If for some odd reason, Paul McBeth, Ricky Wysocki, Eagle McMahon or anyone close to them in disc golf mastery is reading this article, feel free to skip over it entirely – it’s not for you.
This is for the rest of us. The guy (or gal) who can’t confidently throw over 350 feet. The player who uses drivers for just about everything. The golfer who feels uncomfortable driving with a midrange or putter. And the dude who’s made missing inside-the-circle putts an artform.
I’ve never seen your bag. I have no idea what’s in there.
Still, I bet I can pin down at least a few things about it:
- You’re rocking one of those GRIPeq AX5 bags – or something similar, at least.
- It’s jam-packed with 25+ discs, the bulk of which are fairway or distance drivers.
- Of the 25+ discs you carry, you’re bagging at least 15 different molds you feel are vital.
This isn’t the right way to do things …
Here’s why:
Analysis paralysis sets in pretty quickly
Ever heard of “analysis paralysis,” by chance?
If not, it’s the inability to make a decision because of overthinking.
As a disc golfer, your knee-jerk reaction to building your bag might be to think that more options is better. It means you’ll be better prepared out on the course, right? What this often leads to, though, is overthinking a shot when, in reality, the shot wasn’t all that complex to begin with.
Take In-N-Out, for example. The fast-food restaurant’s menu is small. So much so, that before you’ve even walked in the door, you know what you want. You’ve been there time and time again. You’ve ordered before. You’ll order again. You know what to do. It’s that simple.
Make your bag more like In-N-Out’s menu.
You know what works. You know what doesn’t. You know what to throw.
The right disc is as much about feel as it is flight
By now, you probably know what a disc is supposed to do.
And if it’s a new mold you’ve never experimented with, you’ve got flight numbers to give you a (very) rough idea of the kind of flight you can expect. YouTube disc reviews can help out, too.
Flight is key. But too many golfers forget about the importance of how a disc feels in the hand. If every disc in your bag is a different mold, each feels different. The more discs that feel different, the more time and energy you need to put into learning them to become confident with them.
Imagine if every disc you pulled out of your bag felt like it really belonged in your hand …
This needn’t be a pipe dream; it’s totally possible:
- Eliminate discs you don’t throw often.
- Cut out molds that overlap too much with others.
- Stop “retiring” ace discs – they work, so keep using them.
Disc comfort means confidence. And lots of it.
Your talent level (likely) doesn’t require a million molds … yet
The list of disc golf manufacturers is a lengthy one.
If you want to throw a single brand, that’s fine. If you want to mix it up, that’s fine, too.
At the end of the day, nearly all companies manufacture putters, midranges, fairway drivers and distance drivers that have three different flight tendencies: understandable, stable and overstable.
The truth of the matter?
These days, there’s very little innovation in disc manufacturing …
Just clever marketing campaigns.
Trying out every new mold that hits the market is fun, but it’s far from necessary to get better. Yes, each mold should accomplish something unique in the air, but the differences are negligible for most “mortal” arms. In other words, the pros might notice, but you and I probably won’t.
Instead, let a single mold in varying weights and plastics accomplish a number of different flights for you. Watch the below video. If it works for Philo Brathwaite, it’ll work for you, too.
Don’t just work hard. Work smarter.
Carrying (way) fewer disc golf discs is an unpopular way to do just that.
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