According to some random Hallmark movie I saw forever ago, love is spelled as follows:
“T-I-M-E”
The lesson’s applicable in cheesy, meet-cute Christmas movies with a has-been cast, but it also works in the world of disc golf when people sort through hundreds of molds to identify the discs that’ll make the final cut in their bags. Test all the plastic you want, but one thing remains true ….
The discs you LOVE are the ones you spend the most TIME with.
See what I did there?
For as much as I enjoy calling out people who fall prey to insane, nonsensical disc trends, I’m just as capable of crumbling before a well-timed marketing message. The fat stack of overstable approach putters collecting dust in my basement is evidence of this – my wife is so patient.
The first overstable putter I ever got my hands on was a DX Rhyno. The year was 2006, and it was 155 grams – straight off the shelf at a Walmart in Tulsa, Okla. I loved the way it felt. I loved the way it flew. Since then, I’ve NEVER gone without a Rhyno of some kind in my bag …
If you feel guilt for taking a mold out of your bag, you might be a disc golfer.
— Green Splatter (@GreenSplatter) May 12, 2022
Well, that is unless you count the pair of weeks I flirted with the A2, Pig, Harp, Zone, Tactic and Ringer – there are a dozen or so others in there, as well. I get that not all of those discs do what a Rhyno does, but regardless, time and time again, I went back to what I knew – the Rhyno.
Great minds think alike – here’s what Calvin Heimburg had to say about his Rhyno:
“Since I was in intermediate or advanced, it just happened to be one of those discs that got in my hands, and I really enjoyed throwing it. I think it’s a comfort thing. I’ve thrown it for so long. I’m very comfortable with releasing it on all kinds of angles, and I feel really confident approaching greens with it.”
Here’s another real-life example …
Five or so years ago, I had one of my then-favorite golf frisbees “DISCappear” on me. I was playing in a heavily wooded course. I threw a simple, 150-foot forehand upshot with it. So when I spent the next 45 minutes looking for a disc I thought I knew where it was, I was fuming …
The disc in question was a Lucid Justice – SUCH a great piece of equipment.
Anyway, lazy as I am, I didn’t bother picking up a replacement Justice. Instead, I rifled through the small-ish collection of discs I’d accumulated – I found a Luster Whippet X. I knew it was one of those wacko molds Innova fanboys lost their minds over, so when a buddy offered it to me in a disc swap six months beforehand, I took him up on it – it was overstable, at least.
Know this – a Whippet X ISN’T a Justice:
- The Whippet X is a fairway driver; the Justice is a midrange.
- The Whippet X skips when it hits; the Justice tends to sit.
- The Whippet X is domey to the max; the Justice is flat.
After eight full months of using the Whippet X in place of my long-lost Justice, I’d accumulated enough tournament earnings (and motivation) to nab another Justice from my local retailer. And wouldn’t you know it, after only a handful of rounds, that new Lucid Justice was quickly back in my basement, collecting dust with the aforementioned pile of “beefy” approach putters …
True story.
No joke – I have the “buyer history” on eBay to prove it. I’ve spent WAY too much money in recent years nabbing backup Whippet Xs to avoid this kind of headache again – it works for me.
* Note: Taylor threw shade on the Whippet in this article – I’m doing my part to rectify that.
Did the Whippet replace my Justice, per se?
Eh, I’m not so sure about that …
There’s definitely some crossover, but again: I spent time with the disc – months, in fact. What felt like a “pop-top” mess to begin with soon felt comfortable. It worked for short spike hyzers, forehand flexes and skip shots. And when I needed nestle, the Gator made up the difference.
My game adjusted.
Bag what you know; know what you throw – trademark pending.
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Editor’s Suggestions:
- Disc golf: There’s no right (or wrong) way to putt
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- Disc golf: The problem with speed-one throwing putters
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