Hampstead
* Ace Member *
I throw discs and see how I can use them. I'm not too hung up on worrying about their so-called speed number.
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[Drivers] Are Speed 7 Discs Necessary?
- Thread starter NSDallin
- Start date
Kodachrome
* Ace Member *
I guess it would be more accurate to say I'm concerned about rim width, not necessarily speed rating, because the width definitely does make a difference in terms of overall lateral movement if you compare discs with supposedly similar traits, ie PD vs TB, OLF vs EX.
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2011
- Messages
- 5,740
I don't even know what speed my discs are anymore (nor do I care).
What's a Crave [speed number]? Oh, wait, doesn't matter. It feels great and flies well.
I just got a Giant and it feels great as well but I haven't thrown it yet...it says 13 on the stamp but is that the Innova 13 or the discnation 13? Or Marshallstreetflightchart 13? Or is it "really" an 11 but European discs like to jack up numbers?
:sigh:
What's a Crave [speed number]? Oh, wait, doesn't matter. It feels great and flies well.
I just got a Giant and it feels great as well but I haven't thrown it yet...it says 13 on the stamp but is that the Innova 13 or the discnation 13? Or Marshallstreetflightchart 13? Or is it "really" an 11 but European discs like to jack up numbers?
:sigh:
crookymonstar
Bogey Member
Yeah I like how you put it and I agree. European companies jacking up the numbers. Like the new "speed 15" misselin.
I bet this 9 speed fairways theory takes off. but pros put hours of field work in and putt like machines.
I would rather have the control of the leopards and teebirds so my putts are shorter or that i'm still in the fairway. that being said i went from teebirds to strikers and i actually would buzzz by baskets on perfect shots and be ob or 45ft past. not cool when you walk up and realize too much distance.
i def know when to disc up with teebirds, while testing the PD i find it great just don't know the disc yet.
I would rather have the control of the leopards and teebirds so my putts are shorter or that i'm still in the fairway. that being said i went from teebirds to strikers and i actually would buzzz by baskets on perfect shots and be ob or 45ft past. not cool when you walk up and realize too much distance.
i def know when to disc up with teebirds, while testing the PD i find it great just don't know the disc yet.
trumbulldore
Birdie Member
- Joined
- Sep 5, 2013
- Messages
- 426
It all comes down to personal preference. I know a guy who practically doesn't use any mids or really fairway discs for that matter minus his one TL. He uses his zone for anything not a drive off of the Tee. For me, I like to have a couple drivers, a couple fairway, a couple mids, a couple putters. We both go back and forth when we play. Something I've learned and took me awhile to learn. There is no one right way to do something in disc golf. Just truthfully do what is optimizing your skill set and capabilities the most. It sounds like you've got it, so don't change it.
Brodysseus
* Ace Member *
Necessary?
No, but it's sterile and I like the taste.
No, but it's sterile and I like the taste.
I was just about to post that after reading this thread
mattrowe
Par Member
Wow this is a great thread.
After putters, I feel like fairway drivers (speed 6 to 8) are the most important discs in my bag. I get Patriots and Rivals out to about 330'. I only carry two discs that are faster than 8, a Firebird (which doesn't really count as a high speed driver IMO), and a Champ Tern. On windy days, I'll throw in a PD.
In general, I'm happy to give up distance for accuracy. It's hard to make big mistakes with speed 7 drivers.
After putters, I feel like fairway drivers (speed 6 to 8) are the most important discs in my bag. I get Patriots and Rivals out to about 330'. I only carry two discs that are faster than 8, a Firebird (which doesn't really count as a high speed driver IMO), and a Champ Tern. On windy days, I'll throw in a PD.
In general, I'm happy to give up distance for accuracy. It's hard to make big mistakes with speed 7 drivers.
This.
