Introducing Birdie Disc Golf Supply

Infinite Discs started a blog series focusing on some of the smaller brands that we carry. That series continues this week with a look at a Delaware brand, Birdie Disc Golf Supply.

New Castle, Delaware, is located on the banks of the Delaware River, across from New Jersey. It was settled hundreds of years ago. It is home to the first dike made in the United State, the New Castle Presbyterian Church, which was built in 1707, and New Castle is home to Birdie Disc Golf Supply.

Retail to Brand

Birdie was started in 2018 by Derek Fell. It started as a retail disc golf store. After a few years, Birdie became a brand with the release of their first mold, the Marvel. The Marvel was PDGA approved in December, 2021. It is a beadless putter with a fairly straight flight. Since its introduction to the disc golf world, over 100,000 Marvels have been sold.

Following the Marvel, Birdie released their first fairway driver, the Strike. It is a speed seven driver with a good amount of glide and a solid fade. Birdie likes to pick names that are strong and exciting to the disc golf community.

As for plastic types, Birdie fans have quite a few choices. Their Putter Blends include Base, Stiff, AG, Soft, and Glow. Their Premium Blends are Premium, Premium Swirly, Color Glow, and Glow. The most popular of these is the Base Blend.

Sponsored Pros

Despite being a new brand, there are quite a few top pros that have been sponsored by Birdie. Ricky Wysocki and Casey White have been sponsored by them. Currently, Scott Stokely, Alex Geisinger, and Dylan Cease.

 

 

The Future…

What does the future hold for Birdie Disc Golf Supply? Keep an eye out for several new molds and plastics coming out this year. Their new overstable midrange, the Ultra, will be out in Color Glow plastic in a few months. The Strike will also be released in that plastic.

This summer, the Weapon will be released. It is an overstable control driver. Later in the year a new driver will be available.

Derek is optimistic about the future of Birdie. They are a family owned business which focusses on customer relations and service, and all of their molds are made in the USA. They have plans to keep growing their brand to include a complete lineup of discs.

As for the sport of disc golf, Derek says it will get, “bigger and better every day!”

Check out Birdie Disc Golf Supply HERE

Check out Infinite’s available Birdie Discs HERE

Comment And Win A Birdie Disc

Comment below about Birdie Disc Golf Supply and you might win one! Let us know which ones you’ve tried, and what you thought about them! Let us know which ones you would like to throw! We’ll pick three random commenters and send them a new Birdie disc.

Introducing Terminal Velocity Discs

.

Infinite Discs started a blog series focusing on some of the smaller brands that we carry. That series continues this week with a look at a Texas brand, Terminal Velocity Discs.

About 25 miles from Dallas lies the city of Rockwall, Texas. The city gets its name from some naturally occurring formations that resemble a wall. Harry Myers disc golf course is located in Rockwall. The Nick Hyde Memorial pro/am tournament is held there every year. And Rockwall is home to Terminal Velocity Discs.

 

Terminal Velocity owner Zach Windell

When did your company begin, and who started it?

 

Terminal Velocity Discs started retailing for other companies in August 2020 and started making their own molds in January 2022. The store was started as a creative outlet for owner Zach Windell, who works full time but loves disc golf and was looking for a way to get more involved in the sport.

Can you give a brief history of your company?

 

As mentioned above, we started as a retailer for other companies in August 2020, at first just selling a couple brands and doing custom designs on discs when we could. Infinite has been crucial to our growth as a company from the start. Before starting Terminal Velocity, Zach bagged mostly infinite molds, so he wanted to have his favorite discs with Terminal Velocity designs. We still retail for other companies but we always dreamed of creating our own molds and designs. In the summer of 2021, we started reaching out looking for manufacturers to make Terminal Velocity molds. We tested several plastics, but fell in love with some of the plastic and molds Legacy Discs offers. We have been steadily building our company, with a busy 2023 planned with our new mold, the Cervini, coming out in the spring of 2023 and another run of Special Blend Ursus also in spring 2023.

 

 

Where is your headquarters located?

 

Our headquarters is in Rockwall, Texas (about 30 minutes East of Dallas).

 

What were your first couple of molds?

 

Our first mold is the Ursus (“bear” genus, 5/4/0/4) and we have released it in three plastics currently, and are working on a fourth (Quartz). The Ursus is a disc I quickly fell in love with as a player. I have always struggled with my forehand and this disc loves to be flicked and has really helped my game having a midrange I can forehand. Our second mold is the Cervini (“deer/elk” genus, 10/6/-4/1 in the Mica plastic). We are releasing this one in the next month or so and really looking forward to getting into players hands. Legacy did an amazing job with this disc. The Mica plastic is grippy, pearly, and loves to glide. Some of the initial Cervini I tested were a tad more stable (10/5/-2/1) so we are looking forward to releasing the Cervinin in our Quartz plastic this summer.

 

How did you choose the names for your molds?

