The Intentional Disc Golfer
Unleash your disc golf potential with The Intentional Disc Golfer podcast! Join us as we dive deep into the physical and mental aspects of this incredible sport, helping you become the player you've always dreamed of being. We're here to elevate your game, share expert insights, and inspire intentional growth on and off the course. Support our mission by becoming a part of our avid listener community. Together, let's take your disc golf journey to new heights! Email us at theintentionaldiscgolfer@gmail.com to support or be featured on our show. Let's tee off towards greatness!
The Intentional Disc Golfer
Optimizing Your Disc Golf Experience With Strategic Bag Building
Ever wondered how to truly optimize your disc golf game with purpose and strategy? Join us, Brandon and Jenni Czuprynski, on the Intentional Disc Golfer Podcast as we share our latest disc golf escapades and offer insights on perfecting your disc selection and bag setup. We recount a memorable round at Fort Steilacoom with friends Ed Call and Jason Boyd and gear up for upcoming tournaments like the Evergreen Women's Series.
Imagine stepping onto the course with a disc golf bag perfectly tailored to your playstyle and the day's conditions. We dive into the art of bag building, from selecting the right bag size to understanding the importance of carrying strategic backups. Our discussion extends to the nuances of different disc plastics, offering tips on how to ensure consistency and confidence with every throw. Whether you're new to the sport or a seasoned pro, we've got practical advice and personal stories to help you create a setup that stands up to the challenges of any course or tournament.
But a perfect disc golf setup isn't just about the discs—preparation and comfort play a crucial role in your performance. We've compiled a list of essential gear, from snacks and hydration to sunscreen and rain gear, ensuring you're ready for anything. So, pack your bags, embrace the quirks, and join us for an engaging blend of advice and entertainment that celebrates everything we love about disc golf.
Disc Golf Changes Lives <3
To support this podcast or arrange for an interview please contact us at theintentionaldiscgolfer@gmail.com
Welcome to the Intentional Disc Golfer Podcast, the show dedicated to helping you elevate your disc golf game with purpose and strategy. Whether you're stepping up to the tee for the first time or you're a seasoned pro chasing that perfect round, this podcast is your guide to playing smarter, training better and building confidence on the course. We are Brandon and Jenny Saprinsky, passionate disc golfers, here to explore everything from technique, course management, mental focus and gear selection. Grab your favorite disc, settle in and let's take your game to the next level.
Speaker 3:Intentionally, intentionally and thank you for tuning in to this episode of the intentional disc golfer podcast. I am one of your hosts.
Speaker 3:My name is Brandon and I am the better host and I'm Jenny and first of all, we would like to thank the fans out there, our supporters, for sticking with us throughout the years, and we couldn't do this without you. So thank you, guys, for sticking with us, and if you would like to become a fan supporter, please smash that like, subscribe follow button. You can find us, find it on our social media. It is on facebook and instagram at saprinsky disc golf, that is c-z-u-p-r-y-n-s-k-i disc golf all one word. And on x and youtube at the idg podcast. That is the symbol at the idg podcast.
Speaker 3:You can also send us an email at the intentional disc golfer at gmailcom the intentional disc golfer at gmailcom. And if you would like to support the show, get some access, maybe in the future, to some exclusive content. You can visit our Patreon at patreoncom backslash the intentional disc golfer, patreoncom backslash the intentional disc golfer. And we hope that you are enjoying our new segment, the blooper reel at the end of the episode. So do tune in for that after the outro music, and you can hear some of our outtakes and silliness as we go on with our podcasting.
Speaker 1:You know what I just realized? I haven't actually listened to that yet. I'm a little nervous too. It's not that bad.
Speaker 3:It's not that bad. As the dryer's going off and the dryer's done. Yeah, speaking of blooper reel. So, Jenny, you got any shout-outs out there that you want to talk about?
Speaker 1:Yeah. So we're trying out some new discs, doing some field work, trying to figure out our bag, and so I convinced Brandon to ask our friends for hey, I would like to try these discs. And one of our friends, Ed Call, over at Kingston High School, Go Bucks. He was able to get some of those discs for Brandon and so we went out and played around with him and Jason Boyd, also over at Kingston High School, Again go Bucs, and we went and played Fort Stillicum bright and early yesterday morning, where it was really cold, really cold.
Speaker 3:What was it? It was 33 degrees, something along that line.
Speaker 1:According to the UDisc, and UDisc had new options and stats and things when I was doing our scores, so kind of neat. Yeah, that was pretty cool.
Speaker 3:32 degrees Fahrenheit and you just had new options and stats and things when I was doing our score, so that was pretty cool.
Speaker 1:32 degrees Fahrenheit, cold Balmy.
Speaker 3:Cold Balmy.
Speaker 1:There was ice on the teapads, yeah, there was.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it was slippery, yeah, yeah. So big shout out to Ed Call and Jason Boyd, because they're both both quality human beings and it was a lot of fun playing with you guys, so thank you very much for that experience.
Speaker 1:Also wanted to shout out to Team Grit City Two weeks of team disc golf and we're rocking it. So go, Team Grit City. That would be Corey, Chris, Cam, Josh, Ty, Brandon and me, Adam other, Chris and Kayla.
Speaker 3:Shout out to Grit City the team to beat this year. Woo-hoo, woo-hoo and trash talking is half the fun of sports, as long as it's done in good taste. Yes, sir, yes sir and Jenny, any community calendar updates? Where are we going to be playing as the tournament season starts up? If case you want to come find your intentional disc golfers, this is where we're going to be and when we're going to be there. Take it away, jenny.
Speaker 1:So we have team disc golf uh this weekend. The 25th will be over at fairgrounds and it's both teams olympic and cascade doing our first uh competition between the two groups. So that'll be fun. And then we have uh the february 2nd is another thing of team disc golf down at Evergreen, I believe Olympia, yeah, evergreen. And then we will be doing the one-rounder NAGGT qualifier, the 2025 Sea Time, at Fort Steilacoom. Lots of sign-ups still available. Hope you sign up. Then we will be going over to the evacuation route at Sumner on the 15th. We have Team Golf on the 23rd in Auburn, I believe that's at River White River.
Speaker 3:White River, white River.
Speaker 1:And then March 9th we have another one, I believe that's at Delphi. Yep over at Delphi. And then the first event well, the first tournament of the Evergreen Women's Series is the Fierce Flight Showdown over at Gaffney's Grove in Maple Valley. If you are a lady in the Washington area thinking about it like you'd like to try one out, these are the ones to go to. It's a big party. We have a great time. Let's support Cece, as this is her first tournament. Let's go ahead and sign up for that one. Then we have Team Golf in Shelton on the 16th. Just signed up for the third annual Christopher Reeves Memorial and Fundraiser for Autism Speaks. That will be on March 22nd. And then we have our team golf championships on the 30th at Fort Steilacoom.
Speaker 3:That's awesome. And another shout out again to team golf Love team golf. It's been a kick in the pants so far. Just a ton of fun and the atmosphere is great and they got food and just everybody's happy to be there. And then the women's series I'd, we can't blow this up enough on this podcast. It's a series for women by women uh, all female tournament directors and we. You know they go out there and the ladies go out there and show the guys how it's done and, um, these girls are good, they're worth coming out supporting and watching. And, you know, support women's disc golf.
Speaker 1:it's a heck of a lot of fun well, and this year it's not only women tournament directors, but there are women tournament directors, yeah. So like, um, the ladies of the lake uh, danielle's taking a break. Chuck has enlisted some other women Melissa and Kayla to help that legacy live on, which I'm super excited for because Ladies of the Lake is my all time favorite disc golf event. It's the one that actually got me interested in wanting to do tournaments.
Speaker 3:I thought it was your disc golf tournament was the one that uh, one of your favorites it's not my favorite you don't play, you don't vote for your own tournament well, no.
Speaker 1:So ladies of the lake is the one that made me want to play disc golf when we first found out about tournaments and disc golf scene. But sirens of the Springs, like that's. It's not about me playing it, it's about how do I make it fun for the rest of the ladies that are playing.
Speaker 3:And so, uh, ladies out there, go out onto a disc golf scenecom and sign up today, yesterday, uh, I don't even know if registration is open, but sign up anyway. Uh, on sirens of the springs, um, and then, men it's not open yet.
Speaker 3:It's not open yet, okay, but put it on your, put it on your watch list. You're going to want to sign up for sirens of the springs. Get on up here to washington, get a chance to play the same course that the pro tour plays up here in shelton. And then, gentlemen, the next day and ladies you can you can play the Tritons of the Timbers. And so while you're up here watching your ladies, uh, go out there and shred the course. You can stay up here and play the next day and have a little fun of your own.
Speaker 1:And I want to also put out there. If you are interested in having a women's series in your state or in your area, you can reach out to Nicole Coleman and her. The website for the evergreen series is evergreenserieswordpresscom, and you can go there and find out all the information and see what we've done in the past and hopefully build this for your area too. I know that there is a Oregon women's series, there is, I believe, a Northern California series, there is a Vancouver BC series. So all right, in the same area, where I'd love to be able to go to all of them, but we can't travel that much yet.
Speaker 3:Now, we're getting there, we're getting there. We can't travel that much yet. No, we're getting there, we're getting there. Yeah, all right. So, moving on to this episode, when we talked about flight numbers, we said towards the end of the episode that we were going to address the building of the bag issues. So how to put your bag together. What type of discs should you select? What bag should you select, jenny? How far can we rabbit hole this?
Speaker 1:Well, so it's kind of like my cart. There is so much stuff in there that it's like a clown car. We can rabbit hole it like it's like a clown car. We can rabbit hole it like that, like a clown car.
Speaker 3:So like you just continually pulling things out of your cart, there's like a 747 in there, and maybe a canoe and a couple of ball golf clubs, and maybe are there any live animals in your cart.
Speaker 1:I cannot confirm nor deny whether there might be some disc golf gods in my cart.
Speaker 3:Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:All right, so this episode is all about building that bag. We are going to talk about all the facets of building a bag that we can think of and, uh, we have some learning targets for this episode, jenny. Would you like to talk about some learning targets for this episode, jenny Would you like to talk about our learning targets.
Speaker 1:I do not necessarily agree that these are the learning targets, but we will work on how to write learning targets.
Speaker 3:We'll add a few more if you want to, so by the end of the episode.
Speaker 1:Brandon will know how to write learning targets.
Speaker 3:All right.
Speaker 1:By the end of this episode, we will have dissected the four different categories of discs, their characteristics and what they are for, and you will be able to understand the four different characteristics of discs, their characteristics and what they are for. Learn how to select your discs practically, considering performance, course and environmental conditions with confidence. Talk about disc cycling and the most effective ways to do it. Answer some key bag building questions. Wow, that's almost a tongue twister. Say it again Nope. Answer some key bag building questions All right One more time Answer some key bag building questions.
Speaker 3:Good job.
Speaker 1:Discuss discs for special situations. I was going to say special occasions. I do have some special occasion discs, by the way. So we will have discussed discs for special situations. You will be able to build an effective bag with intention and purpose, and we will discuss peripherals and everything else that we keep in our bags, including small little animals.
Speaker 3:That's a great job, jenny. Thank you for that. No sound effects. You don't like sound effects?
Speaker 1:No, they were cheering for you. No, knock it off.
Speaker 3:Once you can use them responsibly, you can have your own soundboard. Oh, you know the squirrel button.
Speaker 1:Oh, I see how it goes.
Speaker 3:That's an angry squirrel by the way, angry squirrel, all right. So if we're going to talk about building your bag, we need to start at the bag itself, so let's start there, at the bag. When you're considering a bag, bags can be expensive. Bags Bags can be cheap. However, you need to consider the carrying capacity of your bag. You need to make sure that there's enough space to carry all the stuff that you want to haul around, and that will change based on what the purpose of your bag is.
Speaker 1:Hold on, let's go back a little bit. Yes, okay, if you are a brand new disc golfer and you are just learning to play for recreation and fun, you may not even take a bag. You may be one of those people that has like the plastic grocery bag. The grocery bag, or just some random backpack that you have, or one of the store-bought bags, so you don't buy bags at the store. You know those, so you don't buy bags at the store.
Speaker 1:You know those, so you don't have to. We are at a point where we are trying really hard to get really good for tournaments, and so we have a high level of purpose for our bags.
Speaker 1:We have a reason that we are at this point. It's not just that Brandon likes to have the best stuff. I like to collect bags. Now you do. You've always yelled at me for how many bags I have. I'm like this is one of those moments where, like you're surprised that you've learned something about somebody that you haven't. You know I'm not collecting bags.
Speaker 3:I'm just collecting the discs that go in the bags, but I need somewhere more effective to hold those discs so that I can actually take them out and throw them anyways.
Speaker 1:Um, I want to give a shout out to carbella bags. She makes bags for women and she is a recreational player. She has beautiful stuff.
Speaker 3:Check her out check her out, yeah. So, yeah, you can. You can use any kind of bag you got kind of laying around the house. I mean, if it, if it serves your needs, it serves your needs. But we're talking about actual disc golf bags, uh, in this episode that are made for disc golf and one thing to consider is you want to consider the storage capacity if you're going to be carrying multiple discs.
Speaker 3:So small bags typically carry between eight and 12 discs. They are very good for casual rounds, very good for beginners, people with a limited amount of discs. If you're just going out and getting your feet wet With a limited amount of discs, if you're just going out and getting your feet wet, they are fantastic for that. There's some medium bags out there. They are Larger capacity 15 to 20 discs and you can use them for most players, most situations. I see a lot of competitive players with these bags and also beginners. If you don't want to carry the Big heavy backpack around and, you know, wreck your shoulders or your, your back or anything, these might be a good option for you. Uh, jenny, you use your smaller bag, your medium-sized bag, for practice rounds and such bags, and so I have the largest capacity, one which I think is like an AX.
