A beginners first fairway driver. off the beaten path.

I'm fairly new to dg and the consensus advice on the boards here was to get a fairway driver and stick to low speed drivers for awhile, the TL interested me for a bit, but nothing from Innova really held my attention long enough to warrant a purchase.

 

Browsing Lat 64's website I came across the River and looked at the numbers and went on ebay instanly and ordered one.  I for one think it will be perfect for me, being new to the game and preferring understable discs with good glide. 

 

Just looking for opinions on this decision from experienced players.

[Jeff Vest]

TL is money, champ leopard, discraft z stalker is a good one. I really like the XL also.

[AK Discer]

The river is a good choice in both GL and Opto.  I'm also a fan of the Gazelle, Cyclone, and Eagle.  What is your max distance that you can easily control?  That makes it a little easier to suggest different types of discs.  Also, do you have a preference for plastic type?

[Dookville]

Josh, the River is another one of those freakishly long discs like the TL, but better. I have 2 Rivers, a 176g Opto, and 172g Opto. I can throw the 176g a little harder than the 172g, but not too much or they will go right and keep going right. They like a nice quick 75-80% arm speed snap nice and flat. Aim right at where you want it to go and it will turn right a few feet and come right back on target at the end.

 

If you are throwing with a nice flat release, this disc will do what it is supposed to do. If you watch what the disc does in flight, it will tell you what you need to work on in your form.

 

Great disc choice, enjoy.

[IHearChains]

Also if you like understable drivers consider Star Roadrunner.  Putting that disc in my bag was the biggest single improvement I've ever made in my game.  I guess that is because it taught me I could back off on the power and gain a LOT in control, which has helped me on tight technical wooded courses. 

(Probably others would say the same about other discs listed on this thread.)

[phynie]

the river is a sweet disc.  i agree that it flies like a TL but a little longer.  i think the extra glide helps give that bonus umph!  lat 64's plastic is super nice.  the opto is crazy durable and feels great in the hand.  i use a teebird and eagle for my fairway drivers.  i tried the river for a while, but it acts so much like a beat teebird for me and that slot was already filled with the, you guessed it!, beat teebird =)

[Jim Coonradt]

Sidewinder maybe in lighter weight is perfect for a beginner. Easy to control.

[Sam Smith]

I just started throwing my sidewinders again. I LOVE that disc. I have no idea why I ever stopped throwin them.

 

[Jim Coonradt]

I can't imagine playing without a Sidewinder. I remember buying it and immediately loving it. You can do many things with it. So easy to throw.

[Donny Olow]

For Beginners , something UnderStable will work.

[Herb E]

i dig champ leopards! (and champ teebirds for a bit more stability and distance. also the new teebird plus molds are so rad! i think, anyway) but for straight, TL's are sweet, but they are harder to find in champion plastic it seems, and i just don't like star plastic for some reason lately, especially with control shots, i don't know though...

for me, for straight shots its either a beat-in roc or a broken-in champ leopard.

[eric beich]

what Donny said.  the actual brand/name of a beginner disc is less important than  if it's understable/overstable and learning how to throw each in different conditions and why.

[Joshua Knutson]

Yeah, I love my star roadrunner, kinda wishing I would have gone with opto plastic instead of gold from what I'm hearing.  I do have a lightweight DX Sidewinder but I lost it by letting my friend use it.  He never even threw it.  He just lost it during the round.  It was DX anyway, I plan on getting it in star because I really need to start weening myself off of wide rimmed discs, which is what I'm most comfortable throwing hard right now with a traditional grip.  Anything less than 10 and my release point gets iffy.  Playing 18 today and going to experiment with a fan grip, hoping the course is empty so I can take some practice shots.  I birdied a 290 ft hole and parred a 44o on thursday, so I'm makin progress.  And I bought myself a basket.  Time to actually learn to use putters and not just use my Roc.  Bad habits die hard, but you can kill them easier in your backyard.