The Star Destroyer is the “cute girl” at the disc-golf dance.
Though most (allegedly) have no business asking for her hand, it’s hard to resist …
Go big or go home, right?
If new to the sport, approved by the PDGA back in 2007, the Innova Destroyer quickly set the standard for glidey, overstable 12-speeds. In Star plastic, the disc combines durability with a knack for gradually beating. The result is a distance driver that bombs – and cycles well, too. Should you demand proof, check the bags of (literally) every member of Team Innova.
It’s a staple of the Innova lineup.
Here’s the problem, though …
Known for wildly inconsistent runs and an undersold fade of three, for many amateurs looking to bag the same discs as their favorite, Innova-sponsored pros, the level of beef a Star Destroyer provides is surprising. In the hands of an 800-rated golfer, it’s a longer-flying Firebird.
Hardly a “full-flight” frisbee.
So how far do you NEED to throw to justifiably bag a Star Destroyer?
You might not’ve expected this …
It doesn’t matter.
Whether you max-out your distance drivers at 325 or 525 feet, as long as your Star Destroyer does what you want it to do, go for it. Of course, if you’re the aforementioned 325-foot golfer, yours isn’t likely to do what it was designed to do. But if it regularly performs, it’s useful.
- Use No. 1 – Skip shots.
- Use No. 2 – Spike-hyzers.
- Use No. 3 – Forehand flexes.
- Use No. 4 – Overhand throws.
Conversely, if your cannon’s capable of 525 feet, that thing’ll soar for dayzzz …
See Calvin Heimburg.
To further demonstrate this point, how many Discmania-sponsored pros throw a Cloudbreaker like Eagle McMahon? Kyle Klein. And in FPO, Ella Hansen is another – and that’s about it. Yet nobody berates the rest of Team Discmania for using a disc “not suitable for their arm speed.”
This logic doesn’t ONLY apply to the Destroyer mold, either. Every disc manufacturer has their Destroyer-equivalent: the Rive, Force, Outlaw, Enforcer, Defender, Scorpius, Ballista Pro, etc.
For a stock, middle-of-the-road Star Destroyer, armed with at least 375 feet of power, you should see a slight turn with heavy fade at the end of its flight. But again, if you know what your arm can do with it, and your Star Destroyer keeps delivering, gatekeepers be d*rned …
Bag away.
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I’ve had one since the beginning even knowing I shouldn’t throw it yet. I toyed with it in field work and would throw it for big hysers in rounds but it was when I started to get to that 350 range you speak of when I finally started getting more than just the immediate dump from my destroyer. A little bit of turn and straight travel and the fade comes but not quite as unforgiving. THEN I got a 160g PRO destroyer and it was like a totally different disc. Not really a drastic distance difference but the shape of it’s flight was much more controlled and accurate.
I can’t help but wonder just how many of us are throwing this disc when we really have no business throwing it. It’s probably the highest selling disc on the market because so many people bagging and throwing them and losing them bc it’s a beefcake for us mere mortals.
That might very well be the case …
But it still has its uses for most people.
It’s just not going to the “max-distance” disc so many amateurs buy it to be, you know?
If you’ve accepted that, you should be just fine.
(not YOU, per se – I’m using a general “you”)
I think most New players would be stoked to get 250 let alone 300+! I like the answer though, if a disc does what you want it to, throw it. My first ace was a forehand flex with a Star Destroyer on a 220ft hole. With the knowledge I have now I would consider the Star Destroyer the “wrong disc” for that hole, but if I always had that mentality I wouldn’t have that ace! Throw what feels good for you and tune out the haters!
Very cool, Cullen!
Similar experience on my end with my first ace, too.
Looking back, what was I thinking throwing a 12-speed on a 250-foot hole?
Same story. Different tools.
(don’t remember the exact disc, though – it was a Discraft mold, though)
Here’s a progression I see. A newbie DG player gets an Innova Dx starter set. After a few months (or a year), they add a Dx Sidewinder. When that gets old, they graduate to a Star Sidewinder (and perhaps spring for a Dx Destroyer). Sound familiar?
But to throw a Star Destroyer, you need a breakthrough in technique (which is everyone’s journey) to break that 325′ threshold. Throwing lighter discs may help…
I’m not there, yet.
DX Destroyers bomb, Robert …
Hang in there – it’ll happen!
