Green Splatter reviews discs.
Because of this, I have a bunch of new, never-before-thrown frisbees on a disc-storage shelf in my office. It’s a slow process, but every couple of weeks, I’ll cycle one into my bag – it stays there for a month. After that, I feel like I’ve done enough to write a high-quality review.
Last Friday, though, I decided to do things a bit differently …
My buddy invited me to throw a late-night glow round with him at one of the longer, more open courses in our area. Instead of the usual four or so frisbees (less is more) I bring with me when tackling a round at night, I decided to bring new discs – four from the aforementioned shelf.
Doing things this way, in one casual, meaningless round, I’d be forced to throw nothing but discs that needed reviewing in upcoming articles. Discomfort, yes – but I’d be golfing with a purpose.
Here’s what I usually bring with me:
- Old Disc No. 1 – X1 Z-Glo Scorch
- Old Disc No. 2 – X1 Champion Color Glow Gator
- Old Disc No. 3 – X1 Champion Color Glow Rhyno
- Old Disc No. 4 – X1 Glow Yeti Pro Aviar
And here’s what I brought that night:
- New Disc No. 1 – X1 Lucid-Ice Criminal
- New Disc No. 2 – X1 Star IT
- New Disc No. 3 – X1 Star Wombat3
- New Disc No. 4 – X1 Zero Hard Sinus
I went; I played.
And after 18 holes of soul-sucking disc golf, I considered quitting the sport altogether. In fact, the experience was SO demoralizing, I went out the next night all by my lonesome with the discs I usually bag. I needed to make sure I wasn’t suddenly a shell of my former disc-slinging self …
Good News: I’m still mediocre as ever, but not an embarrassment to the game.
Granted, there were some obvious reasons things went worse than normal. For starters, it was windy, there was three inches of snow on the ground and it was a generous 25 degrees Fahrenheit outside. On top of that, none of the discs I brought with me actually glowed in the dark. And worst of all, I learned first-hand why nobody with a functioning brain putts with a Sinus …
Whoopsies.
Halfway through the emotional crotch-kicking, I realized that – to a lesser, more lame extent – I was inadvertently engaged in a “Simon Lizotte” mind-freak of sorts. After a decade with nothing but Discmania discs, Lizotte switched over to MVP to the tune of 10 years and a fat wad of cash.
He’s now building out a new, all-GYRO bag.
Here’s how his first experience with it went:
If you don’t have 17 minutes to spare or don’t care to watch, the skinny of the viddy is that he flips his new discs all over Maple Hill Gold. My name isn’t worthy of being written on the same snot-soaked napkin as Simon’s, but after one, four-frisbee round with new stuff, I feel the pain.
It’s hard …
- Issue No. 1 – Forget names, colors and flight numbers – nothing flies like you think.
- Issue No. 2 – Situational knowledge is a thing of the past – back to square one.
- Issue No. 3 – The beat-in beauties you’ve come to know and love are gonzo.
My biggest beef, though?
Everything feels foreign.
For as sucky as my disc golf game might be, at the end of the day, forehand or backhand, I can lean (somewhat) heavily on getting up-and-down from 150 to 250 feet out with my Rhyno or Gator. But the Sinus and Wombat3? I might as well have been fan-gripping a bowling pin.
Simon will get his new bag right. He’s got the time, talent and financial incentives to make it happen. As for the rest of us amateurs? We’re better served finding what works and sticking with it. Test and tinker; make changes in the margins – the less overhauling you do, the better.
Should MVP knock down your door with a McBeth-sized contract, go bonkers …
Otherwise, sit tight with what you’ve got.
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Editor’s Suggestions:
- Disc golf: More online retailers need to do this for buyers
- Discraft: What’s Jawbreaker plastic? (and what to expect from it)
- Disc golf: You need at least one comically flippy frisbee in your bag
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