Glow Golf…

For me, the single best thing about playing disc golf at night is that it’s fun. To be specific, it is 1.7 metric tons of fun. If you’ve never done it, you are seriously missing out.

There’s something different about it. It’s just you and your friends running around in the forest at night with discs that light up. It quickly brings out the child in everyone. All you need is a few discs, a way to see those discs, a course, and darkness.

When I first started playing glow golf, I used to bring my entire bag of discs. Bad move. It’s not a regular round. It’s just about getting out and having fun. You don’t need your full bag to do that. Over the years, I’ve pared down my glow bag to just 3-5 discs. That’s all you need for a great time playing disc golf at night.

I started by using glow plastic versions of discs I already carry. Honestly glow plastic is almost useless for the purpose of playing at night (although I do love how it feels and flies, especially my MoonShine Trespasses). It’s not very bright. It also loses it’s glow very quickly so you spend more time charging up the disc than throwing it. Even when charged, it can still be hard to find at night if you are off the fairway at all.

I quickly moved to taping lights on my discs. I started by using some little LEDs made for night fishing and then moved on to these that you can get at many online stores. These were a huge upgrade. Until it gets really cold or you hit a tree hard.

In the cold, the tape you use to hold them on the disc freezes and stops sticking. If you use tape where that doesn’t happen, you now have tape that leaves a sticky mess on your discs when you want to take it off. I’ve had many a shot that hit a tree where the disc went one way while the light went the other. Another problem you’ll run into is that if you hit a tree hard enough, sometimes those lights break or shut off. It’s very disheartening to watch your disc’s light wink out of existence mid flight leaving you with a very slim chance of actually finding that disc until tomorrow.

Because of these problems, I end up playing less glow golf than I’d like to. Between preparation and on course maintenance, there is a bit of a headache factor involved in a round of nighttime disc golf. Until now….

Enter Nite Ize…

When Nite Ize contacted me to see if I wanted to review their discs, I wasn’t too sure. But I thought they looked pretty cool and I already use a bunch of Nite Ize products. From Carabiners to Better Bands, I have always been very happy with their stuff. So I said sure, why not?

A couple of weeks later, a box of goodies from Nite Ize was at my door. Inside was 6 discs (2 putters, 2 mids, and drivers) along with a bunch of their Spotlit lights for clipping on the basket at night.

I want to start by saying I was very skeptical at first. I pictured these being like the Wham O golf discs or something Toys R Us would make as a house brand product. I was not expecting them to be useable for disc golf. Cool? Sure. Neat to throw in the dark? Yep. Discs that an experienced disc golfer would be happy using? I didn’t think so.

I was wrong.

The Discs…

The first thing you’ll notice about these discs is the plastic. It’s got a good amount of grip to it. It feels good in the hand and I was confident throwing it.

The design of the discs does take a bit of getting used to, but it’s really no big deal. There are these ribs that radiate out from the center location of the LED light. Nite Ize calls it a fiber-optic array. It takes the light from the LED and spreads it across the entire disc (which make it look extra cool). Where each rib hits the rim, you can feel it. A simple adjustment to grip the disc between the ribs is all you need to compensate.

Another thing I noticed about these ribs is that they gave the disc some more overall stiffness than you find with normal golf discs. I didn’t really noticed it until my first hard tree hit. They make a sound like no other disc and you can hear how solid they are when they hit.

Speaking of that, while I always cringe when a disc with a taped on light hits a tree, I grew to be very confident with the Nite Ize product. They hold up extremely well and not once did the light ever break or turn off. On inspection, the discs themselves hold up well too. I hit several trees pretty hard and none are worse for the wear. They didn’t change in flight either.

All of that together means you’d be hard pressed to lose one of these discs at night. The lighting arrangement on them is really great. They are fun to watch fly through the air and you can see them from a mile away. The LED will cycle through a bunch of colors (called disco mode) or you can lock it on your favorite. My first few rounds were played in disco mode, which I liked. After that I found it useful to lock each disc on a different color. That way it was easy to reach in my NutSac and grab the right disc without really looking too hard. I have landed on red for the driver, purple for the mid, and green for the putter (money baby!).

That leaves us with how they fly and overall they work really well. They all have the characteristics of discs that I’d select for a 3 disc round.

The Driver…

The driver has a wide rim. It’s a little wider than I prefer, but it ends up not being a problem. The driver is very controllable. Thrown hard, it has a nice bit of turn. I wouldn’t call it a turn over disc, but it does sit up and ride very nicely. At the end of its flight, it always faded.

Thrown with a good amount of hyzer, I could get it to fly a nice smooth right to left arc (RHBH). Thrown flat it flexed in a nice tight S with great distance. Thrown anny, it would hold the turn for 70% of it’s flight before fighting out at the end. It’s pretty much exactly what you would want in a controllable driver.

The only issue with the driver was in headwinds. I found that I had to back off a little and add some hyzer to keep it from flipping completely. Just a few throws, though, and I was comfortable using it in a moderate wind.  Luckily, night golf is mostly calm in my experience. Even on a windy day, the evenings often calm down considerably.

The Mid…

The mid reminded me of a Roc in its feel in the hand. It has the same profile and moderate dome you find in Champ Rocs. Appearance is where the similarity ends. The mid was the most understable of the 3 discs for me. Full power throws caused it to turn for most of its flight. Like the driver, though, it always came back at the end. It never simply flipped without coming back.

Powered down, I was able to get some really nice straight flights. It has decent glide too. Just like the driver, it worked on a variety of lines. I found myself wishing for just a little more stability, but that’s being picky. Overall, it’s a great all purpose mid.

As for wind, don’t throw the mid into a headwind. It’s the one disc of the three that just won’t work for you in that condition.

The Putter…

And now for the putter, my favorite of the three discs. With a profile similar to a beadless Aviar or a slightly deeper Pure, it feels great in my hand. I really enjoy both throwing and putting with this disc.

Putting with it does take some adjustment because of those aforementioned ribs on the bottom of the disc. After a while, though, they actually started to serve as a guide for where I place my fingers. For the most part, you can aim straight at the basket out to about the edge of the circle. It wasn’t until about 30 feet out that a little fade started to appear at the end of its flight.

Driving and up shots is where this disc shines (pun intended). You can really rip into this thing and it just takes the power without flipping. Step up and give it a good huck and it goes straight with a tiny fade at the end. On any given round I throw the putter a good bit more than the mid. If you were to buy just one of the 3 Nite Ize discs, and you are comfortable driving with putters, I would strongly encourage you to get the putter as your one Nite Ize disc.

Conclusion…

That said, I really love having all 3 discs for a glow round. I never find myself wishing I had spent the time to tape lights on my regular discs. Instead I just grab the Nite Ize set and head out to play. Overall, as an experienced disc golfer, I’m happy to play regular glow rounds with them.

In the end, we disc golfers buy a lot of discs that end up not getting used. We try new plastic a lot and can only carry so much. If you are anything like me you have a stack or 5 of unused discs somewhere in your house. The Nite Ize FlashFlight set won’t be one of those forgotten discs. If you currently play the occasional round of glow golf, or if you want to start, get yourself this set of discs. It won’t end up in one of those unused piles. Not to mention they have the most important flight characteristic of all… They are really, really fun.

Because Nite Ize was generous in sending us product to test, we’ve got a bunch of stuff to give away this time. We are giving away a driver, a mid, and a putter. We are also giving away a handful of the Spotlit keychain lights. All you have to do is be subscribed to the blog to be entered. Winners will be drawn on Wednesday, Feb 10, 2016 and will be notified via email. If you aren’t subscribed, simply enter your email below. Good luck!!!

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The post Nite Ize Flashflight LED Disc Review appeared first on Mind Body Disc - Disc Golf Blog.

The Quick and Dirty on the Westside Discs Sampo

Some of you wrote to tell us that our disc reviews were a little long. While we aren’t going to change that (we’re a little anal and like to be detail oriented), we are going to add a quick and dirty summary to the top of all of our reviews. This way you can get in, get out, and get on with your life!

The Sampo is a pretty solid all around driver. If you are looking to slim down your bag to only one driver mold, the Sampo could definitely do that for you. It does a lot of things pretty well.

It’s best at going straight. It will hold a hyzer. It will hold an anhyzer with modest flex at the end. It’s a very workable driver. It’s got a very nice combination of minimal high speed turn and low speed fade.

It’s got some pretty solid glide which gives it surprising distance potential for a smaller rimmed speed 10 disc.

If you are a fan of the Escape, but would like something that won’t have as much turn, you’ll like the Sampo.

Oh, and it’s got kind of a dumb stamp.

If you’d like to try one out, you can get them at the Dynamic Discs site here, or on Infinite Discs here.

Now on to the full review…

Good Disc, Bad Stamp

One of the things I think is pretty cool about Westside Discs is that they name all of the discs after characters or things from the Finnish epic poem, the Kalevala. I really dig most of their disc names and stamps. I have a lot fun researching the mythical heritage of each disc’s name and stamp.

Here’s how Wikipedia describes the Sampo:

In Finnish mythology, the Sampo or Sammas was a magical artifact of indeterminate type constructed by Ilmarinen that brought good fortune to its holder. When the Sampo was stolen, it is said that Ilmarinen’s homeland fell upon hard times and he sent an expedition to retrieve it, but in the ensuing battle it was smashed and lost at sea.

OK, the Sampo is a magical artifact, I can get down with that. So why is there a picture of the broken down furnace from Freddy Krueger’s basement on the front of the disc?! Are we completely out of inspiring images for hot stamps? It’s a picture of something most people hide in their basements or equipment closets. I’m pretty sure that when you show people around your house, you don’t take them to your boiler and say, “Hey, check out our really cool piece of HVAC equipment!”.

Honestly, I’m not sure why it bugs me so much, but it’s got to be one of the top ten dumbest things I’ve seen stamped on a disc.

Before anyone writes me hate mail pointing out that the stamp has nothing to do with anything… I get that. It’s my own personal opinion and it probably doesn’t belong in a review that’s designed to help you decide if you want to buy one or not. But a furnace? Really?

Anyway, let’s get to the important stuff and talk about the disc itself and how it flies.

