Author: Alan

Alan Barker is the founder and owner of Infinite Discs and has tried more different disc golf molds than just about anyone on the planet.

Favorite Disc Golf Course Baskets – 2017 Survey Results

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Nowadays there are a lot of different disc golf basket options available.  Up and coming manufacturers like Prodigy, Dynamic Discs, and MVP have more affordable course basket options that are making it easier than ever to get a disc golf course installed.

With so many different basket options, which one do you choose? What is the best course quality disc golf basket?

In our State of Disc Golf Survey we asked, “How do you feel about the following baskets on the course?”

While some of the newer baskets are only known and have been tested by only a small population of the sampled survey, the most well known basket is clearly the Innova DISCatcher.

Disc Golf Basket Familiarity

From the basket options included in our survey, at the beginning of 2017 only 29.35% of respondents were familiar with the MVP Black Hole while 77% were familiar with the Innova DISCatcher.

Favorite Disc Golf Baskets

When we break down baskets by those rated “Above Average and The Best” the most favorable baskets are the Mach X, Innova DISCatcher, and Dynamic Discs Veteran.

Baskets Size

On disc golf podcasts and in the professional world there is talk about reducing basket size to align disc golf more with traditional “ball” golf. While a few pros are in favor of smaller baskets, the vast majority of those who participated in our State of Disc Golf Survey (88%) strongly feel that disc golf baskets are currently about just right. 9.7% wish that course baskets were bigger while just 2.3% want disc golf course baskets to be smaller.

How We Carry Our Discs – 2017 State of Disc Golf Results

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There are many ways to carry disc golf discs around. It’s not uncommon to see recreational disc golfers simply carrying around a disc or two in their hands. Many diehards use carts or strollers where they can wheel around dozens of discs at a time. In the 2017 State of Disc Golf survey we asked, “What kind of disc golf bag/cart do you predominately use?”

The majority of surveyed disc golfers use some sort of backpack bag. The backpack has been the trendy way to carry around discs over the past half decade, and with the recent addition of the more affordable backpacks like the Prodigy BP3 and Dynamic Discs Sniper, we expect this trend to continue to rise.

For the recreational disc golfer, the single strap “starter bag” is still an adequate way to carry more than a handful of discs along with a water bottle, keys, phone and other on the course necessities. Small disc golf bags with a single shoulder strap had the second greatest share at 13.7%.

In addition to the increased popularity, the share of disc golf carts, especially among tournament players, is on the rise. 8.6% of surveyed disc golfers said that they primarily use a cart. Go to any PDGA sanctioned tournament and the percentage of cart users is substantially higher. When we ran the survey in 2015 disc golf carts were not even an option.

Over the last two years the biggest decline in disc golf carrying is the “Large Disc Golf Bag.” In the 2015 survey, 34.3% of those surveyed used a large disc golf bag with or without shoulder straps. Almost half as many (16.8%) primarily use a large disc golf bag according to the 2017 survey.

 

Putting Styles Disc Golfers Use

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Putting Style Used

With the exception of the “Turbo Putt,” the different putting styles are pretty evenly distributed among disc golfers. 28.5% of respondents said they use the “spin putt” while 25.7% said they push putt. 39.1% putt using techniques that combine elements of both the spin and the push putt. Less than 1% of putters regularly Turbo Putt from inside the circle, so if you’re among this minority, congratulations! You are in the 1%.

Putting Stance Used

When it comes to putting stance, almost all disc golfers use the traditional staggered approach. Only 10.9% of surveyed disc golfers use a straddle putt.

The Controversial Jump Putt

One of the more controversial disc golf calls is the “jump” or step putt. Those who don’t jump putt feel it is an unfair advantage. Those of us who do jump putt think the 10 meter rule is fantastic as it makes it easier to make long putts. Slightly more than half of those surveyed jump putt while 47.5% said that they do not jump putt outside the circle.

 

How Disc Golfers Throw

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Dominant Hand

To no surprise, the vast majority of disc golfers throw right handed which helps to explain why disc manufacturers don’t focus on left handed discs (that’s a joke). 90.7% of disc golfers surveyed throw with their right hands, 7.1% with their left, and just 2.3% of disc golfers have the coveted advantage of being able to throw with both hands.

