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Latitude 64 Diamond Review

June 30, 2011 By 3 Comments

The Diamond is one of the newest discs on the market from Latitude 64. It is unique in that currently it is only available in super light weights - in the 145 - 155 range. This makes it idea for anyone who has a smaller arm, women, children, and beginners.  The Diamond is an understable driver, meaning it will tend to go right when throwing RHBH. It also has great glide. Currently it is only available in Opto plastic which is Lat 64's durable plastic comparable to Innova's Champion and Discraft's Elite Z plastic lines.

I decided to go ahead and pick up a Diamond a couple weeks ago because the flight characteristics are similar to the Archangel, which is another great understable disc for beginners by Innova. The problem with the Archangel is that it is only available in DX plastic and therefore once you play a few rounds with it, the disc will get "beat in" and the flight characteristics can change quite a bit. With an already understable disc, this can be a big problem, so I see the Diamond as a durable alternative to the Archangel in a much higher quality plastic that will maintain its flight characteristics for a much longer period of time.  This disc also reminded me of the Lat 64 River, which has similar flight characteristics, but is harder to find in light weights.

The disc itself looks great and the plastic is extremely gummy feeling - more so than other Opto Lat 64 discs I have. That is one thing I really like about it. I tend to use heavier discs than the 149 gram Diamond I picked up so it is probably not a disc I will carry with me on regular occasions. Rather I will probably give them to my wife to use. The thing I probably find best about this disc is that it is super easy to hyzer flip for huge distance. This is done by releasing the disc at a gentle hyzer angle. If done correctly, the disc will straighten out and fly very far. Especially so with this disc due to the light weight and huge glide. This disc is also great for bombing on downhill shots or in a tailwind. Alternatively, since it is so light, it is not a great option for headwinds.

Overall, for newer players and players that are having trouble getting distance on their drives, this is a pretty solid disc to consider. It's a beautiful disc in a great plastic that is super easy to throw. If I didn't already have a couple lighter weight Rivers for hyzer flipping, I would actually probably carry one of these with me all the time. I would love to see Lat 64 make this in heavier weights, and in Gold Line plastic as well.

Filed Under: Latitude 64 Drivers

Grips and Putting: A Video Tutorial

June 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Kyle demonstrates various disc golf grips and shows you how to use proper form when putting.

Filed Under: Tutorials

Proper Disc Golf Driving Technique: A Video Tutorial

June 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Kyle demonstrates proper form when driving.

Filed Under: Tutorials

The X Step: A Video Tutorial

June 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Watch as Kyle demonstrates how to properly use the X step to add distance to your drives.

Filed Under: Tutorials

Innova Skeeter Review

May 28, 2011 By 1 Comment

So about a month ago now I threw my Buzzz SS into the Rum River, leaving me wide open to try and find a new mid-range. Rather than go back to the familiar Buzzz family for a new mid disc, I decided to try some of the wide variety of Innova mid range discs available. I had read some good stuff about the Skeeter, and I like the fact that it verges on being a fairway driver/mid range/putter hybrid. With this in mind, I ordered up a Star and DX Skeeter, both in the 170s. I also ordered several other models of mid range discs including Rock, Spider, Stingray, Coyote and Mako. They all arrived pretty much around the same time, I tried the Skeeter out first, and ever since I have pretty much been in love with it to the point where I haven't hardly even used any of the other Mids I picked up.

The thing I really like about the Skeeter is it is truly an all purpose disc. I have played a couple courses where I have shot almost all my shots with the same Skeeter, regardless of whether it was a drive, approach or putt. I'm a relatively newer player and am still working on perfecting my drive. The Skeeter is probably the most controllable disc I have found for driving with. It's not going to break any distance records, but you can put it on a line and get a predictable finish, and for newer players like myself, I find it to be very helpful for working on my form and showing me results when my release and form are on point. You can also use the Skeeter for putting. Personally, I still prefer my Dart for many putts, but the Skeeter works surprisingly well. It's also especially helpful for those putts where you don't really want to use a mid range, but might not necessarily want to use a putter either.

As far as mid range shots go, I really love the Skeeter. I have been getting more accurate approaches with it than just about any other disc I've used since I started playing disc golf. It has a nice straight flight pattern coupled with a predictable finish AND it has more distance than many other mids that I've tried which allows me to keep the fairway driver in the bag and use the Skeeter for my second shot off of a drive on a long hole or bad first shot. AND as I mentioned before, it's also great as a driver and if you're playing a course with a lot of shorter holes, you may finding yourself driving with the Skeeter quite a bit. I don't have the kind of range that some people do, but I feel pretty comfortable driving with a Skeeter on any holes that are 250 feet or less. More experienced players with better distance could probably easily get another 100 feet out of one.

I also had a DX Skeeter which I did not use nearly as much. I only played one round with it before losing it (that's another story), so I can't give an extremely accurate review of how it flies in comparison to a Star Skeeter, but from the limited amount of throws I did use it for, I found the flight pattern to be slightly less predictable than the Star Skeeter. I did just pick up another first run DX Skeeter from a nearby Play it Again Sports the other day and I plan to beat it in really good to get a better feel for how a DX, especially beat in DX Skeeter flies.

Last but not least, I have noticed that the Skeeter is available in weights as low as 150 grams, and I intend to pick one up at that weight and try it out. It might be useful for longer shots on calm days. I'm excited to see how it stacks against the heavier Star model I have now.

Overall, I highly recommend this disc. Especially great for new players, but I could definitely see it being worthy of a spot in just about anyone's bag.

Filed Under: Innova Mid-Ranges

Disc Golf Traveler Now Under New Management

April 25, 2011 By 1 Comment

I'm happy to announce the Disc Golf Traveler is under new management!

As a professional Internet marketer and an avid disc golfer myself, I was extremely excited at the opportunity to acquire this great website so that I can continue where the former owner left off - providing well written and easy to understand disc reviews, tutorials and news.

I want to thank the former owner, Ron C. for putting a ton of time and effort into making this site great. I wish him the best in all of his future endeavors.

As for the future of Disc Golf Traveler, I have a TON of plans for making this site the go-to spot for disc golf news and reviews.

First off, there will be a LOT more reviews coming your way. There are a ton of discs that still haven't been covered here, and I don't plan to rest until every major disc has been fully tested and reviewed.

Second, I plan to vastly expand the beginner's section, with the hope of eventually making it a full, comprehensive guide for beginners, consolidated within 1 page. This will include disc selection, definition of basic terms, beginner tutorials and more.

I plan on expanding the number of course reviews available. I live in Minnesota, where we are fortunate to have an ample variety of great disc golf courses. I plan on reviewing many of them myself, and I hope that users will contribute reviews of their own local courses to be published here. More on that soon.

Some of you might notice the forum is no longer available. I have decided to at least temporarily take the forum down. I may decide in the future to add a new, better forum. It depends on how things go. For now, I strongly recommend that everyone use the comments area on blog posts for discussion and I definitely encourage everyone to participate - or at least stop by and say hi!

Again, I just want to say thanks to the previous owner and thanks in advance to fans of this site for your continued support!

- Sam

 

Filed Under: News