The Sampo turns out to be a pretty solid all around disc. It falls in what many people are calling the “tweener” category. It’s not quite a super long distance driver, yet it’s got more D than your typical fairway plastic.

For me, I was very impressed with its straight line performance. I could crank on it pretty hard and it just went straight. When I got up to about 90%-95% power, it would show a little turn. That turn basically kept it airborne longer, it did not make the disc go right in any meaningful amount.

It also held a hyzer line well. Even when thrown into a modest headwind, it resisted sitting up flat and/or turning over. I would call this a very stable disc. When thrown flat, it just went straight with a kind of settling fade at the end of its flight. At lower speeds, the fade was more pronounced, but never out of hand.

One of the unique characteristics of this disc is that it has the least amount of fade of any disc I’ve thrown with this much high speed stability (resistance to turn). Any other disc I can think of that resists turn like the Sampo has a much more pronounced fade.

As far as how it feels, I’m undecided. It does have a flatter top, which I like. But it has kind of a thicker rounded shoulder that took some getting used to. The rim is a medium size and should be manageable for most.

Now For the Details

Westside Discs Describes the Sampo…

“The fairway driver that you have been looking for and the one that will instantly find a spot in your bag. The Sampo gets great distance with minimal effort due to how smoothly it comes out of the hand and it’s great glide. The flight path is very neutral which makes it great for long, straight, low shots. Pick up the Sampo today and pick up strokes on your competition tomorrow.”

Speed: 10
Glide: 5
Turn: 0
Fade: 2

InBounds Flight Chart

Agree or Disagree?

I’m not sure I totally agree with the chart or with Westside’s numbers. The speed rating of 10 is pretty spot on. The glide is at least a 5. The high speed turn is where I differ the most. If you are getting it out to the almost 400′ the chart above shows, it definitely turns more than indicated. Not a lot, maybe a -.5 on a really strong pull, but some. I’d also put the fade at 1.5. As I stated above, I was most impressed with the combination of very low turn combined with only a little fade.

If you changed the distance thrown to the 300′-350′ range, then Westside’s numbers are spot on. You’ll get no turn at that power level and the fade will be slightly more pronounced.

Physical Description

The Sampo is a flat topped disc with a rounded shoulder. Bigger hands will feel more of the flatness. Smaller hands will feel more of the rounded rim. It’s got the rim width of a fairway driver. It also has a barely noticeable micro bead. Based on what I know about disc design, this is a big part of what gives it its stability. I’m not a fan of beaded discs, but I honestly don’t feel the bead when gripping it for a throw. Here’s some images to help…

How does it fly?

Hyzer

As you would imagine with a disc that doesn’t really turn, it holds a hyzer nicely. On a really good rip, I could get it to flip up to flat, but it mostly just wanted to hold its hyzer line for the whole flight. The limited fade of the Sampo also meant it didn’t dump off at the end. It just kind of held the left hand turn all the way to the ground.

Flat

For me, this is where this disc shines. Throw it flat and it goes straight and glides for days. The fade doesn’t kick in until late in its flight. Throwing this in the woods was fun because of this combination of a straight flight and lots of glide. It didn’t need a ton of height under it to get some very nice straight line distance in low ceiling situations. The lack of high speed turn also meant that I could really jump on it and not worry about it heading right into the trees when thrown in tight corridors.

Anhyzer

While the Sampo will hold an anny, it does not turn any more than whatever line you put on it. It will start to fight back to flat late in its flight. It’s a very workable disc. If you weren’t carrying anything understable, you could definitely get away with using this for moderate right turns.

Headwind

The Sampo can hold its own in light to medium winds. I didn’t get the chance to throw it in high wind, but being that it’s almost winter here in Chicago, I did get to test it in some decent gusts. A headwind did tend to push it right just a tic, but nothing too terrible. The low speed fade all but disappeared when thrown into the wind.

Tailwind

In a tailwind, the Sampo still liked to go straight. It’s fade would kick in a little earlier and it seemed to decrease in glide some, but it was reliable and didn’t turn into something overstable like many discs do in this condition.

Distance

On a pull that was fast enough to get the Sampo to show some turn, it was breaking the 360′ mark with little problem. It’s definitely longer than most fairway drivers but doesn’t quite get out there with the big dog distance discs.

How’s your arm?

You have a cannon and your drives are 450′ plus…

You will see a nice, slight turn on a flat throw. You’ll also be able to get the Sampo to flip up to flat and go straight for a long flight. You’ll like the Sampo because it will not turn over where other discs normally do. If you are used to carrying discs that fade more than you’d like just because that’s what you need to carry to eliminate high speed turn, you should like the Sampo a lot.

You have a gun, but not a cannon, and you can drive 325′ – 400’…

This will be a great straight driver with a minimal fade at the end. You’ll be able to get nice flights out of the Sampo on pretty much any line you throw it on. It won’t punish you for a little off axis torque and is a relatively forgiving disc at your arm speed. You should find it to be very consistent.

You have more of a BB gun than a cannon for an arm and your drives are under 300’…

You will find all the same flight characteristics as described for people throwing 325′-400′. You will just have less distance. Because the Sampo doesn’t want to fade a lot in the first place, you shouldn’t see a huge increase in fade at lower power. The Sampo would be a good disc for you as it will perform well now and will grow with you as your arm speed increases. You won’t suddenly find it flipping on you one day when you start throwing further.

What’s it similar to?

In the distance category, the Sampo is unique. I wouldn’t say that any “distance” disc has the combination of resistance to turn and minimal low speed fade that the Sampo does. If we turn to fairway drivers, there are a few discs that come to mind that will have a very similar flight lines, but none have the distance potential that the Sampo does. Those fairway discs are the Innova TL, Legacy Rival, and the Westside Stag.

Summary

As I mentioned a few times, the thing that sets the Sampo apart is its combination of very low high speed turn and minimal fade. That’s a desirable combo and it comes in handy a lot out on the course. The biggest benefit will be to those of you who don’t carry a lot of discs. If you were to have to play with only one driver, you could make a very, very good case for that driver being the Sampo. It’s long enough to cover distance duties. It’s controllable enough to cover fairway duties. It’s good in the woods and it’s good out in the open. It reliable and forgiving. It’s a very nice all around disc.

So that leaves the question of does it make my bag? The answer to that is “kind of”. Honestly, for my full time, full assortment bag… It’s not going to go in. While the Sampo is very good at a lot of things, I’ve found other discs that are great at their specialties. That works because I typically am not trying to limit myself to one driver.

For my winter time bag, on the other hand, it’s definitely in. First, I limit myself to about 6 discs in the winter. I carry a Fluid Enforcer, an Elasto World, a Frost Claymore, a gummy BioFuzion Verdict, and a Gold Line Pure. That leaves one slot for a control driver. With only one slot open, the Sampo is a shoe in. Second, the Sampo comes in Westside’s Elasto plastic. I started playing with the softer plastics last winter and really enjoyed the added grip and pliability they brought to cold weather play.

The interesting thing will be seeing if after playing with the Sampo all winter, will it find it’s way into my regular season bag? Only time will tell. I’m looking forward to getting to know it better in the next few months and I’ll keep you all posted.

Win this disc!!!

Do you want to win our review sample of the Westside Sampo shown in all the pictures? Make sure to subscribe to the blog and you’ll not only be entered to win the Sampo, but you’ll automatically be entered every time we do a review in the future! Subscribe now and we’ll pick a winner on Thanksgiving Thursday, 2015!!! Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for the announcement of the winner.

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LHBH / RHFH Version:

LHBH/RHFH Version of the Review…

The Quick and Dirty on the Westside Discs Sampo

Some of you wrote to tell us that our disc reviews were a little long. While we aren’t going to change that (we’re a little anal and like to be detail oriented), we are going to add a quick and dirty summary to the top of all of our reviews. This way you can get in, get out, and get on with your life!

The Sampo is a pretty solid all around driver. If you are looking to slim down your bag to only one driver mold, the Sampo could definitely do that for you. It does a lot of things pretty well.

It’s best at going straight. It will hold a hyzer. It will hold an anhyzer with modest flex at the end. It’s a very workable driver. It’s got a very nice combination of minimal high speed turn and low speed fade.

It’s got some pretty solid glide which gives it surprising distance potential for a smaller rimmed speed 10 disc.

If you are a fan of the Escape, but would like something that won’t have as much turn, you’ll like the Sampo.

Oh, and it’s got kind of a dumb stamp.

If you’d like to try one out, you can get them at the Dynamic Discs site here, or on Infinite Discs here.

Now on to the full review…

Good Disc, Bad Stamp

One of the things I think is pretty cool about Westside Discs is that they name all of the discs after characters or things from the Finnish epic poem, the Kalevala. I really dig most of their disc names and stamps. I have a lot fun researching the mythical heritage of each disc’s name and stamp.

Here’s how Wikipedia describes the Sampo:

In Finnish mythology, the Sampo or Sammas was a magical artifact of indeterminate type constructed by Ilmarinen that brought good fortune to its holder. When the Sampo was stolen, it is said that Ilmarinen’s homeland fell upon hard times and he sent an expedition to retrieve it, but in the ensuing battle it was smashed and lost at sea.

OK, the Sampo is a magical artifact, I can get down with that. So why is there a picture of the broken down furnace from Freddy Krueger’s basement on the front of the disc?! Are we completely out of inspiring images for hot stamps? It’s a picture of something most people hide in their basements or equipment closets. I’m pretty sure that when you show people around your house, you don’t take them to your boiler and say, “Hey, check out our really cool piece of HVAC equipment!”.

Honestly, I’m not sure why it bugs me so much, but it’s got to be one of the top ten dumbest things I’ve seen stamped on a disc.

Before anyone writes me hate mail pointing out that the stamp has nothing to do with anything… I get that. It’s my own personal opinion and it probably doesn’t belong in a review that’s designed to help you decide if you want to buy one or not. But a furnace? Really?

Anyway, let’s get to the important stuff and talk about the disc itself and how it flies.

The Sampo turns out to be a pretty solid all around disc. It falls in what many people are calling the “tweener” category. It’s not quite a super long distance driver, yet it’s got more D than your typical fairway plastic.

