From Ultimate to Disc Golf: Fresh Plastic [Pt. 4]

Get started with the right discs.

This is part four in our series on learning to play disc golf as an ultimate player. The series is presented by Innova Discs, the Choice of Champions! 

Winter was upon us and we had lost daylight savings, so weekday golf was at an end. We were still hitting Ecker Hill on the weekends, but we’d shifted back to a gym schedule that left an hour or so to watch disc golf videos back at Brent’s house. It was through these videos that I started to pay attention to which discs the pros were throwing, and when, and why. I decided it was time to invest in some fresh plastic.

I went to Dick’s Sporting Goods (unaware at this point of the burgeoning independent disc stores in my area) and studied the Innova Flight Ratings poster hanging over their selection. “Speed” made intuitive sense to me: the sharper the edge, the more aerodynamic the disc, the faster it would fly. “Glide” seemed more appropriate for describing the flight of an Ultrastar than any of the discs I had been throwing, but I accepted it at face value. The final two categories seemed most important to me given my present limitations.

When you throw a right-handed backhand (RHBH), the left side of the disc moves faster through space than the right side due to the clockwise rotation. With enough power behind it, this creates lift and will raise the left side of the disc, steering it to the right (or, at least, this is how it was once explained to me). That is what “Turn,” the third number, refers to. I had not yet thrown a golf disc with enough combination of power and flat release to truly see a disc turn. Quite the opposite, in fact; I had only seen them “fade” to the left at the end of their natural flight paths. Fade is the fourth number. It seemed to me that my ideal disc would be the one that flew straight and landed flat, much like the Ultrastar. I set about looking for discs with the minimum amount of turn and fade, and there it was: 5, 5, 0, 0. The Star Mako3.

I purchased it immediately, along with a few others with low turn and fade numbers: a red/yellow tie-dye Champion TL (7, 4, 0, 1) and a yellow Star Aviar (2, 3, 0, 1). I did not yet know what “Star” or “Champion” referred to, but they were slightly more expensive than some of the others and, being a man of expensive tastes, I figured I’d invest in the “good” ones on faith that the old adage “buy cheap, pay twice” was as true of golf discs as it is of underwear and floss.

I had guessed right. These three discs, the Mako3 in particular, were perfect for my skill set. The Star plastic was also a good choice as the primary difference between Star and the cheaper option (DX plastic) is enhanced durability, and I was about to spend the next few months just absolutely blasting these discs into trees.

My fourth Tuesday Tip for ultimate players picking up disc golf is a specific one: Invest in an Aviar, a Mako3, and a TL, all in premium (Champion or Star) plastic. If you go on r/discgolf, there is no shortage of threads asking which discs are the best for beginners. Comments hang from these threads suggesting dozens of discs across different brands, undoubtedly overwhelming the poor beginner who posed the question. The thing is, they’re all probably right; there is a massive overlap in the discs offered by different brands.

I am writing this very specifically from my own experience, and my word is far from gospel, but it has worked for me. I chose Innova because it was what was readily available when I went looking. Today, I throw a bag composed entirely of Innova discs, sponsorship free, because I think they are the best; brand allegiance is a helluva drug. If you think Westside Discs has the coolest aesthetic (they do), search for a local disc shop and pick them up or order some from an online retailer. If you like Paige Pierce and want to bomb Discraft like she does, you can easily find those too. I’m not here to push one brand over another. Consult the Marshall Street Flight Guide to find comparable molds across brands, and this Plastics Matrix to find comparable plastics. But if you want my advice, I say buy those three.

There are a number of minute differences in the flight properties of each type of plastic, but these are best learned through experimentation. The reason I explicitly suggest the “expensive” investment (and really, for the three discs I’m recommending, the difference in price between the least and most costly totals between 12-21 dollars, depending on the vendor) is because price equals durability, which equals consistency. When a disc gets beat up through use, its flight characteristics will change. Primarily, it will “turn” more easily. It took a long time before my Champion TL’s flight characteristics began to change, despite the beating the poor thing took as I learned how to drive.

The takeaway: Only with a consistent disc can you develop consistency in your swing.

