[Dynamic] EMAC Judge

[GarrettDN]

Has anyone else fallen in love? I was absolutely floored at how much I like this putter. I am sad to admit I now own 5. This is my 3rd putter change in 23 years.

 

[VictorB]

I got to check them out in store the other day. It's a Challenger clone. Good putter, used them for years myself.

 

[Timthenchant3r]

I got to check them out in store the other day. It's a Challenger clone. Good putter, used them for years myself.

Does that mean it is significantly deeper than the judge/warden?

 

[twistedraven]

Looked like it might be similar in shape/flight to a Pilot. A buddy has one on order so I'll know soon enough.

 

[VictorB]

Does that mean it is significantly deeper than the judge/warden?

Looked like it might be similar in shape/flight to a Pilot. A buddy has one on order so I'll know soon enough.

I can't really make it more clear - it's a challenger.

Deeper than a judge or warden. Taller than a pilot and has a classic putter 'shoulder' to it, where the pilot is pretty flat

 

[twistedraven]

So it isn't a Judge with a microbead then. I don't even know why they could even get away with calling it the emac Judge.. to ride the success of the Judge I know, but it's not even the same mold at that point.

 

[VictorB]

Some slight differences, but holding each in hand and comparing, the differences are extremely minimal. So much that I don't even think it should have the name "Judge" attached to it at all - it's a completely different disc.

Judge:
Max Weight: 176.0gr
Diameter: 21.2cm
Height: 2.0cm
Rim Depth: 1.5cm
Rim Thickness: 1.1cm
Inside Rim Diameter: 18.9cm
Rim Depth / Diameter Ratio: 7.1%
Rim Configuration: 58.25
Flexibility: 4.20kg

Emac Judge:
Max Weight: 176.0gr
Diameter: 21.2cm
Height: 2.0cm
Rim Depth: 1.4cm
Rim Thickness: 1.1cm
Inside Rim Diameter: 18.9cm
Rim Depth / Diameter Ratio: 6.6%
Rim Configuration: 60.75
Flexibility: 6.25kg

Challenger:
Max Weight: 174.3gr
Diameter: 21.0cm
Height: 2.2cm
Rim Depth: 1.6cm
Rim Thickness: 1.0cm
Inside Rim Diameter: 19.0cm
Rim Depth / Diameter Ratio: 7.6%
Rim Configuration: 61.50
Flexibility: 8.39kg

I'm actually pretty surprised how similar the specifications are. The challenger and emac judge feel way more similar than the judge and emac judge.

 

[GarrettDN]

I can't really make it more clear - it's a challenger.

Deeper than a judge or warden. Taller than a pilot and has a classic putter 'shoulder' to it, where the pilot is pretty flat

I don't really agree with any of that--LOL.

It has less of a bead than a judge, and isn't really taller. Maybe the rim has a touch more depth to make up for the bead difference, but overall about the same. I haven't measured to be fair.

It is flatter than a Challenger past the shoulder by a pretty good margin. Where the challenger has a curved top the EMAC is just about dead flat. And since for me a flat top putter was one of the big differences, that is a big difference for in hand-feel. The rime shape is definitely similar, but IIRC the challenger doesn't have a bead (?).

But if you had a flat-top challenger I could see that a bit more.

All of the EMACs I have are pretty flat. Mine are all 173g in Red.

I found it hard to compare to the pilot because the plastics were different (I was only able to direct compare to a Neutron) but didn't think they feel similar in hand. It felt like the pilot had more of a symmetrical wing compared to the EMAC judge, which has a tick more convex curvature to the bottom half of the wing--nice for a forefinger to grip. I've never thrown a pilot.

 

[Um...]

Judge thrower for life here, so I won't be checking them out.

I'm only here to watch the inevitably hilarious confusion ensue because DD continues to think that it's enough of a re-name to slap 'Emac' on a completely different mold with the same name and call it good.

 

[VictorB]

It is flatter than a Challenger past the shoulder by a pretty good margin. Where the challenger has a curved top the EMAC is just about dead flat. And since for me a flat top putter was one of the big differences, that is a big difference for in hand-feel. The rime shape is definitely similar, but IIRC the challenger doesn't have a bead (?).

Flat top challengers are what the mold is supposed to be. The challenger does have a small bead. I'd encourage you to compare a challenger and Emac Judge, at the same time, in your hands

 

[GarrettDN]

Flat top challengers are what the mold is supposed to be. The challenger does have a small bead. I'd encourage you to compare a challenger and Emac Judge, at the same time, in your hands

Oh, interesting--didn't realize they were designed as a FT. My sample size for challengers is 1, so not exactly expert level.

