So I picked up a brand spankin' new, 175g Innova Sidewinder in DX plastic, and I've been using it for about a month and a half. Innova rates the Sidewinder as a Speed 9 disc, with a (fairly high) Glide of 5, Turn of -3 and Fade of 1. It has a wide-wedged edge profile--not the widest I've seen--that is nearly flat on the underside. By that I mean that it has just a faint downward curve at the rim's inner perimeter.
The DX plastic is very susceptible to damage, as any even mildly experienced golfer already knows, so I only recommend it to anyone for whom economy is key: if you're poor as dirt like me, or you've never played before, or if you really aren't sure if you will like a particular disc but don't have a buddy to loan it to you. There is one big exception that I should mention, and that is kids and other less powerful throwers. Most Innova discs in DX plastic are available in sub-150g weights, which are perfect for these players.
Out in the field, I can get the Sidewinder to do exactly what the web site claims it will do for a RHBH thrower when I throw LHFH (With good form). LHBH with a nice flat release yields a very straight flight with a sudden drop to the right as the speed dies off; typically it will roll like crazy. Give it some elevation though, and that sudden drop makes it spike into the ground hard. If the terrain is fairly bare (real short grass, dirt, or wood chips/mulch), throw it just a tad low, and it will skip something fierce--as much as 20-30 feet--even after a long flight. My forehands tend to hook left a little on the skip. With a bit of anhyzer on a LHFH, this thing will turn over and roll forEVER. I have had some rollers effectively double the overall distance of a shot. These discs were meant to roll! And they're so easy, it feels like cheating, if they don't turn right around and roll halfway back to you! On the other hand, with some good hyzer angle on a LHFH throw, the Sidewinder will dogleg left like nobody's business. Pretty awesome.
Well, like I said, these are just initial impressions. It's taken me a while to get used to this disc, but I'm starting to like it, though if I were to do it all over again, I think I would go with a lighter weight--somewhere in the 160-165g range. [I picked up a 164g DX Leopard while my Cheetah was vacationing in a tree at Johnson Park, so I'll review that in a couple weeks, too.] I'll keep throwing this Sidewinder around and revisit it in the future. Until then, have fun out there!
Monday, April 4, 2011
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Updates
Actually been pretty active since early February. Since Hiestand closed for the Spring mud season, I've been heading up to the northeast side of town to Johnson Park, which has a small six hole course arranged around a beautifully landscaped, fairly open and flat park. People gripe about the course being too small/short, which I can understand if you are looking for a challenge or you are used to 400-500+ foot fairways. But, Johnson Park really is pretty good at what is was intended to do: introduce new players to disc golf and give people a year 'round venue to practice. My only complaint is that the baskets aren't numbered, so if you've never played there it can be hard to look at the diagram at the tee and interpret what was intended. I've talked to numerous people who have played the wrong basket from several of the tees.
My main nemesis at Johnson Park--other than my own lack of consistency--has been hole 4, which features a row of spindly, multi-trunked trees (mulberries maybe?) standing like a row of riot police between you and the tee. After several attempts, however, I've figured this one out: throwing a LHFH hyzer (or LHBH anhyzer) with a Sidewinder [review to follow] directly at the last tree on the right will find the line between that tree and the one to its left and straight to the green. I've been landing within 10 feet of the pin since figuring this out. I played a round with another lefty (thanks BTW for finding my Cheetah) who flicked his shot with a huge hyzer to go over the trees, which worked too. He ended up with a 30+ foot putt from beyond the basket, so you've got that option, too. I think I'll keep working on the low hyzer shot so that maybe I can perfect that. This might be my best chance at an ace for now.
I've been experimenting a lot with my grip. For backhand, I'm feeling most comfortable with a modified power grip--index and pinkie against the rim, with the middle two fingers fanned. Forehand has far less room for experimentation, it seems, so middle finger in the rim backed up by the index. Pretty standard. I'm getting into the 200' range with a step and a decent release, so I'm hopeful that range will continue to improve with practice.
Alright, enough rambling. See ya.
