UPS is on the ball! Basket was at the house as promised. Rain held off too.
Initial impressions:
-Heavy box, 55#
-Easy one person assembly, 1/2" deep well socket was helpful. This model uses SS carriage bolts for all the connections, which are a huge improvement over the Sport.
-Immediately obvious that this is substantially stronger than a sport. Much heavier gauge base, pole, basket, and top assembly. The chain gauge is similar to the Sport, but galvanized. Came with a small packet of silicone lubricant which was recommended between the painted top assembly and pole. Mine likely won't be disassembled, but I used the grease anyways.
-The plastic/foam wrap that comes on the chains is a PITA to remove, but not a dealbreaker, and it likely protects the paint during transport.
Full disclosure, I paid $200 for a F2 SuperSport with the disclaimer that rusting might be expected due to a manufacturing issue. At that price point, this is a hell of a basket. More on this later. For putting reference, I got in 2-300 putts yesterday, so that is the current sample size. I putt hard with some hyzer. My putters are Prodigy PA1s, in 300 and 350G.
The SuperSport is a nice looking model. I really like the heft of the lower components. Feels like 9/10 of a Discatcher Pro. The chain assembly is improved over the Sport, and reminds me of a cross between a Mach2 and a Mach3. I can't remember if the Mach2 "new" has some inner chains or not, as it has been a while since I've seen one.
Putting thoughts:
-Seems like Innova designed this basket to address the most glaring weakness of the Sport, which, IMO, is the tendency of nicely centered putts to go all the way through the chains and out the back. Regardless of how hard I putted, and some intentional close range blasts, I had ZERO putts go out the back side.
-This thing absolutely lassos right side putts. I feel like this is the best catching right perimeter basket I have used.
-Design of the chain hangers (outside row) is same as Sport, meaning loops rather than slide rails. Coupled with the added weight of the extra/heavier chain, the Super Sport does not like high putts, no matter how centered. While I don't love this aspect, it doesn't make the product a bad investment.
-The inner chains are free to slide the entire length of the spokes/rods from the rounder center band to the outer ring. They seem to want to hang about midways on their own accord. I was leery of this at first, but it did not seem to be an issue. This can mean that the inner chains can hang much closer to the pole a the bottom, leading to.....
-The added inner chains help, but don't prevent pole outs. I had several. Maybe 6 total. Again, I putt hard, and this is somewhat expected on a mid-level unit. I would say that 4/6 were 50/50 when I let them go, meaning I thought they felt too hard, but could have stuck. 2/6 felt good and got rejected.
-Like the Sport, the SuperSport chains will hold discs between the chains and the pole. Not an issue for me, but it can happen, and affect the catching performance when not removed.
-The strangest thing to me is that the basket caught much better for me in the 25+ foot range than inside 20'. Very few surprises on longer putts. Kind of uncanny. Would indicate that I need to better weight my putts at short range on the SuperSport.
All in all, I am most pleased with the new model, at the price I paid for it. I likely wouldn't pay more than $250 for another, given my limited experience with it, and putting style. That being said, I will have no problem using it on the home course, and it represents a great increase in quality (both build and catching) over the Sport model.
I did take pictures, and if there is something specific you would like to see, PM me and I will pass them along.
Mud