For me, I was very impressed with its straight line performance. I could crank on it pretty hard and it just went straight. When I got up to about 90%-95% power, it would show a little turn. That turn basically kept it airborne longer, it did not make the disc go left in any meaningful amount.

It also held a hyzer line well. Even when thrown into a modest headwind, it resisted sitting up flat and/or turning over. I would call this a very stable disc. When thrown flat, it just went straight with a kind of settling fade at the end of its flight. At lower speeds, the fade was more pronounced, but never out of hand.

One of the unique characteristics of this disc is that it has the least amount of fade of any disc I’ve thrown with this much high speed stability (resistance to turn). Any other disc I can think of that resists turn like the Sampo has a much more pronounced fade.

As far as how it feels, I’m undecided. It does have a flatter top, which I like. But it has kind of a thicker rounded shoulder that took some getting used to. The rim is a medium size and should be manageable for most.

Now For the Details

Westside Discs Describes the Sampo…

“The fairway driver that you have been looking for and the one that will instantly find a spot in your bag. The Sampo gets great distance with minimal effort due to how smoothly it comes out of the hand and it’s great glide. The flight path is very neutral which makes it great for long, straight, low shots. Pick up the Sampo today and pick up strokes on your competition tomorrow.”

Speed: 10
Glide: 5
Turn: 0
Fade: 2

InBounds Flight Chart

Agree or Disagree?

I’m not sure I totally agree with the chart or with Westside’s numbers. The speed rating of 10 is pretty spot on. The glide is at least a 5. The high speed turn is where I differ the most. If you are getting it out to the almost 400′ the chart above shows, it definitely turns more than indicated. Not a lot, maybe a -.5 on a really strong pull, but some. I’d also put the fade at 1.5. As I stated above, I was most impressed with the combination of very low turn combined with only a little fade.

If you changed the distance thrown to the 300′-350′ range, then Westside’s numbers are spot on. You’ll get no turn at that power level and the fade will be slightly more pronounced.

Physical Description

The Sampo is a flat topped disc with a rounded shoulder. Bigger hands will feel more of the flatness. Smaller hands will feel more of the rounded rim. It’s got the rim width of a fairway driver. It also has a barely noticeable micro bead. Based on what I know about disc design, this is a big part of what gives it its stability. I’m not a fan of beaded discs, but I honestly don’t feel the bead when gripping it for a throw. Here’s some images to help…

How does it fly?

Hyzer

As you would imagine with a disc that doesn’t really turn, it holds a hyzer nicely. On a really good rip, I could get it to flip up to flat, but it mostly just wanted to hold its hyzer line for the whole flight. The limited fade of the Sampo also meant it didn’t dump off at the end. It just kind of held the right hand turn all the way to the ground.

Flat

For me, this is where this disc shines. Throw it flat and it goes straight and glides for days. The fade doesn’t kick in until late in its flight. Throwing this in the woods was fun because of this combination of a straight flight and lots of glide. It didn’t need a ton of height under it to get some very nice straight line distance in low ceiling situations. The lack of high speed turn also meant that I could really jump on it and not worry about it heading left into the trees when thrown in tight corridors.

Anhyzer

While the Sampo will hold an anny, it does not turn any more than whatever line you put on it. It will start to fight back to flat late in its flight. It’s a very workable disc. If you weren’t carrying anything understable, you could definitely get away with using this for moderate left turns.

Headwind

The Sampo can hold its own in light to medium winds. I didn’t get the chance to throw it in high wind, but being that it’s almost winter here in Chicago, I did get to test it in some decent gusts. A headwind did tend to push it left just a tic, but nothing too terrible. The low speed fade all but disappeared when thrown into the wind.

Tailwind

In a tailwind, the Sampo still liked to go straight. It’s fade would kick in a little earlier and it seemed to decrease in glide some, but it was reliable and didn’t turn into something overstable like many discs do in this condition.

Distance

On a pull that was fast enough to get the Sampo to show some turn, it was breaking the 360′ mark with little problem. It’s definitely longer than most fairway drivers but doesn’t quite get out there with the big dog distance discs.

How’s your arm?

You have a cannon and your drives are 450′ plus…

You will see a nice, slight turn on a flat throw. You’ll also be able to get the Sampo to flip up to flat and go straight for a long flight. You’ll like the Sampo because it will not turn over where other discs normally do. If you are used to carrying discs that fade more than you’d like just because that’s what you need to carry to eliminate high speed turn, you should like the Sampo a lot.

You have a gun, but not a cannon, and you can drive 325′ – 400’…

This will be a great straight driver with a minimal fade at the end. You’ll be able to get nice flights out of the Sampo on pretty much any line you throw it on. It won’t punish you for a little off axis torque and is a relatively forgiving disc at your arm speed. You should find it to be very consistent.

You have more of a BB gun than a cannon for an arm and your drives are under 300’…

You will find all the same flight characteristics as described for people throwing 325′-400′. You will just have less distance. Because the Sampo doesn’t want to fade a lot in the first place, you shouldn’t see a huge increase in fade at lower power. The Sampo would be a good disc for you as it will perform well now and will grow with you as your arm speed increases. You won’t suddenly find it flipping on you one day when you start throwing further.

What’s it similar to?

In the distance category, the Sampo is unique. I wouldn’t say that any “distance” disc has the combination of resistance to turn and minimal low speed fade that the Sampo does. If we turn to fairway drivers, there are a few discs that come to mind that will have a very similar flight lines, but none have the distance potential that the Sampo does. Those fairway discs are the Innova TL, Legacy Rival, and the Westside Stag.

Summary

As I mentioned a few times, the thing that sets the Sampo apart is its combination of very low high speed turn and minimal fade. That’s a desirable combo and it comes in handy a lot out on the course. The biggest benefit will be to those of you who don’t carry a lot of discs. If you were to have to play with only one driver, you could make a very, very good case for that driver being the Sampo. It’s long enough to cover distance duties. It’s controllable enough to cover fairway duties. It’s good in the woods and it’s good out in the open. It reliable and forgiving. It’s a very nice all around disc.

So that leaves the question of does it make my bag? The answer to that is “kind of”. Honestly, for my full time, full assortment bag… It’s not going to go in. While the Sampo is very good at a lot of things, I’ve found other discs that are great at their specialties. That works because I typically am not trying to limit myself to one driver.

For my winter time bag, on the other hand, it’s definitely in. First, I limit myself to about 6 discs in the winter. I carry a Fluid Enforcer, an Elasto World, a Frost Claymore, a gummy BioFuzion Verdict, and a Gold Line Pure. That leaves one slot for a control driver. With only one slot open, the Sampo is a shoe in. Second, the Sampo comes in Westside’s Elasto plastic. I started playing with the softer plastics last winter and really enjoyed the added grip and pliability they brought to cold weather play.

The interesting thing will be seeing if after playing with the Sampo all winter, will it find it’s way into my regular season bag? Only time will tell. I’m looking forward to getting to know it better in the next few months and I’ll keep you all posted.

Win this disc!!!

Do you want to win our review sample of the Westside Sampo shown in all the pictures? Make sure to subscribe to the blog and you’ll not only be entered to win the Sampo, but you’ll automatically be entered every time we do a review in the future! Subscribe now and we’ll pick a winner on Thanksgiving Thursday, 2015!!! Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for the announcement of the winner.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The post Westside Discs Sampo Review appeared first on Mind Body Disc - Disc Golf Blog.

Manufacturer’s Description

Here’s what Dynamic Discs has to say about the Convict:

Before someone becomes a Felon they must be convicted. It is the same in the disc golf world. Dynamic Discs introduces the Convict.

It is a great complement to the Felon with the same feel in the hand but with less stability. The Convict is perfect for those times when you need a straight disc for most of the shot but have to have some stability at the end of the flight. The Convict can also hold the anhyzer you give it before coming back to flat. This disc allows for you to shape your shots to avoid all of the obstacles that are trying to increase your scores.

Throw with conviction. Throw a Convict.

Speed: 9 Glide: 4 Turn: -0.5 Fade: 3

Max Weight: 176g

Inbounds Flight guide

Since DD compares the Convict to the Felon, I thought I’d include the Inbounds flight chart for both of them so you can see a comparison:

Make sure and make the Inbounds Flight Guide part of any disc research you do, it’s the best resource for disc flight information on the web!

After throwing the Convict for a month, I’d say the above chart is accurate for medium strength throwers. If you can throw 300-350, that’s pretty much the flight you can expect.

First Impressions

When I first took the Convict out of the mailer I was immediately struck by how good it felt in my hand. The most notable feature is that it is flat. I’m talking pre Columbus Earth flat. I love flat discs. This was a good start.

The rim is also manageable. You’d expect this from a fairway driver. I prefer not to throw the Nuke style giant rimmed discs. Even at 6’6″ with gigantic hands, I can’t get down with most wide rimmed drivers. The Convict felt great with it’s medium width rim.

As usual, Dynamic delivers what is, in my opinion, some of the best feeling plastic in the game. Both their Lucid and their Fuzion plastics feel great with just the right amount of pliability, grip, and overall feel. This particular disc is in Lucid and has a super sweet Am Worlds fundraiser stamp on it.

A picture is worth a thousand words, so here’s a few thousand words worth of pics to give you an idea of how the Convict sets up.

How does it fly?

The Convict flew as good as it felt. Sometimes it takes a while to get a disc dialed in. Not so with the Convict. I was able to get desirable flights out of it right off the bat.

Thrown flat.

Thrown flat, it tilted into a minor turn to the right and just rode there for a while. The first time I saw this I thought it wasn’t going to fight back, but once it slowed down, it fought back hard and faded left a good amount.

It’s end of flight fade was very similar to the Felon. It was almost like they took a Felon in the back room, tied it to a chair, and mercilessly beat the high speed over stability out of it.

I never really dug the Felon all that much. It was just too overstable for my taste. I’ve got friends who love that disc, have aced multiple times with the mold, and think I’m crazy for not liking it. All that said, the Convict has none of the characteristics of the Felon I don’t like and all of them that I do.

The most notable of those is the reliability. No matter how much I turned the disc over, it always came back… Hard. Because of this, it is a driver you can count on.

Anhyzer flight.