 

I have always loved science. Our name, Terminal Velocity is a physics term that I thought meant something to disc golf. Terminal Velocity is the max speed an object can go (as in a throw) but also to me it means pushing limitations and achieving the most you can. And that’s what we’re trying to do at Terminal Velocity, with our limited resources, push as hard as we can to be the best disc company we can be.

Which is your most popular mold?

 

Our most popular mold is currently the Ursus by default, because it is the only disc released to the public but the Ursus may always be Terminal Velocity’s most popular mold. It is just a great disc that is unique and can be used in so many ways, I bag 3 Ursus right now (Glass, Granite and Calcite Glow).

 

What plastics do you offer, and what is your most popular plastic?

 

The plastics we currently have are the Glass, the Calcite, and the Granite. The Glass is a C-Blend type of plastic that uses an Italian blend of plastic and is a tad gummy and very grippy. The Calcite is our premium glow plastic. It is more grippy than Glass and beats in great. Our Granite plastic is a putter blend that we released the Ursus in last spring. It is a very unique disc in that plastic. The Ursus feels great in the hand, and in Granite has a straighter midrange flight. We are planning on releasing two new plastics this year, both with metal flake in them. We will have the Mica Cervini out soon, a metal flake S-Blend plastic, and the Quartz in a metal flake glass blend.

 

Can you tell us about some upcoming releases?

 

The Mica Cervini should be out by the end of the month (Feb 2023) and we are working on a Signature run of Quartz Ursus that will be released around March 2023. We also plan on doing a Quartz run of Cervini in the summer 2023 and hopefully one more new mold by the end of the year.

Who are some pros or other players that you sponsor?

 

We currently have a small team of about 30 players, most of which I have had a direct relationship with over the years. I wanted to keep the team as small as possible at first, so I have a real opportunity to help the players on the team. We are working on several collaborations with open bag touring pros. One pro that I can mention is Eric Oakley. Eric has been a huge supporter, he has been throwing the Glass Ursus for almost a year now and we are looking forward to dropping a signature EOursus this spring.

 

What does the future look like for you? 

 

We are excited to keep growing. We are gaining a lot of momentum going into 2023, and we think this will be a huge year for us with multiple releases and hopefully a couple new fans. Another aspect we are trying to grow in is running more tournaments in the Dallas area, and go from there. The Dallas disc golf scene is growing so fast. It’s been fun to see the exponential growth in talent the last couple years and we want to help feed that growth.

 

What will disc golf look like in the future?

 

It’s hard to say what disc golf in general will look like in the near future, let alone long term future. Obviously as a smaller disc golf company, we are just happy to go along with the ride, trying to take a piece of the pie and enjoy the sports growth.

 

What is something unique about your company?

 

I think Terminal Velocity is a very unique company. We try to do everything as genuinely as possible to express our creativity in every aspect of the sport. For instance, the plastic names and hard to pronounce discs named after Latin Genera. I knew it was a risk, but it’s something that I like and all I can hope is that some other people out there like it too. The deeper you dive into some of our designs and names the more you will learn. For example, all our plastics are named after minerals/rocks that represent the plastic they’re named after. Like our Calcite Glow plastic. Calcite is a mineral that is fluorescent, and naturally glows. We’re kind of the Snapple lid facts of disc golf.

Check out Terminal Velocity website HERE.

Check out Infinite’s Terminal Velocity discs HERE.

Comment about Terminal Velocity Discs

 

We would love to hear about your experiences with Terminal Velocity. Which discs have you tried? Which ones would you like to throw? Let us know!

 

Introducing Doomsday Discs

In my series focusing on the smaller brands that we sell at Infinite, I started each blog by highlighting where the company was headquartered. I’ve written blogs about disc companies from numerous US states and countries around the world. However, that tradition comes to a screeching halt with this blog, because I have no idea where Doomsday Discs is located! That specific question is on the list that I send to each company. But, they didn’t answer that question. I didn’t even get the name of the founder!

Here are the answers that I did receive. They will help you get a glimpse of this unusual company. Do yourself a favor and check out their website after you read the blog. You could even join their team and give input on future releases. For now, let me introduce Doomsday Discs!

Introducing Doomsday Discs

When did your company begin, and who started it?

The company conceptually started during the heart of the pandemic– a natural time for a brand built upon the pending apocalypse and a survivalist attitude. It was founded by a small group of anonymous disc golf enthusiasts and preppers who have come to accept the inevitable.

However, the “who runs this company” has always intended to take on a decentralized focus, where the fans of the brand become the team that ultimately runs the brand. We see it as the first brand run by the people, for the people, as least as long as there are people around to do so.

 

Can you give a brief history of your company?

We saw a need for new sources of essential items like food, water, fuel, and flying plastic. We began taking steps to fill that need by introducing new sources of discs to the market. Team Doomsday was initiated and is still growing daily. To join the team, interested participants simply need to visit the doomsdaydiscs.com website, enter the store, and purchase a Prepper Team Pack. They will then become a part of the brand’s early history.

Where is your headquarters located?