Speaker 1:I could be wrong, maybe I don't know, it's something like that. I think it's an A series bag. I have a B series bag which is smaller, has less capacity for discs and less capacity for extra stuff, and then I have one of the C series bags which is kind of like a little um, uh, cross bag, cross body bag, oh the interesting shoulder thing. Yeah, that I I typically use um when I'm really feeling like just taking putters or just really focusing on having like little stuff.
Speaker 3:Yeah yeah, well, like. And then, like you were saying, you have the large-size bags which typically hold 20-plus discs, and that's most likely what a serious competitive player will play with, because they need to carry multiple copies of their discs and may pack a lot of different molds, and so that's very useful for a competitive player. So just an analogy is like depending on your skill level and what you're doing with it, your bag size will increase or decrease, and you also want to make sure that you have plenty of room for that additional storage, so pockets for accessories such as mini markers, scorecards, range, range finders, etc. And then water bottle holders are very, very important, and my litmus test for water bottle holders is can I fit a Nalgene bottle into the water bottle holder?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I wanted to go back on that and talk about what we actually have. So both of us carry the AX6 series for grip bags, grip EQ, so we both have one of those, I believe. Or do we have the BX series?
Speaker 3:We have a large grip bag.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we both have a large one. And then I have the oh, it's a G2 series, that's the shoulder bag. Yeah, it's a g2 series, that's the shoulder bag. Yeah, is a g2 series.
Speaker 3:well, and the kids have various different ones. Like james has my old paratrooper from dynamic discs, the other kids have some satchel bags. We have one from above ground level. We have, uh, an mvp bag. I have a small bag that I use just for pickup rounds and things of that nature. So, uh, we have. We have a lot of different bags and we all use them for different things, for sure and then we have carts too and carts.
Speaker 3:Well, we'll get to that, yeah. So yeah, um, like I said, the litmus test kind of for water bottle holders is make sure they hold whatever kind of water bottle you are favoring these days. We're big nalgene bottle fans, so we carry. We make sure they hold whatever kind of water bottle you are favoring these days. We're big nalgene bottle fans, so we carry. We make sure that the cup holders can carry nalgene bottles.
Speaker 1:Yetis, uh, the big thermoses like you have for, uh, tea and coffee and things on cold days very handy and useful well, like james has one of the ones that it goes around your waist and it attaches to your thigh just a little holster because he really wanted to use a. What are they called?
Speaker 3:A camelback, the camelback yeah.
Speaker 1:He really wanted to use that because where we play you're basically going on a hike pretty much everywhere we play, so you have to prepare for hiking and disc golf. So we have to take larger bags because we need the water. Sometimes we actually need bear spray, things like that.
Speaker 3:Yep. And of course you want to have those extra compartments for your snacks, your gloves, your accessories and your peripherals, which we will definitely get into a deep dive on that later. The next consideration when you're looking at a bag is the comfort and the fit of the bag. There's a lot of bag options out there. Like Jenny was saying, you can have the across the shoulder bag that can have a strap, or it can have some sort of pad or something so it doesn't rub your shoulder raw. There are backpacks that have different levels of padding in the shoulders. Some of them have a waist strap, Some of them have a chest strap, so you can really batten those guys down if you're carrying a heavy load or if you're caddying for somebody. That's another consideration.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that's definitely where hiking bags come into play. Is that being aware of having that chest strap? And they usually have some extra sewn loops on the bag for you to clip If you are going to use a bladder for water, are you holding on to something else? So, yeah, um, be aware of the actual dynamics of of the strap of your bag well, and another thing, another thing to consider too when it comes to comfort is ventilation.
Speaker 3:A lot of these, a lot of these places. You know we're playing in the summer, it's a hot day, like 90 degrees out. You're sweating, sweating, sweating. You're gonna lose all that water. I know, know that grip bags have a bit of a ventilative system on the back of them. Some of the other big time brands do too, and the ultimate ventilation is not using a bag at all and using a cart, but making sure that when you sweat, that you can breathe and dry off and stay cool off, because it will get hot underneath that bag. And we got into a little bit. But you want to evaluate the straps and padding. I personally like a thicker strap that has a lot of padding on it, so that you know, because I my bag is super heavy. Jenny doesn't like carrying my bag when I play with a bag and it rubs into your shoulders. And if you have a long tournament it can rub your shoulders pretty raw and get up on your neck a little bit and everything.
Speaker 1:I do also want to say that Jenny doesn't like carrying your bag, because Jenny has rods in her back and she can only carry her bag for so long. That's also true.
Speaker 3:So you have to consider the different considerations for everybody, I mean. But there is a bag out there for everybody.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Something else I wanted to say is that if you go into your local disc golf store, if you have your water bottle with you, take it. Be like hey, I'm gonna check and make sure that it fits in these things. We actually worked with matt and matt had some nalgene size water bottles that we tried like we, because these these bags cost a lot of money. If you're gonna buy a nice one, like you, you find out what's really important.
Speaker 3:You need to actually take the time, be like okay, I'm gonna make sure that it fits this this, this, and as long as it fits what you need, then it's worth making that commitment to spend a couple hundred bucks on this bag yeah, and I I definitely recommend buying the best thing that you can afford, because buying, buying something cheap that's not going to fit your needs is just throwing away money because you're just going to become frustrated with it and want to discard it or give it away later, and so in anything, I would always recommend the best thing that you can afford and definitely watch your budget and, you know, spend finances. Uh, watch your budget and spend finances responsibly.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I also want to advocate for grip bags. The satchel style bag that I got, the strap was coming apart, and so I reached out to them and they're like oh, actually we just upgraded the model of the strap, so we're going to send you a brand new strap. So you know, you want to make sure that, if you're putting that kind of money into a, your equipment, check and see what the warranties are on them too, because there's, you know, I think grip has a pretty good warranty and it was great that they just were like hey, yeah, we saw there was a problem too. So here's a brand new strap, Completely different redesign.
Speaker 3:And that's a fantastic point. Right there is that check on the customer satisfaction and the customer support, because there's a lot of places out there not only with disc golf but with a lot of places you call up customer support and it takes you three keys and a call to a president to finally get something to happen. Support and it takes you three keys and a call to a president to finally get something to happen. And well, uh, didn't have that experience with grip bags. I know we're talking about a lot about grip bags. I need to put out a disclaimer out there that we're not sponsored or there's no economic ties or anything to them. We just really like their bags and they're functional for what we do but grip if you're listening.
Speaker 3:We do like your, but grip if you're listening we do like your stuff, grip equipment, if you're listening we do like your stuff. If you're listening. If you are listening.
Speaker 1:Oh, my God.
Speaker 2:This is Seth Muncy for disc golf strong. Thank you for listening to the intentional disc golfer podcast. Great to have here.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, seth Muncy, that was a great interview.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was fun.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, I like Seth, he's good peoples. So, uh, a few other things considerations when you're picking out a bag, uh, durability is definitely a big issue. If you're going to be using it a lot, if you're going to be out in the weather, you're definitely want to have something that uh A is going to be a little bit waterproof or water resistant, have some sort of water wicking and or something that's not going to get super heavy when it's wet. So I look at some of these leather bags. Is that pound that makes the leather bags? Or who makes the leather bags? There's these really nice quilted leather bags out there and everyone, oh my God, the leather bags. I bet if it's raining, those things weigh a million pounds, because I know from working, uh, leather tool bags, when they get wet they weigh a million pounds and it cannot be pleasant.
Speaker 1:I don't know. Uh, most of the people I know and we don't play with our. Well, I don't play with my bag enough, but most people I know they actually get a rain fly for their bag. I had one for my hiking bag. I've never bought one for my disc golf bag.
Speaker 3:And that's another thing we should mention too is what kind of accessories are available for your bag. Are there rain flies available? Are there add-ons available that can help expand your storage capacity? Or how about? Does it have a putter pouch? Does it have dividers in it? These are all different considerations that you can make when you're buying a bag.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Does it have a spot for your mini? Does it have a place for you to attach your keys? Does it have a place for you to put your Sharpie? That you need? Are you able to attach an umbrella or your disc grabber? Or do you want to get the? What's the thing that's under your gray bag? Oh, the Mojo. Yeah, get the Mojo riser. The bag stands or is sitting really important to you? Do you need to buy one of those bags that's got the built-in seat that?
Speaker 3:you can sit on it. There's some of those. Yeah Well, wasn't it Squatch that had the coolers, the built-in coolers? Maybe, when you could put, like a soda can or something. Maybe, Wink, wink soda can.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. Well, one of the guys we played with at Team Golf two weeks ago had a lot of soda. I'm not even talking about that. We had one of the bags that you could sit on oh yeah, those are cool.
Speaker 3:They're expensive though they're all expensive for a backpack.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you get what you pay for to some certain extent, and I do want to draw out this point too. Make sure you can get easy access to your discs. The first backpack that I had, I could not get my discs out of it when I wanted to, and that's one of the reasons that I went to the grip bag is because I could get my disc out, put it back in. It wasn't an issue, and that would probably go into the comfort category too, because ease of use is very important. Let's discuss having a cart versus a bag, so there's different purposes for each. Carts definitely hold more and on certain types of situations, carts are very, very useful and very nice. Jenny and I both have a cart. Thank you, raffle winner, cart thing. And then Jenny got a cart for Christmas, with an excellent bag, by the way.
Speaker 1:Jenny got a cart with her winnings from the Evergreen Women's Series from her first year.
Speaker 3:Okay, fine, it was for Christmas, though.
Speaker 1:Yes, you picked out my cart instead of me. For Christmas yes, so the cart that was for christmas yes so the the cart that was picked out for me is not the cart that I would have chosen for myself, but it's pink, so you can't go wrong with pink.
Speaker 3:So if you're one of us, uh, we, we kind of have a mixed bag up here in washington. We have a lot of up and down, hilly, rough terrain courses and we have a lot of flat, nice, smooth courses that we could really use both facets of the carrying mechanisms for the.
Speaker 1:Yep, so some, and UDisc will tell you whether the course is cart friendly or not. So some of the courses around here are not cart friendly, so we need to have our bag. Some of the places around here are not cart friendly, so we need to have our bag. Some of the places, like Silicum, it's cart friendly up until two holes, and so you kind of have to park your cart and it depends if you have a Zuka cart or if you have one of the Rovics or if you have a stroller, a baby stroller that you've modified a lot of people use baby strollers, yeah I had.
Speaker 1:I kept my bob stroller from when I had kids like I would be using that. I wouldn't be using this. So it's. It depends on what you need, what your body needs and what the courses are around you. Depends on if you're going to have one of the like the three-wheeled carts like the rovics, or if you're going to have the. There's three-wheeled carts like the Rovix, or if you're going to have the. There's the R2s, there's the Zuccas. Ridge Rider yeah, the Ridge Riders. Whatever.
Speaker 3:Ridge Rollers, ridge Rollers I think they are, I don't know. Riki Waisaki uses it. Yeah, make sure that the core set you're playing is cart-friendly, otherwise it's going to be a real pain in the neck hauling that cart around. And also, carts are handy for extra storage. You can hold more discs. That's a big bonus, especially for competitive players that need a lot of different discs and for extra storage for those snacks and peripherals that we're going to talk about later, even clothes and bringing extra layers with you. You also they're good for people that have shoulder pain and back pain, because you can get additions to your carts that keep you from bending over. You can just reach in like the power pocket. We both have one of those.
Speaker 1:those are really nice well, the reason that I got a cart, or wanted one, was to get the bag off my back so that I could use my back for playing the game instead of just hauling the bag.
Speaker 3:Yeah, for sure, they are a back saver.
Speaker 1:I have noticed, though, that it still hurts, because I have to either pull or push my Zika cart, and it's not like the three wheeled ones where it's the grab the, the force is all on the wheels and you're just pushing like a stroller, like there's not a lot of oh, like one of the Roviks.
Speaker 3:Yeah, the Roviks are like that, yeah, yeah, yeah, the reason, the reason that I got a cart was because there's not a lot of benches or the benches are wet or whatever, and I like to sit down every now and again, especially if there's a backup or if there's a long round. Carts are especially useful for long rounds and long tournaments, because you can basically live out of them and have all your things with you.
Speaker 1:They're also really good if you're using children as your caddy, because then they have a place to sit and they can bring all of their stuff too. Older children, older children, Teenagers.
Speaker 3:Well, I've stuffed stuff in your, I've put stuff in your cart. Stuffed stuff, yeah.
Speaker 1:I usually have. I keep one half of my cart for my caddy with whatever they need there you go.
Speaker 3:That also accommodates caddies and some of the different considerations for carts. Like Jenny was saying, they have the ones that have the three wheels that take all of the force and all of the load and you just kind of push them around. The Zuka carts have the two-wheel system with. I recommend the larger wheels because the larger wheels are good for rougher terrain and going over tree stumps and rocks and different things of that nature. The smaller wheels, those are probably great for like pavement and like ball golf course type courses, but they're not necessarily like universally adequate for other courses as like the big wheel, the big wheel, these Zooka carts.
Speaker 3:So other considerations when looking at carts uh, definitely the storage. They hold a lot more. But some carts have the built-in seats. Some carts negate the seats they have. They flip up tops where you can access the backpack and you can just throw your backpack in there. There's a lot of different styles of carts. Some of them have dividers and etc, etc. You can pretty much cut, you can pretty much customize your cart or your bag any way you like it, and I know there's a number of places that do custom bags out there. So wasn't it pound that had the custom color scheme and you can pick out your colors and whatnot and have it ship.
Speaker 3:Have them ship it to you yeah, I think so yeah, I think I think it was pound, I'm not sure. Don't quote me on that. When you're, when you're selecting a cart, you also want to consider that it's foldability and its storage. How, how much space does it take up? Can it fit in your car? Can it collapse down? A lot of people don't have very big cars, especially people that live in the cities.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that was one of the things. Kayla had us watch her bag the other day because she had to take her whole cart apart because of the lack of storage space in the car that she had that day.
Speaker 3:Wasn't she driving a Prius?
Speaker 1:Yeah, she had her husband's car.
