How did Prodigy get so big so fast?

[scarpfish]

at first i had problems with their names as well. but i think it's far more intelligent than anything else.

Anyone who thinks Prodigy's alphanumeric stew is far more intelligent than anything else, well, ain't too intelligent.

m is a midrange, where m1 is the most stable, m2 a bit less, and so on. m5 is really understable mid. same system for drivers: d1 most (over)stable, d2 a bit less,… etc. so what are the flightcharacteristics of a prodigy f1 and f7? yep, f1 is the most stable fairway they have and f7 the most understable.

This is wonderful if say, you're six years old. Or terminally stupid. Most of us who were into disc golf pre-2013 who have had plenty of experience with Innova flight numbers or their knockoff/third party counterparts know better.

while not perfect their names are way more informative than calling discs atoms, pigs and leopards.

Its been said here before, and I'll say it again. Boring bingo number names don't market a disc like naming it after an animal, force of nature, or something otherwise awesome that men like. People want to throw a Destroyer, or a Nuke, not a D1.

The thing is, once Prodigy's hype period after poaching the big two with all of their team putting that cookie cutter "I'm on to bigger and better things" crap all over their social media got over with, well, everything cooled down considerably, which things that start that hot usually do.

So they really didn't get big fast. They just made it seem that way, and if you're more into the actual scene than the media and don't live in the Southeast, well I think you know otherwise. I honesty don't see a lot of players bagging Prodigy around here and when they do, its just a couple of molds. My backup bag has an older M1 in it, but that's about it.

 

[gdub58]

Anyone who thinks Prodigy's alphanumeric stew is far more intelligent than anything else, well, ain't too intelligent.

How about this - it's more intuitive. Is that better?

it is wonderful if say, you're six years old. Or terminally stupid. Most of us who were into disc golf pre-2013 who have had plenty of experience with Innova flight numbers or their knockoff/third party counterparts know better.

I have experience with and Innova flight numbers, as do many other people who favor Prodigy's naming system - not sure what that has to do with anything. Knowing that a Destroyer is 12/5/-1/3 does not mean you can't appreciate that by virtue of the name alone you recognize a D1 is more stable than a D3.
So I don't want to memorize the relative flight characteristics of a bunch of random names - why do you care?

been said here before, and I'll say it again. Boring bingo number names don't market a disc like naming it after an animal, force of nature, or something otherwise awesome that men like. People want to throw a Destroyer, or a Nuke, not a D1.

This is the funniest part. In my experience, people want to throw discs that feel good, fly predictably, and help them score well. I have yet to talk to anyone who has said something like "I was going to get an F2 because I really liked how it felt and how it flies for me, but that just didn't sound as cool as Rival so I didn't get it."
I would suggest that people initially try and end up throwing discs for a lot of reasons, and the name is not very high on the list. Heck, we see people on here go nuts on here for specific colors of discs - that doesn't sound very manly to me.

If you don't like Prodigy for some reason that's your prerogative, and you've made it clear that you really don't like the way they have chosen to name their discs - that's cool.

My personal preference is different - I was at the discgolfcenter.com retail store this past weekend browsing through hundreds of discs and appreciated the ease with which I could search for another understable mid and an overstable fairway driver when looking at the Prodigy section compared to any of the other manufacturers. The awesome names of animals and forces of nature? Didn't do anything for me, but there was a 10 year old kid in the store with his dad that was getting excited about them...

 

[joshmo65]

I have experience with and Innova flight numbers, as do many other people who favor Prodigy's naming system - not sure what that has to do with anything. Knowing that a Destroyer is 12/5/-1/3 does not mean you can't appreciate that by virtue of the name alone you recognize a D1 is more stable than a D3.

I disagree. I am not entirely familiar with Prodigy, but I can never remember whether the lower number is more understable or overstable. It makes it even more confusing that they reversed the old Innova numbers which I feel are more intuitive when it comes to turn and fade.

 

[Reniger]

I see a lot of people bashing the alphanumeric naming system of Prodigy... I be a lot of these people still throw P2s, MD2s, MD3s, PDs, PD2s, ect and are anxiously awaiting PDXs... Discmania never gets this kind of hate. Go figure.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

How did Prodigy get so big so fast?

'roids.

 

[sjberry2017]

I see a lot of people bashing the alphanumeric naming system of Prodigy... I be a lot of these people still throw P2s, MD2s, MD3s, PDs, PD2s, ect and are anxiously awaiting PDXs... Discmania never gets this kind of hate. Go figure.