Throwing it with some anhyzer meant it flew right for a good portion of its flight. It never turned all the way over or got squirrelly. It just held its right turn until it slowed enough for its fade to kick in.

When the fade starts, the disc turns left. Some discs just fight back to flat and then land smoothly. I did not find the Convict to do that. Once the fade began, it fought pretty hard to go left and it wasn’t a gentle turn.

Hyzer flight.

When thrown with hyzer, the Convict just held the hyzer line all the way to the ground. It did fade harder at the end than it did early in its flight. That meant that when throw with some height, it tended to dig in when landing and not skip much. Thrown low, it skipped a couple of times with a nice flair after the first contact with the ground.

Wind Performance

The Convict is OK into a moderate headwind, but I wouldn’t rely on it into any more than that. While it still fights out into a fade at the end of its flight, a stiff headwind tended to make the disc turn a little too much for my taste.

I suppose this is where the Felon comes in. For grins, I threw the Felon into the same winds that turned the Convict over and was pleased to see the Felon held up well. If you are looking for a fairway driver pair that feel almost identical in the hand, but have a noticeable stability difference, look no further than the Convict and the Felon.

In a tailwind, the Convict did not stay turned near as long into its flight. A strong tailwind caused the Convict to head left pretty quickly and turned it into a reliably overstable disc. A tailwind also cut a lot of distance off of the flight.

Distance.

The Convict is a fairway driver. It has the distance you’d expect from a fairway driver. It does not have the unexpected distance that you’ll find with some of the more domey or glidey fairway drivers (like the DD Escape, for example).

The flat profile of the Convict means it’s not going to surprise you by gliding past your target unexpectedly. That’s one of the things I like about flat discs. On the whole, they tend to be more reliable.

The Convict will have noticeably less D than your big distance discs. Part of that is its flat profile. Part is that when it kicks into its fade, it’s not going much further. It turns left relatively hard which takes away almost any forward fade.

How will it fly for you?

Is your arm a bionically grafted canon?

The Convict will turn over for you. What you will like about it is that unlike a lot of discs that turn over for you, this one will still come back. A lot of big arms have a hard time finding a turnover disc that is reliable.

If you are looking for something you can put some power on, have it cruise right for you, and then still fade out at the end, the Convict is your choice. For your HeMan style arm, it will just turn back to flat for you at the end of the turn.

Do you have the arm of a normal human being?

The majority of this review is written for you. That’s because I too have a normal human being arm. I could push the Convict out to about 325-350 reliably and its turn and fade were very much like the InBounds flight chart above.

Is your arm made of a mix of Play-Doh and strawberry jam?

For you, the Convict will fly more like the InBounds flight chart for the Felon. If you use a lot of anny to make up for your lower power throw, you will find that the Convict stays turned over for you. Still, expect some big fade left at the end of the flight.

For lower arm speeds, the Convict will probably hold up to most winds. It should be a very reliable and consistent fairway driver in your hands. It’s also a disc that will grow with you and stay in your bag as your arm speed increases.

Similar discs.

The Convict is scarily similar to the Trespass. If you are a Trespass thrower and have been looking for its little brother, the Convict is it. The Convict will turn a tad more and has just a bit more fade, but every time I threw it I was comparing it to my favorite Trespasses in the back of my head.

I would also compare the Convict to the Westside Stag. The Stag fades a tad less, but the rest of the flight and its feel in the hand is very similar to the Convict. The Stag might have a bit more glide too.

For you Innova throwers, the Convict would be closest to an Eagle. The Eagle probably turns just a bit more, but the amount of fade is almost identical. For you Discraft folks, think Tracker. The Convict has more glide than the Tracker and goes further with less effort in my opinion.

In Summary

As you can probably tell, I really liked the Convict. A big part of that is how similar it is to the Trespass. The Trespass has been a staple in my bag for quite a while now. The Convict is just a shorter version.

There are not very many discs that I review that make my bag. The Convict will be the second one (the first is the Dynamic Discs Justice – read my review of that disc here). I’ve never been very happy with my stable fairway driver choices.

I’ve had the overstable slot filled with a Latitude 64 Trident. The understable slot is firmly held by the Latitude 64 Fury and the Latitude 64 Vision. I’ve never really had the perfect disc for that middle stability slot. Now I do!

Win a Dynamic Discs Convict!

Unfortunately for me, but very fortunately for you, I am giving away my review copy you see in the pictures in this review. How do you win? All you have to do is subscribe to this blog by entering your email below. I’ll pick a winner at random from all subscribers on Wednesday September 30 at noon CST.

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LHBH / RHFH Version:

Are you a lefty??? We’ve got you covered!!!

If you clicked the link at the top of this review, it brought you here. Tired of figuring out if “left” really means “right”? Sick of having to convert every disc review and description to your throwing style?

From now on, ALL Mind Body Disc disc reviews will come with a complete copy of the original review modified for LHBH and RHFH players. Just click the link at the top of the review to jump down to the version written just for you!

Manufacturer’s Description

Here’s what Dynamic Discs has to say about the Convict:

Before someone becomes a Felon they must be convicted. It is the same in the disc golf world. Dynamic Discs introduces the Convict.

It is a great complement to the Felon with the same feel in the hand but with less stability. The Convict is perfect for those times when you need a straight disc for most of the shot but have to have some stability at the end of the flight. The Convict can also hold the anhyzer you give it before coming back to flat. This disc allows for you to shape your shots to avoid all of the obstacles that are trying to increase your scores.

Throw with conviction. Throw a Convict.

Speed: 9 Glide: 4 Turn: -0.5 Fade: 3

Max Weight: 176g

Inbounds Flight guide

Since DD compares the Convict to the Felon, I thought I’d include the Inbounds flight chart for both of them so you can see a comparison:

Make sure and make the Inbounds Flight Guide part of any disc research you do, it’s the best resource for disc flight information on the web!

After throwing the Convict for a month, I’d say the above chart is accurate for medium strength throwers. If you can throw 300-350, that’s pretty much the flight you can expect.

First Impressions

When I first took the Convict out of the mailer I was immediately struck by how good it felt in my hand. The most notable feature is that it is flat. I’m talking pre Columbus Earth flat. I love flat discs. This was a good start.

The rim is also manageable. You’d expect this from a fairway driver. I prefer not to throw the Nuke style giant rimmed discs. Even at 6’6″ with gigantic hands, I can’t get down with most wide rimmed drivers. The Convict felt great with it’s medium width rim.

As usual, Dynamic delivers what is, in my opinion, some of the best feeling plastic in the game. Both their Lucid and their Fuzion plastics feel great with just the right amount of pliability, grip, and overall feel. This particular disc is in Lucid and has a super sweet Am Worlds fundraiser stamp on it.

A picture is worth a thousand words, so here’s a few thousand words worth of pics to give you an idea of how the Convict sets up.

How does it fly?

The Convict flew as good as it felt. Sometimes it takes a while to get a disc dialed in. Not so with the Convict. I was able to get desirable flights out of it right off the bat.

Thrown flat.

Thrown flat, it tilted into a minor turn to the left and just rode there for a while. The first time I saw this I thought it wasn’t going to fight back, but once it slowed down, it fought back hard and faded right a good amount.

It’s end of flight fade was very similar to the Felon. It was almost like they took a Felon in the back room, tied it to a chair, and mercilessly beat the high speed over stability out of it.

I never really dug the Felon all that much. It was just too overstable for my taste. I’ve got friends who love that disc, have aced multiple times with the mold, and think I’m crazy for not liking it. All that said, the Convict has none of the characteristics of the Felon I don’t like and all of them that I do.

The most notable of those is the reliability. No matter how much I turned the disc over, it always came back… Hard. Because of this, it is a driver you can count on.

Anhyzer flight.

Throwing it with some anhyzer meant it flew left for a good portion of its flight. It never turned all the way over or got squirrelly. It just held its left turn until it slowed enough for its fade to kick in.

When the fade starts, the disc turns right. Some discs just fight back to flat and then land smoothly. I did not find the Convict to do that. Once the fade began, it fought pretty hard to go right and it wasn’t a gentle turn.

Hyzer flight.

When thrown with hyzer, the Convict just held the hyzer line all the way to the ground. It did fade harder at the end than it did early in its flight. That meant that when throw with some height, it tended to dig in when landing and not skip much. Thrown low, it skipped a couple of times with a nice flair after the first contact with the ground.

Wind Performance

The Convict is OK into a moderate headwind, but I wouldn’t rely on it into any more than that. While it still fights out into a fade at the end of its flight, a stiff headwind tended to make the disc turn a little too much for my taste.

I suppose this is where the Felon comes in. For grins, I threw the Felon into the same winds that turned the Convict over and was pleased to see the Felon held up well. If you are looking for a fairway driver pair that feel almost identical in the hand, but have a noticeable stability difference, look no further than the Convict and the Felon.

In a tailwind, the Convict did not stay turned near as long into its flight. A strong tailwind caused the Convict to head left pretty quickly and turned it into a reliably overstable disc. A tailwind also cut a lot of distance off of the flight.

Distance.

The Convict is a fairway driver. It has the distance you’d expect from a fairway driver. It does not have the unexpected distance that you’ll find with some of the more domey or glidey fairway drivers (like the DD Escape, for example).

The flat profile of the Convict means it’s not going to surprise you by gliding past your target unexpectedly. That’s one of the things I like about flat discs. On the whole, they tend to be more reliable.

The Convict will have noticeably less D than your big distance discs. Part of that is its flat profile. Part is that when it kicks into its fade, it’s not going much further. It turns right relatively hard which takes away almost any forward fade.

How will it fly for you?

Is your arm a bionically grafted canon?

The Convict will turn over for you. What you will like about it is that unlike a lot of discs that turn over for you, this one will still come back. A lot of big arms have a hard time finding a turnover disc that is reliable.

If you are looking for something you can put some power on, have it cruise left for you, and then still fade out at the end, the Convict is your choice. For your HeMan style arm, it will just turn back to flat for you at the end of the turn.

Do you have the arm of a normal human being?

The majority of this review is written for you. That’s because I too have a normal human being arm. I could push the Convict out to about 325-350 reliably and its turn and fade were very much like the InBounds flight chart above.