The founders are located in an undisclosed bunker. But since our focus is to make Team Doomsday into the driving force behind the brand, the headquarters can be anywhere, and will be everywhere.

Which were your first few molds?

We currently use five different plastics manufacturers, four of which had never made discs before. So it has been a long process to get from concept to mold to prototype and to final product. A lot of our disc concepts are still in those different stages. Some of the first prototypes to be available to our team were the Plague, Famine, Blackout, Flat Earth, and Land Mine. There’s more expected in the coming weeks and months.

 

How did you choose the names for your molds?

We came up with some of the initial names of our prototypes. A few of those have been kept, but others were renamed by our team. Since we want the members of Team Doomsday to make a lot of the decisions, we encourage ideas and names on the Doomsday Discs Discord server. For example, two of our discs were originally called the Can Lid and the Hubcap while in the design phases, but the team members chose to change the names to the Land Mine and the Frag, as part of the “Munitions Line” (also their idea). Mold names, plastic names, different lines, and flight path numbers…all now have the input of Team Doomsday members.

Which are your three most popular molds?

Since the Blackout is the proto that was shipped to the team members with their team shirt, it became one of the most loved. But almost every time we introduce something else, it seems to find an audience of fans. The Land Mine will probably go through a wave of popularity due to its very unique shape and dependable flight characteristics.

 

What plastics do you offer, and what is your most popular plastic?

Since we have several different disc lines from the different manufacturers, there will be many different plastic types in play. We have some names decided and others undecided. The Catastrophic Line has plastics like Meltdown, Uranium, Toxic Waste, and Fallout. The Munitions Line has plastics like  Weapons Grade and C-4 (soft). Prepper Line will have Ration, Survival, etc. There will be a lot of plastics to keep track of once things get rolling.

Can you tell us about some upcoming releases?

Almost everything is still upcoming. We’re excited about the Land Mine since it is so unique as far as an approach disc goes. Plus the Frag is super overstable, to a ridiculous level, which makes it fun.  But I think the real workhorse discs that are coming soon and we’re excited about are the Bleak putter and the Dystopia driver.

We’ve also started developing an oversized driver that will be epic.

 

Who are some pros or other players that you sponsor?

We do not currently have sponsored, touring pros, though we are excited about our entire team, from the ones that are highly rated to the ones who throw lower-speed discs and light up the course with their Doomsday swag and fun personalities. We believe everybody who wants to be on the team should be, and if they’re on the team, they are valuable and appreciated. After all, when the doomsday comes, every human relationship and interaction will be precious.

 

What does the future look like for you?

The future in general may be bleak…even hopeless…but we are optimistic that a lot of people will find a lot of joy throwing and storing up Doomsday Discs in the present and into the future. Whether chucking your disc across a Dystopian landscape, or using that disc to eat your cold squirrel stew, we feel like the future will be better if a lot of our discs make it into that future.

 

What will disc golf look like in the future?

In the near future, hyper growth. In the long term, maybe something like this (see photo below).

 

What is something unique about your company?

 

We feel like Doomsday Discs will be one of the most diversified and decentralized disc golf brands in the world. Discs will be sourced from many places, released in many forms, and we hope that many players will embrace it. We hope that many players try the brand for the love of that variety and their desire to be a contributing part of the brand image and growth. Who knows…maybe we’ll be the last brand standing after the sun goes micro-nova, the earth’s magnetic field collapses, and we no longer have the same rotational axis.

—- Dr. Death

 

Check out the Doomsday Discs website HERE

Check out Infinite Discs’ inventory of Doomsday molds HERE

Let us know what Doomsday molds you’ve tried

 

Have you tried Doomsday Discs? Post below and let us know what you think about them. Haven’t had a chance to try them? Post below and let us know which ones you would like to try.

 

Congrats to our random disc winners:
Joe

Tyler

Dan

 

Introducing Prodiscus

If one travels from the United States across the Atlantic Ocean toward northern Europe, they might reach the Baltic Sea. The eastern arm of the Baltic Sea is known as the Gulf of Finland. Along the shores of Gulf lies the Capital of Finland, Helsinki, and northwest of Helsinki is the city of Nokia.

Nokia is known throughout the world for the phone/electronics company that used to be located there, and bears its name. For disc golfers, Nokia is where The Beast at Disc Golf Park is found. And Nokia is home to disc golf manufacturer, Prodiscus.

First in Finland

Prodiscus was founded in 2006 by Kai Vesa, and started as an importer of disc golf products. However, after a few years, the company wanted to expand beyond just importing products. They decided to work toward producing their own line of discs.

In 2010, their first disc was approved by the PDGA for production. That disc was the Jokeri, an overstable putter that remains one of their most popular molds, and an exceptional throwing putter. Following the Jokeri, Prodiscus began adding more discs to their lineup. For the next few years they would design and release 1-3 new molds per year, slowly growing their brand and the discs they offered.

Popular Molds

Their most popular molds are the Jokeri, Midari, and Laseri. Those are a putter, midrange disc, and a control driver, respectively.

