[Putters] How come so few top pros carry a Zone/Harp/Gator type disc?

[brutalbrutus]

McBeth sometimes has a gator in his bag and I've seen Eagle throw one also. Koling and Sexton both carry mortars and Ricky uses the Harp...

 

[Grippenripp]

For me it's a harp, don't know why so few top pros carry this type disc but the best two in the world(ricky-harp, paul-gator) do carry something like super OS and slow. I know my BT HARD harp got beat to **** and it's not what it was. But it's still the beef and it goes super long now.idk I love it

 

[rexdp10]

nate said today on Wintertime open commentary that he doesn't like to power up a mid FH...maybe they know something we don't and that speed 9 driver moderetly overstable driver is actually better for 200/250 on a hyzer than a flat mid/putter

 

[elmexdela]

nate said today on Wintertime open commentary that he doesn't like to power up a mid FH...maybe they know something we don't and that speed 9 driver moderetly overstable driver is actually better for 200/250 on a hyzer than a flat mid/putter

i could power down a mid or fairway driver with ease but i just like showing off how far i can flick my ion

 

[pjhayes7]

I throw a beat Zone forehand more than any other disc in my bag (forehand and backhand combined). I prefer a forehand for approaches just because I am better at it. My forehand flies differently physically than a backhand, especially at lower speed. It requires lots of spin and snap but little reach back relative to a backhand. Also, I although my backhand approaches are not the best, I can throw a glidey putter very slow backhand, but cannot do the same forehand. So that is why one reason why I throw a Zone so much.

Also, it skips less and lands flatter than a Firebird thrown to the same distance. So less funny forehand rolls and typically sits more where it lands. So more predictable inside 200 for me. Perhaps if I threw my Firebirds so often to get used to how they fade, skip, and eventually sit at such short distances, I might be able to replace the Zones, but I just don't play enough.

Also, whoever mentioned that a Pro is more likely to jump putt from 60 to 100 was dead on. I will flick a Zone and run a basket from that distance. My misses are likely to be going faster when they get to the basket than most jump putts (although they are typically on a much lower line). Maybe I should just practice my jump putts and get rid of my Zones...nah.

 

[jjtwinnova]

At PFDO, Nate threw the firebird about 100 times, the mortar I think he threw once. He doesn't throw it because, at the time at least, it wasn't comfortable. The stuff Nate does with a firebird can cover 10 different discs in most people's bags, which explains part of it.

If you have the ability to do one thing way better than the other option, then you will do it. I can't control an overstable driver down to within 200 feet, so I rely on the justice to do that work for me.

 

[SD86]

McBeth sometimes has a gator in his bag and I've seen Eagle throw one also. Koling and Sexton both carry mortars and Ricky uses the Harp...

McBeth also tried the Aviar3, but it wasn't OS enough for him. I suspect he will be trying the AviarX3 this year. I don't know if he'll continue carrying the Gator; he's been off-and-on with it for years now. I look forward to a McBeth 2018 ITB video.

 

[brutalbrutus]

McBeth also tried the Aviar3, but it wasn't OS enough for him. I suspect he will be trying the AviarX3 this year. I don't know if he'll continue carrying the Gator; he's been off-and-on with it for years now. I look forward to a McBeth 2018 ITB video.

I think he only carries it when there is a specific teeshot he needs it for. At least that's what it seems like. Cause you hardly ever see him use it unless its off the tee and its usually some kind of short hole with a nasty dogleg.

 

[SD86]

I think he only carries it when there is a specific teeshot he needs it for. At least that's what it seems like. Cause you hardly ever see him use it unless its off the tee and its usually some kind of short hole with a nasty dogleg.

Several years ago, maybe at the Beaver State Fling, I saw a video where McBeth threw a Gator to get out of "jail"; it was a utility disc for him. Last year McBeth was trying the Av3 and then the Champ Aviar P&A in a similar way to how Ricky uses his Harp, but neither seemed satisfactory to him.

 

[Quinum]

ZONE

 

[ODRB]

GRASS.