Is your arm made of a mix of Play-Doh and strawberry jam?

For you, the Convict will fly more like the InBounds flight chart for the Felon. If you use a lot of anny to make up for your lower power throw, you will find that the Convict stays turned over for you. Still, expect some big fade right at the end of the flight.

For lower arm speeds, the Convict will probably hold up to most winds. It should be a very reliable and consistent fairway driver in your hands. It’s also a disc that will grow with you and stay in your bag as your arm speed increases.

Similar discs.

The Convict is scarily similar to the Trespass. If you are a Trespass thrower and have been looking for its little brother, the Convict is it. The Convict will turn a tad more and has just a bit more fade, but every time I threw it I was comparing it to my favorite Trespasses in the back of my head.

I would also compare the Convict to the Westside Stag. The Stag fades a tad less, but the rest of the flight and its feel in the hand is very similar to the Convict. The Stag might have a bit more glide too.

For you Innova throwers, the Convict would be closest to an Eagle. The Eagle probably turns just a bit more, but the amount of fade is almost identical. For you Discraft folks, think Tracker. The Convict has more glide than the Tracker and goes further with less effort in my opinion.

In Summary

As you can probably tell, I really liked the Convict. A big part of that is how similar it is to the Trespass. The Trespass has been a staple in my bag for quite a while now. The Convict is just a shorter version.

There are not very many discs that I review that make my bag. The Convict will be the second one (the first is the Dynamic Discs Justice – read my review of that disc here). I’ve never been very happy with my stable fairway driver choices.

I’ve had the overstable slot filled with a Latitude 64 Trident. The understable slot is firmly held by the Latitude 64 Fury and the Latitude 64 Vision. I’ve never really had the perfect disc for that middle stability slot. Now I do!

Win a Dynamic Discs Convict!

Unfortunately for me, but very fortunately for you, I am giving away my review copy you see in the pictures in this review. How do you win? All you have to do is subscribe to this blog by entering your email below. I’ll pick a winner at random from all subscribers on Wednesday September 30 at noon CST.

[wysija_form id=”1″]

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The post Dynamic Discs Convict Review appeared first on Mind Body Disc - Disc Golf Blog.

If you’ve followed me on line for any length of time, you know that I’m a huge fan of the discs from Latitude 64, Westside, and Dynamic Discs. It’s pretty simple reasoning for me. I like their consistency and I like their plastic. Out of all the plastic I’ve tried (and I’ve tried it all), theirs feels the best in my hands.

This is purely a personal preference and does not reflect a recommendation one way or the other on other companies. There are a ton of great disc companies out there. They make a ton of great discs.

I’m just picky. There is something about the feel of the plastic from those 3 companies (all made by Latitude 64, actually) that feels right in my hand. It’s like picking up that security blankey when you were a kid. There’s something that just fits for me.

So, last year, when Latitude 64 came out with the Misselen, I was skeptical. The Misselen was the first disc to come out in their “Opto Hex” plastic. Basically it’s the Opto plastic that I really like, but with a hex texture molded into it. The idea is to make it more like a golf ball and reduce drag through the air. This reduced drag nets the Misselen a speed rating of 15.

When I got my hands on one, I was disappointed. Even though they left smooth patches to place your thumb on, it just didn’t feel right to me. It was certainly no blankey. It felt like it was going to slip out of my hand at any moment.

Add to that the fact the Misselen is too much disc for me. It didn’t fill any gaps in my bag or my game. It was a meathook in my hands. I didn’t like the feel of it. It felt like it was covered in teflon, ready to fall out of my hand with the smallest of missteps. I gave it away at the first opportunity. I quickly went back to my normal Opto and Gold line goodness.

Enter the Raketen

Now comes the Raketen (Rocket). Billed as a Misselen for those with normal human arms, it’s the second release from Latitude in their opto hex plastic. I could not have been less interested. Based on my experience with the Misselen, this disc was not on my radar at all.

But that’s one of the cool things about being a reviewer for Dynamic Discs. Every once in a while, my mailbox is graced with new plastic that I might not have otherwise tried. Coming on the heels of the surprise delight that was the DD Breakout, I put my bias aside and headed to the field to test this bad boy out.

First, let’s get this part out of the way. I still don’t like the way the plastic feels. It gives me zero confidence and the thought of it falling out of my hand is firmly lodged in the back of my mind. It feels slippery. For me, and this is just me, I can’t bag any discs that feel like this. I have enough doubts floating through my head at any given time, I don’t need to add to them.

Second, I think it’s important to add that of the ten or so other people I had throw the Raketen, NONE of them had a problem with the plastic. Several said they liked the feel better than standard, smooth plastic. Apparently, I was the only goofball who didn’t like the way the opto hex plastic feels.

The real question, though, is how does this thing fly? I’ll start by saying that we were all impressed. The Raketen is a speed 15 disc and it’s every bit that fast and then some. Out of the ten people I let throw this disc, 5 of them said it was the longest disc they had thrown. Another 3 said it was right up there with their longest disc. The remaining 2 have mutant arms and are better suited to the Misselen than this newer offering.

The couple of people with slower arm speeds, when throwing the disc flat, got a nice straight flight with a decent fade at the end. The people with medium speed arms (most of us) were throwing it with a slight bit of hyzer. The Raketen would stand up, turn just a bit, and always finish with a decent fade at the end.

The crazy thing was that all the throws went further than the thrower, or any of us watching, thought they would go. It consistently hit the ground further away than it looked like it would. This was that 15 speed rating coming into play.

The slick, dimpled plastic was helping the disc maintain its air speed longer than other discs that are slower and have more drag. That meant it could go further than a non dimpled disc in the same amount of time.

Usually, long throws seem like they stay in the air for quite a while. And they usually do. The Raketen didn’t seem like it was staying in the air that long. It doesn’t have a ton of glide (it’s glide rating is 3 and I think that’s pretty accurate). What it lacks in glide, it makes up for in speed.

When throwing it against other distance drivers, it took the other drivers more time to cover the same distance as the Raketen. It looks like those hexagonal dimples do something after all.

Testing round 2

Everyone got a few throws in with the Raketen. Most were impressed. I decided to take it out for a second round of field work to see if I could get past the feel. It was certainly flying far for me. And it was flying in the nice, tight S pattern I like so much in a distance driver. I really wanted to like it as much as the other people who threw it.

Not one single throw slipped out of my hands. Not one single time did I early release. Not one single time did I have any issued due to grip. But it still felt funny. It still felt like it was covered in the same stuff Clark Griswold put on the bottom of his sled in Christmas Vacation. But I guess that’s the point. Maybe I should rephrase it. It doesn’t feel slick. It feels fast. And for good reason. It is.

Who is the Raketen for?

After quite a bit of work with this disc, I’ve compiled a short list of people who might really like having one of these in their bag. I’ll be giving this one away very soon, but you can go ahead and order one right now here.

1. If you have wanted to add a high speed driver to your bag, but could never get them to stand up or turn a bit for you, give the Raketen a try.
2. If you are just learning to forehand and want something that will reward a good throw but not be too finicky or punishing on a less than perfect flick, the Raketen would be a good choice.
3. If you’ve hit a distance plateau and you are a low to medium arm speed player, the Raketen might be just the disc to help you rocket past that distance plateau (see what I did there, do ya, do ya?).
4. If you are a big arm and want something super fast that you can get to turn over yet still fight back at the end, the Raketen is unique here and fits that bill well.
5. If you dig new stuff and all of your latest disc purchases have bored you as “just another disc”, the Raketen’s speed will blast you right out of being bored. The speed this disc has makes it super fun to throw.

In the end, I really wish I could get past the plastic feel. No one else had problems and that made me wonder if I wasn’t being just a bit weird about the whole thing. If you’ve been looking to dip your toe in the ultra high speed driver market, the Raketen is the perfect disc for you. Don’t let the dimples hold you back. They are the whole reason this disc is cool in the first place.

If you like these reviews, and want to automatically be entered to win the discs we give away as part of doing them, just enter your email below and subscribe to the blog. You will be entered in every random type drawing give away we do. And we do a lot of them!

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The post Slipping Into Orbit – The Latitude 64 Raketen appeared first on Mind Body Disc - Disc Golf Blog.

I first saw a Dynamic Discs Breakout as part of my player’s pack at the Glass Blown Open.  My first question to the people at the merch table was, “Do you have any in heavier weights?”.  Turns out the Breakout is the newest addition to the “easy to use” line from the Emporia based disc company.  It’s a 150 class disc only.

Easy to use?  Why would I want or need that?  Me big powerful man disc golfer!  Me no need light weight disc!  Me want hard to throw disc…  Easy to throw discs for children.  Ugh, chest pound, exit stage right.

Those are the thoughts that went through my head as I took my Breakout and put it in the backpack we also received.  I didn’t think about it again until last week when Bobby over at Dynamic Discs sent me one to review.

If you watch the “in the bag” videos in our Pro In The Bag section, you’ll see pro after pro recommend to only use max weight discs (Avery starts off his in the bag with that advice).  They give quite a few different reasons, but in the end most of them recommend max weight.  With one exception, my bag lineup reflects that.

It might be time to rethink that decision.

It never really crossed my mind to throw lighter discs.  I’ve had a couple of “air” discs here and there, but I’ve never really liked any of them.  If Cool Daddy Slick Breeze (Bobby at DD) hadn’t sent me a Breakout to test, I probably never would have gone out and thrown it.  Surprisingly, getting a bright pink “easy to use” disc in the mail reminded me of one of life’s most important lessons:

If you can, always push the rock down hill.

Not Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.  He might punch you in the face really hard if you pushed him down a hill.  I’m talking about the figurative rock.  Push that one down hill.  It’s one of those lessons that we learn over and over as we grow older.  If there’s an easier way to do something, do it that way.  It’s hard to move that rock up hill and much easier to roll it down.

Many of us have seen a younger sibling doing things the hard way.  We giggle to ourselves and sit back to enjoy the show.  Hey, we had to learn our lessons the hard way, why not them, right?  We watch and we laugh and we eventually “let them in” on the secret of how to do whatever it is they are doing in a better, easier way.

