Finding The Best Driver for Beginners

I'm not exactly a disc golf beginner any more. And, while I can recommend discs that seem like they should work well for beginners, there really might be something better.

We put it to the test by giving a beginner more than 50 different discs to throw, to determine which ones he could consistently throw farthest with a backhand drive.

While the standard Innova beginner set includes the understable Innova Leopard (which is a good beginner disc). Adam was able to throw the lower speed distance drivers (8-10) farther. Ultra high speed drivers, even the very understable ones, did not perform well. In terms of pure distance, fairway drivers in general didn't get nearly as much distance as did the moderate distance drivers.

With hundreds of throws included from the top 13 discs, Adam's average throwing distance was 195 feet with a median of 187. His max distance of 270 feet was achieved with both the Innova Sidewinder and Valkyrie. For the test we threw out any throws that were completely shanked.  Here are the results.


After several qualifying rounds, the top five drivers for beginners were:

• Innova Beast 
• Innova Dragon 
• Millennium JLS 
• Innova Sidewinder 
• Innova Mamba 

 Interestingly enough, these diss are all manufactured by Innova (Innova manufacturers Millennium discs too). The top NON Innova discs were the:

• Discraft Xpress 
• Discraft Wildcat 
• Latitude 64 Diamond 
• MVP AMP 

Now not everybody is going to throw like Adam does, and the weight of a disc can make a big difference in how far it will travel for a beginner, but it's a pretty safe bet that most beginners will see improved distance with the drivers that performed best four our beginner.

Straightest Flying Midrange

Our current project here at the disc golf test lab is to find the straightest flying midrange disc. We're looking for the best discs for tunnel shots.

Currently we are testing understable mid-range discs by all the manufacturers that make understable mids. I'm thinking that an understable mid will perform best in our tests as they are the least likely to have significant end of flight fade. We will also test out discs from the many stable mids manufactured.

From our first few rounds of testing, the Innova Wolf has performed very well for me, despite the fact that I have already given this disc a very poor review.

This picture shows the tunnel shot we're using for our tests.

Finding the Most Durable Disc Plastic

There are substantial differences between the different plastic grades used for golf disc manufacturing.

But how do these plastics really compare between the different brands? Is Discraft Pro-D better than Innova DX? What about Latitude 64 Opto versus Innova Champion or Discraft Z?

To answer this question we've started a series of tests aimed at finding the most durable plastic. We have test discs consisting of nearly every plastic type and are throwing all the discs an equal amount.

We have both mid range discs and fairway drivers set aside for this experiment. After approximately 50 throws on rocky/wooded terrain, there are a few plastics that have stuck out as inferior thus far. Prodiscus Basic and Latitude 64 Zero Line are clearly not very durable. These plastics are soft and grippy, but if you're looking for a disc that is going to hold its flight path over time, these are not the plastics to choose.

It will take a lot more time to weed out the most durable discs, but after the first 50 throws, it clearly looks like Vibram Rubber holds its form best. The Obex we are testing has almost no noticeable dings or nicks. Stay tuned for more results testing disc durability.

Testing out the new Latitude 64 Fury

I was privileged to get a new Latitude 64 Fury to test out, even though the release date of this new driver isn't until April 25th.

What is known about this disc is that the plastic is awesome. My pink Fury is in the ultra durable opto-line plastic. It's already hit a plethora of trees but has now apparent signs of damage.

The unfortunate thing is that when I took it to test out, it was quite windy. It's really hard to determine a discs flight patterns, and tendencies, when you're not certain what was caused by the wind, and the flight tendencies actually are.

What I do know so far is that I had some pretty nice throws with the Fury. This disc is said to be more understable than the Saint, but my right out of the box Opto-Line version, seemed very Saint like. While the description on the Latitude 64 Saint says, "Overstable Control Driver," I never really found this disc to be overstable. The saint does indeed have a degree of end of flight fade, but it stays straight and glides for so long it's not "overstable."

The Fury is supposed to have a higher degree of high speed turn, and less fade. So far this is a great, slightly understable driver with excellent glide.

This is another great disc by Latitude 64, but I'm really not seeing how it offers anything new.

I'll take the Fury out for an actual disc golf round in about an hour, and hopefully will have more details  on what this disc can do.

Finding the Most Durable Plastic

There are lots of different disc golf manufacturers, and each of them have several different plastic blends. The question is, what is the most durable plastic on the market?

Well. We are performing some tests to find out and rate the durability of each plastic type.