 

[Casey 1988]

I mean, more do today than did in the past. But why do so many Ams (and I use that term generously) carry a massively OS driving putter, and so few top pros (FH dominant players excepted) do?

Why do you or don't you carry one?

This is why I do not carry a true OS Driving Putter.

Shark either Star or older Pro Plastic 174 grams. Then I have a U-2 or Upshot #2 in Prostyle plastic but I use the Shark more as the U-2 is too straight a flight and is more for uphill or downhill putting though my 2 Jawbreaker Magnets one labeled putter and other approach for my longer putts. Both are my main putters and the Jawbreaker Magnets might be doing the Downhill putting more this year.

Anyhow Shark in max weight is such a versatile disc for me it replaces about 4 discs in most bags from a driving putter shot then as a shorter midrange shot to a Approach disc. I do have a 3 version of Shark in only plastic it comes in, Champion for a true midrange shot I am going to be attempting to use this year.

 

[HarkeyPuck]

I carry a Zone for <200' dogleg/hyzers, FH approach & getting out of trouble. Not the most used disc in my bag. But not the least.

 

[Monocacy]

I carry a medium Harp for <200' upshots that need to fade. I also use it for open approach shots because I find the Harp very easy to range, and for putting into strong headwinds.

 

[PMantle]

How come we care if pros cycle or use OS putters when we don't throw like them?

 

[ODRB]

How come we care if pros cycle or use OS putters when we don't throw like them?

Aspirational. They play better than I do. I try to learn how to play smarter and better from people who play better than I do. And I do throw LIKE pros, just not as far and not as accurately and not as consistently.

 

[XC_Eddy]

Yes the Zone covers some of my deficiencies as a thrower. No I don't care. Yes I'm going to keep bagging it.

 

[Casey 1988]

The humorous thing to me about all this is that for the longest time I never carried any overstable discs (admittedly, some discs that are not stable to y'all were stable to my slow arm). Now I'm using the Harp (and now AvX3), the Banshee, and sometimes a Firebird or Thunderbird... and especially the AvX3 and Banshee have been helpful to my game on the courses I play. Hmmmm, is that a phase?

Nope, my dad has a Ryhno for forehand putt approach shot as well as high wind.

Brother uses Gators a DX in not beat in condition and a Champion Metal Flake both at about 173 grams as he likes that exact weight if it is not Max for putting. I got him a Putter for his birthday. It is the Stud, 2 of them at 175 grams as it feels like a just barely beat in to fly straighter DX Gator, like a Gator he uses for a putter right now and he wanted to try a new putter as his Gator is not flying good anymore it is nearly dead.

I do not, I take the Approach shot with a slow mid The Shark and power down to get the overstable Putter line. I did this with a older DX shark and now I do it with higher weight putters.

I know players that are related to me Cousins that use a overstable putter or oversable Putter shaped mid in their game.

 

[Putt for D'oh]

The question in the OP seems a bit funny. Do they not carry them or not throw them?

The reason I throw a harp is because it works for me. I can't power down a Firebird and control the skip but I can damn sure throw a VIP harp out on a straight line hard And know where it will finish. I can't jjmp/step putt and drain a 60 footer but I can flex a BT soft harp from 80' and feel confident I can make a run and if I miss it will drop soft inside my very small comfort circle for putting.

Long and short of it is. I don't throw like pros. They putt better from much farther out and power down better than I can ever hope to based on my age and time available to practice, and probably natural ability. So I have uses for them and fail to see in anyway how using them is a crutch or AM weakness.

 

[ILUVSMGS18]

I've tried, the Zone, Gator, Harp, even the P3, but I've found that I can get by with a Champ Rhyno, and a Champ RocX3, and neither really gets thrown much except if I have a headwind approach, or a short FH, though I'm getting better with my R-Pro Rhyno and KC Roc. I can comfortably say that on a fairly open hole, I can get up and down with a 2 from within 200', unless the hole design leads to a really weird and constantly changing wind pattern.