A New Era Begins - The Petra
Since we opened up in April of 2021 it was always a goal of ours to have our own line of discs. Heck, even before we opened we hoped to one day be where we are now. On December 18, 2023, we will be launching our first disc in our VERY OWN lineup - the Petra!
How we got here is pretty straight forward, even if it did take some time. First, since we didn't know anything about how disc molds are made, nor the cost of the raw materials involved, nor the process of cooling discs to control mold consistency, we made the easy decision to go with someone who already does all of this well. And the best that we know of are the fine folks at MVP. They agreed to work with us on finalizing mold selection and let us piggyback on the excellent plastic options that they have. And we couldn't be happier with the final product.
Next came what we were going to call it, and what the flight numbers are going to be. (We still can't believe the PDGA left that latter point up to us. Yikes!) Since both couples that started Yeet Street Discs are people of faith, Marc came up with a naming convention using Greek words for names ascribed to God. Thus, Petra - which means "Rock" (as in Rock of Ages, my Rock and fortress, etc.) came to be. It also didn't hurt that Petra is also one of Marc and Andy's favorite bands.
As for flight numbers, we asked several experienced players who had better arms than ours to give some prototypes of the Petra a spin to let us know what they think. Since the disc is very much a midrange, the Speed was pegged at a 5, and all of the testers agreed that it had plenty of glide. So, Glide was given a 5 as well. As for the turn and fade, well, that's still up in the air! Out the door we're going with -1 & 1 but that could change. Even though Marc was a mathematics major, he wasn't wild about going with fractions. But, it seemed to us and through the feedback that we were getting that it was a full -1 on the turn nor a full +1 on the fade, even though both were present. We're going to be doing more testing before we print the flight numbers on the next run of the disc.
The stamp on the disc was designed by the boyfriend of Marc's daughter, Ethan Blaney, who used to be a graphic designer at Epic Games. We couldn't have been more pleased with what he came up with. So much so that we have already requested that he be the artist for all of our disc stamps moving forward!
We guess the next question is "What's next?" Well, we hope to produce two new molds a year. Up next will be a fairway driver, a Destroyer-like distance driver, and a putter. And, hopefully, a useful 1-speed approach disc.