As mentioned previously, the Jokeri is an overstable putter. It is beadless, an excellent driving or approach disc, and perfect as a headwind disc. The Jokeri was the first mold for Prodiscus, and it has been a hit from the beginning.

The Midari is one of Prodiscus’ midranges. It is shapable with its straight flight and good fade. The Midari is available in base and premium plastics.

The Laseri is a control driver that lives up to its name. It is a laser-straight disc with just a little turn and fade. Pick up a Laseri in a premium plastic and it will give you consistent flights for a long time. It also comes in base plastic.

Finnish Names

The naming convention used by Prodiscus is to choose English words, then add a Finnish vowel. Thus, the Joker becomes the Jokeri, and the Laser becomes the Laseri. The proper pronunciation is to say the English word, followed by long ‘e’ sound, as in ‘feet’. Their names also take inspiration from mythology and ancient civilizations. Sparta, Titan, and Troija (an ancient city in Asia Minor) were chosen for that reason.

Along the way they developed several different plastic blends for their discs. Those include Basic, Basic Hard, Premium, Ultrium, and Platinium. The most popular of these options is the Ultrium.

Ultrium is a premium plastic that feels like a slightly more grippy Star plastic. Their Premium plastic is similar to Champion in durability, but a little gummier for added grip. Basic is similar to other base plastics. It is grippy and less durable than other Prodiscus plastics.

Sponsorships

In addition to the new molds and plastics they were releasing, they also started serving the disc golf community by sponsoring some of the most promising players in the world. Current European Champion Henna Blomroos, Devan Owens, and Henrik Johansen were all sponsored by Prodiscus. Other big names originally sponsored by include Kevin Jones and Luke Humphries, who have gone on to make careers out of disc golf. Some of the current athletes sponsored by Prodiscus include a top European Masters player, Kristian Bengtsson and US Tour disc golfer, Josh Coghill.

 

Prodiscus has also created several different levels of sponsorship and made them available to disc golfers with a variety of skill levels. Here are the Team levels:

Team Spartan: This entry-level sponsorship if for people who use Prodiscus products and want to help promote them. It is the Team for amateurs who just love to play, or who want to improve and compete at higher levels.

Team Ambassador: This Team level is for Prodiscus fans who are already working to grow the sport. It is for people who run tournaments and leagues, and who promote the sport. These team members will be supported by Prodiscus as they help grow the sport.

Team Prodiscus: This is the highest Team level. It is for players who compete regularly and are committed to improving their game while serving as a representative of Prodiscus. This level already has members who are growing as disc golfers, and whose names you will be hearing about in the future!

Anyone Prodiscus fans interested in applying for any team membership may contact Prodiscus directly at: team@prodiscus.fi

New Molds

Prodiscus works hard to give the best possible equipment to the disc golf world. They are also working to add to their product line. There will be several new molds coming out soon. Prodiscus says one of the new molds, the JokeriX, which was PDGA approved on May 9, has a rim depth that is between the Jokeri and the Sparta. The JokeriX and MidariX will be joined shortly by the SpartaX.

Kai Vesa, the founder of Prodiscus is optimistic about the future of the sport, and the future his company. Like other businesses in the industry, they got a boost from the pandemic that will last for years to come.

“Our future looks really promising. We’ve made major investments for our own factory and our manufacturing volumes are going up significantly”, he said. “And so is the demand for Prodiscus products.”

Disc Golf In The Future

Kai anticipates big things for the sport as well. He predicts even bigger sponsors and audience than ever before. He also expects that Finnish and European players will be regularly challenging the top US players for the top tournaments every year. We got a glimpse of that earlier this year with Kristin Tattar either winning or finishing on the podium at several major tournaments.

Whatever the future may hold for disc golf, Prodiscus will continue to innovate and create new molds and products for the disc golf world. They were the first Finnish disc golf manufacturer, and they strive to be the best. According to Kai Vesa, “We try to be down to earth company that serves the customer the best way possible.”

 

Visit Prodiscus here: Prodiscus USA

Check out our Prodiscus products at Infinite Discs here: Available Products

Win a Prodiscus Disc

Let us know your thoughts about Prodiscus discs and you could win a free disc! Have you tried a Prodiscus mold? Let us know which one(s) and what you thought. Haven’t tried Prodiscus  yet? Check out their discs and let us know which one could make it in your bag. We’ll pick three random commenters and send them a free Prodiscus disc.

 

Introducing Wing It Disc Golf

Cache County, Utah, is in the northern most part of Utah. Commonly called the Top of Utah, the county sits on the border of southern Idaho. It is about an hour from the Fort, home of the 2021 World Disc Golf Championship. The county gets its name from the trappers in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s who used to store, or ‘cache’, their furs in the valley while waiting for an upcoming rendezvous.

Cache County has a long history of dairy production and a reputation for producing delicious cheese. It is home to a land grant school, Utah State University. The County Seat is Logan, Utah, where the largest disc golf retailer in the world has its headquarters: Infinite Discs. And Cache County is home to Wing-It Disc Golf.

