YIKUN DISCS, the leading disc golf manufacturer from China, kicked-off the 2018 year with two new discs. The LU distance driver was PDGA approved on 9/24/17 along with the KUI mid-range driver, but the discs didn’t really get off the mass production line and into distribution channels until January of 2018. Since then, the new double-over-mold disc by Yikun called the Twin Swords has also been PDGA approved but is not expected to get through mass production until the spring of 2018. We’ll take a look at that interesting disc later. Let’s take a look at the LU and the KUI.
KUI – I’d say that the Kui isn’t quite as overstable as the numbers suggest. It feels great in the hand with a rim that is closer to the feel of a fairway driver. Plus the disc has some nice glide. However, I had to fine-tune my throwing speed to get the expected results. When thrown with too much power, it would fly with a stable-to-understable path. I got a couple of longer distance throws than expected, when released just right. But as a mid-range, it is not intended to be thrown as a high-speed driver. So, I powered-down and had more success in getting a straight or slightly overstable flight. This is not the kind of mid-range that dumps sharply on the fade. Rather, it goes through a slower, controlled fade for a smooth, curved flight.
This disc is a solid one for beginners and intermediate players who want a straight-to-overstable mid-range with a soft, but dependable fade. It should serve well in that regard, when thrown with a slower arm speed. Yikun has a nice mid-range here which could claim a general purpose, short-range roll in your disc bag, even covering some fairway driver range. Your evaluation of the disc might depend primarily on whether or not you like the smooth, comfortable, low-profile rim and the moderate dome. If you like discs with steep rims and flat flight plates that are more suitable for forehand, you may want to stick with your Buzzz or your Roc3.
FLIGHT NUMBERS from YIKUN:
- Speed: 5.0
- Glide: 5.0
- Turn: 0.0
- Fade: 2.5
LU – First of all, I love the feel of the Phoenix Line plastic on this run of Lu drivers. It is durable plastic, but flexible, like Innova’s Gummy Champion, or Discraft’s Z FLX plastic. I tend to like plastics that aren’t rock-hard when it comes to distance drivers.
The rim width and feel of the Lu made me expect it to fly something like an Innova Boss, and honestly I don’t think that expectation was far off. It is generally more understable than a Boss, but still has some nice fade at the end. When thrown with a lot of power, it can trace a huge s-curve across the sky and go for a respectable distance. I found myself releasing it with an anhyzer, which I usually do when ripping a driver as hard as I can, and I loved the results as it managed to fade back at the end of flight for a balanced journey. I’d say the finish was slightly overstable (not overly so), but it matches the flight numbers provided by Yikun (fade 3).
I’d say that the Lu is a solid distance driver for intermediate and experienced players. It may fly a bit different for each thrower, depending on release style and power, but for my slightly anhyzer backhand release, it was a great disc and one that I would love to throw some more in the future. The LU is a bit to much on the high-speed size of the spectrum for beginners, so I would not recommend it as a good disc to use while learning the game of disc golf.
FLIGHT NUMBERS from YIKUN:
- Speed: 14.0
- Glide: 5.0
- Turn: -1.0
- Fade: 3.0