7ontheline
Double Eagle Member
Yes sir
Same here, right from mids to Firebird. My big sausage fingers are too fat for speed 7. I have tried Teebirds and other fairways and seem to flip them all over. The only S7 disc I like these days is a XXX and my Firebird & Buzzz OS have forced the XXX out of my bag.
I have been throwing the Buzzz O/S for about a month now. I can say without a doubt the Buzzz O/S is more stable than a Roc3. In stabality order, I now have a Ti Buzzz, Roc3 and Buzzz o/s (all 180) in my bag.
For my less stable mid I am back to a Stingray or 2 for woods courses. I carry 1 d/x and 1 star. both 180. I also carry a Skeeter or 2 and my medium Pure putter.
I am more than happy with my mids & putter now.
I have been throwing the Buzzz O/S for about a month now. I can say without a doubt the Buzzz O/S is more stable than a Roc3. In stabality order, I now have a Ti Buzzz, Roc3 and Buzzz o/s (all 180) in my bag.
For my less stable mid I am back to a Stingray or 2 for woods courses. I carry 1 d/x and 1 star. both 180. I also carry a Skeeter or 2 and my medium Pure putter.
I am more than happy with my mids & putter now.
7ontheline
Double Eagle Member
I throws Eagles and QJs, mainly for accuracy, but keep a couple QOLFs on the bench for those longer wide open hole courses. There are probably less than 10 par 4 holes on ALL the courses I play around Memphis. Anyway, even when the QOLFs are in the bag they don't get pulled as I'll jump to Orc for longer hyzers short of 400'.
If course designers stop making par 3s less than 350' I could see speed 9 sales skyrocket even higher. The new mfgs like Legacy, Prodigy and Lat went 8-9 speed due in part to faster mids. He ain't making more woods nowadays where slower speed accuracy is at a premium so its only a matter of time til shorter wooded courses are gonna max out in urban areas and the new kids will need all the help they can get to birdie those converted ball golf course par 5s
crd 81
Double Eagle Member
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2007
- Messages
- 1,006
Close to a 10 year bump.
I'm revisiting this line of thought after settling on it before. I'm getting older and wondering if I would benefit having a speed 9 function more of a distance/control driver (kind of what they are) verses a speed 7. At the same time, speed 7 is still controllable, but will I be able to continue to push it out further as I age?
I'm revisiting this line of thought after settling on it before. I'm getting older and wondering if I would benefit having a speed 9 function more of a distance/control driver (kind of what they are) verses a speed 7. At the same time, speed 7 is still controllable, but will I be able to continue to push it out further as I age?
i go from speed 5 to speed 9 and then to 11
been this way for 5-10 years and havent felt like im sacrificing anything
there is just a little moar fade with a speed 9 but once a disc is seasoned/beat it will lose that
HyzerRoc
Birdie Member
- Joined
- Feb 2, 2023
- Messages
- 267
My general line of thought is that faster discs have more play from left to right and are thus more difficult to control. Not hitting the right release speed also leads to more differences in the line and landing zone of a faster disc. If you accidentally underpower your distance driver it is not gonna show turn and fade earlier so you will miss way to the left. The same shot with a fairway will fade a little earlier too, but not miss as much to the left.
For those reasons I also generally disc down. Differences in distance are also not that big for me. Putters need to be thrown a little high but pretty straight at the target. Mid can deal with a lower line and can also pretty much just go straight at the target. Anything in a driver shape introduces a lot of play from left to right and controlling a straight line is much more difficult as a little too much height causes a lot of fade.
I also like discing down because the flight characteristics are easier to control. It is easier to controllably flip a 7 speed for a left to right shot than it is to hit the right amount of flip for a 11/12 speed. You can also play tighter hyzers with a 7 speed than an 11/12 speed.