Starting A Disc Golf Business

 

I suspect that a large number of us have thought how fun and interesting it would be to design our own discs or start our own brand of disc golf. Whether we are picturing ourselves as the new Innova, or just wondering if we could produce a mold or two that would resonate with other disc golfers, the idea of creating a new disc is appealing to many of us. Two brothers that live in Cache County decided to pursue that dream.

Brothers With A Plan

 

Wing It Disc Golf began fairly recently, and started with conversations among Eric and Jamin Burningham and their friends. The group shares a love of disc golf, and wondered what it would take to produce discs locally. Ed and Jamin decided to act on that idea, and found a local plastics producer to talk to about making molds for a disc.

After finding a plastics manufacturer in the county, the brothers began working on a 3D model of the disc they wanted to make. Then came the process of making a mold out of the 3D design. Once that was done came the job of finding a plastic that they liked.

Eric and Jamin decided on a polyurethane/ABS combination that they like. The plastic was durable yet grippy. Plus, it felt good to the brothers and other people who gave their input. That brought them one step closer to a finished product.

Winging It In Utah

 

Along the way to producing a disc, the pair had to come up with a name for their new company. The name they chose was Wing It Disc Golf. According to co-founder Jamin, “We picked Wing It Disc Golf because neither of us were pros. We were basically ‘winging it”. Eric, the other co-founder, is a serious birder, so the name turns out to be a nod to his other hobby.

The brothers also wanted to use birds and their flight to be themes for the names of their discs, but that turned out to be more challenging than they thought. Said Jamin, “We found that bird names were very popular choices for disc names. So much so that we felt it a little overused. “

 

High In The Sky

 

Instead of a bird-related theme, the name Stratosphere was chosen for their first mold. The Stratosphere was PDGA approved at the end of 2021, and the first run was selected for the Infinite Discs VIP club and sent out in early 2022. Since then, the Stratosphere was released to the public. The plastic for those first runs is called Lift Plastic, a nod to flight in general, birds and discs.

The disc-making duo is planning their next disc, which will be a higher-speed driver. They are still in the early phases of development for that disc, so it will still be a while before it is released. However, they have more lined up for the future besides new molds.

Currently, Jamin and Eric are experimenting with plastics, including adding agents into the Lift Plastic that will allow them make the lighter weight discs that are popular among beginning disc golfers. They don’t have that process down yet, so it may be a while before they can release lighter discs. Until then, they’ll keep experimenting with plastic and working on new molds.

Following A Dream

 

Eric and Jamin are brothers who share a love of disc golf. They truly enjoy playing with each other and with friends, and just having fun in the outdoors throwing discs! They also share the desire to grow a business, and both have a goal of providing discs for people who want to enjoy our sport. The two brothers are excited about the future of their company and the sport of disc golf. They love the growth that disc golf has seen the past few years, and are happy to be a part of increasing that growth. The fact that they are able to produce their discs here in Cache Valley makes chasing their dreams all the better.

Follow the progress of Eric and Jamin on their website here:  Wing It Disc Golf

Be sure to visit Infinite Discs to see the Wing It Discs we have in stock, here: Infinite Discs

Post below and tell us what you think of Wing it Disc Golf’s first disc. Have you thrown it? Let us know what you think.

 

Brand Spotlight – Divergent Discs

Divergent Discs Logo

There are few things in this world that beat throwing a disc well. It is just wonderful to watch it fly through the air. It creates such a great feeling of amazement, tranquility, and accomplishment. Disc golf combines this feeling with a way to measure improvement and work towards a goal. All by tracking the number of strokes it takes to complete a hole.

In its heart disc golf is a very simple sport, throw a disc from the teepad to the basket while avoiding the obstacles. However, the gear involved in disc golf is where the sport becomes complicated. Among all of the different manufacturers there are a multiplicity of discs. To make things more complicated, there are a handful of different plastics within each brand and these plastics can affect the flight of the disc. Even the same mold can fly slightly differently because of the plastic. All the disc molds and the plastic types make for a huge variety of options. Additionally, across brands similar disc molds do not perform the same. Which makes everything quite complicated and can make decisions difficult.

Divergent Discs is a brand that started out in 2021, they see the complexity of the disc golf world and aim to make things easier. It is a brand that focuses on simplicity. Their main focus is on manufacturing “quality disc golf discs for the rest of us.”

Divergent Discs Purpose

Starting back in 2019 Divergent saw a need that isn’t fully met within the disc golf community. There are a lot of disc golf brands, and the majority of these brands focus on providing discs that are professional grade. Resulting in discs that have a greater amount of overstability, which makes it more difficult for a disc golfer to throw.

They base this claim off the “State of Disc Golf” survey done in 2019. This survey is done on a yearly basis, where the participants are disc golfers of all ages and are from all over. This shows that most disc golfers’ average throw is around 300 feet.

Thus, Divergent Discs works to resolve these issues of a complex selection, and lack of discs designed for the average disc golfer. They have three points on which they focus: simplicity, easy to throw, and affordability.

