Getting back at it

[discmonkey42]

Spent the last 3 years with various injuries. Have played <10 times in that time period. Knees and back were just shot. Finally finishing up with some intense PT for bulged L1, L2, C6, and C7. Doc has released me back to full activity as of today and I'm planning on some field work this weekend to see what I want to put in my new, super back friendly, Grip bag.

The good thing is that the last year has been solid working out, yoga, flexibility, and core strengthening. I'm in better shape now at 41 than I've ever been.

My goal is to get back at it with a couple of changes. I'm going to teach myself to throw lefty (throw RHBH) as an added skill. It will be good for muscular balance and spinal stability as well as my game. I'm going to start with standing throws only and work up from there. Very scared to stress my back too much at first.

I haven't even looked at what discs have come out in the last 3-4 years (heck there's not just new discs, but all new companies to me!). I'm going to just start with the bag I was set on and played with steadily before I got hurt. I'm wondering what might be improved, if anything, with some of the newer plastic (I miss buying and trying new plastic, but am pretty set on minimal discs/molds carried) I'm also wondering what might be missing or redundant. Do I have the right disc(s) to learn to throw lefty? Any input and feedback you could give would be much appreciated!!

I used to top out at about 375 for long drives, 290-325 for my fairway drivers, 290-300 for my mids, and 200-250ish for my putters. We'll see how that pairs up with what I can do this weekend.

Drivers:
171 QOLF - This was my go to control, distance, hyzer flip, all around favorite disc.
175 SOLF - When I needed a bit more stability or fade than the above.
164 SOLF - All out distance when there wasn't a lot of trouble around.

172 MOLS - New. Tunnel shot, finish straight, tight wooded driver type driver.
172 MOLS - Seasoned. S shots, anny drives, controllable turn right driver
172 MOLS - Beat to snot. Rollers and finesse right turn drives.

175 EXP1 - Wind and super predictable/controllable. Trick shots, thumbers, all around overstable/stable workhorse.

175 MPolaris - Newish - fairway driver
175 MPolaris - Beat - compliment to above
(I wasn't ever thrilled with these, but seemed to be the best I could find that were reliable, shorter than the Orions, and worked well in tight, wooded courses)

Mids:
173 First run Z Buzzz - Straight with the same fade every time. By far the most thrown disc every round.
171 Buzzz GT seasoned - Straight with a straight finish.
175 D Buzzz pretty beat - annies, flips, touch shots, tail wind mid, etc.

Putters:
175 glow wizard - driving and wind putting
171 Warlock - main putter and super straight driver

[JR]

Welcome back and sad to hear about your troubles. Even though your muscles are in the best shape of your life the spine ain't. So what you absolutely positively must do is to prevent any twisting that is unnecessary to the spine. Meaning a clean heel pivot with the ball of the foot way high in the air. I'd also refrain from reaching back fully so that you don't need to twist the hips (and the spine) fully and limit the right twist in the throw.

I'd throw what you have now and see where you're at for a few weeks because i suspect you're rusty and gain back some distance in a few weeks and by then you have a better idea how far you can reach back safely and how hard you can twist the hips right in the throw. Once stand stills can be thrown harder you might want a one step before two steps and a full x step. I'd stop there and not add a run up. At least not this season and nothing too fast to compress the vertebrae so no Brinster hops Once you're achieving trouble free x steps i'd go to a store. This requires patience and getting less distance in the short term vs what is available. There are low power requirement far flying discs out there that would give you D but it is more about staying healthy and having accuracy than ripping all out distance. Funnily enough i just recently thought where is that monkey loving guy?

[discmonkey42]

Thanks for the advice. My physical therapist and I have been working hard at getting me back to playing and you hit the nail on the head with the limited twisting. That's the reason for starting with standing throws and going righty and lefty. I've never been enamored with distance as honestly there are so few holes where that equates to lower scores. Coming into winter plays right into standing throws anyway, so I'm good with starting back slowly. I have a feeling I'll be throwing the Polaris/Buzzz/Wizard trio for a while to come. Not sure I can get the snap to get the Orions to fly right.

Great to be talking disc golf again and thanks again for the input! I'll post back after my limited field work this weekend. Gonna be hard to keep to a reasonable number of throws!

[discmonkey42]

Two weekends of field work and a couple of rounds. Standing throws only. Borrowed some discs, bought a couple new to try, etc. Would love some help on a couple of slots below.

Buzzz - 260ish, Orions - 310-320.

Drivers (pretty happy here):

173 Q Quasar - Really dig this one. Long and overstable.
175 MOLF - Between the quasar and qolf, but not sure I need this?
173 QOLF - Stable, straight, long.
175 MOLS - New, line shaper.
172 MOLS - Seasoned, more right turn but still fades a bit.
171 MOLS - Beat, roller, lots more right turn no fade.

