Wizards ... Soft v. SS v. SSS

[Craig Smolin]

Need some "hands-on" feedback here ... Looking to buy a stack of new wizards, but as everyone knows, the characteristics of the wizard will change from run to run based on the plastic.

I've felt some of the new "Softs" and they're definitely firmer than I remember, but the Super Softs are bit too floppy than I'd like. Has anyone recently purchased (either in person or on-line) some Wizards that would fall somewhere between these two? And for a good price?

I know Red Beard suggested Sun King, just curious if anyone else has anything to offer.

-----

And no, I won't switch to Aviars or Challengers or Ions or something else.

[Matt Aubin]

my favorites of all time are SuperGlow. but if you're gonna go with regular S/SS/SSS, remember that there are 3 different versions of each. Your two best bets are to go to a shop that carries a ton of them and hand-pick, or call up a trusted shop who can do that for you.

Utopia always has a few dozen in stock to check out in person, and Marshall street too. MS will have a lot of x-outs if you want to get a stack cheap.

[Bryan Jordan]

I have uses the warlocks for a few years now, and the only thing that I have found out through the time is that the plastic is rarely ever the same. The only way you will know is to actually hold them in you hand. We even had a shipment at Woodland Valley that were labeled ss, but in fact, after making some phone calls to the company, we found that they were the sss discs labelled as ss.
But if you are ever in Maine, Woodland Vally has a pretty large selection of all of their putters, and in all the various softness choices.

[Eric Kevorkian]

Supersofts are too floppy?

I have a stack of 15, none of which are floppy at all.

[Jaxon Sheehy]

i'm surprised SS were floppy- they've always been "firm but grippy" for me. which is a little weird- my soft magnet turned into a floppy joke halfway through last summer, and is now my winter putter. i've actually got a small stack of grey organic wizards, and they are perfect (IMO)- you have to feel it to understand i guess, but it has a pretty firm plate, and a grippy feel.

unfortunately, when someone's trying to sell you a disc, they'll ride both sides of the fence on the description "OH YEAH, IT'S NOT FLOPPY, IT'S EXTRA GRIPPY AND HAS A NICE TACKINESS"- but i find it's true with the organic.

i'd also say the regular S soft ones are plenty firm- and the soft really only applies to the feel and not the flexibility.

[Eric Kevorkian]

i'm surprised SS were floppy- they've always been "firm but grippy" for me. which is a little weird- my soft magnet turned into a floppy joke halfway through last summer, and is now my winter putter. i've actually got a small stack of grey organic wizards, and they are perfect (IMO)- you have to feel it to understand i guess, but it has a pretty firm plate, and a grippy feel.

unfortunately, when someone's trying to sell you a disc, they'll ride both sides of the fence on the description "OH YEAH, IT'S NOT FLOPPY, IT'S EXTRA GRIPPY AND HAS A NICE TACKINESS"- but i find it's true with the organic.

i'd also say the regular S soft ones are plenty firm- and the soft really only applies to the feel and not the flexibility.

I used that line at a bar once...

Really though...i know what you mean. I like to describe my wizards as "chalky".

[Craig Smolin]

yup ... all well said ... one person's "floppy" is another person's "firm" ... same goes for the tactile feel of the plastic ... it's the ONLY thing I dislike about the wizard. Otherwise, I personally feel like it is the perfect putter ... at least for me. Always found the aviar to be a bit too tall, the challenger too shallow.

[Rob Underwood]

I read an article on the gateway site that explains their plastics.

Here it is....this should really help you nail it down.

http://gdstour.com/resources/disc-golf-articles/putter-flexibility/


On a side note I bought 4 SSS Green Organic Wizards to replace my SSS wizards that where beyond thrashed. And I think they feel great. Problem Is the tackiness seems to cause left side chain outs.

Another something worth looking at is an excellent writeup by blake on DGR forums found here

http://www.discgolfreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=17218&hilit=chain+behavior

[Mike Murphy]

I'm probably one of the few that still swears by Gateway's Medium plastic.

The old medium that is. The new "medium flex" isn't bad but has no give at all. The old medium plastic is quite grippy but takes a lot of hits before it changes at all.

[Craig Smolin]

some interesting info in that article, but as a long time wizard thrower (at least 5 years) I've seen several different runs of wizards come and go. So if no one can offer any specifics on a "good" run that they've personally come across, guess I'll be making a trip up to Marshall Street on Good Friday to hand-pick some good ones.

[Kevin Fanning]

You have to go down and check them out yourself. I personally don't see any reason to buy a SS or SSS. I think the regular soft is just fine if you get one from a grippy batch. My friend used to buy a lot of plastic in bulk from the guys who runs gateway (cant think of his name for the life of me). My buddy would always refer to him as a "mad scientist" and told me you could hardly ever get the same putter unless it was from the same batch. Obviously you can get close enough that it's not a big deal, but I think your best bet is always to go to the store and check them out because online orders for Gateway discs can turn out to be quite a let down if youre picky about grip/tackiness.

[Anthony Dembinski]

I just picked up my first Wizard SSS. Immediatly became my go to putter.

Only thing that was boggling my mind was how much the plastic varried. There were floppy bendy ones and firm ones and ones in the middle.

I ended up going with a middle ground one. Soft and grippy plastic mildly floppy.

[Keith Hughes]

I have two of the same wizards and they areboth different u must do hand on sort through all and grab what u like the molds actually can come out different in unique ways

[Anthony Dembinski]

Do Gateway SSS putters tend to warp easily? I just got mine this week and have only threw it about 30 times and my last outting i had a low putt that rimmed the basket and ever since then the disc has had a warp to it and wobbles in flight.

I didnt even throw it that hard.

Was very very saddened. I loved it

[Tom Fisher]

a little off topic but the same company non the less, but does anyone have first run sss voodoos they would want to sell?

[Jason Charpentier]

I just picked up my first Wizard SSS. Immediatly became my go to putter.

Only thing that was boggling my mind was how much the plastic varried. There were floppy bendy ones and firm ones and ones in the middle.

I ended up going with a middle ground one. Soft and grippy plastic mildly floppy.

Anthony, check out this link. It explains Gateways variations between S, SS, & SSS. It sounds like the variations are done on purpose. These variations allow you to get just the feel of disc you want but you have to hold them in your hand in order to tell which feels best to you.

http://gdstour.com/resources/disc-golf-articles/putter-flexibility/

[Anthony Dembinski]

I just picked up my first Wizard SSS. Immediatly became my go to putter.

Only thing that was boggling my mind was how much the plastic varried. There were floppy bendy ones and firm ones and ones in the middle.

I ended up going with a middle ground one. Soft and grippy plastic mildly floppy.

Anthony, check out this link. It explains Gateways variations between S, SS, & SSS. It sounds like the variations are done on purpose. These variations allow you to get just the feel of disc you want but you have to hold them in your hand in order to tell which feels best to you.

http://gdstour.com/resources/disc-golf-articles/putter-flexibility/

Thanks, I do know its done on purpose from batch to batch. I had read that before. Still was mind boggling. i didnt know what i liked better lol

[Mike Murphy]

Medium Wizards are the best, IMO.

[Bobby Direnzo]

Medium Wizards are the best, IMO.

Dont listen to him, he cant putt.

[Marco Iannello]

Medium Wizards are the best, IMO.

Dont listen to him, he cant putt.

true story