Simplicity

One of the issues that Divergent Discs works to resolve is that of the complexity of selection. This complexity partly derives from the vast selection of different types of plastics and weights. To resolve this, Divergent provides their discs in one plastic option only, and a much smaller weight range.

They do provide plastic options, but the disc molds are only made in one plastic type. They have two plastics: Max Grip and Stay Put.

The Max Grip is more in line with the typical plastics. It offers a lot of grip, durability, and a comfortable amount of flexibility. On the scale of base plastic to premium plastic, this would be classified as a mid-grade plastic. Despite being the only plastic option for the majority of their discs, this makes a great all-around plastic.

As Max Grip plastic provides great grip for putting. This grip will give you confidence while putting. And when the disc hits the chains, the plastic will grab them sufficiently to stay in them and fall into the basket. At the same time, the Max Grip is hard and stiff enough that it can handle hitting hard surfaces. You will be surprised with how long this plastic can last.

The Stay Put plastic is a unique rubber blend. This blend provides a lot of flexibility and durability. The idea behind this plastic is that it will provide little to no ground play. Giving you a disc that won’t roll or skips as much as the typical plastic disc.

This plastic works well for putting, driving, or approach shots. Giving you a disc that offers great grip for putting. A blend that will grab the chains as much as most other putting plastics. While at the same time, this rubber blend can take a hit. Unlike the typical plastics, this rubber blend doesn’t really show damage, unless it is severe. It is quite soft and formable, which means that this doesn’t really “dent” when it hits a harder object. Because of its softness, it is quite the durable rubber blend.

Easy to Throw

Divergent Discs spends its efforts in designing discs that will fly in the air easily. Resulting in discs that have a lot of glide and turn.

Glide refers to the discs ability to float through the air. Or its ability to stay “. . . maintain loft during its flight.” To me, this flight rating on the disc refers to the disc’s desire to stay in the air. The higher the number, the more willing the disc wants to stay in the air. Additionally, the higher the glide means that less effort/power is required to get a good disc flight.

Turn details the disc’s tendency to fly to the opposite of the natural flight path. For a right hand backhand throw this means the disc’s tendency to fly to the right. Or for a left hand backhand, the disc’s tendency to fly to the left. The lower the number the higher its tendency to fly to the opposite side of the natural flight path. The lower the turn number the less effort/power required to throw the disc well.

All manufacturers are aware that high glide and low turn makes for a great beginner disc. Divergent Discs focus is to provide discs that have high glide and low turn. All in an effort to provide some of the best beginner friendly discs on the market. Discs that fly well even for beginners.

Affordability

As of late, all manufacturers have increased their prices. Making disc golf more expensive than what they used to be. Just a few years ago, I remember that an expensive disc was $16, this was only 5 years ago. Now, an expensive disc is $30, it is crazy the increase that has happened.

Divergent Discs are reasonably priced and offer good quality. The Max Grip plastic provides a lot of grip and good amount of durability. I’ve seen these discs hit trees and come out with little to no mark. I’ve also seen large marks after it hit a tree. While the Stay Put blend offers an incredible amount of durability. This blend I have yet to see physical damage done to it regardless of what it hits.

The majority of the discs can be purchased for around $12 for the Max Grip blend, and $16 for the Stay Put blend. Providing a multiplicity of discs available at a lower price point that can handle the wear and tear of the disc golf course.

Conclusion

Divergent Discs is a brand that is focused on providing discs that are meant for the beginner. Removing the complexities of disc golf. Making discs that will fly in the air easily for those who do not have the power to throw far. These discs are meant to provide a full flight, longevity, and enjoyability. Disc golf is a fun sport, but it can easily lose its appeal when you can’t throw it as far or you don’t achieve the results you are looking for. Divergent Discs will help you achieve the distance, and find simplicity within the sport of disc golf.

Be sure to check them out on their website, they may be a good fit for you.

Disc Golf Brands We Know

 

2021 State of Disc Golf

 

One of the great benefits of being such a large disc golf retail store is that Infinite can carry every brand of disc golf disc that we can get our hands on. In addition to the big name brands that everyone has heard of, Infinite also carries smaller brands, including companies just starting out. Some brands we carry literally have only one mold! We want to provide our customers with as many choices as possible so that we can help you live up to our motto: ‘Throw what you love!’

To help you get to know some of the less popular brands, we have been running a blog series which highlights many of these companies. Check out the most recent post here. In the comments to these blogs, invariably there are people posting that they hadn’t heard of the brand before. Bringing awareness was one of the goals in starting the series.

Which Brands Do We Know?

Brand awareness is also one of the questions we asked in the latest State of Disc Golf survey. While Infinite Discs has sales numbers that tell us which brands and molds are the most popular, the survey digs in a little deeper. We want to know if you’ve even heard of some of the manufacturers. We also want to know how well we know the bigger brands. Let’s check out the results.

