I am wondering whether people prefer the front door or back door when MTA'ing, and what discs they prefer to use? I like MTA weight Condors and throwing back door. I started MTA'ing two years ago and it is really a blast as well as a good workout. The basic rule is to throw a disc in the air and try to get it to hang in the air as long as possible. To be a legal time, you must catch the disc with one hand. Peter Henriksson from Sweden has the following webpage devoted to Self Caught Flight: http://hem.bredband.net/area46/engelska/skola/scfskola.html

In the Masters Overall Event taking place this week, I hear that John Kirkland set a new world record for his age bracket (55-65). Speaking about the setting for this years Overall Disc Event, Rick LeBeau said in a yahoo group devoted to overall disc events -- http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OverallDiscLink/

"Robb Field in Ocean Beach has hosted more world records than probably any other facility anywhere in the frisbee universe, and the sea breezes yesterday were as good as I've ever felt. If there is a more ideal place to throw SCF, I'd like to find it."

I practice MTA several times a week, and (IMO) backdoor is the way to go. I prefer the yellow MTA Condor, but have been screwing around with a 95g Classic Roc with some success. FB6's are OK, but in any wind more than a puff, I find the flight unpredictable (and the running too exhausting). Light big bird Rocs just won't work for me, nor premi Aviars, Magnets, or Polecats. I met a guy using a 96g Monster, but I think I'd sever your fingers trying to catch it. I've never laid my hands upon a light old-school Lynx, but I'd love to try it.

The world record is with an FB16, I believe. The Beveled edge is unnecessary.

My experience is with FB3s and FB6s, and I found more success with not going back door with these discs.

OK, I will be the one to ask ... what do you mean by backdoor and frontdoor? :confused: :eek:

Sorry Mark,
WR is with an FB 6

Danny - back door/front door is a reference to how you attack the wind. A good MTA throw requires that you get your disc up in the air and flattened out so that you make the most of the "float" that the disc has to offer. Back door throws a bit against and across the wind direction, with the hope that the disc will turn and reach it's peak as it aligns itself with the wind direction - so that it sort of parachutes slowly back to you. Front Door goes across but with the wind and yields a more boomerang shaped flight path.

I've got an old beat FB3 that can do either :) But I have always had consistently better luck going front door. I don't bother with the beveled edges anymore (I don't run as fast as I used to :) ) FB3's are the only one for me - and I've got a pretty good stack of them - so it makes practicing easier.

Isn't the record somewhere around 16.8 seconds? And, isn't it one of the longest standing flying disc records out there? I've had a 12.5 before, and it seemed like it was up in the air forever!

we do field events at the NC FDC's every year, and we use FB6's.

I have also done some w/ a 90 g magnet

Isn't the record somewhere around 16.8 seconds? And, isn't it one of the longest standing flying disc records out there? I've had a 12.5 before, and it seemed like it was up in the air forever!



I looked up the open record at www.wfdf.org (http://www.wfdf.org) and you're right -- it was set in 1984.

Open: 16.72 s Don Cain (USA) 5/26/84 Philadelphia, PA

My best have been high 12's with a yellow Condor. I've thrown the old school lynx and the fastback, but the Condor seems to be the easiest and best for me. Last week, just when I was beginning to think I owned him in MTA, my friend Fred Salaz threw a 14.47 with an orange Condor :D
I've noticed the good throws are up long enough that it's fairly easy to get under them and they usually float enough that they are finger friendly.

Dave Dunipace feels the super-light Classic Rocs have good potential to break the world record, although they are evidently tricky to throw right. How would you compare your 95g Classic Roc to the 115g MTA Rocs?

If anyone can explain to me what they find to be the essential differences to be between orange and yellow Condors I'd appreciate hearing your perspective. I know different colors of plastic cool at different rates and that can affect stability, glide, etc. Are orange and yellow from the same run or ...?

Also, has anyone heard of a brand new MTA disc? I heard a rumor there may be one out.

I just saw something incredible :eek: in the world record listings:

Mini Disc MTA:
Open: 9.92 s Conrad Damon (USA) 9/27/97 Rohnert Park, CA

The Super Light classic ROC is called a "pebble" and I have a 90g one...that lends itself better for TRC than MTA.

But any GOOD TRC has a nice MTA associated with it.

Bryan Stableford and Steve Dodge threw Ultimate platters at Va States this year and were throwing respecable 10+ second MTA with those.

The longest I've witnessed is Paul Hobson 14.75 sec. with a lynx and a swirling wind.

I have a 105 gram proto Wizard that seems to work pretty well for me, but am nowhere close in time to those numbers. Amazing.

I get a nice "hover" with the premie Classic Roc that I don't get from a Pebble (which, for me, tends to knife down more at the end of its flight), and the Pebble is harder on the hand to catch for me.

As far as Condors, my yellow ones are 4-5g lighter than the orange ones I've thrown, and tend to plane out a bit more quickly & hover a bit longer.

For MTA, always back door for me. I get better time, with a lot less running, that way. Yellow domey premium Lynx is my first choice, unless the wind is dead calm, in which case I return to FB6, preferrably a brown coppertone fastback (if I can ever find one again ;)) Personal best in competition: 14.22 (Lynx)

A brown "naked butt" Coppertone FB6 just went on eBay. I bid $14.14, but lost.
<font color="blue">Click Here to see it. (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=19017&item=5909061688&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW)</font>

Yup, that's the one... Greg Hosfeld also sold one a couple of months ago, that I also failed to see in time... would definitely have bid more than $14... that disc is sweeet for Self Caught Flights! :p

A brown "naked butt" Coppertone FB6 just went on eBay. I bid $14.14, but lost.
<font color="blue">Click Here to see it. (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=19017&item=5909061688&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW)</font>



That's my favorite FB. I've got several. That little girl is my old CEO's wife. Trip!

So then is "Pebble" the nickname for the MTA Roc (115g) or is it the name for Premi Classic Rocs? (I'm guessing Premi's are 90 - 105g?) I have borrowed an MTA Roc and I too notice that while it penetrates and climbs nice and fast, it can be hard on the hand during the catch and I don't seem to get the hover time I can from a Condor.

Anyone tried a 125g Shark or a Premi Shark that is even lighter? How about a Premi Aero?

yes the Pebble is the Preemie Classic.