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.

State of Disc Golf 2017 Results–Does Practice Really Work?

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In the immortal words of NBA Hall of Fame-er Allen Iverson…”We talkin’ about practice!”

Every disc golfer has at least pondered the question as they’ve pulled late nights in their garage or backyard with a stack of putters and a practice basket. Or they ask it as they throw their arm out at the local soccer or football fields. “Is any of this really helping me?” “Am I getting any better?” I think most folks with any experience in developing a skill or a good habit would agree with the old adage that practice makes perfect, or at least practice makes you better than you were before.

Of course, our analysis of this question today is imperfect, but it is still very interesting to look at how the surveyors rated their own skill levels in conjunction with how often they practice. While there may be some discrepancy between how one disc golfer would rate his/her skills compared to another, I think it is a somewhat safe assumption that those who took this survey that participate in PDGA tournaments (about 3/4 of the survey played in at least one PDGA event last year) rated themselves simultaneously with what division they play in.

So first of all, let’s just look at how good we think we are. Just shy of half the folks who took the survey consider themselves intermediate, while the advanced disc golfers just barely outnumber the recreational and beginner players. So, just shy of 75% of the disc golfers surveyed rate themselves as being below advanced in their skill level. I think that this is a decent reflection of the true state of disc golf, and really most sports. There tend to be more casual participants than serious competitors (probably) because of the work, time, and practice required to compete at a top level.

Now for a look at our practice trends. We asked about practice putting and field work. It looks like putting is the most popular form of practice, which makes sense considering it is the most convenient of the two, requiring the least amount of space. About 60% said they practice putting at least once per week, while only about half of that, approximately 30%, said they do field work practice at the same frequency.

So in playing around with the data I decided to use the one week mark to divide the practice time frames up. In my opinion, practicing your disc golf game off the course at least once a week is a pretty good indicator of taking your disc golf game seriously and of seeking improvement in your game.

So, here is a breakdown of what percentage of players within each skill category answered that they practice putt and practice field work at least one per week. The percentages look to trend somewhat how I would have predicted them, at least in relation to each other. The higher the division, the more that golfers within that division practice at least once per week.

Putting Practice

First, lets break down the practice putting. Again, I think it is important to remember that this is the most convenient form of practicing. 78.8% of disc golfers who consider themselves to play at the professional level practice their putting at least once per week. while each division drops at a pretty consistent 10% from there on out. With the Rec/Beginner division at 51.1%, we know that the majority of players within each division are practicing at least once per week. Of course, we do not know the intensity of each player’s practice routine, but at least they are going out and getting the practice done.

Field Work

Now, the field work is where things get a little interesting. Just under half of professional level disc golfers say they do field work at least once per week. Then between the pro and advanced divisions there is a slightly larger difference (11.6%) than the difference we saw in practice putting (8.6%). Then only about 27% of both Intermediate and Recreational/Beginner disc golfers practice field work at least once per week.

So across the board we see that consistent field work is less common than consistent putting practice, but perhaps the field work is the difference maker for those who feel stuck in the advanced or intermediate skill range? More research would be needed to make a definitive claim. But I definitely find it interesting to see the slightly larger gap between skill levels when it comes to field work.

But at the end of the day, this data just reinforces what we already know–if you practice, you are going to get better. Practice makes perfect. There is no substitute for hard work. Nothing worth having comes easy. Or, one of my personal favorites that I first heard from Paul McBeast McBeth, “Everybody wants to be a beast, until it’s time to do what beasts do.” So go out, work hard, and maybe give the field work a little more time than you have before. Here’s to a 2017 disc golf season where we all find improvements in our game through our practice!

Utah Open Stamped Discs Available!