  1. James Bress
    James Bress

    James is a contributor at Ultiworld Disc Golf. He played Ultimate from 2000-2015 for the Amherst HS Hurricanes, UMass ZooDisc, New Noise, Capitol Punishment, and Dark or Light. Now he plays disc golf for Team Wick (4x NETC champs) out of Wickham Park in Manchester, CT. One time he hit a tournament ace on camera. Despite that, he has not quit his day job as a high school teacher. Send questions and comments to bress.james@gmail.com. See what tournaments he's playing at his PDGA player page #84048.

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Comments on "From Ultimate to Disc Golf: Fresh Plastic [Pt. 4]"

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Recent Comments

  • Gary Goulet

    He's deserves it. No longer the future of the sport, his time is now!

    Anthony Barela Re-Signs with Discraft Through 2027 · 14 hours ago

  • Robbie Newcomrr

    Look here's the deal , there a lot of good plastic flying out there!! The truth is guys like Paul and ricky could score well with eney brand with a little practice, yes there are several disc like the buzz and destroyer that are staples in our sport, but the elite players could get a par with a garbage can lid, short par 3,,, the plastic has improved so much in the last few years !! If you win on Sunday sales are good on Monday, that why's team try to gobble up the best players, it the bisness. Discraft doing a great job on acquiring the best team., just my opinion!! Mr new world.

    2024 Fandom Survey: How Fans Feel about Disc Manufacturers · 5 days ago

  • Robbie Newcomrr

    First of all wills a great guy. He will have his hands full to turn things around for sure.,, Will is respected in the disc golf community, i wish him the best, Mr new world

    Will Schusterick Named CEO of Prodigy · 1 week ago

  • BobinPA

    At one point they had so many big names, Big Jerm, Paige, Uli, Catrina, Chris Dickerson, Will Schustrick when he was active (shame for his injury), Ricky, etc. They did start a new era of these players making big switches to try to make a living versus just taking what the Innova's and Discraft's offered them.

    Will Schusterick Named CEO of Prodigy · 1 week ago

  • Eric K

    It's the marketing dollar dude! Your analogy doesn't make any sense considering the different dollar amounts involved. If Kenny can make $200K guaranteed per year, and that is significantly more than Innova is willing to pay, why the hell wouldn't he switch over? Because of loyatly to Dave Dunnipace? That won't pay his bills or help his family! For Jordan, who is a billionare, a few 10s of millions one way or another doesn't matter, he can afford to be as loyal as he wants to be!

    Ken Climo to Ink Deal with Discraft After Shock Innova Departure · 2 weeks ago

  • Eric K

    As everyone always forgets, sponsoring players is strictly a marketing function. Clearly Innova's marketing strategy doesn't strictly rely on sponsoring players, it really never did (save for KC maybe). Sponsoring players is really a more recent thing, no one was making good sponsorship money more than like 10 years ago. Understood that Discraft's more recent marketing strategy does rely on sponsoring top players.

    Ken Climo to Ink Deal with Discraft After Shock Innova Departure · 2 weeks ago

  • Eric K

    Not sure where you got your information from, but some simple online research does not bear out your arguement about relative revenues between Discraft and Innova. But yes, if you play Ultimate, then you will be more familiar with Discraft over Innova.

    Ken Climo to Ink Deal with Discraft After Shock Innova Departure · 2 weeks ago

  • PizzaGod

    Ok, I always thought Ivan Pudge signed that one day agreement with the Rangers so he would wear the Ranger Cap in the Baseball HOF. Actually, he wanted to retired as a Ranger, the team he first started playing for when he was just 19.

    Nolan Ryan was offered an office job after he retired from playing for the Rangers for only 4 years of his 27 years of playing.

    Nolan was the first Ranger HOF to wear the Rangers Cap, it was his choice, there was bad blood between him and the Astros. But he wanted to be in the HOF with a Texas Team. Plus he did make most of his milestones while playing for the Rangers.

    Turns out the player does get to choose which cap they wear if it makes sense. Tampa Bay apparently wanted Boggs to wear the Devil Rays cap and the HOF changed the rule and Boggs wears a Boston cap in the HOF.

    Ken Climo to Ink Deal with Discraft After Shock Innova Departure · 2 weeks ago

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