Latitude 64 Missilen Review and One Disc Round

Earlier this week I played a one disc round with the Axiom Crave and really enjoyed the experience. While at a conference for work this weekend, I decided to try it out again with another disc that I had never thrown before. Rummaging through my lost and found bucket that stays in the trunk of my car, I came across a Latitude 64 Missilen.

The Missilen was PDGA approved in May 2014, and has intrigued me since I found it due to the disc’s hexagon shaped cavities on the top of the flight plate and on the bottom of the rim. It has a huge rim and is pretty overstable. The course I tested the disc on was Bill Allen Memorial Park Disc Golf Course in Frisco, Texas. Disc Golf Course Review describes the park is as “moderately hilly and moderately wooded.”  The first few holes were pretty short, but provided opportunities to try RHBH and RHFH skip shots. This disc can skip a mile. It was really fun to watch. I predominantly throw discs from Vibram, which are known for not being very skip-able, so it was a fun thing to see.

We did not have time to play all of the holes due to our lunch schedule, but we tried picking holes that would allow for a variety of different shots. The hardest hole for me was hole 3, 167′ tunnel shot that requires you to throw over the creek. This eliminated the roller, and traditional RHBH/RHFH since I couldn’t throw the disc hard enough to stay straight through the tunnel, and still keep it under 170′. I attempted to throw a thumber, but had a really hard time getting my hands to grasp the wide rim for that particular shot. Rewatching the video, I think a different shot may have been a better choice, though I am still not sure which shot I would use with the Missilen in that situation.

The disc is fast, and it loves diving to the stable side of the throw. One attempted RHBH flex shot resulted a quick compensation to the left that quickly ended up hitting trees, instead of anhyzering past them before flexing out of it. I am not sure that I have the arm speed to pull off an effective flex shot for distance with this particular disc. The second time I attempted a flex shot, the howling wind was coming from left to right, and the disc ended up being pushed as if I threw a true anhyzer. I was surprised that the wind was able to push it since it seemed so stable throughout the previous holes.

Putting with the Missilen was comical to say the least. I have putted with my share of overstable putters, but this thing is silly at low speeds. Multiple putts looked like they were on the way to the chains, before suddenly dive bombing away from the basket. I know the Missilen is not a putter, and probably should not be used as one, but in true One Disc Round fashion, it was entertaining to try and figure out how to make the disc do what I wanted it to.

I really felt comfortable with the Missilen when I was throwing RHFH. I do not forehand very often from the tee box. In fact, most of my RHFH shots in traditional rounds come when I approach with my Ridge (putter) out of necessity. The wide rim, and stability felt good when I tried powering through a RHFH shot off the tee box. Even though one of my drives went into the ground due to my disc angle, for the most part, the RHFH shots I attempted worked pretty well. This was also good to see since I am not an effective RHFHer.

I could not tell a big difference between gripping the smooth section of the disc, or the hexagon portion when throwing the disc. The hexagon’s collected a lot of mud though, and I had to send plenty of time with a scrub brush after the round in order to clean the disc up. I normally just clean my discs with a towel after each toss, so it was semi-messing with my disc golf OCD to have a dirty disc. It may not be a big deal to everyone, but it bothered me that I kept seeing mud in the crevices throughout the round (and not bringing a towel in the round).

All in all, the round was fun, so it was a success. The disc is probably not the best thing for weak arms, or newer players. I did not have a chance to field test different shots due to my time constraints, but I doubt I could throw this disc over 350′. That is not to say that it does not have a purpose though. The skip shots under 250′ were amazing. It also gave me more confidence to attempt forehand shots since I knew I could not turn the disc over with my struggling forehand OAT (poor form). The Missilen is not as overstable as Latitude 64’s Stiletto, but still has plenty of beef to it. If Innova made a speed 14 or 15 Firebird, it would be similar to the Missilen from a flight standpoint. It certainly felt like a disc designed for windy conditions, and big arms.