2014 In The Bag - Part One

TEAM DISCRAFT - TEAM GORILLA BOY - TEAM PARAGON

With the start of the 2014 season I am fully in disc golf mode once again. Its an exciting year for me as all three of my sponsors have been working on big projects that I get to directly benefit from. First let me say thank you to my amazing sponsors, listed above, for supporting me in my disc golf career. If you get a chance, click the links and visit my sponsors!

Lets take an in depth look at what I bring to the course, and what I keep in the car for back up for this 2014 season. Part One, Putters and Mid Range:

Putting

Not much has changed for me in the putting realm. I still use twin Pro D Ringers, in fact, the same two I had for all of the 2013 season. You know, I still don't know which one is which after a year straight of using them?

These particular two Ringer's aren't all that stable, which is hardly noticeable since I only use them from 60ft and in. They are meant to be interchangeable, and I incorporated this method to my tournament putting after I discovered I liked the feel of holding two discs while practice putting. Its actually fairly liberating, I carry no bad history or psychological baggage with either of my putters. To a mildly neurotic golfer such as myself it's a good thing. 

I carry four putters in the bag at all times: The aforementioned Pro D Ringers for putting only, one old Pro D Ringer (first run, circa 2009) and a premium Ringer, aka Pro Line Breaker from DGA. 

I use the "seasoned" Ringer for touch approach shots. It is quite beat in and turns very easily on both backhand and forehand shots. I also use it for over hand throws in the woods to get out of trouble. I'll use it for longer putts or low ceiling putts since is straightens out with little fade, which is great when you need to putt on a laser line.

The Breaker is incredibly versatile and I get a kick out of throwing it off the tee on 300 ft straight shots. Great for hyzer approaches too! This is one of the best driving putters in the game right now - for those with power its a nasty straight flyer and doesn't give in to high speed pressure.

Beyond those four discs, I don't have anything in back up at this time. It would probably be prudent to practice with a few extra Ringers at this juncture...

Mid Range

My Mid Range game has steadily developed over the past few seasons. I am in the unique category of elite distance throwers (2010 WFDF World Distance Champion here folks) and that affords me a great variety of discs to use off the tee. When I can I disc down as much as possible and throw slower molds on straighter lines - I do. This fits well within my comfort zone of a full swing mentality. In other words, I would rather throw a Hornet 340 ft on a full drive directly at the pin instead of a Tracker at 70% power. I tend to be more accurate with hitting my lines when I'm throwing at 85%-95% power.

The Z Hornet is my favorite midrange disc, possibly of all time. The problem is - I currently don't have any Hornets in the bag! I lost my only Hornets at Trojan at the ORDGC last year and haven't found a good replacement disc yet. However, I did get some brand new Hornets in the mail last week and I can't wait to try them out, they feel like winners to me.

So instead of the Hornet, I have been using a Z Wasp. It works just fine for now, and I do like how it feels in the hand. The Wasp seems to keep up with the Hornet on a majority of the lines I use it for, but I submit that the Hornet flies farther naturally.

The Z Drone also plays a pivotal role in my game. I use this disc for pretty much all of my forehand needs 300ft and under. I carry a Z Drone and a Ti Drone as back up (Ti is really really stable). After each tournament as I go through my results hole by hole, the Z Drone accounts for a majority of my birdies. It is a perfect go to disc, and has netted me no less than 4 tournament aces.

The ESP Meteor rounds out my short range game. This incredible disc never ceases to amaze me - how freaking straight can a disc fly!? This is one of the rare ESP discs in my bag - simply due to the fact that the Meteor was just now released in Z. I don't plan on switching any time soon to Z, they tend to be less stable - too under stable for me.

That concludes part one of this two part blog. Part Two will feature all of the drivers I currently use and am excited to try this upcoming season!

Dion