Now to your question more directly, I think it depends on your distance. IME 11 speeds begin to make sense when approaching 400 feet of distance. Their flip/fade becomes controllable at those distances and they start to push further out than lower speeds. If you throw under that a 9 speed like a champ sidewinder might be the better alternative as your distance driver as it flies a similar shape like an 11 speed distance driver but is also more accurate and wont punish you as hard for accidental underpowering.
stupid trees
Birdie Member
I go from mostly 7 speeds to 11 speeds all my drivers are in then150 to low 160's. I can consistently get a speed 7 340' and a Distance driver 360'. I carry a few Distance drivers, but they aren't an important part of my game.
For my straight to understable discs I use speed 6/7. For my straight to fade I bump up to a speed 9 to get the same distance. For example my fairway drivers are eagles, velas and polaris. If I were to throw in a straight to fade speed 7 like a banshee it would be shorter than the rest of my fairways. So, I bump up to a esp liteweight raptor and think of it as a fairway. Basically I all of my overstable stuff as a speed class down in my head. Distance becomes a fairway, fairway becomes a mid, etc.
For my straight to understable discs I use speed 6/7. For my straight to fade I bump up to a speed 9 to get the same distance. For example my fairway drivers are eagles, velas and polaris. If I were to throw in a straight to fade speed 7 like a banshee it would be shorter than the rest of my fairways. So, I bump up to a esp liteweight raptor and think of it as a fairway. Basically I all of my overstable stuff as a speed class down in my head. Distance becomes a fairway, fairway becomes a mid, etc.
Sheep
Sir, This is a Wendy's
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- Jul 27, 2017
- Messages
- 1,402
I switched some disc concepts around last year and honestly haven't fallen off of it. Let me explain.
I am a firm believer that we throw discs far faster than we should be throwing. Mainly we do it because we crutch on them a bit and it makes us feel more confident. Watching guys throw 11-13 speeds 300 feet is... Sad. "I need the disc speed to get there." ... No, the discs "speed" has nothing to do with it. I've watched you throw slower discs 100 feet further on a regular basis. (This is a real conversation I have with a friend who loves his cranks, but he throws some of his slower discs as far or further with ease)
I've always been a proponent of trying to throw in your speed range. But I, as everyone does, over rated my abilities for a long time. So I would try and throw 11's and 13's to much when I wanted that big distance but got nothing. Why? Because you start trying way to hard and all sorts of other things go on that you hurt your game more than anything.
So I changed the core of my bag to 6 speeds. Why? Because lets look at this from a different point of view. Lets look at it from a "what is this disc capable of" standpoint, vs a what am I capable of standpoint. 6/7 speeds are good for 400 feet of distance with good form. And pretty easy 350-400 of distance with good form. Not grip and rip, but just clean good form they can get you some good sneaky distance. And insane amounts of control as well.
I'd put 9/10 speeds in the 450 range. I consider 9/10 a control driver speed. These discs are more than capable of reaching out this far and designed to do it. These big 11/12/13 speed discs are designed for people throwing 450+
Guys gripping on 13/14 speeds who can throw 300 feet. ... When the disc is designed for 500+
Can you anyways? sure. But you're actually hurting yourself trying to throw a disc that needs higher speeds in flight to fly well trying to crank on it.
So lets back it off, throw discs that require a speed closer to what the average disc golfer throws, around 50-60mph. Suddenly disc golf becomes a bit different as we can casually throw 300-350 with a 6/7 speed and hit tight lines and gaps, shape shots. We can focus really really hard on that clean easy form that lets us play longer and less tired.
We can have fun watching out friends huck 13 speeds 300 feet while we casually fly 6/7 speeds 300 feet.
So what am I trying to say?
You probably should be throwing fairways and fast fairways more. There is a reason pro's are throwing them. They are super easy to control and respond well to lots of power levels. And you dont have to try and strugglebus your distance force flexing your destroyers terribly cause you think you have the skill level to throw the destroyer.
