We all know we should warm up our arm before throwing a round of disc golf. Knowing how to warm up is another story. That’s the mission of today’s product spotlight, the FlighTowel.
What is a warm-up?
Simply put, a warm-up is the short time spent preparing for an athletic performance. Whether you stretch, jog, or throw discs prior to your round, a lightly resisted throwing motion provides some of the best benefit for your game and the health of your arm.
What is the FlighTowel?
Not all courses have a field to throw your discs, not to mention you can waste a lot of time and energy retrieving them. The FlighTowel serves as an easy tool to use prior to your round while still being lightweight and small enough to carry with you.
Using the towel is very simple. You’ll grip your custom selected “fob” just like a disc and reach back with the same throwing motion you plan to use during your round.
Selecting Your FlighTowel
Technically, the possibilities are endless. Each towel is custom made by sacrificing an actual disc golf disc (actually four towels are produced from one disc). Since these are all handmade, every time you visit the store you have a chance of seeing something new and different. At the time of writing, the highly sought Axiom watermelon edition disc is available.
I believe the biggest decision when selecting your fob is disc class. I prefer to warm-up with a wider rimmed driver, so I selected a Dynamic Discs Enforcer even though I don’t really throw that mold. Chris chose an Axiom Discs Crave because he prefers to warm-up with a fairway driver (please don’t judge us for not choosing a putter). After you figure out what mold and color of disc you want, you’ll be able to match it up with your desired towel color.
Also note that there are right and left handed fobs. If you prefer to throw side-arm, I’d recommend the opposite fob (a left handed fob for a righty sidearm).
FlighTowel Construction
At first glance, you’ll notice that this is a well made disc golf accessory. The precision-cut fob has been sanded to a buttery smooth edge. You’ll also notice the reinforced rivet holding the towel to the fob. Details like this make the price easily justified.
The towel itself is a soft microfiber waffle towel. On the fob’s opposing corner is a tight fold that has been sewn in place to create an air pocket for extra resistance. This might be my favorite feature. My warm-up has included “throwing” a towel (not snapping) for quite some time. I immediately noticed the extra resistance offered by the FlighTowel. The tight fold has the added benefit of preventing fraying as you might expect from a normal towel.
It’s also good to note that the fob and cord can be removed from the towel itself if you find the need to wash it.
Other Uses for the FlighTowel
Consider this scenario. You’re playing well in an A-Tier. You’ve birded the 12th hole and walking to the 13th teepad you notice a two group backup. You decide to sit and rest your legs for a while. Nearly 30 minutes later, it’s your turn to tee off and your break has been long enough to cause a loss of distance or accuracy on this drive. The FlighTowel comes in handy on the course to get your body and mind ready after a long break.
Maybe you’re like me and your “perfect” disc golf form leaves you mid-round. Sometimes I just need a few throws to remember what I’m doing. Usually I find it’s some sort of fatigue related issue and it takes me too long to remember to open my shoulders properly on by reach back or to follow through straight to the target. The FlighTowel has been very useful in these situations to help me diagnose my on-course issues.
Oh, and you can also use it to wipe off your disc…
FlighTowel in Action
Here is a quick video showing each of us warming up before a drive.
Potential FlightTowel Improvements
Overall we feel the flight towel is well designed and we’ve only noticed two small opportunities for improvement. First is that there is not a great way to attach it to the outside of your bag to use as a primary towel. If you’re not going to use your FlightTowel as an actual towel then you don’t even need to worry about this. Rodney keeps his in a bag pocket, but Chris likes to double his as his primary towel.
Second is that the length of the cord can cause a slight delay in the towel as you pull through. This is not a big deal since it’s only for warming up, but it can cause you to pull up slightly toward the end of your motion and decreasing the length of the cord could help. Notice in the video that Chris alleviates this simply by holding the towel at his throwing plain before pulling through. We both still use the FlightTowel and don’t feel that either of these are enough to not use one.
The size of the fob may be an issue for some disc golfers. We didn’t have any issues gripping the FlighTowel but another disc golfer couldn’t comfortably fit his hand on the fob.
Final Verdict on the FlighTowel
Absolutely recommended. The quality of materials is surpassed only by the quality of construction. Preparing my arm to throw is important to me and this provides an easy to transport tool to enhance my warm-up process. At $18-22 this is a no-brainer for my game.
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10 Comments
Zachary Teuscher
I warm-up by taking 20-30 putts from about 10 to 30 feet; and with my Flightowel!
Justin Hacker
My Warm Up is basic. Stretch, Twist, and get my core warm. Then I ususally take a small beach towel and do some warm up drives (FlighTowel would be better). Then if there is still time I prctice putting until the rest of my buddies show up. (J.Hacker – Gaylord DGC)
Darren
I use Disc Golf Strong dynamic stretching routine. Then practice putting. Also try to jog to retrieve warm up putter shots. Commented on both this and FB post.
Kevin Stacey
Great review! Before a serious event Dynamic. Stretches followed by playing 5-6 holes. Finish with 20-30 putts. A flight towel would be a great addition to my routine!
Francis Dimaano
So what are the advantages of a microfiber towel compared to a standard towel?
Rodney Lane
Great question Francis. Microfiber is far more effective than standard cotton when it comes to cleaning up debris. The synthetic (usually polyester) material has more available fibers to collect the dirt. Also, the synthetic material absorbs oils better than cotton. The moisture-wicking property of the towel makes it excellent for removing sweat from your brow but doesn’t work as well as cotton when trying to remove water from a plastic disc – it’ll just push the water around rather than fully absorbing it. That said, the waffle weave pattern on many microfiber towels allows it to absorb more fluid with the added advantage that you can wring out the water to make it nearly as effective as if it were a dry towel. This allows you to carry fewer towels for rain or early morning dew. Cotton towels are essentially useless after saturation. (Note: one of my brothers-in-law sells cleaning supplies for a living).
Francis Dimaano
Well said Rodney, Thank you for that very detailed explanation of their differences. I am sure your readers will find it helpful when it comes to deciding which is better to use.
Randy Featheran
As far as using a right- handed fob for rhbh throws and a left-handed fob for rhfh throws, I don’t see the point. I find that I can use my right-handed fob to do both. Could you please enlighten me on this??? Maybe I’m not seeing the whole picture. Unless, most disc golfers have big hands, then it would make sense to use a left-handed fob to warm up on the rhfh side.
Rodney Lane
I imagine you could make the right hand fob work for backhand and forehand. I found it to be a little tough to forehand with the fob but others may be comfortable doing so.
Andrew Johnston
Just got a lefty FlighTowel for righty forehand warm-up. The fob is too small to grip forehand even for my tiny hands.