding the Archer, I think it used to be rated at a higher speed and considered a fairway driver, but it got moved down to a speed 5 mid. Do you find you can use it as an understable disc both for mid-range and fairway driver distances? From what you said earlier, it sounds like it can go as far as Leopard.

 

[klodkrawler05]

Hi fellow lefty!

I noticed my mid-range lineup was very similar to yours. I use 3 discs: Star Mako3 for straight shots, Z Archer for anhyzers (especially useful since I only throw backhands currently, and it seems like a lot of courses in this area are designed for RHBH), and PFN Star Shark for hyzers.

The Shark is definitely more overstable than the Mako3, but not by a ton. As those both beat in, I think the Shark may become my straight disc, and I may just remove the Mako3 since it'll overlap with the Archer. Do you find the Wasp fits well as an overstable mid? I also considered the Discraft Malta or Innova Roc3.

Additionally, regarding the Archer, I think it used to be rated at a higher speed and considered a fairway driver, but it got moved down to a speed 5 mid. Do you find you can use it as an understable disc both for mid-range and fairway driver distances? From what you said earlier, it sounds like it can go as far as Leopard.

Hello!

I think once you find that the shark and Mako3 are both competing for the same shots you could certainly remove one from your bag. I like the wasp in the stable mid slot because unlike some of the more stable options (drone, gator, buzzz os) it doesn't just dump out on hyzer, instead it starts to push forward and right. Sort of what you'd call workably stable. At the same time, it's probably not a disc I'd reach for in 25mph head winds because it doesn't have quite enough stability for something like that.
Ultimately I don't think you can go wrong with the malta/roc3/wasp all are going to hit similar lines (assuming premium plastic roc3) so I'd first try out whichever of the 3 feels more comfortable to you. I was actually a little disappointed with my Malta originally, I got it expecting it to be a more stable compliment to my wasp but it flies nearly exactly the same. Later I found out it feels more comfortable in my hand for FH than the wasp So when I use my tournament bag or zuca cart I usually carry both, when I'm using my small casual round bag I just bag wasp or malta depending whether I'm expecting to need that stable mid shot more on BH or FH.

I find I tend to reach for the Archer no matter what the shot distance is any time I want to ensure I land left of my throwing position. It's wing shape certainly seems like a mash up of mid/fairway so I think that's why it can be sneaky long for a "mid" but a little "short" for a fairway. The last couple weeks I've been trying to force myself to throw FH instead of the archer BH, knowing I'll probably take more stokes due to less distance. But both the last tournament and several of my last few casual rounds have had a fair amount of swirly wind and it has really exposed a weakness in my game. I can usually expect to keep up with my right handed friends on our local courses during calm weather with lots of turnover shots. But in the wind they simply move up a tick in stability, I suddenly have no shot at all because my turnover turns into a roller or I throw something more stable that winds up fighting out/right of my intended landing zone.