DirtPriest's Handy Bag

[DirtPriest]

Fairway Drivers
Star Leopard 175g
Champ Leopard 171g

Distance Drivers
Champ Viking - stack of 175g's and a 171g

Midrange
Star Mako 177g
z Comet 178g
Champ Spider 180g & 176 g

Putters
XD 171g set

I throw RHBH and usually forehand for longer approaches, say 60' out to 150-175'. My distance is 280' out to a bit over 300', I can only put so much load on my front hip. Accuracy and consistency is the biggest key to golf of any type and the Viking just seems to work the best for me. I can work it either way or straight, high or low, and it goes just as far or farther than any regular driver. Now, there are plenty of drivers out there that will get me that same distance (Eagle, TeeBird, the TL is my second choice as of right now), but the Viking goes straighter without a huge fade at the end or an issue with too much HSS. In the past I have thrown wide rimmed discs like an XCaliber out to 330'+, but there is no way I could do it consistently enough to warrant carrying birds like that, the Boss, Nuke, Groove class, plus they are awkward to grip. Also, an SL seems to be a perfect disc for slinging a forehand shot that is out of the midrange zone, but I just can't do it off the tee at full drive power. There is one in the bag but it gets used once a month or so. The Leopard is the equivalent of a 5-wood for me, I use it when either distance is not an issue or on throws that need to turn over a bit and stay there.

The midrange selection is a work in progress as my Mako is in the neighbor's corn field. F-ing wind. It seems to be a near perfect disc as far as getting on its line and sticking there, as well as gliding out a bit more than the Roc/Comet. The Comet was a fluky trade deal for me, it just looked like a slightly steeper Roc with that tiny bit of extra traction to cut down on that fade that my old Roc gave me, and that seems to be about right. The Spider is used when I need to really step on it, most midranges will anhyzer pretty strongly at that level of power but the Spider uses it to dig in to its line. I also use the Spider for shortish rollers when stuck in the trees or behind too much overhang for a standard shot. Cyclones also are decent for me, for some reason I have never had much luck with the much ballyhooed Buzzz.

I am very satisfied with the XD's, but I have improved my technique immensely practicing with a matched set of putters. That would obviously make it easier to use any other putter, but I really like the thinness and feel of those XD's. In the past I have struggled with an Aviar (the old ones with the grid stamp), Omegas in different plastics and also Magnets, but the problem was certainly my sloppy technique.

I am definitely going for a simple approach to things here, carrying two (or maybe three) drivers and working them to make shots rather than lugging around a stack of birds with one for each possible shot. I don't have enough hair left to pull out trying to piece all of that data together. Sticking with discs in the 170 something gram class has helped a lot in simplifying things. I could throw a 165 Wraith or a 160 Boss, but in reality the flight would be so close to the Viking as to be negligible, maybe 5' farther. Not to mention the wind effects on lighter discs. The weight of the disc is part of the consistency for me, angular momentum and gyroscopic forces and all. Plus I'd rather carry two water bottles around than all that extra plastic. That way I can play two or three rounds at a time. Thanks in advance for any advice/criticism.

[elnino]

nice bag. actually a good bag to grow in but if you lost your mako then you probably need or should look for something like a rancho roc or a z wasp so you can upshot into the wind...the leopards won't do it and you might even turn over a viking into a heavy headwind....try to find a more stable disc for the wind. the z wasp is a hair more stable and might help you. or get a overstable disc that will be straight once you get 400 feet of distance. like a starfire............firebird, flick, pred, monster, max, and all the way up to a XXX.

[DirtPriest]

I would have thought you to be correct about the Viking in the wind but I threw one of my best rounds of the year in a screaming breeze. Blow your hat off wind, blow a centered putt out of the basket wind. The only thing that worked great that day was the Viking drives. My advantage is that I can calculate how the wind will affect the shot as far as flipping a disc over or pushing it back to flat, which is exactly what happened when I nearly aced my local #11. The shot calls for either a long low drive under a overhanging branch (too low for me) or just a slight S around said branch back between heavy woods and a line of bushes, about 290'. Straight in to a wind literally 20-30 knots which kept pushing the disc back to flat when it started to fade. If you haven't guessed, I'm an old sailor and have been all over Lake Huron.
Anyway, I have been looking for a slightly longer driver, like your recommendations above. The problem is that I have a hard time gripping the thicker rimmed big drivers. It's like trying to throw a basketball like a baseball sort of. So far I like the SL, but a Firebird might be OK. What I need to do is bum a few throws from my friends that have things like a Monster or TRex, whatever, and find one that I like.
Never got my Mako back but I traded my Comet for a Coyote which is almost identical and put my trusty Roc back in the bag. I'm thinking that the neighbor kid found it, either that or it is buried under the corn stalk scraps. An inglorious end to a fine disc that I had for two weeks. The Rancho is the flat top edition and the Ontario and San Marino have more dome, correct?