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The UTAH OPEN is part of the Disc Golf 2017 Pro Tour and it powered by Latitude 64. As part of the Utah Open tournament fundraiser, there are a bunch of really nice Latitude 64 discs available to order at Infinite Discs. This is a run-down of the discs available with the Utah Open stamp. They are available on some nice plastic types, including a lot of smooth, white Gold Line discs and Opto Sparkle:

Gold Line ANCHOR

Opto ANCHOR

Gold Line BALLISTA

Opto BALLISTA

Gold Line BOLT

Gold Line COMPASS

Opto COMPASS

Gold Line CULVERIN

Gold Line CUTLASS

Opto DIAMOND

Gold Line DIAMOND

Opto Sparkle GLADIATOR

Gold Line HALO

Gold Line HAVOC

Gold Line KNIGHT

Gold Line PURE

Gold Line RIVER

Gold Line SAINT

Opto Sparkle SAINT PRO

Gold Line SAINT PRO

You can search these Utah Open stamped discs, as well as other special editions discs, or discs of specific plastic types, weights, colors, and more by using the Infinite Discs Advanced Disc Search function.  Here is a video that shows you how…and the Utah Open stamps can be browsed by searching “extras” and “Utah Open Stamp”:

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.

 

 

2016 Infy Awards – Winners Announced!

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We got a late start on the first annual INFY AWARDS voting, but the results are now in. This was designed as a contest of pure popularity, where voters picked their favorite new discs of 2016 in three categories. They also chose the male and female professional disc golfers that they felt were the most influential in 2016 and their favorite 2016 disc golf moment.  So, total sales figures had nothing to do with these results. The winners were chosen 100% by vote count.

Certain contests were looking pretty tight as we watched the voting results come in, but then a certain disc brand pushed the poll to their mailing list and we saw a surge of voting that turned the tide dramatically. So, without further ado, here are the results…

Most Popular New Putt-and-Approach Disc of 2016

The three new-release putters of 2016 that topped the voting, in order were as follow:

3rd Place – MVP Spin
2nd Place – Innova Stud
1st Place – Dynamic Discs Marshal

Most Popular New Mid-Range Disc of 2016

All of these new mid-range discs received a lot of love during the year, but the #1 spot finally took over with a lot of momentum and won handily in voting:

3rd Place – MVP Matrix
2nd Place – Latitude 64 Compass
1st Place – Dynamic Discs Emac Truth

Most Popular New Driver of 2016

This was a race where the Discmania DDX was in solid control for most of the voting, but once the Dynamic Discs crowd started flocking to the poll, a new winner emerged:

3rd Place – Latitude 64 Culverin
2nd Place – Discmania DDX
1st Place – Dynamic Discs Defender

Overall Most Popular Disc of 2016

Now this is the big one– the most popular disc of 2016 receiving the most votes in the Infy Awards poll! We’ll run down the top six for you:

6th Place – Innova Shryke
5th Place – Latitude 64 Culverin
4th Place – Dynamic Discs Defender
3rd Place – Latitude 64 Compass
2nd Place – Discmania DDX
1st Place – Emac Truth

Female Professional Disc Golfer
Who Made the Biggest Impact in 2016

This was a very very tight race between both Valarie Jenkins and Paige Pierce. They actually swapped places several times during the voting before polling ended and our winner took the top spot. The winner for this Infy Award in 2016 was…

PAIGE PIERCE

Male Professional Disc Golfer
Who Made the Biggest Impact in 2016

This was more of a run-away win for the #1 spot with young Eagle McMahon taking the #2 place. The winner for 2016 was…

RICKY WYSOCKI

Biggest Disc Golf Moment of 2016

The voting on the biggest disc golf moment of 2016 was a run-away win with the huge, viral albatross on a par 5 hole by Philo Brathwaite winning by a landslide.

Click Here to Watch the Original Live Infy Awards
Announcement on Facebook

THANKS TO EVERYBODY THAT VOTED!

WE’LL SEE YOU AGAIN AT THE END OF 2017!

Disc of the Week–Week 9–Dynamic Discs Sheriff–Final Week!!!