Discmania also provides flight numbers which give you a general idea of how the disc will behave though; with Prodigy you have to find one of their nonexistent flight charts or go on the inflight guide to figure out how anything is going to fly.

A D1 may be more stable than a D3, but without flight numbers or a flight chart I don't know how they'll fly for me. They could both be flippy as heck or both meathooks for me, but all I know is the D3 is going to be more flippy or less overstable of the two, which doesn't really help me too much.

 

[GoldeyeGolf]

I see a lot of people bashing the alphanumeric naming system of Prodigy... I be a lot of these people still throw P2s, MD2s, MD3s, PDs, PD2s, ect and are anxiously awaiting PDXs... Discmania never gets this kind of hate. Go figure.

Yeah, I've noticed this also. Prodigy seems to be the only major company that gets consistently bashed online. They must have rubbed some people the wrong way when they started out.

Prodigy's naming system seems perfectly logical to me. I don't have any of their product myself, but their not having scary animal or mythic themed names wouldn't stop me from trying them. But going after the 10 year old mentality seems to be the most successful sales route.

 

[BirdieMachine]

Prodigy isn't big, They can't have more then 5% market share I bet.

 

[DanJon]

I see a lot of people bashing the alphanumeric naming system of Prodigy... I be a lot of these people still throw P2s, MD2s, MD3s, PDs, PD2s, ect and are anxiously awaiting PDXs... Discmania never gets this kind of hate. Go figure.

Discmania was also around before Prodigy.

Maybe they should have named their discs the Restroyer, Feebird and Soc.

 

[Aim For The Chains]

Also had names like jackal freak frenzy etc..

 

[gdub58]

I disagree. I am not entirely familiar with Prodigy, but I can never remember whether the lower number is more understable or overstable. It makes it even more confusing that they reversed the old Innova numbers which I feel are more intuitive when it comes to turn and fade.

Oh c'mon - it may have been counter to what you were used to initially but I have faith that you and others can eventually remember 1=most stable.

I suppose part of the reason I like it is because I'm old and have much less room left in my brain to associate random names with their characteristics that I prefer what I consider to be a simpler system to remember...

 

[prerube]

Prodigy had a smart plan. They got a huge number of pros and pumped up their brand in the first year to get people hooked.
MVP used overmold to differenciate themselves to grow.
Trilogy did not get big over night, Lat, dynamic, and westside just realised it made sense to not hide their associations with each other.

 

[threevok]

I'm glad they came out.

 

[Reniger]

Discmania was also around before Prodigy.

Maybe they should have named their discs the Restroyer, Feebird and Soc.

FREEEBIRRRD!

 

[scarpfish]

How about this - it's more intuitive. Is that better?

Yes, if one is six, or terminally stupid.

I have experience with and Innova flight numbers, as do many other people who favor Prodigy's naming system - not sure what that has to do with anything. Knowing that a Destroyer is 12/5/-1/3 does not mean you can't appreciate that by virtue of the name alone you recognize a D1 is more stable than a D3.

Perhaps, but knowing Innova (or some non-Innova company if you want to check a third party resource) made a 12/5/-1/3 disc can give you insight on what disc might be a hair faster, slower, fades a little more, or glides less. A D1 being more stable than a D3 tells you that a D1 is more stable than a D3. It also tells you that if a company uses four consecutive numbers to show stability that gives them no room to make future molds (except on the US side which they could conceivably go forever), unless they want to get fractions or negative integers involved. Prodigy I guess decided to add more letters, which to me throws the whole "D is for distance, M is for midrange" scheme off its rails.

So I don't want to memorize the relative flight characteristics of a bunch of random names - why do you care?

Who said you have to memorize them? They're stamped on all new Innova discs and if you needed the numbers on a mold you don't have available, they're easy to look up. There's no concrete science behind them anyway.

This is the funniest part. In my experience, people want to throw discs that feel good, fly predictably, and help them score well. I have yet to talk to anyone who has said something like "I was going to get an F2 because I really liked how it felt and how it flies for me, but that just didn't sound as cool as Rival so I didn't get it."

The thing is, a disc consumer doesn't always get to test the merch before they buy. In online sales, they don't even get to feel. What does that bingo number name do for the guy who hasn't thrown either mold and only has enough money to pick one? Companies attach sexy names to everything from cars to gadgets to craft beers for a reason. It helps that product stand out for consumers that have nothing else to go on.

I would suggest that people initially try and end up throwing discs for a lot of reasons, and the name is not very high on the list.

I'd suggest that too, but to Joe Q. Discgolfer who just started last week, that sort of critical reasoning hasn't sunk in yet.