Speaker 3:When you're selecting a bag or a cart. Money is always going to be a thing. Basic bags start out around $15, like James' little holster thing that goes on his leg, the little satchel pack that I have. They start out around $15. They go up to about $20, $25. I've even seen some of the larger satchel bags go up to $45 and $50. Some of the mid-range bags they offer some more durability, some more comfortability and have a decent disc capacity. You can find a decent one between $50 and $120 usually. And then you go up to your high end premium bags that have the maximum storage and are built more around the competitive player and those start in the 120 range and can go all the way up to the 250 plus range. I've seen bags out there that are four, five hundred dollars, like the quilted leather bags that I was talking about, and then you go into, like the custom-made bags, which can get into the eight, nine hundred dollar range, truthfully. So it's all just a matter of how much you're going to use it, how much you're willing to spend and what you're really looking for. I would definitely make a list, go out and field test some things and figure out what exactly your needs are, so that you can buy something that's appropriate for your needs. Now we've talked about Grip EQ a lot.
Speaker 3:There's some other popular brands out there, so Upper Park Disc Golf they make a really nice bag. I had a Paratrooper from Dynamic Discs. They're pretty good. Mvp has a line of bags. Innova has a line of bags good, mvp has a line of bags. Innova has a line of bags. Pound disc golf has a lot of bags and, uh, as far as carts go, there's zuka rovic. Ridge rollers are like the big ones. The reason that ridge rollers are so expensive is because it's one guy makes them and hand welds and hand powder coats everything and they're all made one at a time, exactly to your specifications.
Speaker 1:They're really nice cards so to add a few more latitude, has a set of bags too latitude's got a set of bags there's some cool little kid ones. I think that they're called like juice boxes. So if you're looking for ones to have your kids carry, I believe they're called juice boxes. That's pretty cool. If you are interested in some that are women supporting women. Carbella Designs has some. I'm not sure if Throw Pink has their own set of bags, but they're a well-known group as well.
Speaker 3:For sure, for sure, but pretty much every major manufacturer out there will have a bag or have their name embroidered on a bag somewhere. It's just. It's just a matter of going out, working with different bags, asking people, checking out customer reviews and finding something that's going to fit your specific needs the best. Okay, so now that we've talked about the bags themselves, let's talk about actually putting discs in your bags. Right, because that's what they're for, since when your goals as a player and your style as a player really matter as to how you're going to structure your bag and a few things for casual rounds versus competitive play, how you structure your bag for casual play is you should focus on versatility, limit your disc selection. So usually you have a smaller bag like a satchel bag.
Speaker 3:I carry my satchel bag around with me. I've got maybe five different putters in there. I have one, I think I have one mid-range that I use for everything, and then I have one distance driver that I use for the long, long shots or sidearm shots. But it's very versatile discs that wear a lot of hats that I can do a lot of different things with, and it really, really keeps me kind of creative, because I have to do a lot more with a lot less, and I can easily pull a few discs out and pull it, put a few discs in and adjust it for whatever course that we're playing or wherever I might be close to that day yeah, and it's nice to have one of those little satchel bags that carries like three to five discs in a water bottle if you ever go out and do like one of the three disc challenges or the glow disc challenges or anything like that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'm kind of keen on James's little holster thing. It holds like maybe four or five discs and he just right there on his leg and he's like, oh, I need this one yeah, I don't like having stuff on my legs like you.
Speaker 1:Can you have a towel attached to you? I don't like doing that.
Speaker 3:Having that attached to me when I try and throw it, it throws me off so, like on my turnip bag, I have a bunch of different towels in case one gets saturated or dirty or something.
Speaker 3:But on my casual bag, my little satchel bag, I only carry one with me. And also you want to make sure that maybe your casual, your casual player uh bag, it's more about going out there having fun throwing around with your buddies or your wife, because my wife is my best friend. She's giving me the death glare, but you may. You want to make it lightweight and comfortable. You're definitely not going to carry your full gamut of discs and your entire catalog of disc selection and shot selection and I like to make sure that this bag has plenty of room for fun stuff like snacks and soda, and make sure that it's got, uh like, a nice strap on it so it's not rubbing my shoulder route. But for a casual player you might only be out there for a round or two, so that's not really. You know, having heavy padding on your shoulder strap isn't going to be as much of a concern.
Speaker 1:You keep mentioning having soda on the course. I have never seen you have a soda on the course. Yes, we will stop for Starbucks, but there really isn't an attachment for a bag that helps you carry a Starbucks cup that doesn't then lose the lid or spill or whatever. I haven't found that perfect thing for that.
Speaker 3:Well, I really don't drink a whole lot of soda, but there's a lot of people out there that do so. I'm just trying to make sure that our listener and our fan base are taken care of out there. Yeah, this is for you guys out there in listener land. I'm looking out for you.
Speaker 1:And you also, when we started, you would carry the same bag. That's your tournament bag. You didn't have. It's only within the last year that you've created these separate bags that you take with you. So even your advice of having the maybe not your full set of discs well, maybe you do, and so you just have that one utility bag, that work it's doing double duty for you and you're working really hard with that bag and trying to figure out what you're doing with your 20-something plus discs that you carry with you. There was some I remember reading on one of the social media sites some guy was carrying around like 52 discs and he was using one of those big practice bag, the long disc holding the duffel bag and that's what he would carry around with him and that's what he uses, goodness.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I wouldn't do that, do that. I wouldn't do that either. And you are right, when I first started out, I carried all my discs with me all the time in my, in my tournament bag, the same bag that I went out and played recreational rounds with, or the same bag that I went and did tournaments with, and I didn't really swap discs out. I didn't have a whole lot of putters in there at the time, honestly, but I was, that was in the process of learning those discs and getting good with those discs, and so there, there is a rhyme and reason to that, and it's also before I knew any better and decided to expand my horizons.
Speaker 3:As far as playing with different discs and different brands go, I grew up with Innova, I started on Innova, so my bag is about 90% Innova and just because that's what feels good to my hand and that's what I'm used to, and so I was very brand specific and now I play with a whole bunch of different brands. So I have several different bags that are dedicated to different brands, and I have also my mess around bag that has like the seven to 10 discs in it for just pickup rounds and if I'm close to a course, and just no need to throw a field. Some field practice for 10 minutes or so I can go out there and do that.
Speaker 1:I'm more of the persuasion of have like five or six discs that you learn to throw really, really well, and so you have multiples of those discs and that's what you throw oh yeah, all the time.
Speaker 3:oh yeah, and we're going to be discussing that in depth a little later on in this episode. Now, how, how should you structure your bag for, say, competitive play? So, for competitive play, I only put field tested and proven discs in there, things that I have thrown a million times. I know what they do, I've gone out and field tested them, I measured them and I make sure that all of those discs in there, I know exactly what they do and I'm comfortable with them.
Speaker 3:There's an old saying out there say never take unproven equipment into battle with you, and so I'm sure our listeners out there have ran into a situation where they've got a new thing or whatever, and or they get the uh, they get the, the free disc out of the player's pack and, oh, I'm gonna throw it and it doesn't do anything, or behave any way that they think it's gonna throw it and it doesn't do anything, or behave any way that they think it's going to behave and they end up dropping shots or some bad outcome happens.
Speaker 3:I would not do that. Uh, for my, for my competitive bag, everything's going to be tested, everything's going to be proven, and it's all this that I'm going to be confident in and they're going to feel second nature to my hand. And, like Jenny was saying, carry backups of your discs, especially your favorite discs. So I throw a zone. I call it the magic zone. It's a certain type of plastic, it's a certain mold, and anytime I see that plastic in that mold, because I'm worried that they might discontinue it one day, I pick another one up because if I ever lost that disc I'd be really, I'd be really bad shape. I literally use that for almost all of my approach shots.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so for my tournament bag, I've started. If it's the disc that I know that I need to be successful, I will have at least one backup, potentially two, depending on the course or where we're going.
Speaker 3:Well, and then a few more sitting at home too.
Speaker 1:Well, I try not to have that many, but we've somehow accumulated a few.
Speaker 1:Well, it's good to have a couple like sitting at home, because take, for example, like you're playing the late round and you lose a disc, and then you have the early round next morning for a tournament and the disc golf shop isn't open yeah, the other thing I've started doing is I'm to the point where, if I'm going to be purchasing a new disc that I think is truly going to be in the bag and that important, I buy two of them right then, and there as close to the same color as possible, just so that it's the same. It's the same run, the same plastic, the same stamp, the same color. Like, if I know it's going to be that one, I get it and, surprisingly enough, my Merlot colored mantra that I bought two of.
Speaker 3:I don't know how. The last one.
Speaker 1:I still have both of them. I don't get it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I don't get it. Yeah, I have both of them. I know you have both of them and it peeves me a little bit because I don't know how you haven't lost them yet.
Speaker 1:Well, and I have one that's like pink with the same stamp, but it doesn't throw the same because it's a different plastic.
Speaker 3:Oh, okay, it's domier than the oh, so it's maybe a little bit of a different mold, huh.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm.
Speaker 3:Oh, that makes more sense.
Speaker 1:Now that I think about it, I have six mantras.
Speaker 3:Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm. But, I also heard Bex throws a mantra oh cool yeah. Well, I also heard Bex throws a mantra oh cool yeah.
Speaker 3:Well, shout out to Bex. Hi Bex, hi Bex, bexasaurus Rex, yep, yep. So no, it's Disc Golfasaurus Bex. No, I'm slaughtering this, it's bad. But, like Jenny was saying, is my lesser used discs I will always carry at least one backup of, because I might throw that disc maybe once, twice, during the entire tournament. But if that disc is not in my bag for some reason, I would be up a crick, and not a good one either.
Speaker 1:So it's like your, uh, ninja turtles leopard, like you only have that one, oh yeah, and you've lost it like three times yeah, it's come back to me.
Speaker 3:It's meant to be yeah, yeah, but I do. I do pack an extra leopard, I pack an extra mako, because you know it's that one shot. And if I don't have that one shot, what am I gonna do? I mean, there are they're all alternatives, but there's easier ways to do things if you have the right equipment. And on top of that, for a competitive play, you also have to consider nutrition and hydration. I usually recommend snacks that have fast-acting high glucose, so things like fruit, oranges, maybe a little bit of candy. There's also some sport drinks or something out there that have a little bit of sugar in them, but something that can get into your bloodstream fast and replace the glycogen in your muscles. So when your muscles are feeling fatigued and you're not able to produce that power like you used to, that's because you're running out of your glycogen stores and you need to replenish those. We usually try to get a snack or something when we're really on top of it. About what? Every three or four holes, jenny.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we started to eat a snack every three to four holes just to keep our blood sugars up and just to kind of stabilize.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and another thing is golf is a sport of patience. It's a sport of concentration and focus. So it is also recommended that you try to avoid caffeine if you can. Caffeine doesn't do anything for you, except for raise your heart rate, and when you raise your heart rate, all sorts of other bad things happen and you'll get the jitters, you won't be able to concentrate, you start becoming really hyper and it will affect your game. So we recommend trying to avoid caffeine and when you're designing or I shouldn't say designing, I should say considering your snacks for your bag, something that's also recommended is something with protein or amino acids in it, because that will help your endurance and keep your. It'll help ward off fatigue is what I'm trying to say yeah and uh, we joke about that.
Speaker 1:When you are the last person on the card, that that means it's snack time. Um, so usually when I see oh man, I just lost the box or whatever it's like, I need to eat something. If I'm having a couple shots that are not on par to what I'm used to, that's when I usually know I need to go eat something.
Speaker 3:So being at the back of the box is your indicator for when you need to have a snack.
Speaker 1:It's more of just kind of a joke that came up between me and some of the other players I think I know Melissa's a teacher and we were like, oh, snack time.
Speaker 3:But it seems like you've put it to good use, you've given it a purpose, so that's good.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I agree with that. Sometimes the caffeine hits you in a different way. However, if you're used to having that amount of caffeine on a regular day, like don't all of a sudden decide not to take your caffeine with you. Because, like don't all of a sudden decide not to take your caffeine with you because, like you said, I use my yetis for I'll carry tea, I will carry coffee, especially with it being cold right now. Like that's the only way I can stay going and stay warm well, there you're right.
Speaker 3:There is the opposite end of that is that if you're used to caffeine and have a caffeine intake regimen that you do on a regular, daily basis, cutting it out for that day, trying to stay calm or whatever, you'll actually crash and cause the opposite problems. You'll have headaches, you'll have fatigue, you won't be able to concentrate because you're tired. All right. And also, when you're putting this in your bag, you need to consider your shot shaping needs versus the max distance, and so when you're focusing on shot shaping versus uh power, you want to focus on controlling angles, lines, landing zones, rather than eating up raw distance. There are those scenarios where you want to eat up just distance, and this is not it. So some of the key characteristics of this are you want to prioritize consistency and accuracy, so very reliable, proven discs that you know exactly what they do. You want to utilize a mix of understable, stable and overstable discs, so a wide versatility for different shot shapes. These discs typically will excel in wooded courses, technical holes and unpredictable conditions, so you have a little bit of a tool for everything there. These require a lot more finesse and a lot more control to make sure that that disc is going to do what you want it to do. Now, when you're selecting discs for shot shaping, some neutral mid-ranges and putters are a good thing to have. Those are great for straight shots. They have very minimal finishing characteristics. Some examples would be like, say, a disc craft buzz or a MVP hex is another very, very popular one. You want to make sure you have some understable fairways for turnovers, highs or flips. Like Jenny said, I use a Leopard for those different things. Also, the Latitude 64 River seems to be a favorable disc for those types of conditions, and some overstable utility discs for flex shots, headwind stability and different skip type plays. I use a Zone. Nova Firebird is another one, and the people that benefit from the control drivers and the control versus distance are people with limited arm speeds but have a lot of finesse. They can benefit from those at arm speeds but have a lot of finesse. They can. They can benefit for those and people that are on tight technical courses where you need to choose a landing spot or there's tight fairways or you have to hit a gap through some trees and there's a lot of players out there that will benefit from this. The creative players benefit a lot from shot shaping and being able to throw these different shots.
