Axiom Crave Review and One Disc Round

I recently found an Axiom Crave while playing at my home course. The owner of the disc lives about an hour from me, so it has been sitting in my car as part of my travelling “lost and found” for the next time we get semi-close to each other. Yesterday at Texas Army Trail Disc Golf Course, I saw the disc once again, and was reminded that I should give it a toss. On a whim I decided to play a few holes using only the Crave, just to see how it would fly. (Don’t worry Jeremy V., your disc is still safe and sound.)

The first throw I was not sure what to expect. As a fairway driver, I assumed that it would be fairly stable from the feel. (It did not look or feel like a Firebird, but it felt more beefy than a Polaris LS.) I put a little RHBH hyzer on it, in the presence of a R-L wind and it never really came out of the hyzer, and went wide left of my target. A quick approach, and putt later, I was off to the next tee.

The second shot I threw with a little less hyzer, and it was able to resist the wind nicely, once again setting up for par. By the third hole I felt like I had a handle on the RHBH shot. I recorded every shot taken with the Crave, and even attempted a few RHFH shots (even though I rarely forehand). After 10 holes, I was +1. Texas Army Trail is a “mostly flat, heavily wooded” course according to Disc Golf Course Review. The 10 holes that I played were picked specifically to force me to attempt different shots. The early holes were fairly wide open, with different wind conditions depending on the hole. Some holes were heavily favorable to RHBH hyzer shots, with a few that cater to the RHFH, or RHBH anhyzer approaches. I even threw in a silly hole (390′ tunnel shot with basket on the right of fairway, hole 7) that I normally hyzerflip. Spoiler alert: The hyzerflip was not successful in this round with the Crave.

After the round, I expected the flight chart to resemble a Teebird, Eagle, or Ascent, and was surprised to see that Marshall Street Disc Golf Flight Guide listed the disc as more understable than those three discs. I was not able to hyzerflip it during my field practice throws, as it would either hold the hyzer-line the whole time, or get caught in the wind and get blown off course.

Oddly enough, I was not able to get as much distance as I thought with it either. I am not a huge arm, but I can drive 400′ with some consistency. I was averaging 315′-320′ with the disc, while topping out at 350’+/-. I was throwing on a football field, and using UDisc to measure the shots. I average 340′-345′ with an Teebird, and Ascent, and have thrown both of those over 380′. I think if the wind was not as big of a factor I could have increased the distance with the Crave. The lack of distance, and inability to hyzerflip is what made me think of this as a more stable disc than is listed. The comparison between the Crave, Eagle, Teebird, and Ascent are as follows according to the inFlight Guide from Inbounds Disc Golf.

The over-mold feel was different, but nice. I am used to Vibram medium, and G-Star discs, so to hold a less gummy disc felt slick at first, but after a few throws the tactile perception was back to “normal.”

The Vibram Ascent (large number for you Vibram-o-holics that are interested) is my go to fairway driver, my first impression of the Crave was that it was closer to a small number Ascent, in that I felt like it was just a touch above stable. I liked the disc, how it flew, and the control that I felt I had with it. In the 10 holes I played with it, there was only 1 really “bad” feeling drive, and it was the very first throw I had with it. After dialing it in for RHBH, it felt like I could place the disc where I wanted it, and that it would fly as I anticipated that it would. As for my RHFH shots, I do not know what I am doing there, yet I was able to throw it mostly well (even if it was in the wrong direction, see hole 17 drive).

This was my first time playing a round like this and recording it for the purpose of a disc review. It was fun playing with a disc that I knew nothing about, and from a manufacturer that a lot of people like. I may not bag the Crave immediately, but it was certainly a fun disc to throw, and I felt that I could be consistent with it.