I can’t make a Destroyer turn over, but I can throw 350′ with another Innova 12 speed – the Tern. I also bag a Corvette for 15 mph headwinds, or when I need to throw arrow straight into a ground level gap and get a 30′ skip into the circle. Other brands rate their stuff differently – I bought a Big Z Nuke that seems like a 16 speed on the Innova scale, it’s all but useless unless I’m at Ft Stevens throwing into 30 mph winds. Their Hades is great in a tailwind, but seems flippy otherwise for a 12 speed, more like Mamba with a tad more stability. I guess I don’t have a great handle on stability vs speed ratings. Maybe speed is just a measure of the ultimate flight path length given unlimited power? And then there are the overstable discs from Finland that barely fade… Anyway, thanks for the content.
No problem – thanks for reading, Coder!
Real quick …
What do you mean by “overstable discs from Finland that barely fade,” by chance?
Are you referring to a specific disc? Or a specific Finnish manufacturer?
Thanks in advance!
There is a world of difference between a professional disc golfer using a disc that their throw doesn’t get the full intended flight path out of and an amateur who handicaps themselves in their learning of the game and its mechanics by throwing discs that are entirely too fast for them to try and get more distance in lieu of learning how to throw the damn things and you’ve got no business spreading bad advice. My first ace was a huge s-curve with a wraith that traveled about 250ft too. Throwing a distance driver in the basket at a putter length hole is relying almost solely on luck rather than skill, and one of the goals of gold is to minimize the effect of luck on the results of your game. My aces with putters, midranges and fairway drivers are the ones that happened as a result of skill. What you are doing with this article, is promoting fad fueled buying habits and relying on equipment rather than skill, and not JUST that, but relying on equipment WITHOUT the skill needed to use it.
After all, for a learning driver, a corolla or sentra will work, but a Corvette will get them there faster. Good luck keeping it on the road.
A bit of an old-school take, but worthy of consideration, nonetheless!
Thanks for reading, William 🙂
Oh darn
Hang in there, Jeremiah …
We’re all in this together.
I bag a star Destroyer that is one of the first disc I ever owned. It’s so beat in and the stamp is completely wiped, but my noodle arm loves it. Even though I’m a Lone Star team member and supposed to bag 90% Lone Star, that Destroyer will always remain in bag.
Oh, those are the best ones …
Destroyers are weird, because you can find ’em all over the stability spectrum, you know?
Glad you found a keeper!
For some reason the wide rims seem to go farther. However measuring in a field they don’t. A one angle shot is more accurate and goes just as far. It can also ruin form but that seems to be the game now ripping beefy discs over on flex. But that’s more variables. I’ve seen players bomb mids on a pushing hyzer angle. I feel if you don’t throw 60mph+ your just adding inconstantly opposed to dialing in a mid or fairway with clean form.
Good advise for us all – thanks, DW!
(also, love that ‘DW’ comes from the show ‘Arthur,’ as well)
Ah the “if you’re not throwing a putter 350 ft you’re not doing it right” snob has come out of the woodwork. Perhaps their “skill” just runeth over and they can’t let other people play the way that they want to. Would I throw a destroyer at a 250 ft basket? Probably not but I certainly wouldn’t look down on anyone else who is. Sometimes people throw discs just because they like that particular disc. Each to their own
Alex Russell would throw a Star Boss on a 250-foot basket …
He looks for reasons to throw Bosses.
And he’s a Pro Tour-level player.
Just need to have the right weight and plastic. I bomb a Blizzard Destroyer 153g 330ft. That’s a bomb for me.
Now my 170g star Destroyer is a meat hook for me. 230ft and going left. It took me years to learn just try 150g high speed discs. If the turn over to rollers either keep it for a roller or go to 160g weights.
Lot of fun figuring out the right weight.
Mark, I’m a complete and total “weight snob” with discs …
Glad to know I’m not alone.
You written an article about your weight snobbery yet?
Hey, Fletch!
Are you talking about lighter-weight discs, by chance?
Because if so …
Yes, we have: https://bit.ly/46Vv0qU
And if you’re referring to something else, please let me know – thanks!
I’m a forehand dominant player and my max distance is about 330. I’m getting that distance with Star Destroyers. Either with a low, hard, slight hyzerflip with a less stable Destroyer or a high flex shot with a slightly more stable Destroyer. I haven’t found other discs that I can get similar distance with and have the same level of control.
The Star Boss might work for you, too.
It’s a forehander’s delight.
I love my destroyer, but people sleep on the mystere and shryke too much for that beginner or intermediate first high speed disc. Let them have their beautiful S turns…. Even if they can only throw 250 feet
The Shryke will give you just that …
Not great in a headwind, but in a high-altitude place like Utah, it’s a $$$ mold.
Oh ya, any wind and the shryke will start to go right and then go right again even further.
Roller!