Ah, the 2 golden question in disc golf when choosing a disc or set of discs,
Which disc golf brand is the best?
and
What disc golf brand should I buy?
Lucky for us, we're at a point in time where disc golf has significantly progressed past the ages of having limited brands and discs to choose from to fill our bag.
So much so that there are literally dozens of brands to choose from, which can be quite overwhelming to say the least.
Especially for a new player.
Despite all the options to choose from, you'll be happy to learn that you can't really go wrong with any disc or brand you choose as they're all quality options.
That's right! You can't go truly wrong with any!
While names such as Innova, Discraft, Discmania, Dynamic Discs, MVP, Latitude 64, and many more may dominate the disc golf space in terms of sponsorship and marketing,
brands like Kastaplast, Infinite Discs, and Westside Discs also make some really great discs that would make any player happy to use.
Does it matter which disc golf brand you use?
So does it matter which brand you ultimately buy?
Unless you're obligated to because of sponsorship,
absolutely not!
In fact, I challenge you to go out and try as many different brands as possible.
You'll start to notice that you may like certain plastics from certain brands more than others, and even for different reasons.
For instance, I bag many different brands in my personal bag.
I really like Dynamic Discs classic or classic burst blends for my putters because I think they feel very grippy/tacky in a variety of weather conditions.
They also seem to beat in very well.
But I also like premium plastics from Discraft and Innova (ESP and Champion specifically) for discs that I throw more regularly and are likely to hit trees or other objects.
Part of my enjoyment in disc golf is trying different discs from different companies and figuring out what I personally enjoy the most.
Discs that I would have never thought I liked ended up being some of my favorite, even though I would have never thought they would suit me and my style of play.
And discs I thought I would love, I ended up not loving all that much.
It simply varies from player to player.
Should you buy only one brand of discs?
This is something I personally do not do, because I feel that every disc in my bag has a specific purpose.
So regardless of brand, if I find a disc that I like, I want to bag it because it benefits my game, not because it is or isn't from a certain manufacturer.
Some players on the other hand like being brand loyal, which there is nothing wrong with,
But there are some other pros and cons to consider when buying one brand.
The biggest con, which is along the lines of why I don't choose one specific brand, is that you can sometimes limit yourself too much.
The Discraft Zone for instance is one of my favorite discs and probably one of the most utilized discs in my bag.
There are similar options out there, but to me, none have compared to it in terms of feel in the hand and overall performance.
So I would be certainly missing it if I was not permitted to use Discraft for any reason.
The biggest pro of using a single specific brand is disc familiarity.
It can be sometimes difficult to compare two discs to one another when they're from different brands because brands may have slight variations in how they assign flight ratings, in addition to different feels of all levels of plastic from basic to premium.
When you use one brand however, it's easy to say to yourself, "I like this disc, but I need something just a little more overstable"
If you were to search for something from another brand, you may grab a disc with "more fade" by ratings that actually flies less overstable than what you currently have.
But when comparing the disc you have with the one you're looking for, you can be confident that flight ratings were assigned consistently within the brand, which means anything marked as more overstable, will likely be what you expect it to be.
It's worth noting here that pros change sponsorship all the time, yet for the most part keep the same level of competition.
So it could be argued that it's not the bow, but the archer who creates the success.
Paul McBeth, Ricky Wysocki, James Conrad, Paige Pierce, and more have all switched brands at some point in their career, but still maintained their high level of success.
So if you feel that the only reason you're using a specific brand is because you think those discs are what is going to make you a better player, you may be better off examining other aspects of your game to ensure you're not missing something, such as technique or shot selection process.
So, with all these options, you may be asking yourself
How do I choose the right disc?
This may be the hardest question to answer of them all, but simply getting out and trying different discs, with an understanding of flight ratings, is what's going to help you the most in choosing the right disc.
In my own practice sessions, I'd feel that the discs I had at times weren't achieving the goal I wanted.
For instance, when choosing a max distance driver, I realized that I didn't throw 12 and 13 speed drivers consistently, and because of this, they flew more overstable than what they should have.
So I went and searched for 10 and 11 speed drivers from various brands until I found exactly what I wanted.
From there, I have been able to compare various disc models to the ones I bag and have more confidence in finding the disc I'm' after in a shorter amount of time.
This is also how I've figured out what discs I want to bag, and what discs that I do not.
Finding discs that were more stable, less stable, etc. was much easier when I had thrown a lot of different brands, and had something to reference when I found an option I thought that I might like.
If you don't have the means to purchase a lot of new discs, reach out to fellow players in your area and see if they're willing to let you throw some discs around, they may even have extra discs laying around that they would let go for cheap if you like them!
Wrap-up
In all,
What works for one player, may not work for another player, so trying out as many discs as you can will help you tremendously in finding the perfect combination of discs.
A great example of this are touring pros who are sponsored.
If you watch any of their "in the bag" videos, you''ll notice that 3 or 4 players will all be sponsored by the same brand, but all bag a different array of discs.
This is because they have tested and tested these discs until they have found the ones they feel confident with for their skill level and style.
Even though they all have access to the same discs, they are still finding what is going to make them each play at their best!
So get out there, throw some plastic, and most importantly,
Have Fun!
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