Westside Discs Seer: Precision and finesse

Westsde Discs Seer: Precision and Finesse

Every March, one day in the disc golf world has me running to the mailbox – Billy Madison-style – like a happy idiot who has just awoken from a drunken slumber by the pool.

It’s not nudie magazine day, but for a plastic addict it’s pretty close.

It’s Westside Discs release day!

For the past couple seasons, the Finnish manufacturer has – with the exception of different plastic iterations and a mold for the Trilogy Challenge – released all of its new models at the beginning of March. And while this strategy isn’t necessarily a positive development for my wallet, it does give me something to look forward to. With monster glide and beautiful plastic, Westside always has something that catches my eye.

This year was no different, with the Seer, a new fairway driver, hitting the market with initial flight numbers of Speed 7, Glide 5, Turn -1 and Fade 2. Looking like it was going to be slightly shorter version of its Latitude cousin the Saint, or comparable to an Innova Eagle-L, I was excited to get it on the course to see what kind of line-shaper I had on my hands.

Numbers conundrum

From the first throw with the Seer – I picked up a 166-gram VIP to review – I could tell I was indeed going to be able to shape some nice lines. Just not the lines I was expecting.

With -1/2 turn and fade numbers, I was expecting a small curve in the early stages of the flight combined with a moderate fade at the end – a pretty standard flight.

What I got was a long, straight flight that flipped up from a hyzer and barely faded.

Hmmm.

On the next shot, I wanted to test the turn, so I threw the Seer on a pretty generous anhyzer angle. Rather than flexing out and still having some fade, it held the line all the way to the ground.

This thing wasn’t flying like the numbers that were printed on my disc. If anything, it was flying like the turn and fade numbers had been reversed.

Turns out, that’s exactly what happened.

Going to Westside’s website now finds the correct numbers for the Seer at -2 for turn and 1 for fade. Word around the interwebz is that the initial run had the numbers printed incorrectly and that subsequent iterations of the Seer will have digits that match its understable tendencies.

And, now that I could view the disc in the correct context, it was time to focus on using it as intended and – more importantly – reviewing it through the proper lens.

Driver distance in a midrange body



Thinking back to that first throw some more, one thing stood out aside from the Seer’s flight path: its distance. It absolutely bombed with very, very little effort.

This was an odd development for me because the Seer doesn’t feel like a particularly long disc when you’re holding it. In fact, its 1.8-centimeter rim (per PDGA specifications) actually feels much closer to the 1.6-centimeters of speed 6 drivers like the Innova Leopard or Cheetah. Its resemblance is closer to its midrange company-mate the Warship more than a driver like the Underworld or Hatchet.

As a result, not only does the disc require very little effort to get up to speed, but it just feels comfortable to hold. It imbues a sort of confidence, if you will, that gives me a mental edge when throwing it. The Seer gives me driver distance in a midrange body, and that kind of production value has proved invaluable on the course.

One thing I have had to concentrate on when throwing the Seer – which can be a positive or a negative, depending on your style of play – is the old adage that “smooth is far.”

One nearby hole, for instance, requires an uphill shot through a 30-or-so-foot wide gap. It isn’t a terribly long hole – maybe 275 feet – but the elevation makes a driver the easier call. The Seer flips to flat from a hyzer, rides the line and settles down right under the basket, all with the ease and control of a midrange disc.

It shines on low-ceiling shots, too. Before the Seer, I’d use a midrange and flirt with the canopy of our local pepper trees because I needed a shot to go straight with little fade. However, since mids generally need more height than drivers to do their thing, this approach isn’t always successful.

Now that the Seer is in the bag, it has taken the powered-up mid out of the equation on these shots, and provides enough control without being too understable. It’s a really useful mix.

Longer Comet?

One thing I have had to concentrate on when throwing the Seer – which can be a positive or a negative, depending on your style of play – is the old adage that “smooth is far.”

Indeed, when I back off the torque and make sure my release is clean, the Seer rewards me with gorgeous, long s-curve flights. The glide is tremendous, and there are times when it makes me question if I need any faster drivers in the bag.

If I am not concentrating on my form, though, it punishes me. Hard.

Maybe it is because my Seer is on the lightweight side, but it’s more likely that I have some form kinks to work out. I’ve noticed that if I roll my wrist, the Seer is rolling over like a dog whose soldier just came back from being deployed overseas.

Same goes for any lick of wind. Sure, the Seer can hold a five o’clock hyzer (or seven o’clock, if you speak right-handed), but otherwise it is going to turn over in a minor breeze.

These characteristics can be viewed in a positive fashion, though. I liken the Seer to the proverbial “longer Comet” I’ve seen players searching for on disc golf message boards. Often suggested as a disc to use for diagnosing form problems, Discraft’s Comet is a long, glidey, and – when thrown correctly – straight midrange that has been in production for almost 20 years. It’s a disc that can be used not only as a weapon on the course, but also as a tool in practice.

Because it is sensitive to form flaws but quite easy to throw for distance, I’d put the Seer in the Comet category as a double-edged sword. Treat it right, and it will do the same to you. Get sloppy, and pay the price. It’ll be a great disc to hand to a beginner out at the course, or a noodle arm who is throwing a warp speed driver and getting frustrated by the meathook fade.

Noodle Arm-Approved

The Seer may not be for bigger arms who will find it too understable, but for low-powered players it can be a key element to success. And, when given the ability to show a full flight path, it absolutely excels.

I was able to view this full flight recently on Hole 14 at Kit Carson Park. With a double mandatory off the tee, I played the Seer for the right-to-left wiggle, giving it some hyzer and clean snap. It flipped up, rode straight for a bit, then began to turn left through the mando. I was pleased with my safe line, but the Seer wanted more.

Holding that left turn for about another 100 feet, the Seer then began to slow down and fade to the right for the last bit of the flight. When all was said and done, I walked up to my lie and found it was roughly 330 feet off the tee.

Not bad for a speed 7 disc, right?

It’s shots like these that will keep this disc in my bag. When I am on, it is on, too. And it is a blast to see(r).

Sorry, I can’t resist a pun.

Steve Hill is a Southern California-based disc golfer who doesn’t throw very far. Follow him on Twitter @NoodleArmDG.