Speaker 3:Now, when you're considering max distance, there are those situations where maybe control isn't as much as a concern. You have a big, wide, open fairway and you just need to eat up some yards because it's, or some feet because it's 600 feet, par four or par three. Some of nah that would be a par four, par four or par three, some of nah that would be a par four. But, like north bend has that 500 foot par three that you have to keep it in bounds. But you gotta, you need to bite off a big chunk of it if you're gonna have a prayer at par. Control isn't as much of a concern and some of those high speed drivers, such as the 11 through 14, have uh, they have the wide rim and they're also optimized for just those big, long, wide, open shots and they are more dependent on your arm speed and your rotational power. But there's a big sacrifice when it comes to accuracy for extra distance.
Speaker 3:So some disc selections for max distance drivers. Some of these are high speed distance drivers. They have a maximum rim width. So a very popular one is a Innova Destroyer. A lot of people bag a Destroyer or the Discraft Force. And then there are some understable bombers which are great for for tailwinds and high glide extra carry. So the Innova Turn is a very good one for that, and there's also the Discmania DD3 is another good one for that. You want to have your bricks. I call these the bricks. The meat hooks, so stable to overstable drivers are controllable distance. So the Discmania Cloud breaker is a really nice one for that, and also the disc craft zeus. Uh also fills that slot very nicely I.
Speaker 1:I just want to say, uh, this is a uh athletic man who lifts weights, who is talking about his recommendations. Now I'm going to say for a lot of the women or the beginners, or even the juniors, you may not have a single overstable disc in your bag. You may be throwing all understable discs and that is fine, because that is where you are at. Like, I only have some overstable putters and I have an overstable mid. It's the trust that's all I have, because I still throw understable discs, because that is what works for where I'm at.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and these aren't necessarily my recommendations. There are several of these on this list that I personally would not bag. However, these are the discs that fill these particular slots and typically would be used for these types of things. And Jenny is correct is that you need to use the disc that fits your game, because if you can't at least control it a little bit, then what's the point? And, on that note, the people that benefit from this are definitely players that have more advanced arm speeds and can fully utilize those 11 and up speeds and get into those secondary flight characteristics speeds and get into those secondary flight characteristics and they're more likely to be used on courses that have fewer obstacles to get around, where you don't have to hit as many gaps, you don't have to navigate around uh different things or maybe even go over water. That would be good for that, and it's also good for players that are capable of going for that birdie or eagle opportunity on some of those long par fours or par fives. Now, also, when you're stocking your bag full of discs, you have to consider the difference between a forehand and a backhand dominant player. Some backhand dominant players will typically generate spin with wrist action and arm pull through and they typically release, most commonly on a hyzer angle, natural hyzer angle and they have slower arm speeds beforehand but they have more controlled glide is a characteristic to the throw and more comfortable with flippy or neutral discs for turnover and hyzer shots. Like, say, the Leopard is pretty flippy and I can turn that over and get that nice flex line or hyzer flip out of it on my backhand and that's what I use it for. If I tried to use it for my forehand it would flip up and go away. It would get on the bus and leave Some of the better discs for backhand players. And again, these are just suggestions. They're not necessarily discs that I recommend or have in my bag. This is just kind of a list. So, understable to stable, they are easy to turn and flip over. You got the Innova Turn. You got the Latitude 64 River. You have high glide discs which will maximize your efficiency in distance. So you have Discmania Cloudbreaker. The MVP Wave is another favorable one. The controlled overstable discs for wind resistance and flex shots the Innova Wraith and the Disccraft Zuths are some of those that fit those slots in the distance driver and fairway driver range in your mid ranges.
Speaker 3:Some great, some great this for tunnel shots are the discraft buzz and the mvp hex, two very popular discs. I actually have a bag full of buzzes that I use on a regular basis. Some glidey under stable mids so you can get some finesse shots and some easy turnovers. The innova mako 3 I throw personally I'm gonna make a mako 3 and, uh, love it. The discraft comet is another good one.
Speaker 3:And then putters. There are some beadless putters out there, so the under bead on the bottom of the rim, that that is gone, and they're nice for comfortable, smooth releases. So the disc mania p2 is one that I really like. I I use the p2 in one of my side bags. And the dynamic disc judge I know that a lot of people favor the judge.
Speaker 3:And then you got to have your throwing putters for your controlled approach shots. So I enjoy throwing the mvp mv. There's Axiom Proxy that works very well for that. You can also throw the Zone in there. Or the Luna. That's a pretty good one. And then an example of like, say, a backhand dominant player's bag would have like a Turn, a Zeus, a Explorer, a T-Bird, a Buzz, a Mako and then a Envy and a Luna for their putters.
Speaker 3:Now, when you're talking about forehand dominant players. Some of the key places, key things about forehand dominant players to consider is you use your wrist more for the spin and the arm whip for your speed. So a little bit more velocity on that disc and it is very natural for you to release that on a flat to anhyzer angle, which will require you to use more overstable discs. I use three discs for my overstable discs. I use a Zone which is a 0.3. I use a Firebird which is a 0.4. And I've just recently started using the Racer, which is a negative 1.2, but it's like a 13 speed, it's a 12 speed, it's a 12 speed, so the speed kind of helps with the stability because I'm not going to be able to throw it that hard.
Speaker 3:It's also very important to avoid some of the more understable discs when you're a forehand player because they will create a lot of torque and have a tendency to become unstable and flip over and sacrifice distance and accuracy as well. As the other direction is you have the more overstable discs. You want a disc that can handle a lot of torque because you're going to be using your wrist to flick that disc and it's really easy to get some of that off-axis torque. So rotating the disc around the X angle and that fluttery effect will sacrifice distance and accuracy as well. So something that's going to correct itself in flight is really good for forehands. So some of the discs for forehand players.
Speaker 1:I do want to say, though, that I still don't have a very good forehand. However, when I do throw an understable disc forehand, it does okay.
Speaker 3:Well, that's because you don't have the arm speed yet.
Speaker 1:Oh, I know It'll never happen. It's not going to happen For you.
Speaker 3:A forehand is a utility shot. You can throw it 50 feet reliably. It's a get out of jail free card is what it is. So some overstable discs. They prevent the early turn and maximize the control. So the Innova Firebird I personally bag one of those. The Discraft Raptor I have one of those and another one in my bag, so I like both of those. The Discraft Raptor I have one of those and another one in my bag, so I like both of those. Flat top drivers are easy to grip and easy to release. So a Destroyer or a Discraft Force the Racer from Innova is very similar to the Destroyer, so I bag one of those.
Speaker 3:And utility discs for flex shots and forehand rollers. So like the Discraft Flick or the Axiom Fireball shots and forehand rollers. So like the disc craft flick or the axiom fireball. Some mid-ranges, overstable mid-ranges. They. You need one that's going to handle a lot of torque without flipping over. I know the disc craft malta and the innova rock 3 are very good sidearm mid-range discs. And some low. You want some low glide on your mid-range discs to offer some control over your distance because a lot of times you're going to be throwing these as approach shots. So the Castaplast has the Gote, the goat G-O-T-E and Axiom has the Pyro. So suggestions for this.
Speaker 3:And then we move into putters. Flat top and overstable putters are ideal for forehand approaches. I use the disc craft zone a lot for almost all of my approaches. But in a subsequent bag I have a west side disc harp in there and the harp is kind of a sister disc. It's a little bit more flippy than the zone but it will resist flipping over fairly well and and I can forearm it fairly well. I highly recommend it's also nice for nice little anhyzer flex shots. Also the harp and then the deep rim putters which are nice for just giving a little toss or a little flick and I usually modify my grip for these. But they're nice for sidearm approach shots when you're in close proximity to the basket and you have to go around an obstacle.
Speaker 3:And one of the suggestions for that is an AVR-X3 from Innova. So a forehand dominant player bag example would be a Discraft Force and Innova Destroyer for the drivers In Nova Firebird and a Discraft Raptor for fairway control drivers. You have a Discraft Malta and a Rock 3 from a Nova for your mid-ranges. For your putting you would have a Discraft Zone and a Nova AVR. And then you want a balanced approach if you're a hybrid player, like I am, and need multiple discs for so, for multiple things. So I will have a set of discs that I only use for forehand in my bag and I will have a set of discs that I only throw backhand in my bag, and there's a few discs in there that I'll throw both ways. But I know for certain that I can throw these discs forehand and I cannot throw these discs forehand because the bad things will happen. So there's, you have to really test out and play with it and figure out what's happening in your in your bag. There.
Speaker 3:Now that we've talked about your throwing style, we need to consider the type of the course that we're going to play. So there are pretty much two different types of courses out there. There are big, open golf courses that are like big, big, wide open fairways, a lot of manmade hazards, and then there are tight wooded courses, which is a lot of like what we have around here in western Washington is technical, tight courses where you have to hit gaps, shape shots and miss a lot of trees. So some things to consider for these open courses is open courses do have stronger winds that will affect your flight stability. So knowing what your disc does in the wind is very advantageous. They will have longer, wider fairways, so you might want to pack some of those maximum distance drivers, so some of those 11 to 14 speeds and up, and a lot of times they'll have minimal obstacles, using things like out of bounds elevation, water and just the sheer distance of the course to be able to create those uh, challenging conditions. And typically open courses will have more emphasis on hyzer lines and flex shots. So those long those either dot it right into the center of the fairway or the long, glidey flex shots that can go for a million miles. So a few throwing strategies to use when you're out there on the open courses is you want to have power hyzers and flex shots in your bag for reliable flights, even when you're in the wind. You want to have some discs in there for skip shots, long approaches, so overstable discs will work well for this, as they have predictable landings. You also want to have something in there for distance maximization, so your higher speed discs that are less controllable, but more about just pushing those long, long distances.
Speaker 3:Now we want to move on to the wooded courses and when you're considering packing your bag for wooded courses, you want to. You're looking at tight gaps that need pinpoint, very finesse, accuracy, low ceilings and you need some demanding controlled flight, and ground play is even a factor. You need to be able to shape shots like turnovers, hyzer flips, flex shots, hyzer bombs, different types of technical shots, and they are not at all about raw distance, they are about control, control, control, control. So being able to throw those really finessey shots right down the tunnel shots the worst thing in disc golf is the dead straight shot you want to use throwing strategies like hyzer flips and turnovers so you can get max control and those will also have very little fade and they will not be as wide in breath. As far as being able to go down those tight technical fairways, you want to use low speed control releases a lot of touch shots and reduce the error margins. They help reduce the error margins for tree kicks. So when you hit a tree you want it to pop off and go off to a side or drop straight down. You don't want it to go crazy off over there into the next hole, into a ravine somewhere, into a ravine somewhere and a lot of straight flying. Low, low glide does prevent you from flipping things over and or going too far when you're throwing, uh, throwing at the basket or throwing your shot.
Speaker 3:So a lot of woods golfers will play with a lot of putters and use putters and mid-ranges and that's, that's a lot. Now, a lot of modern courses have a little mix of both. So you're going to want to carry a good mix of these different discs. I would take a good mix of overstable and unstable discs, uh, and make sure I have a couple considerations in there for wind elevation.
Speaker 3:I also want to adjust my disc lineup according to what the specific course is that I'm going to play. Usually when I adjust my bag, I put maybe one or two out of there in there, or take one or two out, and that just depends, of course, familiarity and what I want to do. And sometimes I'll take a few out of there on purpose to make sure that I don't throw them on some stupid whim. And then you need to practice with straight, nice flyers like a Buzz or a T-Bird, because they'll work on any course. So a lot of versatility, being able to use fewer discs in a lot more different ways. That's some considerations when you're trying to construct a bag for different playing styles, such as sidearm, backhand, woods courses, open courses and some different considerations for each of those.
Speaker 1:All right, I get to go over some key terms and concepts with you guys. Yay for vocab. So we have four types of discs that we're going to go over. So, distance drivers I don't have a single distance driver in my bag period because I don't have the arm speed. So a distance driver is typically speeds of 11 to 15. They're harder to control to 15. They're harder to control. They typically have a thinner profile on the disc for less aerodynamic drag. They will have a larger fade at the end of flight as they will return to the ground quickly.
Speaker 1:We would say that these are for the larger, wide, open areas where accuracy is of less concern. Brandon has high speed drivers that he can throw a million miles but it doesn't matter if he hits a tree. So these are the discs that he would use, say, in the really big open areas where there's not a tree in sight and he gets that opportunity to go that distance. Fairway drivers I have fairway drivers in my bag because that's what I can throw, is about a nine speed is about the highest I can go. They are typically speeds of six to ten. As a fairway driver they fly straighter, they will not return to the ground as quickly and they possess a smoother finish, which means they're not going to come back as quickly. They're best for long, controllable shots where accuracy is important. So think about some of those tunnel shots or if you've got a pretty reliable curve that you need to go around.
Speaker 1:The fairway drivers are more for distance and control rather than just throwing a million miles and hoping it lands in the fairway somewhere and it's also the typically the type of driver that a beginner, or potentially a a lady, might have because of their arm speed or if, say, you're recovering from an injury, you might throw more fairway drivers than distance drivers. They have ideal numbers for shaping lines. So again, doing those turnover shots, doing those hyzers, having that reliable angle too.
Speaker 3:Yeah, they'll hold an angle.
Speaker 1:All right, mid-ranges, they'll hold an angle. All right. Mid ranges, uh, we have so a three. Speed can either be a mid range or an approaching putt. So the mid ranges are typically speeds of three to five. I've always kind of seen them be like up into the six and seven, sometimes two, so it kind of depends, but they're typically up to a five and that has a lot more to do with the profile of the disc than the actual speed of it. So a fairway driver and a distance driver are more. They have that thinner profile so that they have less drag. They're more aerodynamic. Where a mid range starts to have some of that thicker rim and a lot of times you'll see it has a I'm thinking of my mid-ranges like it has that little extra down below it. So a driver is pretty sharp, a mid-range has some chunk to it and then a putter is pretty thick. So mid-ranges have that, you know, little extra chunk to it. So when you're it helps it maintain its stability. So they will fly even straighter. They will have less finish as they glide to the ground. They will not fly as far as drivers.