In the survey, we listed the brands and asked you to rank how well you know each brand on a scale from 1 (Not aware of the brand) to 5 (I regularly follow this brand). I’ll list each number on the scale and show how each company ranked in the survey.   We will start with the least amount of brand awareness.

Never Hear of That Brand?

 

The chart below shows how each brand was ranked according to the percentage of people who have not heard of that brand.  Less than half a percent of us are not aware of Innova, while over 94% of us are not aware of the brand XCom. For the 2% of us that are not aware of the Infinite Discs line, click here. 😁

Here are the results. The higher on the chart, the less know the brand:

Some of the brands are still rather small and are on the high end of the scale. There are some in the middle that I wonder if people aren’t associating certain molds with the company that produces them. For example, a lot of people have heard of a Wizard, but might not know that the Wizard is a Gateway disc.

Know a Little

 

The next answer in the survey asks if we have at least heard of the company. Just to clarify, while nearly all of us have heard of Innova, this survey question asks if that is the MOST we know about the company. Here are the results:

 

The next option in the survey was to indicate that we at least know a little about the company. Maybe we know their top-selling molds. Or we have a buddy that throws some of their discs. We might even have one of their molds, but don’t know much more than that. Keep in mind this chart, like the last, indicates the most we know of the company. Here is the chart:

 

 

Familiar Disc Golf Brand

 

The next category is that we know enough about a company that we could hold a conversation about them. We know their molds, or at least their most popular molds, and know the flight numbers of those molds. Either we throw or have thrown some of their discs. We might even know some of the pros that throw the brand. While we don’t necessarily keep up with their new releases, we have more than a casual knowledge of the company. This is where there should be a little more separation from brand to brand. The higher on the list, the more well-known the company. Let’s see how they stack up:

 

 

Ask Me Anything About…

 

The final category is for the die-hards. The question asked which brands we like well enough that we follow them. Since a large number of us follow the pros and watch the tournaments, we are exposed to a number of brands and molds. We hear what the top disc golfers throw and we know the molds and flight numbers. We hear about the new releases and are eager to try out the ones that fit our lineup. The higher a brand is on this list, the more well-known they are. Here are the top brands:

 

It will likely not come as a surprise to see the company names that are on the leader board of this category. While some brands are relatively new, these are the names we see sponsoring tournaments or sponsoring pros. If a brand can afford to promote their molds, those are the brands we will be exposed to the most and are more likely to throw. The top two on the list, Innova and Discraft, have been around for decades and have a head start on the newer brands. If you’ve been playing for a long time you probably throw one of the older brands. They sold the molds that the long-time players grew up with.

Most and the Least

 

Just for fun I wanted to look at the first and last categories and see if the graphs looked like the inverse of each other. I was pretty close. Below is a graph showing the best known and the least well known manufacturers. You can see that they are close to mirroring each other.

 

Top Sales

 

In addition to learning about the brands that you know or don’t know, I thought we could take a look at Infinite Discs sales for last year and see how the brands that had the most sales compare with the brands that people are most familiar with. As with any statistic from 2020, the numbers are not what we would have seen had Covid19 not affected disc golf supplies. Here are the top selling brands for 2020. The top ten are very similar to the top ten in the category ‘I Regularly Follow This Brand’:

Here are the top ten in sales and brands that are followed:

 

In YOUR Bag

 

The percentages aren’t going to match perfectly because the survey allowed us to select all of the brands that we follow so those numbers will always be bigger that the total sales. These graphs still give us a decent snapshot of the most well-known brands. And, we can always take a peek inside our bags to see if our knowledge of the different brands translates into filling our bags with those brands. In the survey we asked what brands are in our bags. Here is what we indicated. Let’s see if the graph aligns with the brands we follow. These results show what percentage of us throw what brand:

 

 

Once again, the top 10 or 15 brands are pretty much the same as what we sell and which brands are the most well-known. We’ll see in next year’s State of Disc Golf survey if our blog series affects how many brands we know, and see if that means having more brands in our bag.

For the record, one person indicated that they carry 18 different brands in their bag! That sounds like someone as dedicated to a mixed bag as the person who bags only one brand. Either way, we at Infinite are happy to carry as many brands as we can so you can throw what you love!

Comment below and let us know the top few brands that you know best!

Introducing Dino Discs

We’ve travelled around the world during this blog series to introduce you to disc golf companies that might not be as mainstream as the larger manufacturers. For this one, we head home. In this case, ‘home’ refers to Logan, Utah. Logan happens to be the home of Infinite Discs. And Dino Discs. Sort of.

Logan is located in Cache Valley Utah. It is about 90 minutes north of Salt Lake, and less than an hour from Ogden, home of the 2021 PDGA World Championships! Cache Valley is clean, quiet place that is surrounded by mountains. There is nearby fishing, hunting, hiking, two ski resorts, and as of this writing, not a single 18-hole disc golf course in the valley. Cache Valley is also where you’ll find Dino Discs.

