The 3rd Disc

Written by Chesca Weddell.

If you’ve played Ultimate you will know about the Discraft Ultrastar (other disc manufacturers are available!). The is the official game disc - 175g of solid plastic that we know and love to chase on grass, beach and indoors.

If you’ve played some Ultimate with young kids you may also know about the Discraft JStar. This is a smaller, lighter and softer disc - it is perfect for Primary schools, it’s a bit like a size 3 football or size 4 basketball. It’s a really useful starter disc and is great for building confidence, initial skill development and safety. However, with a little experience kids can want to graduate up to the real disc and this is where I think we need to be talking about “the 3rd disc”.

It’s simply called the Ultrastar Soft - 175g and full-size but made from the soft, flexible plastic of the Jstar. It remains softer in cold weather, I’m pretty sure it hurts less if it hits you (especially in the face - although not tested) or if you mistime a catch, it will probably cause less damage if it hits something breakable, and it can definitely help build confidence. It has all the benefits of the JStar but has a much longer use-time as it isn’t a ‘baby disc’.

Of course the Soft disc will not fly exactly like the hard plastic game disc, especially over longer distances, and at some point all players will want to use an Ultrastar - but it seems the Soft could be used at different times for different reasons with young and new players. The only thing I would do is buy them in a different colour so they don’t get confused with the hard plastic discs in your kit bag!

ULTRASTAR SOFT

ULTRASTAR

JSTAR