Speaker 1:However, if you're a beginner or you have a lower arm speed for throwing your discs, you may find that your mid rangesranges you're able to control and they will fly farther than your drivers. They are best for technical and specialty shots that require a large degree of control. That is your workhorse mids versus your specialty mids. So I have my sole. I would say that is my workhorse mid because it is the one that I can throw straight and I can also do a reliable turnover with it. So it's it's a workhorse because I throw it a lot and it also has some specialty shots. My trust, I would call, is my specialty shot because I use that for my hyzer. Anything you want to say on that.
Speaker 3:Well, like for my bag, I use, uh. Well, for mid range of, specifically, I use a uh, a MIDI, uh from lone star discs. I really liked the MIDI. Lately I've been flipping it up and throwing it a long way so I've been disking down to the zone because that has a little less glide and is a little more crashy and holds the torque really well. And then also I use so that's for, like my hyzer, my big looping hyzers, my hyzer bombs, getting around obstacles. It's kind of a Swiss Army knife knife. It also has enough torque resistance. I can throw it sidearm if I need to. And then for my turnovers and flex shots I bag a mako 3 for my better ranges and I I love the mako 3. It's just, it'll hold whatever line you put on it and, uh, it'll, it'll hold whatever angle you put it on and just go dead straight with no finish.
Speaker 1:Right, so I have my. You said something about that you're disking down, because I'm at that point now too where I would throw my sole for a turnover shot, and it would normally stop pretty soon, or a turnover shot and it would normally stop pretty soon, but with the work that I've been doing now it goes way past where I'm trying to do and then it takes me a couple extra shots to make it back to the basket because I'm overthrowing it. So knowing what your arm speed is going to do to that mitt is also really important. So you said you have the straight, the overstable and the understable options, so I will bag. I have a sole, I have my mana or my tersis. I've recently gone to the. Is it a Mako 3?
Speaker 3:Yeah, you have a Mako.
Speaker 1:A Mako, and then I have my tress. So those are my four mid rangesranges that I usually have, and I could, in theory, have the Mako do all of them. I just that's not what I've done.
Speaker 3:Not there yet.
Speaker 1:Well, mako was the last disc that I put in there. I had the other three in there before, yeah, yeah. And then your putt and approach discs. Those are typically speeds of one, two, three, um, they're straightest flying discs. They have almost no finish at the end of a flight, unless you have that slower arm speed, and then it it may turn a lot. Or if you have a the wrong angle, like it, it will hold that. That return, they'll hold lines, yeah, so we have different types of putt approach. So we have beaded versus beadless. And then there's different stability options. So what's a beaded putter?
Speaker 3:so on the, on the bottom rim of the disc, and it's not just for putters, it's for all this, but on the bottom rim of the disc where you reach, you wrap your fingers around and you grip the rim of the disc and it's not just for putters, it's for all discs but on the bottom rim of the disc where you wrap your fingers around and you grip the inside of the rim. So a lot of well, I wouldn't say a lot of some discs will have an extra little kind of rounded edge there. So, like I know, the Racer has that.
Speaker 3:It's like the extra line of frosting at the bottom of a cake, yeah, yeah, kind of like that, yeah, around the base of the cake, and so when you wrap your fingers around, there's that little little extra there, uh, to be able to clear your fingers away. And then there's there's also different uh tops too. There's like groove tops, there's banger tops I know was something that discraft put out soon there's domey air ones, there's flatter ones, there's all sorts of different things that you can use. So, like the berg is a really popular one that has a thumb groove in it. So you, there's that little pan there that you can really put your thumb in and grip down on the disc.
Speaker 1:And then there's the neon. That's got the inverted top too.
Speaker 3:It's kind of like that it's got the yeah, it's got a very weird, interesting top to it. It's got a concave top, concave top, or is it convex?
Speaker 1:I think it's concave.
Speaker 3:I always get those two confused and I remember all my science classes.
Speaker 1:I'm like it's this and I yeah, no, it's the dog bowl. Yep Stability variations.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so ultimately, it's what's going to be stable for you. So, or what? How is it going to perform for you? So take, for example, I throw a Nomad. When I throw my Nomad, it is very, very understable and it likes to turn up and over and tail off to the right, even though it is touted as an overstable disc. And then I have my Envy, which is a dead straight flyer, and I both throw envies and it's my putting putter.
Speaker 1:So well, and there are, I want to say, three or four different uh molds of envy and different plastics, and so it's the envy. However, it has different stabilities within the type of mold that it is.
Speaker 3:These days I pretty much do everything with an envy, as far as putting approaching it's envy for days.
Speaker 1:We also recommend that you have a go to putter for driving or approach and that you have a putter for putting. So I have my approach disc. I actually have. I found a lasso by mint discs which is a driving putter. It's made specifically for driving so it has a bit of a different feel around the edge of it. I don't know how to explain it, but it's more.
Speaker 3:It's it's easier to drive with than any of the other putters I've used for driving it's more focused around getting being able to release out of your grip rather than having a big, wide rim for stability. Yeah, because when you putt, you use a fan grip. When you drive, you use a power grip.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so it's got. We recommend you choose a go-to putter and you have a throwing putter. So you have a putter, it's got a special speed and stability. Or we've got probably 30 30 envies between us, because we both putt with envies as our putting putters. But having that putting putter that you, you keep it a little more pristine because that's what you're putting with, you're not risking that you're going to drive with it and get a huge chip out of it when you hit a tree or have it skid across cement or lose it or lose it Anything like that. So we have a putting specific putter and then we have another putter that we approach with.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you won't find me throwing my putting putter unless it's a very close approach.
Speaker 1:Yeah so.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it sure helps when you can putt, 150 feet though.
Speaker 1:And typically the one to three speeds are used in close proximity to the basket. However, there's a lot of one disc challenges or like the glitch challenges which are technically with a putter, and one of the biggest pieces of advices I think you received was hey, just go out and throw a bag full of putters and see what that does to teach you about your game.
Speaker 3:Well, proximity to the basket is relative. So for like a beginner, inside the circle one or circle two, that would be like, say your close proximity. Now for like an advanced player, a 200 foot, you know, a 250 foot upshot would probably be close proximity. Now for like an advanced player, a 200 foot, you know, a 250 foot upshot would probably be close proximity. So it really all depends. It's crazy watching the pro pros because they'll only have one or two mids in their bag and it's all distance drivers and all putters, that's it. Like anthony barella can throw a putter 400 feet. Like that's crazy.
Speaker 1:You could probably throw a putter 400 feet. I just don't think you've tried.
Speaker 3:I can barely throw a driver 400 feet, yeah, all right.
Speaker 1:So how do we pick out our discs? Well, the Holland Hanley method, which I strongly recommend. If you subscribe to Power Disc Golf Academy, check out the episode from Holland Handley. I think that's where we got this inspiration from, too right.
Speaker 3:Part of it, but the 12 slot method is from there.
Speaker 1:You have 12 slots that you have to fill. Okay, brandon, give me an idea of what those 12 slots are.
Speaker 3:If I were to do this for real, I would actually draw this down on a sheet of paper and I would have my tic-tac-toe board, which is three across and four high, so four boxes high, three across horizontally and then I would go through my bag, or at least my disc collection, and pick out candidates that might fit in each one of these spots. So, working from left to right, high to low, I would start filling in these boxes so hold on.
Speaker 3:So the the top row is your distance drivers, right well, well, at the, at the very, very, very top of your chart is going to be your max distance okay, and then the second row would be fairway drivers roughly going off of what we're talking about so max distance. So I would actually put a figure to it.
Speaker 1:So let's describe what that looks like. So this is a board that has. The top row is the distance drivers. Those are going to be your max distance, probably your highest speed discs, right, okay? The second row is going to be your fairway drivers. So not as much distance, more more control. Then you have your set of mid ranges and then the last row is your putt and approach discs, but it doesn't include your putting putter. Putting putter is a completely separate deal, okay. And then, going from left to right, it's going to be what fills your overstable slot, your stable slot and then your understable slot, correct?
Speaker 3:Sort of. So what I would do if I was drawing this out is at the very top of the page, at the very top of my chart. I would actually put a number to my max distance and I would say, okay, I can, I can throw 350 feet. So I would write three, 50 at the top of my chart and I'd fit, I'd put it in discs that could go, that three, 50. And then maybe I would fill in uh, in the next one down I'd fill in okay, these are my two 50 to 300 discs, and then I would fill in these are my 100 to 300 discs. And then I would fill in these are my 100 to 250 discs, and then I'd have my inside 100 feet discs, or or I I would break it down by actual distance instead of speeds, so to say, because a lot of times you're going to be able to throw a mid-range, certain mid-ranges, you'll be able to throw them further than fairway drivers, certain fairway drivers, you'll be able to throw them just as far, if not further, than uh, max distance drivers. So it all, it all just kind of depends. So I would I would more so match it to actual distance than the speed of the disc.
Speaker 3:And then, as far as going horizontally goes, I would not do stable or overstable, under or overstable, neutral and understable what I would do, because I would put the discs in the disc names in the boxes, because you can have a disc that does multiple things. So take, for example, my Leopard. So I put my Leopard in my mid range. I can use that for hyzers. I can use that as a hyzer, so that'd be overstable. I can use that for a dead straight shot, so that'd be my neutral. And then I can also use that for turnovers where it'll be. And then the way I do that for turnovers where it'll be, and then the way I do that is just speed control and angle control, and so it's not necessarily about the disability as much as it is hitting the different areas of the course.
Speaker 1:Well, it is about the stability, but it's about the stability for you, the way you throw that disc. Yeah, so you're coming up with what I would say, that what you just said about that you can use your leopard for the hyzer and for these other things. Those would be specialty shots that are outside of this chart, because you want to know what is your stable mid-range, what is your overstable like, what's your go straight mid-range, what's your go left mid-range and what's your go right mid-range yes to a point I'm not.
Speaker 3:I'm not concerned as much with this stability as I am hitting the different areas of the course. I I honestly could care less about disability because, like take Simon Lizotte, for example, we saw him throw a 14.04, 14.504, and it was understable for him. He used it to hit the high right corner.
Speaker 1:And Brandon. The speed, the stability, those are all ways that we use the same vocabulary to explain these things. So the stability matters.
Speaker 3:It does matter to a point.
Speaker 1:It's just, the stability for a disc for you is different than the stability of a disc for me.
Speaker 3:Yes, no, you're right, you're right, and the chart itself is supposed to be the different areas of the course and how you hit those different areas. So, like I said, the 350 range to 300 range, the 200 to 250, the 250 to 300 range, the 150 to 200, and like within a hundred feet. So the chart that I'm drawing is supposed to represent the different tercials and the different areas of the course, not necessarily my disabilities, because there's overlap in a lot of areas.
Speaker 1:How do you uh figure out which discs are going to fill which spot for you?
Speaker 3:Well, I go out to the field and I test them. We did this drill. I did this drill the other day where I was trying to find a new distance driver. I was having a lot of trouble controlling a certain distance driver that I had. It was touted as an overstable, meat, meaty, beefy disc, but the particular plastic I had it in was not working for me because it was a softer plastic which made it more understable. So I wanted to go out and find a new driver that I had that had the characteristics that I wanted. So there's a drill that I did it's. It's called the um test and filter drill and what I did is I went out to a soccer field and I spent like three hours doing this.
Speaker 3:I went out to a soccer field which was like every single driver I could think of. I tried to put every mold in my bag, everything from pretty much a seven speed and higher. I put it all in a big practice bag, a big duffel. I went out to the soccer field. It was actually like one of those multi-purpose fields that has the different lines and things on it and there's a line kind of on the leftish side of the field that was went straight and went all the way down the field, and so the drill is is to go through in blocks of 10 discs and try to throw those discs as as well as you can, as consistently as you can, down that line, and see what they do in accordance to the center line.
Speaker 3:Distance isn't really a thing with this, it's you want to throw good, controllable shots and really explore what those discs do. Also to consider is that if I threw a bad shot so if I grip locked one or I shanked one off to the left or it came out earlier or something I wouldn't count that one. So I would go and throw my 10 discs and then I'd go to the other end. There were some right away that I knew that weren't going to go in the bag just because of what they did. So I'd take those discs out and the ones that I was questioning about, I would throw them back and see what they did and see if I could do it consistently, and then I'd separate them out into piles and the ones that I didn't want went back in the practice bag and I probably threw probably 300 or 400 shots trying to find a distance driver and went down to, eventually made it to, I think, two molds, and it took a while. But not only was I, was I able to find the distance driver I was looking for, I was also able to work on some consistency with my form and hitting lines and also release angles. And so there's there's multi, multiple benefits to this.
Speaker 3:And then, jenny, we went out together and did that for you. What? What was your experience like when we did the, the filter out drill? Oh, and another thing about the filter out drill is the different lines on the on the soccer field that we were at the multi-purpose field. We know what the difference lines were as far as distance goes. So we were able to kind of make an educated guess as far as distance goes. So we were able to kind of make an educated guess as far as how far the discs were going, and so that was also helpful too for this drill.
Speaker 1:So I wanted to go out and do this because of how my discs had just kind of got up on a bus and left. So I just wanted to go out and try my different discs and see what they were actually doing. So I only took I think I took seven speeds through 11, because I have some lightweight 11s that I can throw. So I did use the speed to kind of help decide which discs I was going to take and I went through and chose 10 at a time and threw each disc down and back to see what they do. So after we went through the discs there were some that you wanted to see me throw again and then there were some that you just completely took out of my bag, and some of the things that I threw back in just for experimentation purposes were some of my lightweight diamonds. We didn't get to the Mambas.
Speaker 3:We didn't really make considerations for weight or stability. We just went out there to see what would work and what wouldn't right.