Interesting History

To tell the full history of Dino Discs, we have to take a little journey back in time and place. In our journey we’ll learn about a few different disc golf companies, and pay homage to a passed disc golfer. And we’ll meet several people who had a common goal: to grow the sport. The time we will start with is a little over a decade ago. The place is Illinois.

Winding Back the Clock

In 2010, long time disc golfer Dan Pastore received PDGA approval for several new molds for his new, Illinois-based company, ABC Discs. He saw the growth of the sport he loved, disc golf, and knew that there was a need for new manufacturers to help with the growing demand for discs. Dan combined his love of disc golf with his desire to find a career that fit him, and ABC Discs was born.

During the next ten years, Dan grew the company and helped grow the sport. He added another mold to his catalogue, and continued to promote disc golf. Sadly, last November Dan Pastore, PDGA #4320, passed away. With his passing, the future of ABC Discs was on hold.

Resurrecting Old Molds

Last year, in addition to Dan’s passing, the owner of Zing Mini Discs, Craig Myers, sent some discs to Infinite Discs that were made using ABC molds, but with the plastic he used for his minis. Although the discs were too light for a majority of the mainstream disc golf market, Infinite Discs’ Vice President Todd Durrant thought that the discs would be good for kids or people who can’t throw heavier discs.

With all of the disc shortages last year, Infinite was eager to get any discs possible, so they ordered a few hundred of the light ABC molds from Zing to test the market and see how they sold. Since the discs were primarily for kids and dinosaurs are popular among kids, the decision was made to call the discs “Dino Discs.” The molds would be named after dinosaurs.

Success!

The order of discs arrived. Some dinosaur shape images were licensed and Kesler Martin, the manager of Infinite Discs’ stamping department, touched them up for the simple stamps. They were added to the Infinite Discs website. Much to their surprise, the discs sold out quickly. Another batch was ordered then stamped, and they sold out as fast as they were put online. Infinite Discs was surprised to discover that their was such a high demand for ultra-light discs.

Since Zing was busy with their own business during the pandemic, they were not able to keep up with the demand for the light discs. It was during a conversation with Gateway Discs’ Dave McCormack that he offered a contribution to the Dino Discs lineup from Gateway. They could also make ultra-lightweight discs using some of their easy-to-throw molds. With the ten total molds sold under the Dino Discs name, five came from ABC molds and five came from Gateway molds.

With Gateway operating out of Missouri, Zing Mini Discs in Indiana, ABC discs in Illinois, and Infinite Discs based in Utah, Dino Discs is a multi-state disc golf collaboration, showing how several companies can work together to create a product that is needed in the disc golf community. Since there are multiple companies involved in the production, there are different ways to look at the most popular plastics. The best-selling molds are a little easier to analyze.

The Best of Dino

The top molds are the Spinosaurus, Pterodactylus, and Brontosaurus. Those are a control driver, distance driver, and midrange, respectively. The best-selling plastics are broken down by manufacturers. From Zing/ABC Discs, the Egg Shell Plastic is the best-selling. For Gateway Discs, the Extinct plastic is number one. Both of these plastics are colorful and sparkly, adding to their appeal.

When it comes to the PDGA, Dino Discs and their molds present an interesting case. None of the discs offered by Dino are currently approved by the PDGA for use in a sanctioned tournament. Since all of the molds have already been approved when ABC and Gateway originally released the molds, Dino Discs is hoping to get the discs approved without having to resubmit the molds and pay a fee. They are currently working out the details with the PDGA. Until the molds get approved, they will remain unapproved to play in a sanctioned event.

Moving Forward

What does the future look like for Dino Discs? Although there aren’t immediate plans to release new molds, there is a possibility that more could be added to the line later. Right now, the goal is to make enough of the discs fill the existing demand. Infinite Discs has started selling the Dino Discs line to other retailers who have found the same need in their communities and among their customers. You can ask your favorite retailer to stock these fun, lightweight discs and Infinite Discs will gladly support their efforts.

Dino Discs has certainly tapped into a market that wants and needs light, easy to throw discs. The rapid sales and increased interest is evidence of the need for this kind of disc. Kids like the discs, too. One of the sons of the owner of Infinite even got his first birdie with the Spinosaurus!

Although we’ve learned in this blog about Dino Discs and its success in the disc golf world, the brand has a unique distinction: It really isn’t a single company! It’s really a brand made out of experimental products by four different collaborating disc golf companies. That’s the power of some good ideas!

 

Check out Infinite Discs’ line of Dino Discs here:

https://infinitediscs.com/category/Dino-Discs

Check out Dino Discs here:

https://dinodiscs.com

 

 

Comment About Dino Discs

 

We want to hear from you about DIno Discs!

If you or someone you know has thrown a Dino Disc, which have you thrown?

If you haven’t tried one yet, which would you like for yourself, or someone who needs light discs?

 

 

Last Week: Yikun Discs

 

Last week we looked at Yikun Discs. We selected three random people who commented on that blog. Here are the winners:

Brian D

Mathew S

Kenneth E

Congrats! We’ll ship your disc out shortly.

1 2 3