 

[aphilso1]

Judge thrower for life here, so I won't be checking them out.

I'm only here to watch the inevitably hilarious confusion ensue because DD continues to think that it's enough of a re-name to slap 'Emac' on a completely different mold with the same name and call it good.

Same here.

It's creating a long term confusion problem in exchange for a short term boost in initial name recognition. And that boost isn't even remotely needed, since discs are flying off the shelves faster than they can stock them.

 

[VictorB]

Oh, interesting--didn't realize they were designed as a FT. My sample size for challengers is 1, so not exactly expert level.

no problem. I have thrown challengers for many years (and probably should still be throwing them honestly lol)

 

[autocrosscrx]

I'm confused as to why anybody would find this particularly confusing.

...especially in a community where enthusiasts absolutely devour minutia about mold and plastic differences.

 

[Um...]

I'm confused as to why anybody would find this particularly confusing.

...especially in a community where enthusiasts absolutely devour minutia about mold and plastic differences.

While I'm mostly clowning on the lazy naming, it's not the enthusiasts that are the liability. It's the newer players getting into different discs that can't always make the differentiation and end up with one mold when they intended to get another. See Truth vs. Emac Truth.

Also, there's literally a line of Emac Signature Judges (which is honestly what I thought everyone was talking about before I became aware).

 

[GarrettDN]

While I'm mostly clowning on the lazy naming, it's not the enthusiasts that are the liability. It's the newer players getting into different discs that can't always make the differentiation and end up with one mold when they intended to get another. See Truth vs. Emac Truth.

Also, there's literally a line of Emac Signature Judges (which is honestly what I thought everyone was talking about before I became aware).

That's a really good point. Stepping aside from my love of this new disc, it definitely introduces the opportunity for un-necessary confusion--and most people are buying online so they can't touch the disc to see the difference anyway.

In googling stuff to find more hidden suppliers of these putters as the sold out everywhere, I kept coming across the "other" emac judge, which made me second guess what I was buying, and I have been buying discs since selection was minimal at best.

 

[aphilso1]

New Player: Hey so what's the deal with these Emac Trespasses?
DD: They are the same disc as any other Trespass, just in a special plastic that makes them fly more stable.

New Player: OK cool. So are Emac Truths the same thing? Just a Truth but a little more stable?
DD: Well no. I mean yes. Ugh...kind of. Emac Truths are indeed a slightly more stable version of Truths, but they are actually a completely different mold so technically a different disc. And both molds come in a wide variety of plastics, so it's actually possible that you find an Emac Truth that is less stable than a regular Truth. But that's totally rare, so don't worry about that. You know what, scratch all that. Instead I'll just say yes. Emac Truths are more stable Truths.

New Player: Huh. Well that's a lot of details that I probably won't remember. But I guess the important point is that the term 'Emac' means a slightly more stable version of an existing disc.
DD: Yep. You're getting it!

New Player: So I see you are releasing an Emac Judge this year! Awesome, I've always wanted a more stable Judge. Looking forward to trying it!
DD: Umm, so about that...

 

[autocrosscrx]

New Player: What's the deal with these Emac Trespasses?
DD: It part is the Eric McCabe signature series of discs. We offer several different molds.
New Player: Who is Eric McCabe?
DD: Did we mention that we'll take one of our discs and dye a picture of your cat wearing sunglasses and eating a pizza if you want?

 

[Frodo]

So I bought an Emac Judge last Friday. I played a round with it Saturday and loved it so much I went back and bought two more. I always thought the regular Judge was my favorite throwing putter until I used the Emac. This is the throwing putter I've been on a long journey for. The flight is just like a regular Judge but I get a way cleaner release due the removal of the bead. On low power shots I rarely hit the line I wanted because of the beaded Judge, but not with the Emac. The Emac judge is a winner. So if anyone loves the regular Judges and is on the fence about picking this up, go ahead cause you may be surprised on how much you like it.

 

[Snaques]

At the beginning of the summer I noticed a sale on Trilogy Challenge Emac Judges and decided to give them a try. I didn't even realize they were in Eco plastic, whatever that is. They felt really slick, kinda like some of the slicker DX Aviars, and that got me really nervous.

However, as a complete surprise these things just clicked. They feel so good and for my putting style release super clean. I've never putted this well and it's mostly thanks to the putter change.

I figured I might as well give the "better" Classic plastic a try, but was a bit disappointed. The Classics were somehow flatter, while this particular Eco run had a bit of a shoulder. I wonder if anyone else has noticed or tried this, but now I've stacked up with the Eco run to cover me for quite a few years.