Speaker 1:So we ended up, uh, changing. We threw a hatchet into my bag that seemed to do really well, but for the most part we really didn't make any changes about the discs that I carry in my bag. It was just more me seeing what they could do and working on my walk-up, to be honest. But after we did go through and we only did drivers, we haven't done mid-ranges, but now I have an idea of which one is my furthest disc, like which one's my shortest disc. But the other thing I did is there's two apps that I use.
Speaker 1:There's the my Disc Bag, where you can actually write what the discs are put in your stability things like that, and see them on a couple different charts to kind of help you decide. You know what spots they fill. And then also the Marshall Street guide of discs. That way you can see, you know if you really like one brand specifically and find out what discs are the same. They're comparable, speed and stability wise. But then we did end up picking up the h7, which I wasn't planning to do, but but I threw it really well yesterday.
Speaker 3:You seem to do well with that, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I didn't field test it, but you know it was fun to play with.
Speaker 3:Well, you kind of field test it, because we went out and did a recreational round on a bigger course and so there's field testing and there's course testing course and so there's field testing. In this course testing you have field testing where you actually go out to a controlled environment where you have measurements and lines and different rubrics that you can, you can follow guidelines and whatnot, and then you have course texting testing, because a lot of times what works out in the field might not work out in the course, as such was the case with my driver. It worked beautifully out in the field, but when I took it to the course it just was not working for me.
Speaker 3:So you have you need to find one that works really for both. But if you had to choose one or the other course testing, well, field field testing is where you can start, but if it doesn't work on the course, then it's garbage.
Speaker 1:And another good thing with the field testing is that's a good time for you to video yourself too, since you're doing, hopefully, the same shot over and, over, and, over and over again and you can kind of see what's going well form-wise, what's not going well, what you can change.
Speaker 3:So that's another good thing with doing the field testing yeah, and when you're, when you're course testing your disc, make sure you play with multiple rounds so that you can kind of filter out and negate bad shots and you can work on those different shot shapes and things, because courses will cause you to have to shot shape and whatnot.
Speaker 3:And what I personally do like we talked about early in earlier in the episode I have a uh, my goof around bag just just for pickup rounds. It's full of putters and maybe like one distance driver and one mid. But then I have a discraft bag that has a totally different setup than my tournament bag, that it has some more overstable stuff, some more side army stuff. It's got some more neutral stuff in it. And then I have also just kind of a hodgepodge bag that's got a lot of latitude and MVP in it and that bag plays very differently than my other bags. But I get to try out a very wide variety of discs and I actually pulled one out of that bag to put in my tournament bag because of the field testing. So there's a lot of value in both. But course testing is the most important because, again, if it doesn't work for your scorecard, then what's the point?
Speaker 1:So something I did last year, for course testing is I had my Sharpie and every time I threw a disc and you know if you're throwing a couple off the t-pad every time I chose that disc, that that was the better shot. I put a little tally mark on the underside of the rim so that I could really see what discs I was using the most, and that gave me some other information, some other data of you know what could I take out of the bag? Where do I have holes? Yeah, it was just something that that was the only way I could come up with to easily track that without bringing like extra paper and things like that gotcha.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that was a good idea.
Speaker 1:I think I actually have one of those discs in my bag now because I looked down and I had the little tally marks on the side of it.
Speaker 3:yeah idea, I think I actually have one of those discs in my bag now because I looked down and I had the little tally marks on the side of it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, which one?
Speaker 3:I think it's one of the insanities.
Speaker 1:Yeah, probably.
Speaker 3:Yeah, hi. This is Paul Wright with the Paul Macbeth Foundation. Support the Builders Club and support the Intentional Disc Golfer. Now we are on to some common mistakes, questions, misconceptions. So one of the very common questions that comes up is premium plastic versus base plastic? Which one's better? What do you use them for? So base plastic is definitely cheaper A lot of times.
Speaker 3:Base plastic, you can get a better grip on it. It has a softer feel. Even a lot of pro players will use it for wet conditions because you can get that extra grip. One of the advantages yet disadvantages to it is that you can beat it in faster. So the polymers and everything will break down a lot quicker and the flight pattern will change. Flight characteristics will change very quickly as you use it and it's also good for beginners because the quick wear down will help those flight characteristics kick in a lot quicker. One of the disadvantages is they are less durable. They are more susceptible to chips, dents, scuffs. If you live out here you hit a tree real hard, it will deform your disc and because they change so much, they will become more inconsistent over time as the the disc breaks down more and more and more. You probably don't want to use a base plastic for a high speed driver because they can warp and they lose their stability very quickly. Some of the recommended uses, however, for base plastic are putters, because you can get better grip on them due to the cheaper plastic, mid-ranges, because they will season in more quickly and you'll get more control out of them and, like I said before, they have a little bit of a grippier feel. So wet conditions are actually preferred and they're also budget friendly. So for the beginners and the very basic recreational players out there, base plastic is the way to go.
Speaker 3:Now let's talk about some premium plastics. We have the like star, esp, neutron, the k1 opto champion, just to name a few from a few different brands. Now these ones are very, very much more durable. So you can hit a tree, hit a rock or whatnot. They won't chip or break very easily. They will also not deform when you hit, uh, hit an object and once they beat in and get uh, get broken in.
Speaker 3:They do have a much more consistent flight pattern and will stay in kind of that butter zone for a longer time. They are very good for high speed drivers because they won't warp or bend or anything like that, and then oftentimes they look better and they feel a lot better because they are high quality and they have different blends. So like some of them are swirled and translucent, and there's some of these special edition ones, the disadvantage is they're more expensive and so these plastics significantly increase the cost upwards of 20 to 25 to 30. I've even seen 40 and 45 dollar plastics out there. They often have less grip when they're wet and can feel slick, especially in damp conditions, and they do take a longer time to break in. So you're not going to see those flight characteristics come to fruition very quickly.
Speaker 1:You also tend to pay a bit more if it's a tour series disc, if it's a pro's tour series disc, if it's a pros tour series disc. Yeah, those are usually like five dollars.
Speaker 3:More is what I've seen yeah, with the stamp, special stamp or something on there yeah the special edition.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so, um, like I said, they're great for distance drivers and fairways drivers because they're going to hold their shape a little bit longer. They're also very good for windy conditions. Uh, better plastics tend to be a little bit longer. They're also very good for windy conditions. Better plastics tend to be a little bit more overstable, so they'll perform better in the wind, and they're usually ones that you're going to want to spend a little money on because they're going to be in your bag long term and you're going to be using them quite a bit. So they are great for players who prefer a consistent and predictable flight over time. Now, the flight differences is the base. Plastic will start out mostly as intended, but, like I said, they'll break down, they'll become more flippy and even eventually turn into a roller, even if they're pretty overstable. Premium plastic's going to hold up better. They're going to last for years and after it breaks in, it'll do so gradually, so it will stay in that butter zone, like I said, for a longer time.
Speaker 1:What about the floppy plastics too? There's a bunch of different things out there too. There's the floppy discs by Elevation. There is one from prodigy the pa pa5 pa5 that I have it's pretty gummy yeah, there's some um lightweights that are also pretty gummy from um. I don't even know what the brand is. It's like the xi brand from china or something. I don't know that's the the brand that I first got the. It was australian brand. He has the australian brand rpm yeah that there's that one.
Speaker 1:Um, there's some from lone star and then there's like the recycled plastic discs, like trash pan of discs. So there's a bunch of other types of plastic too yeah, there's lots of different types of plastic.
Speaker 3:The uh, the recycled discs are up and coming. They're pretty hot. These did so. Which one of these discs should you choose? So I would go with base plastic if you want better grip for putting in up shots, if you like, if you like discs that become flippier and break in really quickly, and you're definitely looking for that budget-friendly option. Now, when you want to go with premium discs is when you want that durability and long-lasting performance. So, maybe not for your rec bag, but definitely for your competition bag, you need the consistent flights, predictable flights, especially for your distance drivers. Get need the consistent flights, predictable flights, especially for your distance drivers. Get some more control out of those If you can predict it and you can do it consistently. Well, that's golf in a nutshell. When you prefer discs that'll stay more overstable for longer periods of time, this question comes up a lot is how many discs should I have in my bag, jenny? How many discs should I have in my bag, jenny? How many discs should I have in my bag?
Speaker 1:That depends on you.
Speaker 3:It depends on me. Oh that's a cop out, how many discs.
Speaker 1:There isn't a set number of discs that you should have in your bag.
Speaker 3:As many as it'll fit.
Speaker 1:You can, but you and I subscribe to a different belief on this, and I'm of the belief of having five to seven discs, that you know what they do really well and they're reliable, and that doesn't necessarily include my putter.
Speaker 3:I think you mean molds not discs, molds and discs.
Speaker 1:I typically like when I have my bag, I don't carry my doubles with me. Oh yeah, no, when you have your backpack bag, I don't carry my doubles with me oh yeah, no, when you have your backpack, you don't carry your doubles no but you don't take your backpack to tournament rounds. I do if they're not card friendly. There might be one or two that I will take the bag to fair enough.
Speaker 3:A lot of tour and pro players will say have about 10 different molds in there Not necessarily 10 discs, but 10 different molds and they all have very specific spaces in your bag and very specific purposes and there's not a lot of overlap there. And if you watch coverage on jomez or on youtube or something, you'll see that the pro players throw the same three or four discs all the time and they learn those really well and they just know what they do and they do everything with those three or four discs. They'll play the whole tournament only throwing three or four discs. For my bag in particular, I know, for example, I have exactly 10 molds minus my putting putter. But even that is an envy and I don't have a lot of overlap and I use a lot of discs for different things.
Speaker 1:So I don't agree with you. Okay, so this is what stood out to me. Is that so? Kristen Tatar, formerly Kristen Lott, put what she has for her bag and she has 15 discs, but there are let's see, one, two, two, pures, different plastic. She has one, two, three Verdicts that are all different plastics. I thought there were some others that she had, but you know, you may have only 15. You may have only 15. And maybe it's only like 12 molds, because you have some that you have in different plastics, like how you have your different Enveys.
Speaker 3:Well, I definitely have more than 10 discs in my bag. However, the mold shape, I only have about 10, 10 molds, but I've got like three firebirds. I've got about 10 nvs. I have different plastics for each one of them. I have, uh, not each one of them. I have some repeats.
Speaker 1:I have backups of all my discs I was trying to count what I actually have. So I have like three, four, five, six, seven, uh, eight, nine maybe.
Speaker 3:I think I have like 10 and then my putter yeah, yeah, and for like tournaments, I'll probably only throw four or five of them the whole tournament, that's it. The other ones are in there for very specific situations. So, like my MIDI, my MIDI is in there for a very specific situation.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, this is showing me that I have 14, including my putters.
Speaker 3:Oh there you go, yep and so, or um, or then I have, like, my Swiss army knife, which is my zone, and I use it for just about everything. And then I have a very I have a specific disc that I will use for forehand rollers and backhand rollers and uh, grenades and thumbers and things like that. But those are highly specialty shots. Which leads me on to the next question is do I really need a specific disc for these specialty shots?
Speaker 3:And now the answer is no, it's whatever gets the desired result that you want, and you can repeat it and do it consistently, like I use my firebird for almost everything. I use it for sidearms, I use it for backhands, I use it for flex shots, I use it for sidearms, I use it for backhands, I use it for flex shots, I use it for turnovers, I've even used it for a roller once or twice. I've used it for thumbers, tomahawks, grenades. It just depends on the situation and the disc. But no, you don't necessarily need to bag a specific disc for a specific purpose. I'm personally not a big fan of these one-off discs.
Speaker 1:I like to have less discs in my tournament bag because it eliminates some of the game day. Oh, I have too many options. That's another good point. Like I try to pare it down, so it's like well, these are my options. I can either disc down or I can throw the disc that I throw all the time.
Speaker 3:Next question is don't be fooled, the higher speeds don't necessarily go further than the lower speeds. So what I mean by that is I have fairway drivers that will go further than my max distance drivers. I have mid-ranges that will go just as far as my fairway drivers. So it all just depends on your arm, your arm speed, the release angle, how you throw it, the disability. There's a lot of different things. The only time it will make a big difference is in certain environmental factors such as wind or elevation, and the other time that it's going to make a big difference is when you start pushing those really big distances. So when you start getting up to the 400, 500, 600 range, that's when it's going to make a big difference, not necessarily. If you're good enough to throw 300, 350, you can do it with a mid-range. That that's not an issue.
Speaker 3:So the next misconception I'd like to say is don't fall for the hype. And what I mean by this is just because Anthony Barella, simon Lizotte, ricky, kristen, katrina, just because they can all throw those discs, doesn't mean that you should or that disc is right for you. I know it's pretty, I know you're a fan, I know it's pretty, I know you're a fan. I know it's got their name stamped on it, but don't fall for this, unless you're going to hang it on your wall. It's going to be a waste of money, unless you can really get the full spectrum of flight out of that disc.
Speaker 3:So before all this, we had talked about how the polymers break down in the different plastics and stuff, and so how do you keep your discs all behaving the same way in case you lose one? You need that consistent flight, and Jenny is actually better at this than I am and she has a method for it, so I'm going to let her take this one away. Jenny, talk about disc cycling and what that is and what, what your, how you do it right.
Speaker 1:So, um, I set out all my discs and we have a team meeting. We have a very long discussion about what I expect from them, right? No, okay, so I have my set of discs that I use in my tournament and then I have that set of backup discs that I usually put into my bag for when we go out and practice. So I use my backup discs when I'm not at a tournament that way. I started doing that because I didn't want to have to clean out my cart and then go to my bag and then put everything back and go back and forth. And it was well, since I have a set of backup discs, I might as well start using them. And then it has turned into what you're talking about, where, like my F9, the red one that's in my tournament bag cart it wasn't performing the way that I had been using the blue one. That's my backup, so I switched them.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and now you're throwing the red one in practice rounds and things to dial in the flight pattern.
Speaker 1:I might actually grab. I found another one when we threw, took all the drivers out for a spin, so I might actually put that one in the backup and just rotate it out.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so rotating your discs for different wear levels to keep the flight patterns within a close proximity to each other. Yeah.
