What was it like before the 13 speed drivers?

I am fairly new to the sport and have always wondered what it was like to throw before the 13 speed drivers and new technology. I am interested in hearing from players who threw in the 90's or even earlier.

[Rescue]

Whyyyy...back in da day....we threw pie tins at garbage cans........AND WE LIKED IT LIKE THAT!

 

OK joking aside, I now have a real chance of making birdie on holes I would have to make a nice 40+ jump putt in order to make it. Now it can be a simple pick up and smack the chains, but it has to be the right disc. For my noodle arm it's the Vulcan or Katana and poss. the King (have but not thrown yet). Heck, and I'm talking just 5yrs ago till now.

[xians421]

Pick up a beat DX Classic Roc or Shark. Throw it as far as you can. Repeat. Putt. Nuff said.

[mark ellis]

It is same game, in some ways easier (distance) and in some ways harder (control) with faster discs.  Oh, and discs now last until you lose them (in the candy plastics).  Some old time drivers could get ruined or broken pretty quickly.

 

Driving has always been the easiest part of the game and putting has always been the hardest and most important part.  Good players with good form have adjusted to the new discs and will no doubt adjust to whatever is created in the future.  The best players can play in a 150 class tournament (lightweight discs only) and still be great.  Heck, Climo could crush most of us with a trash can lid.

 

The speed ratings are pretty funny, seemingly based more on marketing than science.  Didn't they start out as a scale from one to ten?  Then somehow discs were introduced which went above the scale, which sounds impossible.  To quote Buzzz Lightyear (Disney character), "to infinity and beyond".

[David Sauls]

The speed ratings inflated like labels.  I recall when a stingray was called a "long distance driver", as opposed to just a driver.  Then they came out with something longer, and called that an "ultra long distance driver".  Eventually tee-birds and their ilk were demoted to "fairway drivers".  But as discs got longer and longer, the adjectives got stretched further and further and further.....

 

If the speed scale started at 1-10, it's probably because they didn't anticipate exceeding it so much.

[Mark Cuban]

What was the first speed 13 driver ?  Destroyer ?  I don't think you need to go back to the '90s to find out what disc was like before Speed 13 , maybe to the early 2000's. I think any beginner that is throwing a Speed 13 driver is just hurting his game.

[Dookville]

I can see an Overstable 13 speed driver causing a new player to focus too much on just trying to get the disc on plane and not learning technique. Plus it's as frustrating as hell to play aim right to go left all day.

 

 But an understable disc of the same speed would allow them to stay in the correct arm slot, thus benifitting their game and gaining easier distance. i know that nose angle is more sensative at those speeds, but you have to learn to control that as well.

 

I know this goes against all that is holy with the disc golf gods, but I think the advancements in disc design have been made to address this very subject. Easier to throw discs for beginners that don't frustrate them and/or ruin technique.

[Jeff Nichols]

Amen Brother Mark. I let my 5 year old pick DX Disc at Big 5 one day. He grabbed a Destroyer cause of the Cool Transformer looking Graphic. I was so bumbed when I tried to throw it. I haven't even picked it back up in the month and a half I have been playing.

 

I was never good at throwing discs of any type, but I know where I am at in my game, I can get a paper plate farther than a 13 speed disc.....

[All day Corey]

Ealier drivers are easier to throw than the newer discs; however the older discs do not generate as much "glide" as the newer discs do. 

[xians421]

Throw Discraft and Lat 64. The River glides like . . . . .well like a glider. An innova thrower said 'Flatten'. I giggled and he said WOW,  . . . .uh wow!

[Donny Olow]

Before Speed 13 !!!

 

[Kaos Disc Golf]

When I started playing, the fastest discs were the Cyclone, Viper, and Polaris.

[mike pearson]

great topic...

 

i've been playing 21+ years...

started at morley field in san diego, first disc i got to go 300+ feet was the DX Phenix.

to be honest, it was an accidental anhyzer that got me thinking more about flight of the disc rather than how hard you throw it. totally changed my game.

12 and 13 speed discs today are great in my opinion....  just throw easy and on the right line, and they do all the work for you..