My main nemesis at Johnson Park--other than my own lack of consistency--has been hole 4, which features a row of spindly, multi-trunked trees (mulberries maybe?) standing like a row of riot police between you and the tee. After several attempts, however, I've figured this one out: throwing a LHFH hyzer (or LHBH anhyzer) with a Sidewinder [review to follow] directly at the last tree on the right will find the line between that tree and the one to its left and straight to the green. I've been landing within 10 feet of the pin since figuring this out. I played a round with another lefty (thanks BTW for finding my Cheetah) who flicked his shot with a huge hyzer to go over the trees, which worked too. He ended up with a 30+ foot putt from beyond the basket, so you've got that option, too. I think I'll keep working on the low hyzer shot so that maybe I can perfect that. This might be my best chance at an ace for now.
I've been experimenting a lot with my grip. For backhand, I'm feeling most comfortable with a modified power grip--index and pinkie against the rim, with the middle two fingers fanned. Forehand has far less room for experimentation, it seems, so middle finger in the rim backed up by the index. Pretty standard. I'm getting into the 200' range with a step and a decent release, so I'm hopeful that range will continue to improve with practice.
Alright, enough rambling. See ya.
Good Deal on a Portable Basket
My wife wanted to check out something at Shopko yesterday, so I offered to drive. Turns out, they have Halex disc golf baskets on sale for $40 (60% off). For forty bucks I can get on board with that. The only review I saw said the discs are mediocre at best, but so what. I wasn't buying it for the discs anyway. We decided to hide it away for my son's birthday.
Now I might need to test out some graphics ideas on those cheap discs. I've got a few ideas rolling around in my brain. We'll see what I can come up with.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Practice, Practice, Practice
I convinced my son to head out with me today. Temps in the low teens again, but we were ready for it. We had the park to ourselves. Might have more to do with the Packers playing the Bears for the NFC championship today. (Go, Pack, Go!) Still, it was sunny, the wind was light, and the snow around the practice target and the base of the sledding hill was nicely compacted. Time to fling some disc.
I worked pretty hard on the weight transfer issue, but I'm finding that when I go for power, I throw high and lose distance. So I backed off on the power, and my average distance shot up from about 120 ft. to 165 ft. My forehands seem to edge out my backhands for distance (+10-30 ft.), but I need to adjust my orientation since my forehands are going way right of my target. I tried a couple overhand thumbers and tomahawks--fun shots, so I might have to spend a day focused on those sometime soon.
Now, my son is on a mission. He's got a couple friends who have blown a lot of Christmas money on gear and their kinda full of themselves, so I think he might be a little envious. But when I took him to Glide a couple weeks ago, Mike (the owner) hooked him up with an Innova Archangel in red and and Innova Stingray in orange. Mike took him very seriously and treated him with the same respect as he would have an adult customer. And he was able to convey to my son that having a lot of discs to start out would only make learning that much harder.
So, armed with his trusty discs, my son is ready to practice. Like I said, he's on a mission: to "cream those guys"! Evil glint in the eye and all. (We had the good sportsmanship talk a couple times, so I'm sure he'll keep the gloating inside.) He's making good progress. He's throwing about 40-50 ft., and he's mostly throwing in the right direction. At that range he's anywhere from hitting the post to missing by a max of 3 ft. Not bad, newbie!
I couldn't talk him into throwing on even part of the course today, but that's all right. We got a solid couple hours out there. Looks like the temps are headed to the mid 20s for the whole week. Might have to head out again soon.
---SDJ
I worked pretty hard on the weight transfer issue, but I'm finding that when I go for power, I throw high and lose distance. So I backed off on the power, and my average distance shot up from about 120 ft. to 165 ft. My forehands seem to edge out my backhands for distance (+10-30 ft.), but I need to adjust my orientation since my forehands are going way right of my target. I tried a couple overhand thumbers and tomahawks--fun shots, so I might have to spend a day focused on those sometime soon.
