Innova Skeeter One Disc Round of Disc Golf

MrDarkHorse from Disc Golf Course Review proposed that I do a one disc challenge on the disc golf course with each every mold from my “lost and found” pile of unclaimed discs. He even went as far as to throw out the Innova Skeeter as my first disc to try. The best way to accomplish a crazy goal  like playing and recording a round with every disc mold, is to get started with one disc at a time. And so it begins…

The Innova Skeeter is described as a “straight flyer with a dependable fade. Great for putting, approaching, and short drives” on Innova’s website. It currently comes in four plastic types (Star, G-Star, R-Pro, and DX), and has a flight rating of: 5, 5, -1, 1.

As you can see in the video, I had a hard time throwing this disc off the tee for the first few holes. I thought that I would be able to hyzerflip it in order for it to go straight , and not turn over on me, but when doing my normal throw, with normal power, it would pop up nicely, but continue turning on me. After a few holes I was able to dial down my power/arm speed, in order to get it to go more or less where I wanted it to go. The Skeeter was very easy to use of upshots though, both with forehand and backhand.

Since I was having a few issues figuring out the amount of power of the tee box with the Skeeter, and since driving with my forehand is a weaker part of my game, I did not attempt to RHFH the Skeeter from the tee. RHBH anhyzer shots were another story though. I enjoy throwing anhyzers, and oddly enough, I tend to throw them fairly well. My midrange anhyzer disc in normal rounds is a Vibram Ibex (169M). The 166g Skeeter is much more understable that the Ibex, yet I was still able to get a few good anhyzer shots with it. If I were to bag the Skeeter, it would probably be used for backhand anhyzer shots around the 200′-240′ range, and the “get out of the woods” forehand recovery anhyzer shot when less than 150′ out.

I am also glad that I brought the backup 167g Skeeter to the round. I almost left it at home, but remembered the 3 precarious pond shots. Of course, when throwing the double mando, over the pond shot, I forgot that I needed to slow down on the arm speed, and let the disc glide through the air. Obviously, I turned the disc over, even from the hyzerflip angle, and it promptly met it’s demise in the middle of the pond. I am pretty sure that if I would have thrown it at 65-70% speed, that it would have cleared the water and been safe, but I guess we will never know. The 166g and the 167 felt pretty consistent in feel, as well as flight.

The DX plastic held up pretty well in the cold, damp weather. I mostly throw rubber discs from Vibram Disc Golf in medium firmness, but when it gets really wet or rainy outside, I will switch to soft Vibram rubber molds. The exception my normal routine, is the one DX mold that I carry in my bag for certain situations. Even though I carry a DX disc, I do not really use it, so it was a pleasant surprise to go the whole round with the DX Skeeter and feel like the grip worked out pretty well; numb, wet hands and all.

After the Innova Skeeter one disc round of disc golf, I feel that I would recommend the Skeeter to individuals that are unable to generate enough power and arm speed to throw more than about 250′. This is not to say the disc should only be used for women or children, or even just newbies to the sport of disc golf (though I am sure those are all good classifications of people that would probably do well with this disc). Mostly I saw that with the Skeeter, when I put too much speed on the disc, I could not get it to do what I wanted it to for normal “straight flyer” midrange shots with “dependable fade.” In situations where I needed to finesse the shot, or make a gentle lay up, the disc worked really well. In my particular situation, if I have a 300′ shot from the tee box though, and I want to use a midrange, then I would need one that could resist the power that I would need to generate to get the disc to travel that far. It is possible that a heavier Skeeter could provide the resistance that I am looking for, but in the Innova Skeeter One Disc Challenge, the disc was not able to impress me enough to make the bag.