Primary Driving Style

The vast majority of disc golfers surveyed prefer the traditional backhand drive. What surprised me was how big the disparity was. Nearly 83% said that they primarily drive backhand while only 16% use the “forehand,” “sidearm,” or “flick” as the preferred option. And that guy that throws thumbers all the time is the rare exception as only .7% of disc golfers throw overhand as their primary driving style.

Primary Approach Style

When it comes to approach shots, the percentages are very similar to drives with slightly more disc golfers choosing the backhand from short range. Almost 85% of disc golfers surveyed will choose a backhand throw for a wide open approach shot.

New Golf Discs for 2017

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Spring is finally here for most parts of the country. For those of us who haven’t been as active in the disc golf world while our courses are covered in white stuff, here is a summary of new discs that have been or will be released in 2017.

Axiom

Axiom has been quiet so far this year. The exciting announcement from the MVP family thus far is the release of their new single mold brand Streamline Discs.

DGA

  • Quake – This new midrange will shock the world. It’s a flat top overstable mid with a very comfortable feel and flight ratings 5/3/0/3

Discmania

Discmania hasn’t yet released any new discs in 2017, but there are a few known discs we are expecting:

  • PDX – The Discmania PDX is a power driver that was released as a fundraising disc for the Disc Golf World Tour. We expect it to be released with a stock stamp sometime in 2017.
  • CD3 – This new control driver was recently PDGA approved. This driver is supposed to be easy enough to throw that a beginner can handle it, but consistent enough that experienced players will find a place in their bag for it.

Discraft

  • Archer – This is the 2016 Ace Race disc released as the Archer. This is a solid understable midrange that has a similar flight to the Discraft Stratus.

And while not exactly disc golf discs, Discraft has also release their very popular mini discs. If you haven’t tried them yet, these are really fun to throw.

Dynamic Discs

 

  • Sheriff – This High Speed Distance Driver has quickly become a top selling disc. Many are boasting new distance records with the DD Sheriff.
  • Slammer – This thumbtrack putt and approach disc is overstable, and highly anticipated. So far it has only been released to Dynamic Discs Buy Back retailers in a Special Edition that is available for in store sales only. We expect a first run and stock version to be released soon. Look for a limited edition stamp from Infinite Discs.

To be released:

  • Criminal – The Criminal is an overstable driver.
  • Deputy – The DD Deputy is an understable putter that will be released as one of the player pack discs for the Trilogy Challenge.

Full Turn

The newer manufacturer Full Turn disc recently had a driver known as the Drifter PDGA approved.

Gateway

Gateway has already released a new distance driver, the Siren, and plans to release a new PDGA approved version of the popular Ninja driver. As always, they continue to release the popular Wizard putter in new exciting plastic blends.

  • Siren – High speed distance driver.

Innova

Innova hasn’t wasted much time with the release of new understable mids and approach discs in 2017. They have already released the Manta, Wombat3, and Aviar3, and have new PDGA approved molds that will be coming soon.

  • Manta – This understable approach disc was initially slated to be the VStingray. Playing on the Sting Ray theme, they decided to go with the Manta Ray, or Manta for short. This is a unique disc with a thin profile.
  • Wombat3 – If you’re looking for a disc that isn’t going to fade at the end of the flight, you’ll want to try the Wombat3. The Wombat3 is said to be slightly faster than the original Wombat with the same great flightpath for fineesse shots.

To be released:

  • Aviar3 – A faster version of the worlds most popular putter — the Aviar. This flatter, less glidey, version is ideal for driving and approach shots.
  • Firstorm – A new very overstable speed 14 high speed driver. 14/4/0/3

Innova also has a number of discs they’ve released as part of their sponsorship packages and at their pro shop that may be released in stock runs this year including the, Commander, Gargoyle, Mystere, and Savant.

Latitude 64

Latitude 64 has already released a driver, midrange, and putter this year. They continue to pump out lots of new molds in Sweden and there will surely be many more to come in 2017. Infinite Discs has created unique limited edition stamps for the Latitude 64 Anchor, Caltrop and Gladiator.