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Alright, the final week of Disc of the Week has arrived! After much deliberation, we have decided for our final week to feature what has been the hottest new release of 2017 so far. Our final Disc of the Week of 2017 is the Dynamic Discs Sheriff.

The Sheriff has already proven to be a great addition to the DD lineup. This high-speed driver fills the slot of a straight, stable, and workable bomber. It is one of those nice discs that can fit in the bag for beginner golfers as well as professional level players. All disc golfers should like the incredible glide (rated at a whopping 5) and the nice, soft and predictable fade at the end of the flight. And like I said already–this is a bomber. She flies far!

If you haven’t had the opportunity to try one of these beauties out, we highly recommend it!

And this week is your chance to grab these for the best price! This week only take 15% off any Dynamic Discs Sheriff in stock (including our custom Sheriff and Aztec stamps) by using the code: DWSHERIFF17.

Also, to send out the Disc of the Week promotion with a bang, we will not only giveaway a Sheriff on Facebook, but we will also post giveaways on our Twitter and Instagram accounts! That gives you three chances to win a new DD Sheriff! So if you don’t already, be sure to follow us on those social media platforms, and watch for those giveaways to be posted soon!

State of Disc Golf 2017 Results – Play Frequency for Men and Women

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Do Women or Men Play More Disc Golf?

We already know that a lot more men took the State of Disc Golf survey than women. 91.8% of survey participants were men, compared to 8.2% for women. That was a large increase for the women over previous survey years, so the women are definitely gaining ground. There was a large enough sample of the sexes for us to take a look at how gender plays into disc golf participation.

First of all, the number of courses played for female vs. male really showed no difference, with the vast majority playing 10-15 courses in a year. Here is a look at the number of courses played in 2016, as reported by survey participants.

How Many Different Courses Did You Play This Year?

 

But how do men and women compare when it comes to seasonal play? The following charts show the number of times each of the sexes plays disc golf during the four seasons:

You can see that there are similarities in the frequency of game play, even season by season. It appears that men generally favor the 2-3 times per week more than women, and the women favor that 2-3 times per month more than men. It looks like men play more frequently, particularly when the weather is cold, but the differences are not large enough to make any definitive statement on who plays more per-capita. There are certainly more men playing, but when it comes to how often vs. the smaller number of women, the differences are only slight.

This seems to suggest that when it comes to the two sexes, there may be a difference in number of players, but the level of passion is relatively equal. 

Gender in Tournament Play

Let’s take a look at how many women vs. men reported playing in tournaments in 2016. First of all, 31.1% of women surveyed reported that they did not play any tournaments at all. Of those who said they did, this is how many of both PDGA Sanctioned and Non-PDGA Tournaments they reported playing in 2016:

So, for the women, it looks like it non-PDGA tournaments are favored, and the vast majority of tournament-playing lady’s played in the range of 1-5 tournaments in 2016. The 2-3 tournaments choice was the highest spike, especially for non-PDGA tournaments.

Now, let’s look at what the men said. First of all, only 27% said that they don’t play tournaments, while 73% said that that they did play at least some tournament in 2016. Right way, we can see that a larger percentage of disc golfing men play tournaments than do the women. Here are the charts for number of PDGA Sanctioned and Non-PDGA tournaments for the men:

 

Though the number of players differs greatly, the general tournament quantity curve is fairly similar between the sexes. Again, most men who played tournaments played in that 1-5 tournaments range, with 2-3 being the most popular response in the survey.

The similarities between the charts again suggests that the women surveyed are not shying away from tournaments. They like to play, and they like to compete. But the number of female competitors is much smaller. But that competitive spirit should continue to bring more competitors and a higher level of play to events with time.

All in all, we’re encouraged at the growth of disc golf when it comes to both sexes, and we’re encouraged by the level of passion shown in both casual play and in competitive play from both the men and the women. We expect that the difference in numbers between the sexes will continue to narrow with time, especially as very talented women are beginning to take the spotlight in professional disc golf tournaments.

 

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