If you don't like Prodigy for some reason that's your prerogative, and you've made it clear that you really don't like the way they have chosen to name their discs - that's cool.

I have no problems with Prodigy whatsoever, except in perhaps the lame way they went about marketing themselves like the second coming. They make quality plastic. I have a few of their molds. But once you put their stuff into the sea of all discs that I can potentially buy, they're rather unexceptional molds with pedestrian names.

My personal preference is different - I was at the discgolfcenter.com retail store this past weekend browsing through hundreds of discs and appreciated the ease with which I could search for another understable mid and an overstable fairway driver when looking at the Prodigy section compared to any of the other manufacturers.

Which only serves you if you're going to buy nothing but Prodigy.

The awesome names of animals and forces of nature? Didn't do anything for me, but there was a 10 year old kid in the store with his dad that was getting excited about them...

And what? I could have walked into the DD store in the days before they took the non-Trilogy plastic out and seen a 10 year old in there getting excited about their discs. 10 year old kids get excited about a lot of things. They're also very fickle, and they usually move on to other exciting things by the time they turn 13.

 

[Keller]

Discmania also provides flight numbers which give you a general idea of how the disc will behave though; with Prodigy you have to find one of their nonexistent flight charts or go on the inflight guide to figure out how anything is going to fly.

I have no problem with the prodigy naming system, seems a bit unimaginative though and has no image imprint on the brain when I ask someone what they threw for that shot. Roc, Buzzz, Predator, Destroyer or Teebird have some mental stick where F2, D3 and M1 just seem blah.

When I was new I cut my teeth on Innova's flight numbers and have a general idea what to expect from a disc (not always perfect, I know) but a starting point. With Prodigy you get F3, that's it! Well? Is it like a Banshee, Eagle, Teebird or FD? If I walk into a shop with no charts and no fore knowledge of Prodigy's discs, I'm no longer of the mind to blindly try discs and there isn't enough Prodigy in my area to warrant an impulse disc purchase.

Then again, they could have flight numbers like Westside that are pretty much worthless. The only Westside discs I have ever owned/thrown that were even close to the numbers given were a Harp and Bard. But that's a different topic.

 

[lyleoross]

Put me down for approving of the Prodigy naming system. I've never been that enamored with coolio names anyway, and their logic is sound. They can insert between a D1 and a D2 by the way, it's called a D1.5, oh my.

I don't even use their discs, but when you can look at a disc and immediately know what it's place in your bag should be, you're starting off in a decent place. Perhaps it's because I too am an old guy?

The main reason I don't use their discs is that their smallest driver, rim width, is 23mm. The biggest I use is 22mm. Every other slot in my bag is filled with discs that I know well enough, not to change.

Remember who started Prodigy. Guys who've been around the sport forever. They all had experience in the sport and disc production if I recall. That means they were ready to go and didn't have to go through many of the birthing pains that others did. Combine that with the simple enough fact that Innova, Discraft and to a lesser extent, Gateway, have built the sport for them, i.e. a good time to enter; it isn't hard to figure out. Does anyone here think Nike would have sold Golf Clubs as easily as they did if it weren't for the history built by so many other manufacturers? In other words, the guys on top were a lot smarter than guys who picked Pros, they picked an opportune time, and brought a lot of experience to the table.

 

[@iDiscGolf]

What's this Prodigy Street Teams?

 

[JeremyKShort]

I pretty sure latitude 64 was pretty popular before dynamic disc came along. they had a good lineup of discs at least in my area.

Lat 64 was definitely around before the DD team up, but they were a smaller niche in the market. I really didn't start seeing their stuff around, aside from a disc here or there, until the trilogy days.

Granted, local scenes can look very different. I just didn't see a lot of Lat around here prior to DD. Now they have more and less taken the number two spot from Discraft here.

 

[Aim For The Chains]

Remember who started Prodigy. Guys who've been around the sport forever. They all had experience in the sport and disc production if I recall. That means they were ready to go and didn't have to go through many of the birthing pains that others did. Combine that with the simple enough fact that Innova, Discraft and to a lesser extent, Gateway, have built the sport for them, i.e. a good time to enter; it isn't hard to figure out. Does anyone here think Nike would have sold Golf Clubs as easily as they did if it weren't for the history built by so many other manufacturers? In other words, the guys on top were a lot smarter than guys who picked Pros, they picked an opportune time, and brought a lot of experience to the table.

Lol. One of the founders said peace out and they had some major mishaps when first putting out discs. The mids were basically renamed/retooled. I do love a good oval shaped disc too specially one that the color disapears from UV light... :|