Now, my son is on a mission. He's got a couple friends who have blown a lot of Christmas money on gear and their kinda full of themselves, so I think he might be a little envious. But when I took him to Glide a couple weeks ago, Mike (the owner) hooked him up with an Innova Archangel in red and and Innova Stingray in orange. Mike took him very seriously and treated him with the same respect as he would have an adult customer. And he was able to convey to my son that having a lot of discs to start out would only make learning that much harder.
So, armed with his trusty discs, my son is ready to practice. Like I said, he's on a mission: to "cream those guys"! Evil glint in the eye and all. (We had the good sportsmanship talk a couple times, so I'm sure he'll keep the gloating inside.) He's making good progress. He's throwing about 40-50 ft., and he's mostly throwing in the right direction. At that range he's anywhere from hitting the post to missing by a max of 3 ft. Not bad, newbie!
I couldn't talk him into throwing on even part of the course today, but that's all right. We got a solid couple hours out there. Looks like the temps are headed to the mid 20s for the whole week. Might have to head out again soon.
---SDJ
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Notes from today's round
These notes probably won't mean much to anyone unless you are very familiar with the course at Hiestand Park. Really just looking to put this info where I can't lose it. All drives with Cheetah (145g when new) unless noted. Approach shots and putts with Shark (labeled 146g).
Hole 1: 5. Hit a tree on shot 2; missed an easy putt on shot 4.
Hole 2: 5. Shark: nice low spd right hand turn, about 75 feet.
Hole 3: 5. Missed long putt.
Hole 4: 4. Hit easy 6 ft putt.
Hole 5: 5. Missed putt from rt corner of wall.
Hole 6: 4. Longest drive w/Cheetah so far--165 feet.
Hole 7: 5. 2nd shot LHFH to get out of trees. Luckily hit branches near basket for easy putt. Missed and replayed putt twice for practice.
Hole 8: 5. High branches at apex of 1st throw. Missed 25' putt.
Hole 9: 4. Bad right hand curve on drive. LHFH on 3rd to skirt left side of tree. 12 ft. putt.
Hole 10: 4. Threw Shark and Cheetah from tee: Shark by 10'+.
Hole 11: 4. 1st drive past 2nd clump of brush. 2nd (Shark) bounced off (low spd, flat). Missed and replayed putt.
Hole 12: 4. 1st and 2nd: hyzered (rt turn). 3 (Shark) anhyzered through brush, bounced off rim.
Hole 13: 3. Awesome drive. Anhyzered Shark around right side of trees on fairway about 15' too long and left of basket. Easy putt.
Hole 14: 4. 3rd hit basket. Head wind--straightened out throws.
Hole 15: 5. 4th (Shark) bounced off top of basket.
Hole 16: 5. Terrible brush on 3rd throw, tried to play it anyway w/hyzered Cheetah--released too low and skipped across fairway.
Hole 17: 4. Lower straighter drives--better weight transfer. Nice skip shot between trees at top of hill.
Hole 18: 3. Good weight transfer and flatter throws. Easy putt.
Hole 1: 5. Hit a tree on shot 2; missed an easy putt on shot 4.
Hole 2: 5. Shark: nice low spd right hand turn, about 75 feet.
Hole 3: 5. Missed long putt.
Hole 4: 4. Hit easy 6 ft putt.
Hole 5: 5. Missed putt from rt corner of wall.
Hole 6: 4. Longest drive w/Cheetah so far--165 feet.
Hole 7: 5. 2nd shot LHFH to get out of trees. Luckily hit branches near basket for easy putt. Missed and replayed putt twice for practice.
Hole 8: 5. High branches at apex of 1st throw. Missed 25' putt.
Hole 9: 4. Bad right hand curve on drive. LHFH on 3rd to skirt left side of tree. 12 ft. putt.
Hole 10: 4. Threw Shark and Cheetah from tee: Shark by 10'+.
Hole 11: 4. 1st drive past 2nd clump of brush. 2nd (Shark) bounced off (low spd, flat). Missed and replayed putt.
Hole 12: 4. 1st and 2nd: hyzered (rt turn). 3 (Shark) anhyzered through brush, bounced off rim.
