I am really looking forward to trying out the Vortex basket. I think the inner chain diamond design to stop spit-outs is ingenious and I think a lot of players will be very excited knowing this flaw in current basket design will be eliminated with this basket. I also like the idea that nubs and sharp edges are removed increasing the longevity of my putters. To Arroyo, you mentioned that you have to change the spacing of the basket to prevent disc from falling out or coming through, will this change also prevent wedgies (which are no longer good)?
As far as some players posting that spit-outs are part of the game and it shouldn't be changed, sorry I disagree with you 100%. Just finished playing a monthly at our local course and the one thing I find players talking most and are irritable about is missed putts due to spit-outs. I had a discussion with several players about the Vortex basket and received a lot of positive feedback and happy faces. If you hit the center target the putt should be good period.
As a spin putter I don't have many spit outs, but when I tried push putting while releasing with a slight hyzer angle, I started to experience a lot more spit-outs, where my disc would hit between the 2nd to 3rd chain from the side and slide through these easy to see gaps. Two problems I see with spin putting: 1) hitting dead center pole and the putt is kicked straight back out of the basket, and 2) hitting low center pole and tray and the disc hops back out. How does the new Vortex basket fair to these two issues?
This is my experience with current baskets in use and would like to hear others chime in as well as how the Vortex compares:
The two baskets used in San Diego are Mach IIIs and Discatcher Pros. As a spin putter, I find the Discatchers catch/grab the disc more and I feel that I can really put a lot of power behind my putt. Also, with the deeper tray, I do not have the disc hopping out. The problem I have with this basket is that it takes a lot of chunks out of my disc if my disc rides the top. With Mach IIIs, I feel that I have to take a tad off the speed of my putt because the chains do not catch as well if I am not exactly center and I have more issues with the disc popping out of the tray.
Pat, thanks for your kind comments! We have to shrink the holes in the cage so that we meet PDGA Championship standards and our basket can be used in any level event. We've looked at a couple ways of doing this, and we're going to end up adding spokes instead of an extra ring. So the basket that you've all seen will hardly be any different than the finished model (probably 14 spokes vs the current 12). I was merely using the wedgie reference as a potential reason for the rule change that we have to meet. I do not know the exact reason that the specs were changed.
As far as how the Vortex fairs with the placements of spin putt you asked about: You will get no spit out on either. A putt on the Vortex will never impact the center pole the way that you're used to on current baskets. The inner chains act to cradle the disc and absorb all of it's remaining energy, preventing it from touching the center post with any speed, if at all.
I also have been a victim of the hop out, as you put it. This isn't a problem on the Vortex because there isn't anything with enough tension to hit that low. There is not sleeve rising above the bottom plane of the basket that you could bounce off of, and the outer chains have such a low tension that they will drop you straight down, not bounce you off. If you somehow did manage to bounce off the bottom plane of the basket, your disc would have to hop 8.5" up to get over the rim, not to mention back through the droop of the outer chains. Not going to happen.