In our test stock we have 25 new golf discs from all the major disc manufactures. Now several plastics used by different brands are exactly the same. Innova champion discs manufactures discs made by Discmania and Millennium. Star plastic, S-Line, and Sirius plastic are virtually the same.

Across the world, Latitude 64 manufactures discs for Westside and Dynamic Discs. Gold line, Tournament and Fuzion plastic are the same. Needless to say, we are only testing these plastic types once.

This test will take some tome and a lot of throws to come up with conclusive results. After one day, I can say that's Prodiscus Basic plastic is not very durable. Stay tuned for more results.

Things to come from the Disc Golf Test Lab

This winter has been unbearably bad in Northern Utah. It's almost March, and we still have more than a foot of snow on the ground!

Not exactly ideal conditions for disc testing.

Hopefully by the end of March, we will actually be able to do some serious testing. Here are a few of the tests we plan to do.

InfiniteDiscs.com has discs sortable by speed and stability. We plan to take every combination of discs and compare them one with another for both field testing, and for actual rounds.

For example, We will go through all the speed nine under stable distance drivers, perform field tests for distance and accuracy (as well as general thoughts and opinions about the discs). And then we will have different disc golfers play two rounds of disc golf on two different courses, and compare the results of each comparable driver.

It should be a lot of fun, and provide some great information to help people choose the best possible golf discs from the many, many different options with all the up and coming discs these days.

Testing New Mid-Range Discs

It's been a harsh cold winter in Logan Utah.

But. It looks like spring is actually here.... We now have daylight in the evening, and believe it or not, but the temperatures exceeded 40 degrees today. The snow has melted on the sunny side of things, and I took out a few of my new discs for some test throws.

Within the last couple of weeks both MVP and Westside have released new understable mid-range discs with similar flight ratings.

After testing them in a slightly muddy field this afternoon, I can say, I like them both.While testing these discs, I also through around the Innova Kite, Discraft Buzzz SS, Gateway Element, and MVP Axis.

I love MVP discs and think that Gyro technology is the real deal. My worry with the Tangent was that it was going to easily flip over on me when thrown with a little power, like my Innova Kite does. It didn't. While it would turn somewhat, it wouldn't turn and flip into the ground. The tangent flew straight and held its line very well.

Before actually throwing the discs, my assumption was that I'd like the Tangent better, because I love MVP. And while I like the Tangent, I think I might like the new Westside Tursas even better. Like the Tangent, this disc also didn't flip over on me. It threw beautifully threw the air, went farther than the Tangent for throws with the same power, and for the most part landed right where I wanted it to with any type of throw.

It's just one day of field testing, but I'm liking both these discs and think that one of them will end up in my permanent bag before all is said and done. It might be possible that one of these discs might even replace my beloved Axis....

Stay tuned for some more official mid-range tests once the snow and mud actually goes all the way away.

My New Favorite Putters

It has been a long, harsh winter here in Northern Utah. There is more than a foot of snow on the ground, and we literally went weeks without the temperature ever rising above 20 degrees. Needless to say, the progress of the disc golf test lab has definitely been limited.

However, I do have a basement, and I have been doing some putter tests. I have a bucket of about 30 different putters, most of which I didn't use in my initial putter tests last fall. These tests have been a bit more casual, and I've haven't really taken the time to record the results of every single disc thrown.

Instead I take the bucket, and from about 18 feet (that's the farthest I can really throw from inside my house) throw each disc, one by one, at the basket. Any frisbees that miss, are left out of the next round. So after each round, I have a few less discs to throw.

By the time I get down to a handful of discs, I know I have some good ones as they have been true for 20 - 25 straight makes. Now the last two times I've done this experiment there are a couple of discs that have really stood out, and have made it to the end.

With my current throwing style and routine, I'd say these are the best disc golf putters for actually throwing short putts into the basket. From my experiments, I've found that the super soft putters, aren't as accurate because they often stick to my fingers and don't release soon enough. Alternately, discs that are too slippery, often come out prematurely, and also miss the target. The best discs, are those that are grippy, but not too grippy.

I've also developed a like to the thicker, slower, beefier type putters. The two putters that are really rising above the cream for me are the Innova Pig, and the ABC Money putter. The Pig is in a super nice R-pro plastic. I love the feel, and it's the perfect grippiness. The ABC Money putter is in "Bronze" plastic, which I'd say is kind of like a combination of Innova DX and Pro plastics. It's softer than traditional DX, but a little firmer than the Pro plastic.

Overall these two discs rock, and come spring, I'm going to be lighting the chains up with thick slow beefy putters with the perfect combination of grip