Hole 13: 3. Awesome drive. Anhyzered Shark around right side of trees on fairway about 15' too long and left of basket. Easy putt.
Hole 14: 4. 3rd hit basket. Head wind--straightened out throws.
Hole 15: 5. 4th (Shark) bounced off top of basket.
Hole 16: 5. Terrible brush on 3rd throw, tried to play it anyway w/hyzered Cheetah--released too low and skipped across fairway.
Hole 17: 4. Lower straighter drives--better weight transfer. Nice skip shot between trees at top of hill.
Hole 18: 3. Good weight transfer and flatter throws. Easy putt.
Off to Hiestand Park
Well, it's a beautiful 12 degree (F) day today, so I thought I'd bundle up and head to Hiestand Park in Madison, WI, which isn't too far from my place. I've got an old Innova Cheetah (DX), an old Innova Shark (DX), and an old Aviar that I picked up at a second hand store when my son first expressed an interest in disc golf. I figured I could beat around with these while I worked on basic mechanics and wait until I was a better player to get other discs.
Hiestand is a great course built up and over a big ridgetop. The south face is an awesome sledding hill, too, split into a wide flat face to the west and a narrower bowl to the east. You can find great info at www.madcitydisc.org. So I've got my fleece lined jeans and boots and a t-shirt, long-sleeved tee, a LS thermal, a hoodie and my sherpa-lined jacket, my hat and gloves, and I'm thinking, "I hope I'm warm enough." Ha.
When I got there it wasn't very busy, but I knew it wouldn't be because there's an event just five miles away at a county park where, rumor has it, there's talk of adding a new permanent course. I didn't quite have the course to myself, but pretty close. I only took the Cheetah and the Shark because I didn't want to carry a bag or backpack--I figured I'd just keep the extra disc in my off hand. Worked out just fine.
I paced out about thirty steps (about 75 ft.) ESE from the practice basket to see what I could do. Throwing LHBH, the Cheetah was flying high and right, while the Shark was heading more left. I was overshooting the basket, so I stepped off fifty steps (about 120 ft.) and tried again. Same thing: Cheetah right, Shark left, but now the distance was about right. I tried forehand with mixed results: The Cheetah turned over aggressively and rolled, and the Shark turned too, but was really fluttery. Hmm. Off to play.
By the end of hole 3 (awesome downhill bomb just east of the bowl) I'm sweating like a pig, so when I get to 4 I try taking off a couple mid layers. No good: too much cold air with the sweaty cotton tees. So I stripped to the waist and put the thermal and hoodie back on. With the SS tee in my back pocket and the LS tee and my jacket tied around my waist, I was in good shape. Until 15, a straight downhill into the wind on the north side of the hill. Brr.
The snow is deep enough to swallow small children right now, so I got a lot of practice tracking my discs, finding the little tell-tale signs showing where they were hiding--hoping to hibernate 'til spring. The Cheetah is yellow, so it was particularly hard to find at times; the orange Shark wasn't too bad. A guy played through around hole 6, and I learned a great trick that I'm sure you already know: drill a tiny hole through the center of your disc and run a long streamer of narrow ribbon through it. Brilliant! I'll shave 45 minutes or more off my next game!
I had a time with the Cheetah. I was throwing high even though I was really trying to concentrate on keeping my arm flat, so it would get some wicked hyzers--usually when I didn't want them. (Off into the trees to look for that damn yellow Cheetah. Grr. At least now I know the cure for that.) Another guy caught up with me around 14 and played the rest of the round with me. He was able to tell me that I was keeping my weight on my back foot. I worked on that, and by 18 I managed to hit par! Thanks, Joe! I also had a couple shots where I was trying to throw under a tree limb; those made me crouch more, and so my throws were lower, flatter, and straighter than before.
So I found if I eased off on the power, I could get the Shark to make a nice low speed right hand turn, exactly opposite of a righty as described here. Got around a couple trees that were blocking my approaches with that shot. With a little anhyzer angle (right edge up) I was able to skirt around the right side of two big trees that were both in line with my approach to the basket on 13. The Shark dropped 15 ft beyond the basket and to the left.
