Okay. We need to talk.
Sit down. This is an intervention. I’m not even kidding \u2014 I’ve had this conversation so many times at this point that I’m just gonna write it all out so I can send people a link instead of repeating myself at Milo every other Tuesday.
You bought a Destroyer. I know you did. Everyone buys a Destroyer. McBeth throws one, the guy at the shop said it was good, your buddy who’s been playing six months longer than you swears by his. So you bought one. And now you’re wondering why all your drives fade out hard and dump into the rough like 200 feet away while the disc golf YouTube guys are crushing theirs 500 feet dead straight.
Here’s the thing and I’m not gonna sugarcoat it: that Destroyer is almost certainly too much disc for you. It’s hurting your game. It’s probably been hurting your game for months. And I say this with love because I spent like a full year doing the exact same thing before someone finally told me.
So What’s the Actual Problem
The Destroyer is a 12 speed driver. You probably knew that. What you maybe didn’t know \u2014 what I definitely didn’t know when I started \u2014 is that speed ratings aren’t just like, a performance stat. They’re more like a requirement.
A 12 speed disc needs to be thrown at a certain velocity to actually fly the way it’s supposed to. We’re talking like 55-60 mph release speed. Which translates to somewhere around 350-400 feet of distance, maybe more.
Most rec players throw what, 200-280 feet? I’m being generous here.
So when you throw a Destroyer at 45 mph instead of 55, it doesn’t fly like a Destroyer. It doesn’t do the nice gentle turn and then fade back. It just. Fades. Immediately. The disc is fighting you the entire time because you’re not giving it what it needs to actually do its job.
And then \u2014 this is the part that kills me \u2014 people think the solution is to throw HARDER. So they muscle up and their form falls apart and now they’re throwing even worse than before. I’ve watched this happen in real time. It’s painful.
The Cycle of Sadness (I Made This Up But It’s Real)
Here’s how it usually goes:
Step one, you buy the Destroyer. Step two, you throw it, it fades hard left immediately, you’re confused. Step three, you think okay I need to throw harder, so you do, except now your form is garbage because you’re muscling it. Step four, someone tells you to try releasing on anhyzer to compensate for the fade. So you do that. Except anhyzer plus overstable plus not enough arm speed equals… the disc still dumps left, it just starts further right before it does.
Step five, you lose the disc in the woods or someone’s yard. Step six, you buy another Destroyer.
I wish I was making this up.
Brendan’s Backyard Adventure
Quick story. My husband Brendan \u2014 who throws forehand only, and yes I know, we’ve been together eleven years and I still can’t get him to learn a backhand, it’s a whole thing \u2014 anyway, he asked to try my Destroyer once.
Once.
His forehand maxes out around 280, maybe 300 on a good day. Which is fine! Respectable! But it is not Destroyer distance.
He threw it. It went maybe 220, hooked hard, and landed in someone’s backyard three fairways over. We spent fifteen minutes looking for it while this very confused older couple watched us from their patio. I think they thought we were looking for a lost dog or something.
Iconic honestly. But also like \u2014 exactly my point. The disc does not care that Paul McBeth throws it. The disc responds to physics.
What You Should Actually Throw
Okay so if not a Destroyer, then what. Fair question.
If you’re throwing 200-250 feet (no shame, most people start here): Innova Leopard. Latitude 64 Diamond. Something understable that actually wants to fly at your arm speed. The Leopard is like 30 years old at this point and there’s a reason it’s still everywhere \u2014 it works.
250-300 feet: Valkyrie, Leopard3, River. The River has stupid amounts of glide, feels like it never wants to come down. I bag one specifically for when I need something to just… float.
300-350 feet: now we’re talking. Tern, Hades, Wraith. The Wraith is basically a Destroyer that’s actually throwable for normal humans. I use it as my main distance driver and I’m 932 rated so like. It’s fine. You’ll be fine.
350-400+ feet: okay yeah maybe now a Destroyer makes sense. Maybe. But if you’re already throwing that far you probably don’t need me to tell you what discs to use.
But What About Headwinds Though
Someone always asks this. “But Jake, I need something overstable for when it’s windy.”
Sure. Valid. Except \u2014 a disc you can actually throw correctly in a headwind beats a disc you can’t throw correctly in any conditions. Like, a well-thrown Teebird into wind is gonna be way more useful than a Destroyer you’re fighting the whole time.
And if you want an overstable utility disc, you don’t need a Destroyer specifically. Firebird. Felon. Raptor. These are all overstable but they’re more forgiving because they’re slower. You can get the headwind-fighting stability without needing 400 feet of arm speed to make them work.
The Part Nobody Wants to Hear
Look, I’m just gonna say it: a lot of this is ego stuff.
Throwing the same disc as touring pros feels cool. Having a bag full of high speed drivers feels legit. Telling people you throw a Destroyer sounds better than telling people you throw a Leopard, which is like… admitting you’re a beginner or whatever.
Get over it though? Seriously. Simon Lizotte \u2014 one of the biggest arms in the sport \u2014 famously throws super flippy discs that most people would call “beginner discs.” Calvin Heimburg doesn’t even use a Destroyer as his main driver. These guys throw what works for them, not what looks impressive in their bag.
Throw what actually flies right at your arm speed. That’s it. That’s the whole secret.
I Throw One Too
Full disclosure because I’m not trying to be a hypocrite here: I do have a Destroyer in my bag. One. Star plastic.
I throw it maybe twice a round. Specific headwind situations, the occasional forehand roller, utility stuff. It’s not my main anything.
My workhorse driver is a Wraith. Has been for like three years. It does what I want, it flies at my speed, I trust it. The Destroyer sits in there for specific situations where I actually need that much stability, which is not that often.
Okay I’m Done
I can’t make you put the Destroyer away. I can only tell you what I’ve seen \u2014 which is a lot of people spinning their wheels with discs that aren’t helping them, sometimes for years, because they don’t want to “go backwards” to something more appropriate for their game.
It’s not going backwards. It’s throwing what works. There’s a difference.
Put the Destroyer in the closet for six months. Grab a Leopard3 or a Valkyrie or whatever. Actually learn to throw. Watch your scores drop. And then eventually, when you’re actually ready \u2014 if you’re actually ready \u2014 the Destroyer will still be there.
End of intervention. Love you. Go practice.