Speaker 3:And let's talk real quick about those specialty shots. So a few specialty shots Forehand rollers, backhand rollers. You need something that's really flippy, something that's going to turn over really quickly and get on edge and take off the thinner, the edge of the disc. So, like a driver, it's going to go further because it's going to have less friction, less resistance against the ground. And also, another consideration with rollers is is it's going to eventually tail out to the heaviest side of the disc, which is the top part where the stamp is so you may be like me, where you are backhand dominant and forehands really don't make any sense to you.
Speaker 1:It could be that you have a disc for forehand and that is your specialty disc, like I used to carry a uh votum, just for that was my forehand disc and then uh, then you have the infamous cheater shots.
Speaker 3:Jenny calls them the grenades thumbers roller or grenades thumbers tomahawks.
Speaker 1:Yeah, uh all those things that I think are not how. They shouldn't be allowed in disc golf, because it's not flying and it blows my mind that people can do that and I can't do those.
Speaker 3:That's correct. That's why they're cheater shots. They're cheater shots.
Speaker 1:It's like how can I compete with that?
Speaker 3:Some favorable discs for that are overstable flat top drivers. They usually work the best and they need to have a lot of fade and be able to drop quickly, so I use a firebird for these. Another couple good ones are felons and raptors, um, so felon from dynamic discs, again raptor from discraft. And then, last but not least, and we're probably not limited to all this, but skip shots. So skip shots. You need a low profile, very overstable disc that likes to generate skips, so something that can compress the air underneath the ground and get it to pop back up and skip off the ground. So usually fairway drivers that have a low glide, like a predator I'm not sure exactly who makes the predator, but a firebird. I use firebirds for these as well. You know I use firebirds for a lot of things. So, yep, um, some other considerations. You need to consider wind conditions and and other weather factors, so you need to really understand what your discs do in the wind. And, jenny, don't you have a little trick for that? Can you go over that chart real quick?
Speaker 1:So we received um, like some uh like intro to disc golf cards from um, one of the tournaments that Taylor Foth put on because she works for Olympic printing, and I decided to just download one of the pictures on my phone and it is the home screen when I just turn on my phone, so it has an introduction to disc golf and wind. You can probably find it anywhere, but it's like there's a picture of you as a dot in the center and the direction you're facing and then it shows you if you have a headwind, so wind is against your throw Disc will act more understable, so you disc up, which means more lift, which means you aim for slightly lower release. Tailwind, so wind the same direction as a throw Disc, will act more overstable, which means you need to disc down, has less lift and aim for a slightly higher release. Then there's the left to right crosswind, where hyzers drop and anhyzers lift, and right to left crosswind, where hyzers lift and anhyzers drop.
Speaker 3:I will tell you that just by having this little bit of knowledge with wind, it's given me a uh an advantage to a lot of people that I play with yeah, especially for some of the big open courses that have when your considerations like so, like one of the courses around here is open and it's very windy because it's up on a hill right off of the puget sound here and so the wind comes up off the water and makes it very, very windy up on this hill where the course is talking about rhododendron oh see, I immediately think of shelton, because there's those shots where you're throwing from the trees.
Speaker 3:Oh, shelton, shelton's another one.
Speaker 1:The trees, and then you go out into where the power lines are and it's all of a sudden there's wind and then the basket's back in the trees, so you have to manage all of that Whippy, swirly wind. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Especially in the afternoon, when it starts to warm up.
Speaker 1:That's why we play wind bingo.
Speaker 3:Wind bingo. So understanding what your disc does in the wind is very important. And then let's talk about real quick what happens in the rain. So in the rain, of course, you're going to get less power and control because you have reduced grip. You're also going to have increased drag, so you're not going to have as much glide on your disc. Be expecting shorter flights and this means that your disc is not going to carry as far. So some more glidey discs are probably good for the rain, and overstable discs tend to become more overstable because the air is actually thicker and creates more drag on the discs. So not only are your flights going to be shorter, but your overstable discs are going to dump harder and come down into the ground a lot quicker.
Speaker 1:So, with rain too, you need to think about how are you keeping your hands dry, how are you keeping your discs dry and what are you doing to mitigate those situations. So I don't know if you plan to talk about it, but one thing we do is that we towel off our discs, but then we also tend to use our chalk bags to help get that last little bit of moisture, and it really helps to get that um, get your grip back on the disc.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and another factor of. Another factor playing in the rain is the winds in the rain. When it's raining, the winds will actually change a little more dramatically, which is going to mess with the aerodynamics. So not only do you have to worry about the heavier air and causing more resistance in the air, but also the effect of the wind, which is going to be more unstable as if it's raining. Next consideration you need to take into account your elevation, so this will fly more overstable. At higher, higher elevation the air. Air is thinner so it doesn't feel. The disc doesn't feel like if it had feelings. It doesn't feel like it's going as fast because there's not a much air, not as much air around it. So it's going to have less turn and glide. It's going to fade a lot earlier in the flight and understable discs are going to be even more stable and harder to flip up because there's not as much air to create the lift around the disc. Be expecting shorter flights when you're playing at elevation, but with the less air, air resistance, you can use lower speed discs to force those power throws. So if you're playing at 5 000 feet elevation, you can probably throw a putter a lot longer than you could if you're at sea level. So that's, that's another consideration and something you can use to be able to take care of that. This like flex shots, hyzer flips uh, the higher speed ones anyway they will have a whole lot more, a whole lot harder time flipping up and over and getting those hyzer flips and desired shot shapes than if you were at sea level. The other thing you need to do is considering elevation, is you need to consider how high your landing zone is. So a lot of times people will think, okay, well, I'm up a hill or whatever and I'm going to throw it and it should go really far, but if your landing zone is 30 feet below where you're standing, you have to consider that landing zone and what? What's going to happen is that's going to create more time for the disc to be in that fade zone. So when we were talking about flight numbers and the speedometer, it's going to create more time in that fade zone. So your, your disc is going to keep going and going and going and it might end up a hundred more feet to to the left or 100 more feet to the right, depending on how you throw, just because the landing zone is that much further beneath where your launch zone is and vice versa, throwing uphill shots, you're going to be expecting less glide and you can also expect your disc to stall out, because when you're throwing an uphill shot you naturally to get it up the hill, you have to throw nose up to be able to force it up that hill. So once it crests the hill, the air is going to hit that and it's basically going to stop the disc in mid-flight and drop it right where it crests the hill. So that's another thing to another thing.
Speaker 3:To consider some of the ways around. That is, use under stable discs which are going to stay a little straighter, maybe a little flippier, and kind of keep that right hand, turn a little bit better. Some discs to bring for higher elevation putters and mid-ranges. You want to choose things that are glidier, more straight flying or neutral Fairway drivers. You're looking at stuff that's going to be more understable. Some controlled term and distance drivers definitely something that's more understable. It's going to flip up. It's going to stay straight for you and have a maximum amount of glide.
Speaker 3:You can also adjust your throwing style to be able to accommodate for elevation. Use less hyzer so your discs will flip up easier. You can throw a faster disc for uphill shots. You can throw flatter discs for downhill shots, so like putters and things, and you can use high release angles and exaggerate that fade a lot more. You can also rely more on understable discs.
Speaker 3:So what's flippy it's and, like I said before, what's flippy at sea level might not be flippy and straight at elevation. And we have to take into consider consideration environment, the temperature. To the colder it is, the harder the plastic, the harder the plastic, the more overstable the disc. The more overstable the disc, the less glide, the more dump it's going to have at the end of its flight. Take, for example, when I throw my racer In the summer when it's 80 degrees out, I can get that thing to flip up and glide a million miles. In the winter, when it's 30 degrees out, I can get that thing to flip up and glide a million miles. In the winter, when it's 30 degrees out, I can't get that thing to flip up to save my life.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and when it's colder, the discs are more likely to crack, break or explode.
Speaker 3:Well, and also when it's colder, there is more air resistance. Yes, because cold air will hold a lot more.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, cold air holds a lot more stuff, a lot more humidity. So when it's cold outside, there's more air resistance against your disc as when it's hot outside. The molecules are all spread apart and it'll glide through the air better. Outside temperature and elevation are very closely related as far as how the discs behave. Uh, next thing is how do I find a weight that's good for me? Now?
Speaker 3:We said in the last episode that, look, we've been thinking about this all wrong as disc golfers, and the way we've been taught is, you know, lightweight to heavyweight and then understable to overstable. And, honestly, what we should be able to do as disc golfers is we should develop our technique enough so that we can use all the tools that are available to us in the bag. So you should be able to throw a 140 driver, the same you should the you know, same way you should be able to throw a 170 driver. You should be able to throw a 170 driver. You should be able to use all of these tools and have good enough technique to make sure that they do what they do.
Speaker 3:And so what we've been doing as disc golfers is we've been solving a well, we've been solving this problem with a technical solution when really it's a solution of technique and mechanics. So selecting a weight that's good for you. You want to be able to throw it hard enough to be able to get the secondary flight characteristics, but also be good enough to use every shot in your bag. That's a little confusing for advanced players. Basically what works for you again. But when you get to that point where you can use everything that's out there, then that's when you know you're all set.
Speaker 1:So it is. There is a bit of a progression, though, with weights, where, if you're a beginner typically if you're a female, lower weights are better for you. If you've had any injuries, sometimes going down to a lower weight helps to make it so that you can still play. Um, you need heavier weights for the wind, like there. There are a lot of things to consider, though, about the weight of a disc.
Speaker 3:Yeah, they all, they all. Each tool has its purpose and knowing that purpose is important, and I'm saying that you, as a advanced disc golfer, you should be able to use every single tool that's available to you. Does that make more sense? Next thing, next consideration, is you want to make sure that the disc feels good in your, in your hand. Some things to look at that, some things that go along with that, is the depth of the flight pan or the rim. So you want to make sure that your fingers can cleanly come away from the disc when you're throwing without getting stuck. Check the disc for mold lines. Does it have sharp mold lines on there that might abrade your fingers? Usually what I do is I remove it with a little bit of sandpaper and just, which is legal by pdga, so I just kind of scuff up that sharp edge and get rid of it. One thing that drives me personally crazy, and probably some people like it, is the embossing on the underside of the disc. So I know um inova puts theirs on the flight plate and if I feel that under my fingers, it drives me crazy and I I turn the disc. So I know um inova puts theirs on the flight plate and if I feel that under my fingers it drives me crazy and I I turn the disc so I don't feel it anymore. I know disc craft actually embosses it right into the rim of their disc, so that may be an advantage if you're trying to get some more grip on your disc, just having that little bit of, uh, roughness there. But I, I personally, am not a fan, so that's just kind of your personal preference. There's also, especially for distance drivers, there's sharp rims or rounded rims. So, like my Firebird has a really sharp rim on it because it's like a nine speed, but it has a sharp rim on it, very pointy, as where Jenny's f9 has a more rounded profile to it and it feels a little more gentler to the touch. Um, so, and that's all. That's all just personal preference as well. And then you need to consider the width of the rim also and and there's a lot more to this, but you can consider the lift, the lip of the rim also, and there's a lot more to this. But you can consider the lip of the rim and make sure that you can grip it adequately, because for me, for example, I have really big hands, so rim size is not a problem. Jenny has very small hands, so some of my discs she can't even hold on to them because the rim is too wide.
Speaker 3:And a few more things. We talked about the beaded edge earlier, where it has the extra little bead around the bottom of it. There's thumb grooves. Also, some discs are domier than others so they might attach to your thumb a little bit more. That's another consideration and that's all just a feel thing. And then of course you have the firmness of the plastic and some of the different types of plastics out there. We were talking about the floppy gummy discs that are kind of flimsy by elevation. So I think the idea is if you hit a hill or a tree or something it'll just plop down and absorb all that energy. But then you have like the soft plastics and you can go all the way up to like a super hard, firm plastic.
Speaker 1:But yeah, it's like my uh thought space praxis, the ones I recently got, like, they're like really stiff.
Speaker 3:They're really stiff, yeah, and but something to keep in mind is every every plastic is going to break down over time and the flight characteristics are going to change as those plastics break down. And I keep coming back to this. You should also consider color. When you're purchasing a disc or putting in your bag, make sure that the colors that you put in your bag are easy to locate in the particular environment. These, like peach and beige color discs are not good for desert play. I have found out. Even some of the rainbow dyes and things like they like to disappear in the grass. Believe it or not, it's kind of strange, or?
Speaker 1:like some of the light purples, are not good for in our woods because the plants have berries and flowers that are the same color.
Speaker 3:Yes, lavender is a surprisingly hard to see color. Yeah, yeah. Also, you want to make sure that the colors that you choose are not going to be distracting to you when you throw.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I've got some that distract me. I'm too excited about how pretty they are that I don't throw them.
Speaker 3:well, yes, indeed, you do. My last recommendation here is you want to make sure that you're making these decisions based on data and experience and try to avoid making emotional decisions. You can go out and collect your own data, get your percentages. Make sure that you can reproduce a result consistently with a well one. One thing, one thing to look at is, if you have two discs that perform the same way, go with the one that feels better to you so that you have that confidence and you have that that feel with the disc, because it's not fun throwing a disc that tears up your hand or doesn't. You can't grip it right or something, even if it works well. And and really until you take the time to get to know your game so you can negate some of those poor decisions out there on the course, uh, and the only way to do that is to go out there and work with experienced people. Use people that are better than you use friends. Go out and do your field work, take data and feedback and make sure that you're creating a great feedback loop for yourself.
Speaker 3:Our last discussion here, jenny, now that we've gone through all the discs, all the different considerations, all the different things that you can put in your bag as far as discs and disc flight and different situations and courses and etc. And such etc. Let's talk about some of the non-disc items that we like to put in our bag. So I got a big list here. Nail clail clippers.