Not a bad first round. No lost discs, and I even hit par a couple times. I'll work on that weight shift, and we'll see how it goes next time. Get out and have fun!
--SDJ
Hiestand is a great course built up and over a big ridgetop. The south face is an awesome sledding hill, too, split into a wide flat face to the west and a narrower bowl to the east. You can find great info at www.madcitydisc.org. So I've got my fleece lined jeans and boots and a t-shirt, long-sleeved tee, a LS thermal, a hoodie and my sherpa-lined jacket, my hat and gloves, and I'm thinking, "I hope I'm warm enough." Ha.
When I got there it wasn't very busy, but I knew it wouldn't be because there's an event just five miles away at a county park where, rumor has it, there's talk of adding a new permanent course. I didn't quite have the course to myself, but pretty close. I only took the Cheetah and the Shark because I didn't want to carry a bag or backpack--I figured I'd just keep the extra disc in my off hand. Worked out just fine.
I paced out about thirty steps (about 75 ft.) ESE from the practice basket to see what I could do. Throwing LHBH, the Cheetah was flying high and right, while the Shark was heading more left. I was overshooting the basket, so I stepped off fifty steps (about 120 ft.) and tried again. Same thing: Cheetah right, Shark left, but now the distance was about right. I tried forehand with mixed results: The Cheetah turned over aggressively and rolled, and the Shark turned too, but was really fluttery. Hmm. Off to play.
By the end of hole 3 (awesome downhill bomb just east of the bowl) I'm sweating like a pig, so when I get to 4 I try taking off a couple mid layers. No good: too much cold air with the sweaty cotton tees. So I stripped to the waist and put the thermal and hoodie back on. With the SS tee in my back pocket and the LS tee and my jacket tied around my waist, I was in good shape. Until 15, a straight downhill into the wind on the north side of the hill. Brr.
The snow is deep enough to swallow small children right now, so I got a lot of practice tracking my discs, finding the little tell-tale signs showing where they were hiding--hoping to hibernate 'til spring. The Cheetah is yellow, so it was particularly hard to find at times; the orange Shark wasn't too bad. A guy played through around hole 6, and I learned a great trick that I'm sure you already know: drill a tiny hole through the center of your disc and run a long streamer of narrow ribbon through it. Brilliant! I'll shave 45 minutes or more off my next game!
I had a time with the Cheetah. I was throwing high even though I was really trying to concentrate on keeping my arm flat, so it would get some wicked hyzers--usually when I didn't want them. (Off into the trees to look for that damn yellow Cheetah. Grr. At least now I know the cure for that.) Another guy caught up with me around 14 and played the rest of the round with me. He was able to tell me that I was keeping my weight on my back foot. I worked on that, and by 18 I managed to hit par! Thanks, Joe! I also had a couple shots where I was trying to throw under a tree limb; those made me crouch more, and so my throws were lower, flatter, and straighter than before.
So I found if I eased off on the power, I could get the Shark to make a nice low speed right hand turn, exactly opposite of a righty as described here. Got around a couple trees that were blocking my approaches with that shot. With a little anhyzer angle (right edge up) I was able to skirt around the right side of two big trees that were both in line with my approach to the basket on 13. The Shark dropped 15 ft beyond the basket and to the left.
Not a bad first round. No lost discs, and I even hit par a couple times. I'll work on that weight shift, and we'll see how it goes next time. Get out and have fun!
--SDJ
Introductions
There are a lot of great videos on the web for learning skills or watching pros and advanced level amateurs play, yet at the same time there are a lot of posts from left-handers complaining that there is little information specifically for lefties. While the main purpose of this blog will be for me to keep track of my own progress, I will link anything I find--or anything sent to me--that relates specifically to lefties. As I get better, I plan to add reviews of discs and courses from a lefty's perspective. But for now, it's all about me.
If you are new to disc golf, I hope you will feel okay about sending questions or comments. If you are more advanced, feel free to offer friendly advice or even laugh to yourself. Now turn that computer off and go out and play!
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