Good morning all! today is grackle day and the nocturnals are dropping tonight 7pm MINT time at mintdiscs.com ONLY! more announcements soon for other goodies
before we jump into the review, i have to apologize for a review coming so late, this drop came pretty quick for other reasons so i didnt get too much time with the nocturnals but i feel confident in the review still. plus life has been hectic and has been keeping me on my toes so i havent been too active on social media lately. even right now as i type this im pretty scatter brained but we push through, right?
now that i got that out of the way, lets get down to it!
so ive had the grackle proto for quite some time now, nearly 2 years to be exact! ive been waiting for this mold to come out for a long time so its exciting to see it here! a little background from me, i threw speed 7 drivers for a lot of my early disc golf career until much later when i settled on other molds that were slightly faster. ive thrown tons in varying plastics but there were 3 molds that stuck out to me during my first impressions of this disc, the teebird, the eagle and dare i say 2nd run c line fd for those that know! this disc gave me heavy 2nd run cfd vibes and that was my bread and butter for a long time before moving on. i was never really a teebird guy as much as i was into eagles but theyre very similar, just minor differences on the high end speed spectrum. the grackle reminded me of both because of the shot shaping capabilities i experienced. if you had trouble throwing the alpha because its too overstable, has too much beef on the low end or just dont have the arm for it, i think this will be a great disc to remedy that slot. or maybe you want something slower to compliment the jackalope when its a little windier or when you need something a little more stable. the grackle fits right in between both molds and i actually use it quite a bit depending on the course. sometimes i need a longer mustang shot with a lower ceiling or i need a little more finish to the left. the grackle is very comfortable in the hand for me and we all know if you're comfortable, that increases confidence to execute! the little time i had with these nocturnal turned out to be great though, they flew similarly to my eternal proto, which is what i was hoping for since its been so buttery since bagging it.
this review will be based on the nocturnal i threw and some comparisons with my et proto. all 3 were 172/173 in weight. very mild shoulder and dome, pretty perfect if you ask me. keep in mind we are also at a different elevation so what we see may vary for you. so with all of that said, lets get to the gristle of this bird!
back hand flat shots:
im sure you have seen some vids of team and owners tossing this bird to give you an idea of the flight of it but man does this bird fly well! my throwing style is mostly flat back hand shots and this disc loves to be thrown flat. 70% power or so, flat, itll fly very straight without really deviating from the line before that gentle fade kicks in. its not as LSS as the alpha but it does have some forward penetration down the the last bit of flight. this is the "mustang" shot i usually stand by when i need that little extra distance but still not have to worry about too much deviation from the intended flight. throw it with more power and youll see it drift a small bit right before it slowly reels itself back in. unless you really put it on an exaggerated anhyzer angle, the grackle really works well for those wooded shots where you need to soar between gapes without worrying about too much HSS or LSS. the flex shots are a thing of beauty to watch once you get some time with the grackle.
back hand anhyzer shots:
wanting to really test the high speed stability for it i was throwing assisted anhyzers around a light pole at the nearby park into some mild headwind (6mph). throwing them around 80%, my proto of course went about 80' more right due to it being seasoned but both nocturnal were a mere 10' apart from each other and flew beautifully as they slowly flexed out. they can handle some power but they arent power hungry as much as an alpha could be, if that makes sense. throwing into head wind has never really been a concern for me unless its hellacious hurricane winds lol even throwing on a more exaggerated anhyzer angle for a sweeping anhyzer, it wants to come back and THAT is what makes this disc a shot shaping tool worth having. ive yet to try and roll this thing but i think once it seasons and you can get a forced roller down, its going to cruise like no ones business.
backhand hyzer shots:
hyzers are easy peasy with the grackle, especially if you need more forward movement and dont want to throw something too overstable. the small rim allows it to get up to speed quickly and also gives it just the right amount of ground play for accuracy. even if its a huge spike , it still performs fairly well and consistently unless there are some wind factors in play. if you want to see some of it, check out team mate Tanner McCartney's vids where you can see some of that beautiful flight!
forehand:
now ive said it many times that i dont really have a great forehand but when i was throwing these yesterday, i couldnt help but feel a little more confident at how cleanly it came out. for me, if i throw a very overstable fairway for forehand, it sometimes causes me to overcompensate with power and then mistakes can happen. with the grackle, i felt pretty confident knowing i didnt have to put a tone of power behind it but more focus on the line and angle. once i got it down, it actually flew lazer straight when i connected with it on a flat shot. when i got a good hit on a hyzer line it held the whole way on a smooth , forward moving hyzer with minimal ground play. i think on lesser powered flat shots, this will be a go to for me in the woods when i dont want to risk overturning , it just moves so well when you focus on the shot!
final thoughts:
the grackle has impressed me with all of the time i had with it. initially i wasnt thinking it would make the bag since i havent bagged a slow fairway in such a long time. also too because i have lots of mustangs and alphas in stages that could probably do what it can but its stayed in the bag since then. sometimes i forget to try it on certain shots but i think that is going to change now that i have one im not scared of losing! the grackle can hold its own when thrown on pretty much any angle , it truly is a shot shaping beast of a mold while still remaining very controllable. in short, its the point and shoot fairway driver version of the mustang IMO.
TLDR : the grackles in your parking lot might steal your fries but these grackles are stealin birdies. fly on!
as always, if you have any questions, dont hesitate to ask. ive thrown lots of molds but ill do my best to see if i can compare it to something else. if not, im sure team mates will chime in with their experiences! #stayMINT