  • Anchor – Reliably overstable midrange with a moderate dome and a big bead.
  • Caltrop – This unique stable putt and approach disc features a thumbtrac.
  • Gladiator – The Gladiator is an overstable high speed driver that combines glide and overstability.

Soon to Come:

  • Beetle – The Latitude 64 Beetle is unlike any disc Latitude has released. This disc is described to have the flight of a traditional Frisbee, but is PDGA approved. Latitude gives it a speed rating of only 1 but a glide of 7!
  • River Pro – The River Pro will be released in Trilogy Challenge player packs. This fairway driver should be slightly more overstable than the populare Latitude 64 River.

Latitude 64 has also hinted at their development of double mold discs similar to those made by MVP.

Legacy

  • Fighter – The Legacy Fighter was originally released as the 2016 Battle of the Aces disc. This is an overstable control driver built for wind fighting. The Fighter is one of the most ridiculously overstable discs on the market.

MVP

MVP has released new plastic molds for a few of their popular discs including the Proton Atom. It appears that most of their efforts this year are going into the new Streamline Brand. MVP has announced a new version of their portable course quality basket, the Black Hole Pro HD.

Soon to Come:

  • Particle – Beginning May 26th disc golfers will be able to get their hands on the MVP Particle putter by participating in a MVP circuit.

Prodigy

No news from the Prodigy camp in regards to new discs. They are coming up with a new BP2 Backpack and have released some special edition versions of existing discs.

RPM

  • Ruru – RPM discs in New Zealand released a new putter the Ruru. This straight flying disc is not only available in some of the most beautiful plastic blends you will ever see, but it flys great too.

Streamline

The announcement of Streamline discs is one of the hottest topics for new releases thus far in 2017. MVP Discs, which has boasted the benefits of their Gyro double mold technology for the last five years has decided to enter the market of single mold discs saying that they can do it better and for less money. They have two discs announced already, and look for some special limited edition stamps from Infinite Discs as well.

  • Pilot – A straight flying putt and approach disc with a small disc. This disc will be available in familiar Electron plastics, but without the harder outer rim.
  • Trace – A stable, consistent flying fairway driver that will keep you where you want to go.

Vibram

Vibram has released the Launch, and we have also seen tester versions of the overstable Crag hit the market. We are not sure if or when that disc will actually be released.

  • Launch –  The Vibram Launch is a new slightly understable straight flying midrange discs.

Viking Discs

Viking Discs is a new manufacturer in Finland that has several discs that have been PDGA approved. These new discs will arrive at Infinite at the end of March. They include:

  • Axe – A straight flying midrange with a putter like flight.
  • Berserker – Understable distance driver designed for rollers and anhyzers.
  • Knife – This is a multipurpose putter that can handle power. 2/3/0/2
  • Nordic Warrior – Overstable midrange. 4/4/02
  • Thunder God Thor – High Speed distance driver 14/5/0/2

Westside

Westside will soon release the Crown putter and for the Trilogy Challenge, a midrange known as the Pine.

  • Crown – A dependable beaded putter.
  • Pine – A stable midrange that is supposed to be more overstable than the Warship but that doesn’t fade as much as the Bard. 5/4/0/2

Do you know of other new discs that aren’t yet included on this list? Please let us know about them in the comment section below.

Disc Golf Brand Popularity – 2017 State of Disc Golf Results

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Small but popular brands on sale

Brand Awareness

When it comes to disc golf brand awareness, Innova remains king. While Dynamic Discs and Latitude 64 have taken great strides to increase their popularity and reputation, far more disc golfers are aware of Innova than any other brand.

This graph shows a break down of the overall awareness of brands included in the survey by combining all categories other than the “not aware of”.

While more disc golfers are aware of the long established “Discraft Brand” when it comes to “regularly follow”, Dynamic Discs and Latitude 64 rank higher. Westside Discs ranks #8 for brand awareness, but #5 for “regularly follow.”

It’s interesting to see that while the gap isn’t very big in awareness between the companies, when it comes to “regularly follow” there is a large gap between Innova and everybody else. Discmania, MVP, and Prodigy who rank 6th – 8th were only “regularly followed” by about 15% of the surveyed disc golfers.