Sometimes they listen and sometimes they don’t.  Ego tends to get in the way when you tell your younger brother or sister they are doing something wrong.  Often times they’ll continue doing things the hard way just to try and prove you wrong.  That pesky ego.  It gets in the way a lot.  Throwing an “easy to use” -aka beginner, kids, or slow arm speed- discs is one of those things.

After throwing the Breakout, my recommendation is that if your ego can handle throwing an “easy to use” disc, get yourself one these bad boys right away.

Learning to throw the Breakout took about 4 throws.  The first 3 times, my ego threw the disc.  I put my best max distance effort into throwing it.  It immediately flipped over and crashed to the ground as if it had been shot from the sky by one of those guys from Duck Dynasty.   On throw #4, I benched my ego.

This time I added some hyzer and threw a very smooth, 75% power throw.  What happened was beautiful.  The Breakout flipped up nicely.  It started to slide to the right (RHBH), just gliding through the air.  It stayed that way for quite a while.  At the end of its flight, it hooked up, faded some, and rode nicely to the ground.  It had gone as far many of my max weight distance drivers when thrown at 90-95%.

I wanted to see if this was a fluke, so I did it again.  And again.  And again.  Every time, a consistently long flight with minimal effort.  Always fading back at the end.  I found myself wishing that I had had this disc when I was trying to learn to hyzer flip.  I found myself having a ton of fun.

Another thing I noticed was that I was not getting tired or worn out.  This was almost too easy.  I wasn’t just pushing a rock down hill, the rock was kind of rolling on its own.  I started to think back to the fatigue that sets in during the second round in a tournament.  Or the third or fourth round on a casual play day.  How nice would it be to not have to throw full power at the end of a long day?

Who will like the Breakout?

When I was done with my test throws and driving home from the soccer field I’d been at, I started to think about all the different people who could benefit from a disc like this…

1. If you are a new player looking for a first driver, this disc will reward good form and give you distance that not many other “first drivers” would give.
2. If you are looking to learn how to hyzer flip a disc, this will flip and ride nicely, not flip and turn over too much.  It struck me as a perfect teaching disc.
3. If you are looking for easy distance from lower power throws, that’s just what the Breakout does.
4. If you are looking for a disc that will cruise straight and far from a stand still throw, grab one of these things.  If you play in the woods, you know that you often end up throwing with no run up.  This disc works great from a stand still.  It will pop up and go straight with reliable fade even from a standing throw where your normal form is restricted.
5. If you are someone looking to learn how to “work” a disc, the Breakout is easily workable.  If you are moving up in skill and want to learn how to shape different lines with a disc, this is a great choice.  Just by varying the amount of power I threw with, I was able to throw a ton of different lines.
6. If you are looking for something to keep in the bag to use when your arm starts tiring out but you still want to play more, the Breakout will allow you to do that and still throw great shots.
7. If you are looking to throw farther, but are worried about previous injuries, arthritis, or other health concerns that come with throwing hard, this disc might help.
8. If you’ve never tried a 150 class disc, but always wondered why they were sold in the US in the first place, the Breakout will answer that question for you.

For me, I’m going to keep one around for those times when I decide to play that 3rd, 4th, or 5th round in a day.  It won’t always be in the bag, but it will be in the back up bag for sure.  It will be nice to sub this in as one of my drivers and give my aging arm a break now and then.

If you think this sounds like a good disc for you, head on over to the DD store right now to pick one up!  Or, if you’re feeling lucky, keep an eye on the Mind Body Disc FaceBook page for our giveaway later tomorrow (6/28/15).

Another way to push the rock down hill is to subscribe to this blog.  We put up a lot of new content all of the time.  Make sure you don’t miss any by subscribing and you won’t even have to come here to the site all the time to check!

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The post The Dynamic Discs Breakout appeared first on Mind Body Disc - Disc Golf Blog.

It’s faster than a moderately quick squirrel.

It’s stronger than a stiff and blustery headwind.

It spike hyzers over trees in a single throw.

It’s not a bird or a plane…  It’s the new Latitude 64 Spark, Dave Feldberg’s new signature disc.  It has a snazzy, sparky stamp and a super heroish name.  I can see it now, coming to the CW….  The Spark (cue dramatic music).  But does it have any actual super powers?  While it would be awesome if someone released a disc that allowed the thrower to be invisible, fly, or see through walls, the Spark doesn’t deliver on any of those things.  It does remind me of today’s super heroes, though.

It seems like you can’t turn on the TV, go to a movie, or walk through a book store these days without seeing super heroes everywhere.  They are making a resurgence in popular culture thanks in large part to Marvel’s non stop release of flicks over the last several years.

Comic book heroes have always been popular.  Batman has been around for ages.  So has Superman and Spidey.  But with the popularity of the genre comes an over saturation as well.  Now we also have the Flash, Daredevil, Green Lantern, Guardians of the Galaxy, Arrow, and Ant Man to name just a small fraction of them.  It seems like there is a glut of super heroes all vying for our attention.

Each has their fan base too.  There is an underground cult following for Spawn.  Daredevil is gaining equal popularity.  I’m sure somewhere in the world even the Green Lantern has his fans despite that Ryan Reynolds debacle of a movie.  Me, I’m a Batman guy.  Always have been, always will be.  Batman is a bad ass and he’ll beat any of your favorite super heroes in a fight.  It’s not even up for debate!

As strongly as I feel about Batman, there are plenty of you out there sticking up for your particular favorite.  I hear some of you screaming for the Fantastic Four.  Some are cheering for Wolverine.  Some are probably even throwing their backing behind Electra (I’ll bet the leather pants have something to do with that one).  And most of you are probably wondering what the hell does this have to do with the Latitude 64 Spark!?

I’ve had my review sample of the Spark in my bag for the last two weeks.  It’s in there beside a couple of different Firebirds, an Opto Felon, a GL XXX, an Opto Trident, a Champ Banshee, and a Prodigy H1.  All good discs.  All with their own fan base willing to fight for their honor.  And honestly all pretty much interchangeable.

Now, before anyone gets their undies in a bunch, I’m not saying that all those discs are the same.  They are most certainly not.  What I am saying is that they all fill the slot of over stable fairway driver.  They are all similar enough that if you picked one of them and learned it, that’s all you would need for that slot in your bag.  Just like all those super heroes, they can each save the day in their own slightly unique way.  Just like all those super heroes, they have more in common than they have differences.

Super heroes are reliable.  All those discs are reliable.  Super heroes are predictable.  All those discs are predictable.  Super heroes do well in the face of adversity.  All those discs do well in the face of a bunch of wind.  The list goes on, but I think you get the idea.

I’ve read a ton of feedback posted by players who have the Spark, and their opinions are all over the map.  One says it will replace their Firebird, another says it won’t (it’s really close to the Champ Firebird I tested it against).  One says it’s more over stable than a felon, another says it’s less (it’s more).  One says it’s less over stable than an H1 and longer, another says the H1 has more glide and distance (it’s about the same, but doesn’t fade quite as early).  And then there are the couple of people talking about how easy it is to turn over (either they have serious form issues or huge power – you and I won’t be turning this disc over any time soon).  I haven’t seen that many differing opinions on a new disc in a long time.

That leaves me, as a reviewer, in a quandary.  How do I help you, the reader, decide if this is a disc you’d like to try?  If you are in the market for an over stable fairway driver, that’s easy.  You should absolutely try this if that slot in your bag isn’t filled.  In fact, go here right now and pick one up!  But what if that slot is filled?  Or, what if you’ve got something that you kind of like, but don’t absolutely love?

First, it’s Latitude 64 plastic.  I got a good reinforcement of why that’s important as I tested it against the discs I listed above.  I personally like the grip and feel of Latitude plastic better than any other out there.  I also like that, for the most part, if you need to replace a Latitude disc down the road, the new one you buy has an exceedingly good chance of flying the exact same way as the one you are replacing.  I had to giggle as I borrowed Firebirds from people.  Everyone I asked to borrow one from answered the same way…  “Which one did you want, there’s like 10 different kinds”.   I was also told that I couldn’t borrow certain Firebirds because they were not replaceable.   I’m not saying Lat is perfect, but I have found them to be much more consistent than most.

Second was its fade.  When the Spark flew, it fought hard to go left.  It took a decent amount of power to get it to go straight for a bit.  Even then, it started to fade pretty early in its flight.  When it did fade, it developed a steep angle to the left (I’m RHBH).  That angle got steeper the more time it had to fade.  That meant that if it had any height at all, it hit the ground edge first and dug.  It did not skip and flare as much as some of the other discs I compared it to.  Unless I threw it really low, it didn’t really skip at all.  Once I got adjusted to how much height was needed on a throw, I was able to dial in exactly where I wanted it to land and stay.

Third was that I couldn’t really overthrow it.  What I mean by that is that with some of the other discs, on seemingly equal powered throws, there was an uncomfortable difference in distance.  With the Spark I could count on it going the same distance every time.  It never decided to stay flat and cruise for a while instead of fading like I wanted it to.  Even starting it with some annhyzer didn’t add a ton of distance to it.  It fought back to the left relatively quickly.  Again, I can’t say the same for some of the other discs I tested it against.

In the end, I honestly had a hard time figuring out what I was going to write in this review.  All the discs I used were so similar I was at a loss.  Normally the disc I’m reviewing sets itself apart in some obvious way (sometimes good, sometimes not).  This one showed it’s uniqueness in much more subtle ways..  It was a solid, reliable disc.  The differences the Spark showed were in a few nuances here and there.  It’s these nuances, though, that I came to appreciate about it over many of the other choices.  Overall, I liked throwing it and I’m sure that whoever wins it when I give it away will also enjoy it.

It all comes back to that super hero analogy I started the review with.  Each hero has it’s fan base.  Each of those fan bases love their particular hero of choice.  The Spark is the new guy on the block.  I have no doubt that it will develop its own following.  I’m sure that it will take it’s place in the bag of many a player looking for a solid, reliable hero.  There’s no way it can beat Batman in a fight, though.

I want to be your new favorite super hero.  My super power is sending great disc golf content directly to your email inbox once a week.  Exciting super power, I know.  Don’t be jealous.  Just enter your email below to experience this wondrous talent for yourself!

