I have been playing for about 3 months now, but have a pretty good throw from playing a lot of ultimate and just throwing a disc with friends in the local grocery store parking lot until all hours of the night. When I started I basically found a bunch of lightening "hubcaps" or "garbage can lids" that I threw because they were shaped like discs I was used to. I am basically a rhbh thrower and am working on a forehand with a couple of wraiths I have.

Finally we come to the question!

I am finally ready to buy my first set of "real" disks. I can throw hard enough now where they all don't fly almost straight left and crash into the ground like a meteor. I got some advice from a local guy who is pretty good and very helpful, but I wanted to ask the experts, or at least you guys!
What should I get to fill my bag to start with?

**** I'm long winded. Sure did take me a long time to not say very much!

Thanks in advance.

Aaron

I would start with slower discs, at least for backhand. Either a mid-range, Roc or Buzz, and a Gazelle or Leopard type driver. Others will have their own favorites like a Sabre or whatever the Discraft equivalent is.
Don't spend $15-17 for a driver just yet.
You'll learn better control than trying to "straigten out" the faster drivers to keep it in the fairway. It's not hard to learn the faster drivers once you develop control with the slower ones.

Welcome to the club!

I throw all Innova, so I'm a bit bias, however, the basics are the same no matter what brand you throw (and this may depend on where you can buy your discs).

Get:
Putter
Midrange
Fairway Driver
Long Driver

The kind of plastic you throw (DX, Star, CH) might depend on your power, how the plastic feels to you, and how much durability you need (play in tree's every day?).
The way I do it is like this. I have overstable, stable, and understable for each type of disc [speed] (with some other "trick" discs in between). Looking at flight charts is helpful. Marshall Street Flight Chart (http://marshallstreetdiscgolf.com/disc_golf_flightguide.html), Joe's Flight Chart, Innova's flight charts will help you determine discs that will fly over/stable/under.
A lot of people will throw the same mold and let it beat in to fly less-stable. I throw all Rocs for my mids, and their flights are mostly different from plastic type and amount of use (except for the Ontario Roc, it flies a little straighter than a Rancho Roc when new).

I'll add this. You can do a LOT with just a few molds/discs. You can start with a putter, midrange, fairway driver, and a long driver. Doing this way, you really learn what these discs do in a lot of situations. Every manufacturer makes these types of discs ... see what fit's you best (rim depth/width etc.), and learn the discs. You'll develop preferences later.

I'm guessing that some will suggest that you just start with a putter and a good midrange. Use these discs to develop good technique/form ... when you have that dialed, move on up to some faster discs.

However, since you have disc experience (I know quite a few ultimate players who throw golf discs now), it won't take you too long to figure this all out.

Here is basically what the guy I talked to recommended. I also have a DX Roc and DX Valk I got from finishing 2nd in the am weekly here. Gotta love doubles, just riding the other guys drives!

BUZZZ Z 174g

AVIAR PUTTER JK PRO 174g

SIDEWINDER CHAMPION 171g

putter - Aviar
Mid - Buzzz & Roc
Drivers - Valk and Sidewinder

Looks like you've got a very good start. I would recommend you learn what you have for now. You can do a lot with those discs!

Lean by throwing in a field and trying to trace an arc with your eye and trying to match it with your disc. This will teach different release angles instead of relying on different plastic characteristics to give you different shots. Also, practice different strengths of your throw too. You want to be able to make shots inside of 200 feet so 50% shots will be very important to learn. Also learn to throw a putter for a wide variety of shots.

You might also want to pick up a Rattler or a Putt'R, which will air bounce like a normal lid. I came from an ultimate background, and while I don't throw these any more, the Rattler saved me a TON of learning curve in the 50-100 foot range.

I agree with buzzz/roc for mids and Valks and Gazelles are great transition discs from ultimate.

Thanks for all lthe advice! You guys rock. I appreciate it!

Don't worry, I'll come back with much more stupid questions in the future I'm sure!

I think that all the advice given so far is good, although I would recommend different discs.

Putter: Dx Aviar (you can't be a disc golfer if you don't know how an Aviar flies). You may not stick with it, but everything else can be compared to an Aviar. Other good ones are the APX and Warlock.

Mid: Comet or Aurora MS--These discs are "true" which means that the way the fly is very closely connected to how they are thrown. Thrown with hyzer they turn left (right handed backhand throw), thrown with anhyzer they turn right, thrown flat they go straight. I have not seen that many true beginners succeed with a Buzz or Roc because these discs have higher minimum speed requirements to make them fly "true".

Main driver: ESP XL or Star Leopard--These are the "truest" drivers on the market imo. They still have more speed and fade than midranges, but are very forgiving compared to most other drivers.

Fast driver: Z Flash/Star Sidewinder/Inferno
These discs are good to become familiar with as their fast speed allow for better wind penetration as well fast turns/skips at the end of their flights, and eventually longer distance once you have the form to make them work.

I agree with discspeed.

I would also add the Roadrunner as a very beginner friendly long range driver. I'd put it ahead of the sidewinder.

MC

since disc selection has already been pretty much covered... here' the best advice I can offer:

Find a local club or group to play with regularly.

Play with people who are better than you and people you will have fun playing with. These folks can help you pick discs, learn shots, and learn all the aspects of the game and competition. If you're at all interested in competing in big events, start immediately. learning the sport while competing means that you will integrate into competition much more easily than someone who learns to play strictly casual then has to adjust to tournament play later.

Anwyay, welcome to the sport and see ya on the course :)

I agree with discspeed.

I would also add the Roadrunner as a very beginner friendly long range driver. I'd put it ahead of the sidewinder.

MC




Id agree. 100%.

