Moving from Charlotte, NC to Logan, UT has changed how I play disc golf and has created the desire to re-select the discs that I take out onto my local courses. As such, I found it prudent to share the basic steps on disc selection to optimize your abilities out on the course.
The following steps are not meant to be exhaustive, but simple and generic with examples from myself. All in hopes that it will be more easily applicable to you and your situation.
The goal here is to build a disc golf bag with no overlap and have all your shots covered. These are some points to consider:
-
- How Many Discs to Carry
- Play Style
- Requirements as Determined by the Courses you Play
This Video will provide insights on building a bag from David Feldberg:
Deciding on How Many Discs to Carry
There are a few ways of deciding this; you know how many you want to use, the rule of three, or bag size. Most people I’ve spoken with have decided on a number of discs through a combination of the aforementioned.
Rule of three:
This one is simple, there are four classes of discs; Distance Driver, Control/Fairway Driver, Midrange, and Putt & Approach. The rule of three just iterates that you have three discs for each of the four classes, one disc for each level of stability: Understable, Stable, and Overstable. Thus, leading you to have at least 12 discs in your bag, more if you carry duplicates.
Bag size:
You have your bag, or have a bag you want to buy, and it only holds so many discs. This is the big limiting factor on disc capacity.
If you’re curious and looking for a new bag. These are the most popular within the past 90 days, according to InfiniteDiscs.com’s sales data.
- Infinite Discs Slinger, this bag can hold 10-14 discs.
- Infinite Discs Stealth, you can hold 4-8 discs with this bag
- Prodigy BP-1 V2, which allows you to carry 24-34 in the bag
- Prodigy BP-1 V3, carrying 20-26 discs
How many discs you want:
This is simple, for whatever reason you know how many discs you want to carry.
For me, there were a few factors on how many discs that I want to carry. Playing through the courses I noticed I only threw 8-12 different molds. This made me realize that I carried too many discs with me on the course. Realizing this, I searched for a bag that could carry a little more than just 12 discs, that is how I found the Gripeq CS2 bag. I’m currently using it, this can hold 12-16 discs per the manufacturer description. With the discs that I’ve chosen to carry, it is holding 17 discs with 11 different molds.
Determining your Play Style
How you play should really determine what kind of discs you are going to carry.
- Do you get big distance out of your throws?
- Is it a struggle to throw for big distance?
- Which stability (understable, stable, overstable) offers you the most consistent throws?
- How often are you manipulating how your discs fly?
- What is your go-to throwing style?
- Are you aggressive or cautious in your play?
Be straight with yourself, as the more honest you are, the easier time you will have in finding discs that will work for you. The more discs that work for you, the better you will play.
As for myself, my arm isn’t the strongest – I don’t get big distance on my throws. I really prefer throwing right-hand-back-hand (RHBH). Which leads me to rather manipulate the disc or have a disc that I can throw to the right and end on the right before I’ll throw a forehand. Throwing this way gives me more control and consistency. This type of play leads me to throwing more understable discs, as I can control those and throw them farther.
What Type of Throws are Needed as Determined by the Courses you Play
Now that you have thought about how you like to play, and know the types of discs that you should be on the look-out for, let us look at the courses that you are playing at. This information will you give you the best idea of what discs you should have in your bag.
- Are you facing a majority of long or short holes?
- Does your most frequented course have a majority of technical holes?
- Do you have tight tunnels that you need to hit?
- Is the course open?
- How accurate do you need to be?
Here in northern Utah, most courses are fairly open and short. There are some mountainous courses, of which I have not gone and played, probably should. Due to the openness, this allows me to throw discs with little penalty for inaccuracy and I can afford to miss out on maximum distance as they are shorter holes.
To summarize my findings for the ideal discs to carry in my bag; I should focus on understable to neutral – slightly stable – discs. I shouldn’t have too fast of discs as I don’t have the arm speed for those nor the need to throw that far. These types of discs will allow me to get the maximum distance, allow me to manipulate the flight paths (like I would prefer), and to have consistent throws.
These are the Discs that I am Choosing for my Bag:
Drivers
1 x BioFuzion Renegade 174g – trying this disc out, its speed is on the verge of too fast for me, but I can throw this without too much strain and get the flight path and good distance. Hopefully it’ll beat out my inertia’s distance with some practice and strengthening.
2 x Proton Inertia 156g & 173g – It has been a favorite since the beginning; I can get pretty good distance and the two weights gives me a good range of stability.
1 x BioFuzion Felon 169g – This is my utility driver. I went with the felon because the overstability of this disc is quite appealing . Initially I was thinking about the Firebird, but it didn’t feel as good in my hand.
1 x Star & 1 x Champion Teebird 149g & 168g – This was a favorite out in Charlotte. I went with some lighter weights as the elevation change is going to make it a little more overstable. The intent here, is that these discs will by my straight/hyzer flying discs off the teepad. The lighter weight will be the hyzer flip straight shot disc for me.
Midranges
1 x VIP Tursas 175g – This has been a favorite understable midrange. I can easily change this disc’s flight path andget some steep anhyzers with it.
1 x Z Line, 1 x Titanium, 1 x ESP Swirl Buzzz 175g, 175g & 177g – I’ve got this as my main midrange, as it can do all lines fairly well. There are three plastics in my bag as I’m working to figure out which will be the most stable and which will be the most understable. Once I figure that out, I’ll move from 3 of these to 2 of them.
1 x Lucid Justice 175g – This has been my most favorite utility midrange for quite some time. It is a meat hook, it works great for spike hyzers or getting around a tree.
Putters
1 x Opto Pure 173g – The pure has many uses for me; driver, approach, and shuttle putter. On a flat throw, this disc will fly straight with little to no fade. I love it!
1 x BT Hard Harp 175g – I really appreciate this disc for its driving capabilities and its reliable fade at the end. Making it a great approach disc for when mid ranges aren’t the answer.
1 x Star Mirage 161g – I’m testing this one out, I wanted a putter that is understable that I could put on an anhyzer line easily. As it is mainly to be used as an approach shot when the midrange is too much for the distance that I want to go.
3 x Prime Judge 175g – These are my putters. They have a decent amount of glide to them, and for spin putting they work great for me.
Another important thing to consider, is to have room for a tester disc or two. As with time, discs may become more reasonable to throw as others lose their preferred slot. Hence, it is always a good idea to try out new discs. A few of the discs that I have above are exactly that, testers, something I’m trying out to see if I will like it or not.
Let me know what you guys think, whether you agree with my very basic steps on disc selection. Or, if you think I should have included something. What discs are you carrying an why?
Thanks for reading.