Favorite Brands

At Infinite Discs we are able to get a good feeling for which brands are favorable by what sells. It’s also interesting to see which brands people find favorable based on a survey. The results are pretty similar and not surprisingly, Innova is the most favorite brand according to the 2017 State of Disc Golf Survey. The graph between “Favorite Brands” and “Regularly Follow are pretty similar.

It’s interesting to note that the trend over the last few years made it appear as if Dynamic Discs and the Trilogy brand might overtake Innova as most popular, but 2016 saw a significant step back from the up and comers. Through 2017, we are seeing a trend with Innova widening the gap.

I Bag ‘Em

While 75% of those surveyed include Innova among their favorite brands, the number of players that throw at least one Innova Disc is even higher! 83% of surveyed disc golfers carry at least one Innova Disc in their bag. This is 24% higher than second place Discraft where 59% of surveyed disc golfers bag their discs.

An interesting relationship occurs here between “bagged discs” and popularity in that Discraft doesn’t rank nearly as high in terms as popularity as the Trilogy Brands, yet a higher percentage of disc golfers actually throw their discs. This could say something about the quality of Discraft discs and the relationship to their limited marketing efforts.

Limited to an Exclusive Manufacturer

Likely a result of Innova’s dominance in terms of recognition and the number of people that own their discs, when the question “If you could throw discs made by only one manufacturer?” was asked, nearly half (45.5%) of survey respondents said they would choose Innova.  One third (32.6%) chose the Swedish manufactured trilogy discs. Only a very small percentage of disc golfers said they would choose any other manufacturer if they had to exclusively throw only that brands discs.  Discraft came in third at 7.8% followed by MVP at 6.5% and Prodigy in a distant fifth at 2.7%.

Following Professional Disc Golf

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As disc golfers, most of us watch professional disc golf. 85.6% of those surveyed said that they watched professional disc golf at least once in 2016. The preferred method of watching professional disc golf is after production YouTube videos where nearly 94% of those who “watched professional disc golf” participated.

About two thirds of those who watched professional disc golf spent time watching live videos (30.8% less than post production). 46% followed live scoring during tournaments, 70% watched instructional videos or clinics, and 28% attended a tournament where they watched the pros live.

Favorite Professional Disc Golfers

71.4% of those surveyed follow professional disc golfers. At Infinite Discs, we regularly see the impact of professional disc golfers as their “signature discs” regularly outperform sales of ordinary stock discs.

Among those that follow Professional Disc Golfers, Paul McBeth, Ricky Wysocki, Nate Sexton, and Simon Lizotte were the favorites of 2016.

Disc Golf Podcasts

Many disc golfers get their disc golf news and pro information by listening to podcasts. 28.9% of those surveyed said that they listened to at least one disc golf podcast. The most popular disc golf podcast according to respondents is Smashboxx.TV (71%) with the Disc Golf Answer Man (64.1%) close behind. Inside the Circle was the only additional Podcast that at least 20% of Podcast Listeners had tuned into at least once.

Growth of the Sport

Most of the participants surveyed (78.8%) would like to see disc golf grow and become a mainstream sport. Only 4.5% would like disc golf to stay small while 16.7% have no preference.

 

 

Streamline Discs – Single Mold Golf Discs Manufactured by MVP

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Streamline Disc Golf Discs

This morning, MVP Disc Sports introduced their new brand — Streamline Discs. Unlike the existing Axiom and MVP brands, Streamline discs will not feature the double mold “Gyro” technology but will be composed of a more traditional single mold plastic.

With MVP’s disc manufacturing experience, they claim that they will be able to make more consistent single mold discs at a less expensive cost:

For seven years we’ve been making far more complex discs than the competition, literally doing twice as much production per disc, all while keeping prices matched with the other guys. We’ve had to build the industry’s best order automation systems at MVP Distribution HQ to meet those prices.

Now with the streamlined efficiency we’ve built, we can produce a classic single piece disc (what we call a solo-mold) that’s molded better than the best out there, we can stamp it standard with 3-foil stock artwork, and we’re still able to beat the price of anyone out there.

While we are not sure of the official release of Streamline Discs, we do know that the initial release will include the Trace Driver and Pilot Putter. We look forward to releasing these discs soon at Infinite Discs.

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