Speaker 1:I have an entire nail kit because it came in a tournament pack.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, we got that one from the range had opened, didn't we, yeah? So nail clippers are essential. Not only can you use them for your nails, but you can also use them to cut little burrs and things off of your discs, and that is highly useful when you're out in the field and you get a burr in one of your nice favorite discs. I carry a small square of sandpaper with me so I can. For the same reason, to be able to take off burrs and rough spots when they should occur, I usually pack like probably like a 120 grit or a 150 grit sandpaper and I just get a small square and tuck it in my bag so that I can have it for emergencies. A big one is grip enhancement, so some sort of means for grip enhancement. So we have climber chalk bags that we put chalk in and we can actually powder our hands and get chocolate over them. Um, regular chalk bags like whale sacks are a very popular one. Uh, what are some of the other ones that you like?
Speaker 1:I prefer the chump chalk, which is chalk based, and I believe it has popcorn in it too.
Speaker 3:Uh, you prefer the ace bags, which are clay bead based yeah, I like the ace bags yeah yeah so, and then there's the the bird sauce stuff that they have now yeah, that's like the lotion powder stuff. Yeah, there's like bird sauce, and then there wasn't there like some kind of like little tin of like wax, waxy type of stuff. They have all sorts of things for grip enhancement. I've even seen some people use gloves. Yeah, they have.
Speaker 1:They have a friction glove for disc golf too well, and some people just use compression gloves because of their hands yeah, for sure.
Speaker 3:So of course, snacks, hydration, definitely need a mini marker, or several mini markers, because Lord knows, I have a tendency to lose mine out there on the course. So I bring a few of them with me.
Speaker 1:I have my one.
Speaker 3:You have the one mini marker to rule them all.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Range finder is a highly useful tool tool. I know a lot of people don't use them, but when you know and understand the distances and ranges of your discs and your throwing distance, that can provide you with some good real-time data while you're out there on the course. One thing I keep in my bag, though, for sure tweezers. So like yesterday when we were playing at fort silicon, I got a like a blackberry thorn or something in in my hand and I had to pick it out. So tweezers are very, very useful. Or for even like grass seeds grass seeds, oh gosh, but tweezers for sure. Um, sunscreen important, definitely. Have sunscreen sunglasses. Bug spray, some sort of bud, for sure. Sunscreen important, definitely. Have sunscreen Sunglasses, bug spray, some sort of bug bite stick. And these are all suggestions. I'm not saying that you have to like pack a suitcase with these and roll it around the course.
Speaker 1:So far you haven't mentioned anything that I don't have in my cart. I'm just waiting to see if you miss anything.
Speaker 3:I got one right here Poison plant cream, the Zanfell or bug bite stick. I've got that, you really have bug bite, stick in your cart.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I have the stuff that Taylor Foth made.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, that stuff. You have some, I do, I know I have some somewhere. Bear spray I know you don't have that right. Yeah, a lot of our courses up here in the northwest are up in the woods and, uh, especially the one right behind our house. Here there's actually a friendly little black bear and a cub that lives there. I don't know if they're friendly well I I don't know if they're friendly either.
Speaker 3:And cougars and we also have cougars and bobcats and we have several large predators around this area, so having a means to be able to defend yourself is probably a good idea. Chapstick is a must. I like chapstick. First aid, so it doesn't have to be elaborate, just some Band-Aids and maybe some Neosporin, unless you want to go with a full-on first aid kit. Towels what kind of towels do you like, jenny?
Speaker 1:I don't like the microfiber ones, just because of the way that my hands are.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'm not a big fan of the microfiber or synthetic fibers. I find that synthetic fibers don't absorb moisture.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I like the really soft towels, but I'm starting to realize that they don't absorb moisture. Yeah, I like the really soft towels, but I'm starting to realize that they don't actually absorb as much as I had hoped. So kind of the waffly towels are good.
Speaker 3:Yeah, my favorites are like the waffly towels that are kind of like kitchen towels yeah, like they're cotton.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:I really like those. Those work good. Then I have my I've even seen people run around with straight up bath towels on the course.
Speaker 1:Yeah, some people have really big ridiculous towels. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:What were you saying?
Speaker 1:I was going to say then in my cart I also have my. I have a raincoat in my cart, that's on the list. You got a raincoat. I usually end up with my extra layers in my cart on the list you got a raincoat. I usually end up with my extra layers in my cart. Yep, extra layers. I have uh somewhere around three liters of liquids to drink, hydration, yep, I have the bio freeze or icy hot, whatever up painkillers, either some ibuprofen, ibuprofen or some cream or something.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I keep extra hair ties. Hair ties, that's a good one I like.
Speaker 3:I keep extra hair ties. Hair ties, that's a good one. I like the hair ties I have extra hair ties.
Speaker 1:I usually have my baseball hat and my beanie.
Speaker 3:Yep hand lotion or not hand lotion?
Speaker 1:hats. I do have the really good farmer's hand.
Speaker 3:Yeah, don't you keep some hand lotion in there? Yeah, because when Keep from splitting your finger.
Speaker 1:Well there, yeah, because when keep from splitting your finger well, yeah, because when I use too much of the chalk, then my fingers seem to start to split, or my cuticles, yeah, split, um, so I have stuff for that, and then I end up with rocks, feathers and other things that just accumulate. I've've got all my little pins and my bag tags and all those other things too.
Speaker 3:Well, those are all accessories, not necessarily like essential peripherals.
Speaker 1:I have my umbrella you got your umbrella. That's the most I have my holder for the umbrella, my two different ones, your cell phone. I have a holder for my cell phone. I have my disc raptor, I have my birdie bead. So my thing, so I can help count my shots when I start getting tired.
Speaker 3:Yeah, how about a distress whistle or alarm? I?
Speaker 1:do not actually have one of those, but the the birdie alarm thing, the birdie alarm. I have given those away in a tournament, yep.
Speaker 3:Yeah, or some sort of woods, especially if you're playing in the woods alone on a backdoor course or something like that. You don't you nest, you mean backwoods. Backwoods that's what I mean Like on some backwoods course or something, especially where there's mountains and a lot of predators and stuff. You're going to want to have some sort of whistle or something.
Speaker 1:Some of the courses that we've played. There's been a lot of transient people also on the course, so it's good to have the alarm and things like that that's what the bear spurs were.
Speaker 3:No, I'm just kidding. Yeah, we have played some courses with a lot of homeless people, unfortunately. We have played some courses with a lot of homeless people, unfortunately. And make sure you carry identification with you in case there is an accident or you should become incapacitated. People can identify you If you wear glasses or contacts. Make sure you bring extra contacts with you. That's important. That's pretty much like in the bag Now let's talk a little bit about at the course. So, some of the things we pack with us we pack toilet paper, because you never know if they're going to have any or not, baby wipes kind of. For the same reason, Extra towels are good. Cooler bags are essential. I bring extra socks and underwear because, well, your feet get wet, but underwear are important in certain situations.
Speaker 1:Especially when you have a tendency to throw your discs into a lake and you decide that you need to go fish them out.
Speaker 3:That is true.
Speaker 1:I buy two pairs of the same shoes so that I have a fresh pair for the second round.
Speaker 3:Yep, and I have that on here Extra shoes, sandals. So I like to bring my sandals to be able to drive in.
Speaker 1:Yeah, for afterwards, or to sit and do the tournament, the awards and all that.
Speaker 3:Well, you also said extra shoes or extra clothes and layers. Good one Baby powder or foot powder to keep yourself dry if you're a little moist.
Speaker 1:Did you say bug spray?
Speaker 3:Bug spray is on there. Yeah, yeah, bug spray is in there. That was in the bag thing. Yeah, petroleum jelly, so like bag bomb. Aquaphor Vaseline for if things are too dry and you need them to not be dry.
Speaker 1:That's what hand lotion is for.
Speaker 3:Sometimes you need a little bit of heavier protection because, yeah, things don't go well.
Speaker 1:So chafing.
Speaker 3:Chafing yeah, that's what I'm talking about, jenny chafing Umbrella, raincoat, hat, visor, more nutrition. So let's talk about the nutrition, just real fast is we are we don't like plan, plan our nutrition but we try to be thoughtful about the nutrition that we pack for what we are doing, so healthy foods things are going to be good for, like sport, sporting events and replace all that energy and different and nutrients that we need to keep going. We also I write, I sometimes bring a yoga mat with me to be able to do like stretches and stuff.
Speaker 1:Oh, I was going to say I have one of those elastic tubes for warmup and stuff like that.
Speaker 3:Oh, the stretchy bands.
Speaker 1:So that you can use it for warming up or if you're at a backup or whatever.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, so the stretchy bands.
Speaker 1:We also got the um ball to use to do like on the course, um massage like if you get a cramp in your whatever I used to carry around my knee braces too, because my knees were having a hard time remember that yeah, and so then, after after yoga mat, have massage gun, a massage gun.
Speaker 3:A lot of people will bring the massage guns. The percussion massagers are great to be able to work out knots and things. Also foam rollers. Foam rollers are really good for that, especially legs and low back. They're small, compact, lightweight, something that you can stuff in your car or van and bring it with you. And then lawn chairs. You've got to have lawn chairs, so something to sit on, whether that be your bag, lawn chair, stool or whatnot. And, jenny, can you think of anything else that, uh, we bring along to a tournament, or is that?
Speaker 1:pretty much it. I think that's pretty much it. Sometimes we will have, um, you know, have the protein powder and stuff for quick if we need it.
Speaker 3:Well, and I know some people bring like pop-up tents and some people bring like small like hibachi grills and stuff like that. So I mean, it just depends what your vibe is. So, but these are just suggestions of like basic essentials that you can bring with and some good ideas and things in there. All right, well, that's pretty much it for this episode of the intentional disc golfer. In this episode, we have dissected and now you should understand the four different categories of discs, their characteristics and profiles and what they are for. You should also have learned how to select your discs practically, considering performance, course and environment conditions, with confidence. We had a brief conversation about disc cycling and the different ways that your discs fly as they break down and change their flight patterns. We've also answered some of your key bag building questions, such as how many discs should I have? What kind of discs should I have, what are some different considerations for different courses, different types of players, and now you should be able to go out there and build a more effective bag with intention and purpose, as well as be able to stock up your bag and your car with all the essential peripherals that a disc golfer may or may not need out there on the course. So if you love us, appreciate us, you want to thank us for the information and the entertainment that we are providing, please hit that like subscribe, follow button. You can find us on Facebook and Instagram.
Speaker 3:At Soprinski Disc Golf, that is C-Z-U-P-R-Y-N-S-K-I Disc Golf all one word. And on X and YouTube, the symbol at the IDG podcast. That is at the IDG podcast. You can also email us at theintentionald intentional disc golfer at gmailcom the intentional disc golfer at gmailcom. And if you want to become a contributor to the show, you can follow us on Patreon at backslash the intentional disc golfer. That is patreoncom backslash, the intentional disc golfer. And do stay with us afterwards, after the outro music and enjoy some bloopers and outtakes. Uh, brought to you by your host, truly. We would like to uh thank our shout outs again and say, uh, thank you for coming out and playing with us, mr Ed call and uh, jason Boyd, it was a wonderful time out there. It's still a come, and we would like to thank and appreciate our fans. We love you guys. Thank you for being with us for throughout the years and sticking with us. It's because of you guys that we can keep this podcast going and do what we do. This is the intentional disc golfer. I am one of your hosts.
Speaker 3:My name is brandon and I'm jenny, and here at the Intentional Disc Golfer, we really believe that disc golf changes lives, so go out there and grow the sport. Thank you for listening to this episode of the Intentional Disc Golfer Podcast. These are the bloopers and outtakes from this latest episode. We do have to warn you that profanity may be used and sensitive topics may be discussed. Listener discretion is highly advised. To avoid this, please stop listening and move on to the next episode now uh, we uh.
Speaker 1:So, brandon, we're okay you got words I got this, you got this so wasn't she driving a prius?
Speaker 3:yeah, she had a husband's car, oh, prius. I will reserve my comments. Let's talk about actually putting discs in your bags, right, because that's what they're for, since when I know, I know, jenny, I know it's amazing, isn't it? Mind-blowning, something Baloning? I said baloney, mind-blowing, mind-balloning, mind-balloning, it's like what is that one? The bottle Trapped in a bottle? It's when you get all your Mind-bottling, boggling, mind-bottling, no, it's like when you get all your trap thoughts trapped in a bottle and you can't get them out. I have never heard of mind bottle, oh, it's like. I've heard mind boggling. It's a willful thing, sure it is. It came off of something I don't. I don't know. I'm not sure it's off a movie I don't even whoa.
Speaker 3:That shook my whole body, baker lay down it's an airplane dog, you're not gonna get it my goodness, as you were saying, dear, but in a nova firebird and axiom, uh, axiom, I don't know what this is, but an anova firebird is a good one. I don't know what this is. But Innova. Firebird is a good one. It says an Axiom zone, but Axiom doesn't make zones. So I don't bag the Firebird, I bag the Fire, not the Fire Chicken. What is it? Yeah, it's a Firebird the.
Speaker 1:Fire Chicken the. Fire Chicken. Okay. Yeah, yeah, you can get it at popeyes, I guess, I don't know, not an advertisement we're going to imagine that you have a tic-tac-toe board with an extra column, column, column, sure, I'm just trying to give a visual. I'm I'm also doing so. I'm running this.
Speaker 3:Okay, no comment no comment okay, oh, actually, comment, comment so, and we're back yeah, yeah, and like my tournament bag, I'll carry several different towels on there, in case one gets soggy on my that's not what I'm talking about. Well, no, no. I'm going a different direction with this, so I'm gonna cut you off when I want to.
Speaker 1:No, no, no no, a tailwind is when, in the same direction as the throw disc will ask, blah disc will act more under, more overstable. Let me start over, because it keeps I keep shutting off, so I have to keep turning it back on. Start over, because it keeps I keep shutting off, so I have to keep turning it back on who's that?
Speaker 3:Mariah hush, thank our shout outs. Again Ed Call and Jason. Jason what the hell is his name? Again Ed Kahl and Jason what the hell is his name?