I've given much thought to the Ultimate->Disc Golf transition, and I'm going to give some things I believe to be true (probably better suited for throwing tech., but oh well).

You already understand the finesse game, so keeping your bag simple will be an advantage. Once you learn your discs, trust them and your instinct. Ultimate Flying Disc(I dare not use the other F word) is an instinct and reflex driven sport. While reflexes aren't as important in disc golf (except maybe in swirling winds, and that's a BIG maybe), instincts are good. You've already learned how to follow and use your instincts in Ultimate, so no need to start over. When you address a shot and 'feel' what you need to do, and with what disc, don't question your instinct. I'm sure you learned lots of trick shots playing around during Ultimate, so try those with your different golf discs. They won't do the same things, but they might prove useful.

Throw a putter along the lines of a Warlock, Aviar, or APX, as has been mentioned, maybe a Soft Challenger... and throw it a lot. You say you love Ultimate, if you can pull an UltraStar 70 yards, you can throw a putter along those lines 250, and then you can work your way up... Aviar... to Roc... to TL... to TeeBird... (or comparable lines with other manufacturers) and really develop your distance and knowledge of how your plastic flies.

Kind of a funny story. The 4th time I played I went with some guys I hadn't played with before. We started on hole 10. 208' straight hole and an easy birdy hole. I threw my upshot #2 on a frozen rope, it skipped and came to rest 6' directly past the basket. They were impressed I could throw like that. On the next hole they said "dude if you can throw a midrange like that you should really be able to throw a driver" and gave me an orc or a beast or something. I took my silly short hop windup (I now use a short X-step) and threw that little green thing as hard as I could. It went up and left. At its apex it lost all momentum and crashed to the earth even farther to the left taking a huge chunk out of the barren march ground about 80' away.

Just kinda shows the difference between DG and Ulitimate.

You might also want to pick up a Rattler or a Putt'R, which will air bounce like a normal lid. I came from an ultimate background, and while I don't throw these any more, the Rattler saved me a TON of learning curve in the 50-100 foot range.

I agree with buzzz/roc for mids and Valks and Gazelles are great transition discs from ultimate.



I would add the Whittler to the list of good approach discs to use. It is the closest thing you will find to an Ultimate disc among the golf discs on the market. It will allow you to use more of the touch you developed playing Ultimate.

One other comment I would make is that when throwing drives, keep your shots relatively flat and low to the ground. You will not need the same altitude to fly far with a golf disc as you needed with your lid.

UPDATE!

First off I'd like to thank eveyone who helped me out with this. I'm very happy with my bag as it now is and am going to tell you what I now carry, and what I use it for. I just want other nubes to have a jumping off point for their own search for disks.

Drivers: Roadrunner and Sidewinder(champion) My distance is about 50' more now and getting better every time out.

Forehand: Wraith(pro) used for long holes (a good flick gets me 300-330+' but not consistant yet) and left to right holes (I'm getting pretty good touch with it

Midrange: Buzz (gives me a long backward C curve, very aggressive midrange disk) and stingray (can do anything with this disk, I can curve it like it was radio-controlled)

Putter: This is my only embarrassment. I have 2 JK pros at 174 but I'm having trouble with them. While I'm learning to use them I've been putting witha pair of 172g U2's (lightening prostyle #2upshot) I can be much more aggressive with the U2s. I haven't figured out why yet.

Thanks to everyone again! My game has gotten a LOT better in the last 2 weeks! (like 5 strokes from the shorter Ts and like 7 from the longer ones!)

Aaron

PS special thanks to johnny at my local course for being so **** patient with me and playing with me when he sees me out there!

Since everyone is talking about Ultimate, it is worth mentioning that the UltraStar is approved for PDGA use.

If you know how to throw an Ultimate disc, then just throw an Ultimate disc. Learning curve for upshots has now been reduced to zero.

Putter: This is my only embarrassment. I have 2 JK pros at 174 but I'm having trouble with them. While I'm learning to use them I've been putting witha pair of 172g U2's (lightening prostyle #2upshot) I can be much more aggressive with the U2s. I haven't figured out why yet.

Are you throwing or push putting? With a push putt it shouldn't matter what you're throwing inside of 30 ft. I find that a lot of Ultimate players like to 'throw' their discs into the chains (which results in long comeback putts).

Ya, I been throwin, and yeah, I get a lot of long puts back. I used to have a huge right to left swing on all my puts to keep them close to the basket, but as you all know, there are lots of times where that just isn't useful. I have started to do a little straddle (strattle?) putting and that seems to be more accurate. Its been REALLY hard to get used to though.

Putter: This is my only embarrassment. I have 2 JK pros at 174 but I'm having trouble with them. While I'm learning to use them I've been putting witha pair of 172g U2's (lightening prostyle #2upshot) I can be much more aggressive with the U2s. I haven't figured out why yet.

Are you throwing or push putting? With a push putt it shouldn't matter what you're throwing inside of 30 ft. I find that a lot of Ultimate players like to 'throw' their discs into the chains (which results in long comeback putts).



Careful with terminology here... to an ultimate player, a push pass is something you generally don't want to try in disc golf.

The wikipedia definition is pretty descriptive...

A little-used variant of the forehand, it is thrown with a grip similar to a backhand (index finger on the outer rim of the disc, thumb on top, fingers curled underneath) but is released on the forehand side. The wrist "pushes" the disc forward while spin is imparted "backwards" by rolling the disc off the index finger. A final flick of the index finger finishes the release. Frequently, very little spin is actually imparted, which makes this throw tend to flutter and fall more often than not. However, with use one can learn to add much more spin to this throw and it may become useful over short distances.

It doesn't work very well with golf discs...