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The post Just Another Hero? – The Latitude 64 Spark appeared first on Mind Body Disc - Disc Golf Blog.

The room was dark and smelled of incense.  This was not the cheesy incense your college roommates used to use to cover up the fact that there was a 3 month old pizza under the couch.  This was the aroma of mystery itself.  Walking further into the room, a sense of something ancient overwhelmed me.  It was as if I’d stumbled into a spot that time had forgotten to take with it.

I came here to improve my disc golf game by consulting the Westside Seer.  Also known by her Finnish name, Ennustaja, the Seer was shrouded in mystery.  It was said that she could communicate with the Tree of Life itself.  The Seer was consulted by people of all walks of life.  Kings and peasants.  Queens and maids.  She had taken many incarnations in her life.  Now she sat before me in the form of a fairway driver golf disc.

I was told that even though she had taken the form of a plastic disc, yearning to fly between the trees and through the woods, in this room I would be able to speak with her.  So here I was, with an open slot in my bag for just such a disc, ready to talk to a piece of plastic.

Seer:  Welcome, child.  Please sit down.

MBD:  Thank you.  I have to admit, it’s a bit weird talking to a golf disc.

Seer:  Really?  I have had visions of you talking to all of your discs after you have thrown them.  Am I different in some way?

MBD:  Um, no.  I guess you are the first one to say something back, though.  So, tell me about yourself.  Why come into this world as a golf disc?

Seer:  I’ve always loved being outside.  My favorite place is deep in the woods.  It is there that I commune with one of my favorite animals, the owl.  I was always envious of how the owl flew through the forest, gliding through the trees, even at night when no one else could see.  It’s physical vision is as magical as my spiritual vision.  I love the owl so much that I’ve brought its spirit with me in this disc form.

MBD:  Wow.  So it sounds like you’ll be really helpful when I need you to fly through tight gaps and carve lines in and around the trees.  How about out in the open?  Do you fly as well as the owl there too?

Seer:  When I chose to come to life as a disc, I had to decide what I wanted to be.  As you know, one disc cannot be all things to all people.  I very much enjoy flying through the open air.  Wind, though, is not my best friend.  I do not mind flying into some, but too much will have me going where I did not intend to go.  A wind at my back on the other hand, that is a different story.  I can ride that wind for days.

MBD:  So how about when you land from your flight?  How do you leave the air?

Seer:  While it depends on how you threw me, I prefer to fly forward for as long as I can.  If I’ve flown in a straight line, I most definitely like to land in the same direction.  This is also true if I am turning either right or left.  I like to continue in the direction I was thrown.

MBD:  I don’t mean to be too forward, but can I see how you are shaped?  What type of feel and rim did you decide to come into this world with?

Seer:  I am a woman, so I do enjoy having some curves.  I have a modest dome.  I have enough rim to feel comfortable in your hand, but it is not wide by any means.

MBD:  And how do you like to be thrown?  Do you have a preference there?

Seer:  I do enjoy being treated like a lady.  There is no reason to throw me as hard as you can.  Being a bit more gentle will get you a lot further with me.  Just as the owl flies effortlessly, so do I.  I think you will be surprised.  In fact, I think that it is time to leave this room, stop our conversation, and venture out to the course.  I am very anxious to fly!

With that, I picked Ennustaja up and headed out to my local course.  Here’s how it went.

The first hole I threw her on was an open 320 foot shot.  I just wanted to get a feel for how she flew.  I stepped up and threw her flat at about 85-90%.  She immediately took off right and didn’t show any signs of coming back.  Apparently I don’t listen well.  I went out and grabbed her for a second try.  This time I threw at about 70% power with some hyzer.  Wow, what a difference.  She popped up flat and just went straight.  Lots of glide.  At the end of her flight, she faded a touch, but mostly just kept going forward.

The next hole I threw her on was about the same distance, but with some trees on the right I chose to throw her with some anhyzer.  She held this line really well.  Again I only threw at about 70% power.  She had a slight pan at the end and landed flat.  She did not dive to the right.  She did not fight to come out of the anny.

Now into the woods.  Tight tunnels were no problem.  It took minimal effort to get her to pop up flat and go straight.  The lack of a lot of fade at the end of the flight was nice.  Add a little power and throw flat and she slid right very nicely.  Always coming back to land flat at the end.  I found out a couple more times how much she doesn’t like to be overpowered, though.  There is definitely a sweet spot for how hard this disc likes to be thrown.

One thing I noticed was how forgiving she was.  Even when thrown with nose up, she would still pop to flat and go straight.  A lot of other discs in this category would either not pop up or would fade hard when thrown with nose up.  Not with the Seer.  Of course, it was still better to throw flat or slightly nose down, but I wasn’t punished too badly for nose angle errors.  This is huge for a disc thrown in the woods.

Another nice surprise was just how far it went with almost no effort.  A nice, smooth throw and it just cruised.  Straight the whole way.  Bonus points for not needing a high ceiling either.  This disc is just money in the woods.

For a frame of reference, the Seer is in the same category of disc as the Innova Leopard, Discraft Stalker and Zombie, and reminded me of a slower Latitude 64 Saint with a touch less fade.  I’ve thrown all of those discs and honestly the Seer is the best of the bunch for it’s intended purpose (and I don’t say that lightly as the Leopard is a killer disc!).  I would also say that it more reminds me of the Fuse (Comet for you Discraft throwers) than of any other drivers.  It’s just faster with more distance potential.

If you are looking for a lower speed driver to throw on tight lines in the woods, the Seer is a keeper.  She’s also the answer if you are looking for a disc to anny and hold the line all the way to the ground.  I can also see her being a huge favorite of those with lower arm speed.  I can’t impress upon you how easily this disc gets up and goes.  She hyzer flips with ease.  In the end, I was impressed.

If I wasn’t giving this one away, I’d probably put it right in my bag (and I don’t say that very often after trying a new disc).  If you’d like to enter to win this Seer, please head over to our Facebook page and follow the directions there.  You can also enter by subscribing to the blog below.  You never know, there could be a new fairway driver in your future (“see” what I did there?!).  Can’t wait to see if you win one?  Just go ahead and order one up for yourself!

If you’d like to be entered into every random drawing type of contest we do, just subscribe to the blog below.  All blog subscribers are automatically given one entry every time we do a giveaway like this!

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The post Are Lower Scores in Your Future? Ask the Seer. appeared first on Mind Body Disc - Disc Golf Blog.

Last week, I wrote a post about why it’s important not only not to bash a particular disc maker, but also why it’s important to keep an open mind and try new stuff from new companies.  That left the question of what discs one might want to try.

On Friday, we posted the first half of a list of discs that are worth at least a throw or two on your part.  We didn’t want to keep you waiting too long for the second half of that list.  So for your Monday reading and on line shopping enjoyment, here it is.

The Verdict

What can I say but this is the best over stable mid range I’ve ever thrown.  Super predictable, awesome in the wind, clean release, goes far, and powers down nicely.  This disc is one of the 3 most used in my bag by far.  I see lots of discussions on line about whether or not an over stable mid is even necessary.  I can’t help but think anyone saying one isn’t needed just hasn’t thrown a Verdict.

The Trespass

Reminds me a lot of the Millennium Orion LF, just longer.  Flips up flat, goes straight, always comes back.  With 400 feet of power, it will flip and ride nicely, but always in a nice tight S.  Newer ones will handle a good amount of wind without flipping.  Beat ones will turn on a controlled line and finish flat.  Looking for a new distance driver, but one you can actually control?  The Trespass could be the ticket for you.

Other discs that deserve a try from DD:  Enforcer, Escape, Judge, and Truth.

The Pure

The one disc you couldn’t take away from me if you tried.  It’s my putter.  It’s my upshot disc.  It’s what replaced the Tangent in my bag.  I carry 4-5 and wish I could carry more.  It’s shallow for a putter, which turns some people off, but I like a shallow putter.  This disc does anything I want except hold up in a headwind.  260 and in with no wind?  90% of the time, that’s a Pure shot for me.  Looking for a putter to putt, approach, and drive with that just goes straight?  This is it.  Need one that holds a hyper or an anny?  Yep, it’ll do that too.

The Vision

Does anything you want it to.  I’d be lost in the woods without this disc.  The most versatile fairway driver I’ve ever thrown.  It’s also my go to distance driver when line shaping is important.  This disc doesn’t like OAT and requires a smooth clean throw.  It’s almost like a Comet in that respect.  But dialed in, I’ve found nothing better for my straight and under stable fairway driver slot.

Other discs to try from Lat 64: Blitz, Halo, Mercy, Riot, Havoc, River, Saint, Sinus, Striker, Trident, Villain, XXX.

The Tursas

Everyone needs a Tursas.  This really isn’t a try it, you might like it disc.  This is a try it and clear a spot in your bag for it disc.  Like the Comet, you need proper form for this disc to work its magic.  But it is magic.  I remember watching the old Marshall Street DVDs and wondering how in the hell Barry Schultz could throw a Roc perfectly straight for a long way and then have it turn gently at the end of it’s flight and finish right.  Sorcery and black magic was all I could come up with.  Well, up until now, that throw was really only possible with a Roc or Buzzz that had been seasoned to perfection over years of use.  Now that line is available right out of the box with the Tursas.  It’s crazy, throw it with a slight hyzer and it flies just like Barry’s Roc did on those DVDs.

The Giant

Headwinds don’t usually make for great distance throws.  The Giant will change that for you.  20-30 mph headwinds are no issue for this disc.  It just goes forever into a headwind.  Neat thing is it’s a pretty long disc with no wind.  Great for big hyzers and low skip shots.  Broken in, they are money for a main work horse driver.

Other Westside plastic worth trying: King, Northmen, Swan, Stag, Sword, and World.

Blunt Gumbputt

Probably the best warm up disc out there.  Great to play catch with before a round or tournament.  As an approach disc, few discs sit and stick as well as this floppy disc does.  It’s rare that you come across a truly unique golf disc, but this is one of them.

The Breaker

Really nice over stable approach disc.  Reminded me of a Gator or a Drone in flight.  Reliable in the wind.  For me, felt great in my hand and always had a super clean release.  Very forgiving disc too.  A lot of the discs that I’ve recommended need good form to throw well.  The Breaker didn’t get squirrelly on me at all, even with a bad throw.

