When to disc up?

[elkevo]

At what point would a beginner-ish player graduate from throwing mids and fairway drivers to throwing faster discs? And what discs would be good stepping stones into the world of distance drivers?

 

[Keller]

What mids and fairways do you throw and how far do you throw them?

 

[Putt for D'oh]

From another thread:

Keep throwing the wide rims a bunch in the field. They won't feel normal for a while, but the nice thing is that throwing them more makes the speed 9/10 stuff almost feel like a fairway driver. Then eventually you'll be able to throw the 12's without thinking about it. The worst part about learning to throw high speed stuff is that "I need to crush this disc" feeling. The more you throw them, you'll just realize your normal throw power is enough to get them to do their thing.

I have some faster stuff but not in my bag normally, but still for distance I am using a Saint or Volt or PD depending on wind and exact shot. Every now and then I pull out a Destroyer or Katana, and still am not getting significant gains going beyond a speed 9 disc. IF i had some more time for proper field work maybe I could really focus on properly throwing the larger rim discs but for now I don't, and that is touching 400' with the Saint.
For when to make the decision I would look at this post I quoted from Slow. Get a Star or Gstar Destroyer and take your current favorite disc for distance speed 7 or whatever fairway you use now. Go to a field and throw them both focusing on nice smooth form. See if there is any distance or if the fairway is going farther. I know I started reaching distances with a beat in Eagle and River that I had a lot of people telling me I should be able to crush faster discs, but was still either the same distance or a bit longer with Fairways than Distance stuff and with more control.

Don't rush it, you don't need to.

 

[elkevo]

In my bag, I have Roc3, Mako3, Leopard3, and TL. On a good day, I can get the Leopard3 and TL out to about 315' (pacing it off). The Roc3 I get out to about 280'.

The question is more of a general guide for me. Not necessarily specific to what I currently throw, though.

 

[Stardoggy]

At those distances, I'd say try out some speed 9/10 stuff. Once you get to the 390-400 range with those, start playing around with the 12+ stuff.

 

[scarpfish]

I think it's always good to field test higher speed stuff alongside what you're currently throwing to see if adding that tool to your bag is giving you something extra. If it does, then that might be a cue, but there may come a point where it may never be.

 

[ILUVSMGS18]

Valk, CD2, ThunderBird, P-PD, Pro Starfire, Beast, lightweight ORC, OLS, Saint, Escape, Northman, Falchion, Hatchet, Convict, H4, CD.

 

[Keller]

Valk, CD2, ThunderBird, P-PD, Pro Starfire, Beast, lightweight ORC, OLS, Saint, Escape, Northman, Falchion, Hatchet, Convict, H4, CD.

I'd second all of these ^^^^ I'd also add a Sidewinder to the list

Reason I asked what distance you throw is because every other week someone posts pretty much the same question only to find out that they're throwing Destroyers 225ft. Then a resident ace member who can't throw 300ft, yet knows it all recommends a Tern.

 

[elkevo]

Reason I asked what distance you throw is because every other week someone posts pretty much the same question only to find out that they're throwing Destroyers 225ft. Then a resident ace member who can't throw 300ft, yet knows it all recommends a Tern.

Ah, I see. It makes sense to ask now that I see your reasoning. I suppose I could have looked a bit deeper in the forum or used the search.

I've shelved my Wraiths, Valk, Thunderbird, Orc, Beast, ... Tern, etc. while I work on my distance. Not in a hurry since the Doc says no disc golf for at least another 4 weeks. So, I was just curious if there was kind of a "general rule" about when to move up. Like once you can hit 300' with a fairway driver, then you should move up to a 9/10 driver. (Essentially what was said in another post.) But then what is the next milestone? 350'? 400'? Or is it just when you can throw a faster disc alongside your normal driver and start to see significant (50'+) distance over the slower disc?

Perhaps I've answered my own question.

 

[Keller]

Well, when you're ready to start throwing again, break out your stash and see if you gain anything. You already own a lot of the step up discs, no need to look for anything else just yet.

 

[Pymm]

Jade is speed 9 stable (turns but will come back) or Thief speed 8 OS. I throw both and don't have a big arm. Jade is nice to throw flat and Thief is good for flex shots. Also, River, you already throw a TL, which is the same speed, but River glides forever so you might get more distance without going up in speed.

 

[teemkey]

Just remember that the purpose of every throw (other than a putt) is to put yourself in the best position for the next throw (or putt). Even though you may throw a distance driver farther than a fairway, if the distance driver puts you 40' deep in the schule and the fairway driver puts you 5' deep, then the fairway is your best choice.

 

[slowplastic]

At that distance (280' mids, 315' fairways) I think something like a star or Gstar Sidewinder would give you the best chance of consistent longer distances by a bit over a TL/Leo. Once that is going roughly 350' you'll perhaps be able to throw faster stuff as far or a bit farther, something like a Tern is a good place to start with that. The thing with Sidewinders is that they go crazy far for the speed, so for most players they won't actually throw a faster disc farther in many circumstances...just they will get there on a bit of a lower line and will deal with wind better. Of course if they have some torque in their throw they may throw faster discs farther, but that's a whole different issue...

 

[garublador]

Once you are confident that throwing some faster discs won't introduce a bunch of OAT into your throw (usually that means you aren't giving up slower discs, just supplementing with faster ones) it probably won't hurt to check out some faster stuff. What you will likely find is that the faster discs are a bit more difficult to grip well, even if the grip "feels" better. In other words, it will be harder to produce a good hit with a speed 9+ disc than with a mid or fairway. Even if you aren't throwing "far enough" to get those discs up to speed for distance, they can be useful for other shots like longer hyzers, headwind shots or low hyzers and flex shots.

 

[JasonM163]

I think you can throw whatever disc you want whenever. I mean yes high speed stuff at low speed will be very stable but sometimes there is a really good use for that! Just use them as utility discs and occasionally try to rip one as a second shot and see how it turns out

 

[Questatement]

When you get to the top speed that you can throw consistently for max D, experiment with lighter weights at that speed and a speed up from there. I carry low-mid 160 Wraiths for max D (370+) but if I'm having a bad driving day where I'm struggling to hit that consistently, I drop to speed 9's. I'll get the same distance that my Wraiths "aren't going" (350-370') but with more accuracy. If my form recovers, I'll go back up to speed 11. Some days I'm "stuck" on 9's most or all of a round but such is the life of an am.

I played with a guy who out threw just about everyone (400-430') and his bag maxed out with the old mold Beast, now called Beast-X. He said that he tried faster stuff and hit the occasional 500' but averaged 2-3 strokes worse due to a lack of accuracy. Rather telling if you ask me.

 

[Jenga54]

Who is this rare beginner species of player, responsibly learning the game with putters, mids and some controllable fairways before trying speed 9/10 stuff? I like it!

 

[Dan Ensor]

When your discs don't flex, it's time for something faster.

 

[PBokor]

Who is this rare beginner species of player, responsibly learning the game with putters, mids and some controllable fairways before trying speed 9/10 stuff? I like it!

We are out there. I still don't bag anything above a 6 speed on the course and rely on my 5 - 3 speeds to get me home.

 

[tankmlee]

I think I learned wrong, I have better accuracy with high speed discs because I only use 60-80% power, a lower speed discs uses more power to go the same distance so my accuracy falls, but I max out at about 350' with a 12 speed disc so my form needs improvement