I've enjoyed golfing so much having a huge core bag of 6 speeds. I got a few mids, and I've got a few faster discs in there too. But I reach for the core 6 speeds first, until I need discs to do very specific things. Then I move up into my 9's. And I have 3 11's as well, but I'm throwing 150 class 11 speed defy's which.. are easy throwers. ... But annoyingly, I can't really throw those defy's further than my craves. And I throw my gazelle further than all of those (6 speed). The defy's are there mainly for shot shapes. Not many 6 speeds wanna give me that shot shape.
So, if your excuse as to why you throw all the 12 speeds is shot shapes. I have some ocean front property to sell you here in tennessee.
Because the realistic answer as to why people dont throw slower discs is that it's an mental thing. You "think" you need those high speed discs, when the reality is, you could be playing far better golf than you are if you took a piece of humble pie.
That. and its far more rewarding to outdrive people slinging 12 speeds when you just casually tossing mids.
I am a firm believer that we throw discs far faster than we should be throwing. Mainly we do it because we crutch on them a bit and it makes us feel more confident. Watching guys throw 11-13 speeds 300 feet is... Sad. "I need the disc speed to get there." ... No, the discs "speed" has nothing to do with it. I've watched you throw slower discs 100 feet further on a regular basis. (This is a real conversation I have with a friend who loves his cranks, but he throws some of his slower discs as far or further with ease)
I've always been a proponent of trying to throw in your speed range. But I, as everyone does, over rated my abilities for a long time. So I would try and throw 11's and 13's to much when I wanted that big distance but got nothing. Why? Because you start trying way to hard and all sorts of other things go on that you hurt your game more than anything.
So I changed the core of my bag to 6 speeds. Why? Because lets look at this from a different point of view. Lets look at it from a "what is this disc capable of" standpoint, vs a what am I capable of standpoint. 6/7 speeds are good for 400 feet of distance with good form. And pretty easy 350-400 of distance with good form. Not grip and rip, but just clean good form they can get you some good sneaky distance. And insane amounts of control as well.
I'd put 9/10 speeds in the 450 range. I consider 9/10 a control driver speed. These discs are more than capable of reaching out this far and designed to do it. These big 11/12/13 speed discs are designed for people throwing 450+
Guys gripping on 13/14 speeds who can throw 300 feet. ... When the disc is designed for 500+
Can you anyways? sure. But you're actually hurting yourself trying to throw a disc that needs higher speeds in flight to fly well trying to crank on it.
So lets back it off, throw discs that require a speed closer to what the average disc golfer throws, around 50-60mph. Suddenly disc golf becomes a bit different as we can casually throw 300-350 with a 6/7 speed and hit tight lines and gaps, shape shots. We can focus really really hard on that clean easy form that lets us play longer and less tired.
We can have fun watching out friends huck 13 speeds 300 feet while we casually fly 6/7 speeds 300 feet.
So what am I trying to say?
You probably should be throwing fairways and fast fairways more. There is a reason pro's are throwing them. They are super easy to control and respond well to lots of power levels. And you dont have to try and strugglebus your distance force flexing your destroyers terribly cause you think you have the skill level to throw the destroyer.
I've enjoyed golfing so much having a huge core bag of 6 speeds. I got a few mids, and I've got a few faster discs in there too. But I reach for the core 6 speeds first, until I need discs to do very specific things. Then I move up into my 9's. And I have 3 11's as well, but I'm throwing 150 class 11 speed defy's which.. are easy throwers. ... But annoyingly, I can't really throw those defy's further than my craves. And I throw my gazelle further than all of those (6 speed). The defy's are there mainly for shot shapes. Not many 6 speeds wanna give me that shot shape.
So, if your excuse as to why you throw all the 12 speeds is shot shapes. I have some ocean front property to sell you here in tennessee.
Because the realistic answer as to why people dont throw slower discs is that it's an mental thing. You "think" you need those high speed discs, when the reality is, you could be playing far better golf than you are if you took a piece of humble pie.
That. and its far more rewarding to outdrive people slinging 12 speeds when you just casually tossing mids.
zontar
Double Eagle Member
Teebird is my friend right now.