Other DGA discs worth trying: Hurricane, Rogue, and Squall.

The PD (power driver)

First of all, probably the coolest stamp in disc golf.  Not sure why, but I love it.  This disc is very much like the Orion LF and a longer TeeBird.  Nice small rim, but still with great glide and distance.  Flips up flat and rides straight.  Works well in a headwind.  Makes a great all around driver.  Big stability difference between C line and the other plastics, though.  C line is super beefy and lacks the distance the other plastics give.  Need a new main driver?  Give this a try.

The TD (turning driver)

Another great stamp, but who doesn’t like monkeys?  A very shallow disc, but one that does line shaping better than most.  Need it to turn, it will.  Need it to go straight, it will.  Need it to power down well, does that too!  If you are looking for a disc to be able to really work into different lines but don’t have a monster arm, this is a good choice.

Other notables from Discmania:  FD, FD2, PD2, and the P2

The D3

Another pure distance bomber.  Easy to turn over and get to glide for days.  This was the first disc I ever broke 400 feet with (not a common occurrence for me, so always memorable).  I liked the protos better than the production runs as they seemed a bit more stable to me.  You can still find those around.  If you don’t have a huge arm, but are looking for a disc to give you some serious D, this might be it.

The M4

I throw so many new discs that I rarely say “Wow” after throwing one.  The M4 was one of those rare discs.  Super flat, great rim shape, and infinitely workable right out of the box.  The only thing it didn’t do well was wind.  Everything else was spectacular.  This is one of those small handful of discs that actually do hold any line you put on it.  Need a do it all mid? This could very well end your search.

Other Prodigy discs to toss at least once:  D2, F5, M2, PA1, and the X1.

The Cannon

The name says it all.  It’s a lot like the Havoc in that you need room for it to do its thing.  Legacy has some great plastic too.  Feels great in the hand.  Really hard not to yell, “BOOM!!!” every time you throw it.  Nice thing is you don’t need a Cannon for an arm to get this disc to cruise for you.  This was the first Legacy disc I tried and I immediately ordered a few more to try after testing this one out.

The Gauge

Point and shoot.  Simple as that.  It’s hard to get a mid range right.  Can it take power, work lines, power down, and not flip if you look at it wrong?  The Gauge is all these.  And again with the great plastic.  Personally, I think Legacy has some of the sweetest feeling plastic out there.  Need a do it all mid that goes where you want it to?  Try out a Gauge.

Other discs that are must tries from Legacy:  Rampage, Clutch, and Patriot.

The Wizard

If it wasn’t for the Wizard, I’m not sure that Gateway would even still be around.  One of the best all around putters ever made, the Wizard is legendary.  It’s a lot like a KC Pro Aviar in flight, but available in about 3,000 different plastics.  This is the putter to learn to drive with.  For a putter, it handles wind very well.  It can be thrown far, really far.  If you are looking for a stable to slightly over stable putter that can be thrown in a ton of different situations, the Wizard is one you’ll want to try.

The Spirit

If you are in need of a wind disc, this might be the most overlooked wind disc on the market.  With a pretty wide rim, it’s not for everyone.  For those that don’t mind the rim it’s just a killer headwind disc.  It’s also one of the best skippers out there.  If you play in the midwest or other really windy regions, the Spirit will be a stroke saver on the course.

Other discs worth a try from Gateway:  Samurai, Apache, Element, Blaze, Warlock, and Voodoo.

Hopefully that gives you some idea of discs that might be worth a try next time you are placing an order.  Will everyone like all of them?  Nope.  Some of you might pick up a couple of these discs and hate them.  You might also find a couple you fall in love with.  It’s those one or two you fall in love with that are magical.  The disc that just clicks from throw one.  Here’s to hoping you find at least one of those this season!

What discs did we miss from these companies? If your favorite isn’t represented, let everyone know about it in the comments!

If you like disc recommendations and reviews, we have you covered! Make sure to subscribe to the blog and you’ll never miss a post or a review!

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Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The post Try It, You Might Like It! Part 2 appeared first on Mind Body Disc - Disc Golf Blog.

I was also encouraged to see how many people out there throw a mixed bag.  There was a time, not too long ago, where that didn’t happen on the scale that it does today.  While a lot of disc golfers still stick to just one company or family of companies (in the spirit of full disclosure I’m of one of them, but more on that in another post), more and more people are dipping their toe into the really rewarding waters of new plastic.

I have a sickness.  I have an unexplainable need to buy and try almost every new disc that comes out.  That includes all plastic variations, all new rim configurations, and even new runs of discs that I hear fly different than previous ones.  I love new plastic.  I love throwing new molds.  I love feeling the plastic and blends that the newer companies are putting out there.  Like I said, I have a sickness.

Well, that said, I thought I’d share a list of discs you might like to try.  This isn’t a disc review article.  It’s just a list of discs that I’ve tried and thought were exceptional.  I think all of the companies deserve a try and I think they all make at least a few really great discs.  If just one person finds a new disc that saves them strokes, it will have been worth the time it took to write this!  Without further blabbering on my part, here is part one…..

The Nova

Call it a copy of MVP.  Call it a toy disc.  Call it a gimmick.  Call it what you want, but also call it awesome.  I never really got a lot of putts in with it, but for upshots it was amazing.  Consistent in both a head and tail wind, it just goes where you put it.  It can take a surprising amount of snap.  For me, best of all was its almost complete lack of turn or fade right out of the box.  If you have been looking for a do it all up shot disc that’s shorter than your mids, but still capable of some decent distance, give the Nova a try.

The Banshee

Most Innova throwers I know use a Firebird in the overstable fairway driver slot.  I couldn’t ever click with the Firebird.  The Banshee has a little less of a power requirement to get it to fly.  It will also stay flat and straight a lot longer than a Firebird will.  To me, that made it more versatile.  It’s also flat, which for me is always a bonus.  Wind?  It laughs at the wind.  If you need an overstable fairway driver, and you aren’t a Firebird person, try the Banshee.

Other Innova discs that every serious disc golfer needs to have thrown: Aviar, Beast, Boss, Roc, Destroyer, Eagle, Teebird, Valkyrie, Firebird, Gator, Leopard, RoadRunner, Sidewinder, Stingray, Viking, Tern, and the Wraith.

The Crush

This disc has been around forever.  It’s still one of the most consistent drivers out there.  New it can handle the wind really well.  Broken in they go far.  This was the disc I learned to throw hyzers with.  It’s a really great distance driver without a huge wing.  Really a work horse driver.  Great disc to pick if you are only going to carry one driver mold.

The Comet

This is the disc that will have you flying with elation and ready to kill someone all in the same round.  The Comet is one of the few discs out there that can actually teach you how to throw a disc correctly.  If your form is off at all, it will burn you.  If you are smooth, clean, and on plane?  This disc rewards like no other.  Watching someone play with Comets that has thrown them for years is awe inspiring.  Looking to work on your form?  Pick one of these up.

Other Discraft discs that are definitely worth a try:  Avenger, Buzzz, Challenger, Magnet, Meteor, Nuke, Predator, and the XL.

The Polaris LS

If I had to give someone one disc to learn and play with as a new player, this would be it.  The Polaris is an infinitely controllable fairway driver.  It handles power as well as weaker throws.  It will hyzer flip easily for someone who is learning that throw.  OK into moderate wind, it is a do it all driver.  I used to keep a box of these in the car just to give to newer players I saw out playing with plastic that was way too over stable for their skill level.  If a versatile fairway driver is what you are in need of, this is one of the most underrated discs out there.

The Orion LF

This was my primary driver for years.  With a flight similar to a PD or Teebird, in a word it’s reliable.  Thrown hard it will slide right (RHBH) just a little.  Mostly, though, it flips up flat, flies straight for days, and always fades at the end. Dave Dunipace designed this disc and at the time it was released, he called it one of the best drivers he had ever designed.  If you only try one new disc from this list, find a way to make it this one.

Other Millennium discs of note:  JLS, Orion LS, and the Quasar.

The Tangent

From the first throw, I knew this was a special disc.  Almost every manufacturer will tell you that their new disc “holds any line you put it on”.  The Tangent is one of the few where that is absolutely true.  Thrown flat and straight it does not fade.  Not at all.  Over time, it will develop a little bit of turn if thrown hard, but the MVP plastic and design seems to make their discs take forever to break in at all.  I can only think of a few other discs that are this versatile or accurate.  Don’t want to take another 2 years to beat the fade out of your current mid mold?  Pick up a Tangent.

The Anode

The only premium plastic putter I’ve ever carried to putt with.  Great off the tee and on approaches.  The Anode can take a ton of snap and flies incredibly straight with little to no fade.  If you ever get tired of repairing your base plastic putters, and want to try something in a premium plastic, try the Anode.

Additional MVP discs that are worth a try: Axis, Tensor, Vector, and Volt.

The Envy

Kind of like the MVP Anode, but not as deep.  Also seems to have more fade than the MVP putters.  I found this disc really good for putting in the wind as well as those longer outside the circle putts.  Great off the tee.  Of all the discs in my bag, my putter slot changes the least.  If I was looking for a new putter, though, this one would be in the running.

The Alias

If you like the idea of the Tangent, but want something that will go farther, have a tic of fade, and fight back out of an anny at the end, the Alias is where it’s at.  For me, it was basically a Tangent that I could throw harder and further.  Some people like a straight disc, but still want that reliable come back at the end.  The Alias is worth a try for those people.

I’m a little lacking in my Axiom trials so at this time, these are the only two I’ve thrown and liked enough to recommend trying.  Hmmm, I guess I’ll have some new Axiom to try in my next mail call!

Check out part 2 of this post where I’ll get to Dynamic Discs, Lat 64, Westside, Gateway, DGA, Prodigy, Discmania, and Lecacy.  Until then, get out and try some new plastic!

What discs from these brands did we miss. Tell us your favorites and why in the comments below!

You never know when we are going to make a recommendation that changes your game forever. Make sure you don’t miss a thing by subscribing to the blog below!

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Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The post Try It, You Might Like It! Part 1 appeared first on Mind Body Disc - Disc Golf Blog.