Premium plastic putters

[Monkeypaws]

I have never owned one. Bought a TP Shield tonight to continue my putter-only odyssey this winter. I liked what I saw from the Shield these last days.

Those of you who throw premium plastic putters, does it make a diff?

I'm talking about driving.

*/should have asked before buying/*

[sigstrand]

The most obvious differences for me are grip and durability.

Grip will mostly be a matter of personal preference. I like premium plastic for a clean release on longer putter drives, but prefer base plastic for more control on finesse shots.

Durability is the main reason I use premium plastic for most of my putter drives. If I find a driving putter I like, I don't want it to change flight characteristics after the first couple of tree hits.

The Shield is a nice disc, by the way. My brother has a few, I have just tried a few putts with one of his. They seem pretty similar to the Kastaplast Reko, which is one of my favourite putter molds - both for putting and driving.

[armiller]

I can give you a decent list of putters that I have not liked in premium plastic (mainly for throwing).

MVP's putters are the main exception. I mainly throw an Ion in neutron, plasma, or soft proton. Ut has the durability I want in a premium plastic but seems to still glide well. I also own a couple Opto Pures, which are nice.

The thing is, I own a decent amount of KC Pro Aviars and Wizards in various plastics. Both fly great, but I'm a little annoyed whenever I find a new chip of plastic gone after a relatively routine 150-200' approach. I should just settle on bagging and sacrificing one of those Wizards or Aviars, but I have never done that.

[ArtemisClydFr0g]

I find that a base plastic P2 is just as stable as premium when new, but like sig said, you're going to have a more consistent flight over the life of the disc. I'm sure there are putters that start out more overstable in premium plastic as well, but my experience is with P2s.

[aphilso1]

Especially in Trilogy plastic, the differences are:
Grip
Dome
Durability

Grip and durability are the obvious ones as others have already mentioned. But dome is important to me too, and Trilogy baseline plastics all come out much flatter when compared to their premium plastics. My 'least replaceable disc' is a Lucid-X Judge, not because it flies with a unique stability (it really flies the same as a fresh baseline Judge), but because it's the only premium Judge I've ever seen without a giant bubbly dome. My L-X Judge feels in the hand like a Classic or Prime Judge but in a premium plastic, whereas a domey Fuzion or Lucid Judge feels like a completely different mold to me. To me that's a big deal, but a lot of people are OK with that.

[tbird888]

For me, it all depends on how I "fell for" the mold. I started with Pures in Opto and didn't care for them in the baseline-style plastics. Wizards and Aviars were in baseline, and I didn't care for the grip/feel or the lessened glide from premium blends.

About the only mold I preferred in a blend I didn't start with was the Ion. I never enjoyed the feel of the rounded inner rim in Proton plastic because it made the disc feel really deep in hand, but the Electron felt and flew amazing. C'est la vie.

[Alexplz]

Some putter molds seem to have been designed with premium plastic in mind - think the Proxy, Envy, probably Zone.

Then you have the old school putters that came about when all there was was base plastic, so that was taken into account with the design (big beads). That being said I really enjoy throwing premium putters alongside a baseline disc that in theory will beat up faster than the premium, giving me a mini cycle and an option for a straighter putter for long go-fors.

[jmdaire27]

I suppose I am the opposite. My personal preference is to throw premium plastic (putters to drivers). I don’t want to encounter a mid round flight change when I clip a tree good.

I agree with what most people have said. More durable, predictable, probably less grip, and shape (ie dome) maybe be different. I do think premium plastic, generally, add a little stability. That might not be a catch all for all molds, though.

[PMantle]

Someone direct me to a gently turning premium putter please. If in doubt, err toward more turn.

I play woods holes that are so short that a hard thrown mid is just too much disc, and I do not forehand often.

[powasky]

Originally Posted by PMantle

Someone direct me to a gently turning premium putter please. If in doubt, err toward more turn.

I play woods holes that are so short that a hard thrown mid is just too much disc, and I do not forehand often.

A broken in Neutron Ohm fills that slot in my bag. I've found that I get more turn off the Ohm than its cousin, the Neutron Pilot.