Fairway/Control (Really not happy here, but making due - trying to work up an overstable/stable/understable trio for fairway/control):

175 EXP
vs.
172 Star Firebird

174 MPolarisLS
vs.
169 Z Stalker

171 MPolarisLS - Beat
vs.
???

I've tried Z Pred, Teebird, Tracker, XL, Spirit, and a few others and nothing seems right or is inspiring confidence. When I throw the Orions I am ultra happy and ultra confident. I know what they will do every time. I know what conditions they do and don't work in. I'd really like to find a fairway driver that does the same thing. I used to throw DX Teebirds in this slot, but stopped because I really hate domey discs and the dx birds changed way too quickly. The flight characteristics of the teebird was perfect, though. One mold in various wear/plastics was golden here and I'd like to get back to that. Thinking of trying the Stalker in different weights/plastics, River, PD, CD, TD, or something someone here can suggest?

Mids:

These are mostly set....

172 Z Hornet
175 Ti Buzz
2 D Buzz to be seasoned.
175 Meteor - Temp until I get a D buzz beat into submission.

175 Champ Gator
175 glow Wizard
175 Beat 1st run Warlock

So I guess I'm struggling most with that spot between my distance drivers and my mids (both of which I'm happy with now). If I could nail down an overstable/stable/understable trio for this distance, I think I'm in good shape through the winter while I work my back into shape.

Thanks again for any help you guys can give.

[JR]

You grouped the Gator with putters but it is a mid thus somewhat overlapping with the Hornet although the Hornet flies straight farther before the fade kicks in. Have you tried the QOLS? You get good D from stand stills but at 300' it should fade so it could resemble the TB a lot. Breaking one in is gonna be a bitch. QOLS is slower and shorter than the MOLS for me. So it could work as a FW for your current power. In the left finish spot probably not so well in straight and especially right finishing shots. It won't hook hard like the EXP1 or the Firebird.

I haven't thrown the Polaris so i can't help there. The EXP1 is like a Banshee so it is shorter and slower than the Firebird. The Stalker is gonna fade at 300' but it is fairly mild when thrown low. Just like the big brother of the Buzzz should it also likes a lot of power to stay straight. PDs when complete in a set are nice but the River would also be good in GL for right finishes and straight shots. PDs vary soooo much that in buying one without knowing them you might get a different role disc. It is speed 9.5 so it is too much for a FW and the same goes for the TD.

[keltik]

were you in a bad car wreck or something? that's a lot of spinal column damage. but fortunately you can play again. Cheers!

as far as "fairway drivers" I don't think you would really need any in your current status. I think you could power down an OLF or OLS to cover the shots between your Buzzz and full power Orion. But if you really want a Fairway disc then I suggest either a good ole' Leopard or an FD (which I believe is just a Leopard+). You may want to try an Eagle-X/Leopard combo. different plastics of each behave differently especially with the Leopard.

Every thing else looks fine. Stay healthy and welcome back!

[discmonkey42]

were you in a bad car wreck or something? that's a lot of spinal column damage. but fortunately you can play again. Cheers!

as far as "fairway drivers" I don't think you would really need any in your current status. I think you could power down an OLF or OLS to cover the shots between your Buzzz and full power Orion. But if you really want a Fairway disc then I suggest either a good ole' Leopard or an FD (which I believe is just a Leopard+). You may want to try an Eagle-X/Leopard combo. different plastics of each behave differently especially with the Leopard.

Every thing else looks fine. Stay healthy and welcome back!

-No car wreck, but age, very bad posture, sitting at a desk 10 hours a day, not working out at all, and killing myself with 72 holes of ball golf and 4-6 rounds of disc golf on the weekends with no stretching or conditioning all caught up with me at once.

Been getting help from a very good friend who is a high 900's rated player. Has helped a lot. No ball golf til next year, but moderate field work every day now has me feeling great and my PT is impressed with my progress.

Standing throws only, and probably will stay that way til next spring.

Wizards - 240 flat and smooth
Buzz - 260-275 flat and smooth

173 Q Quasar
172 Star Firebird
173 QOLF
150 SOLF
175 MOLS New
172 MOLS Seasoned
171 MOLS Beat

171 CPD New
174 MPolaris LS New
171 MPolaris LS Beat

178 Flat top Roc newish
175 Ti Buzz
175 D Buzz

175 S Wizard
175 S Warlock
172 SS Warlock


Turns out better technique was the key to making the fairway drivers work for me (go figure). My buddy swears by the Leo, so on his and your advice I'll be trying one to replace the Polarii. He likes the lack of fade at the end but I don't know I need that. Might try your suggestion of an FD instead, we'll see. That's the only tinkering left for now, I'm pretty set otherwise. As my form improves, and power increases, I'm sure this will change, so I will post back when it does. Thanks for the well wishes and the feedback. It's much appreciated.

[JR]

The Leo is a tremendously good disc.