Buying New Discs Checklist

You know that feeling when you walk into your local disc golf shop and today is going to be a day where you buy a new disc? I love that feeling. It happens to me sometimes when I walk into work. That’s the real danger of working in a Pro Shop. That and the amount of goats who try to barge in when it’s hot in the summertime.

I’m going to discuss how to do some planning on what you buy. So you don’t make the same mistakes that I did. I’ve got a rack of overstable max weight distance drivers in the garage, so I definitely didn’t have a plan going into setting up my bag. I would go out to the course and buy a new driver every couple of weeks. It’s important to try new discs to get better. I wrote about bag stagnation last year, and what you can do about it. If you’re going to buy a new disc it’s time to come up with a plan.

Let’s talk about what I do when I’m looking for a new disc.

1. What do I need in my bag? This is the fundamental question we need to answer before we look at any discs. In my blog where I discuss the 12 landing zones you need to hit, I show you that you want 12 different molds in the bag. If there’s anything missing, you can get a new disc to fill the bag. Maybe some discs overlap too much, make sure you’re not relying on one disc to hit more than 2 or 3 spots.
2. Do I care about beaded discs? Some folks love beaded discs, others despise them. It’s a personal preference thing. I don’t mind them, but if I could choose I like the way beadless feels in my hands. This only matters with mids and putters, there aren’t a lot of drivers with beads that I know of.
3. Weight. This is one of the most important parts of the disc. My general rule of thumb is that less weight means more distance. You sacrifice control for distance though. So low weights fly further, heavier are better for controlled shots. I like my putters/mids heavy and my long distance discs lighter
4. Getting 2 copies of the disc. This one may sound a little ridiculous if the point is to limit your discs. Every time I get a new disc I try to get 2 of them. I take both out so I can try them back to back. Not every star wraith is the same, so I want to try out more than one to see if I like the disc. So I generally get two if I can.
5. Who do my dollars support? I’m invested in disc golf. It’s my job, one of my main hobbies, and I have a little disposable income. So if there’s a tour series version of a disc I like you may find it in my bag. We’ve got so many Tour Series discs here. I like to support players who aren’t always the favorites. Everyone gets the McBeths, but I like to show support for players who may not be on the feature card each round. 
6. Colors. There’s lots of reasons to pick a disc color. For me it’s about visibility more than anything else, I love purple but I struggle to find discs that color especially in the dark. I like getting discs that are bright pink, or neon yellow/green so they’re easy to find. Maybe you like red discs, or orange ones. This isn’t as important as the other factors so I listed it 6th.

These are the steps I take to decide on getting a new disc. If you’re just getting into the sport please try these tips out. You can save yourself lots of redundant disc purchases if you go through these steps before buying.

If you’ve already got a massive collection of discs, what steps do you take before purchasing a disc?

May your discs miss all the trees,
Andrew Streeter #70397