tgm wrote:I stepped down to putter/mid rounds early this season (my second year) and it's helped me a bunch with accuracy and distance I'm sure, but I don't think I would've stuck with it if I only had a putter and all my friends were throwing distance drivers 2x-3x farther. Perhaps tell them to practice with a putter more than other discs.
This summer I visited some friends in another city. They'd been playing for little while, but were still definitely noobs. All of them used primarily either faster or slower drivers, mostly understable stuff like DX Sidewinders, Archangels etc. Until then they'd all been playing pretty equally (with one of them being a far superior forehand dominant player). I got two of them to try (for the first time probably) putter only rounds. They started to throw longer and more accurately than before, and easily improved their scores, especially compared to the ones who stuck with their drivers. They DID throw their putters longer than the others threw their drivers, and straighter. Main reason was because the discs weren't fading out during the flight anymore. Even understable drivers fade more than putters if you don't throw them hard.
I like to recommend putters for beginners because of many reasons. They're usually the straightest discs from start to finish. They can be, and will have to be, manipulated to go wherever you want. They can handle long distance throws quite alright, not as well as drivers but still, and definitely do short range stuff better than most anything. Putters WILL be the most important disc in their bag. If the only experience a player has of discs is throwing beach frisbees, then putters are definitely closer to what they're used to than any driver. You cannot force a putter, you have to work it (Pigs, Rhynos, VPs and other stuff like that can be forced obviously). This instills the key element of smoothness from the start.
And lets face it, when you're starting out, you won't throw anything that far. If your max distance is 200-250 feet, the putter isn't going to be that much shorter than the driver. I tend to believe that the main reason people have so much problems throwing their putters with any power is that they're too used to throwing their drivers with power over technique. The drivers can take it up to a point, but the putters won't listen to it. If they didn't mess with the drivers so much they wouldn't try to force the disc so much, because the putter would instantly show them what's going to happen.
They will have to learn their mids and drivers, obviously, but do they need it from the get go? Everything you need to play disc golf can be done with putters.
Okay, I'll make an amendment: If you want multiple discs to start with (there are definitely good points in having a mid in addition to a putter), whatever you get, get something that has minimal fade. Not necessarily understable, but as neutral as possible. Too often I see people try a few shots that fade out, then try to force the disc to go farther with power, which leads to OAT which does actually keep the disc from fading out instantly, but doesn't really do them any good, not really. Mako, MD2, D/X Buzzz (Z has too much LSS, it will hyzer out too soon compared to the others), Fuse, Comet, Meteor, something like that can be a very good disc for a beginner. Something that flies like a DX Leopard that has 2-3 rounds behind it and stays like that for a few months would be a good driver. Other than that I don't know any driver I could recommend a total beginner.
Feldy said in his clinic that in a few months from beginning his class those that have never played will outdistance those that have played long enough to be set in their ways. It is difficult to motivate yourself to break down your form and start from scratch again. It is a good idea to get as good base as you can as soon as possible from which to improve. Time is of the essence. Thus the rudimentary keep it simple advice.
