I have always been a huge fan of the Elite-X Xpress. It is the Discraft Sidewinder but actually shows the turn off the shelf unlike a lot of plastics for the Sidewinder. A fantastic beginner disc and a good neutral to understable control driver for those with lesser arm speeds.

So I was absolutely thrilled when Ledgestone decided to do a run in ESP. With the Xpress functionally being out of production and elite X seemingly a thing of the past, I was excited to pick up some of these great drivers in a premium plastic.

I did so and at first, I was actually disappointed. I even shelved them after a few rounds and sold off some of the backups I had bought. It felt like Discraft had developed a case of the Innovas... a premium plastic version of a disc that flew completely different. While I expect premium plastic to be more overstable, these only showed a hint of turn. And for an understable control driver, that is not exactly what I was looking for.

However, the Xpress stayed in the back of my head for some reason. After a few more weeks, I decided to try the ESP Tour Series Xpress again. As I put them through the paces, still a tiny bit irked about the reduced turn, I noticed something. These discs went STRAIGHT.

While they had a tiny bit more fade than I was used to out of the Elite-X version, it was not a lot more. Maybe these did not have the premium plastic curse, wear good understable base plastic discs just turn into glideless, dumpy bricks. As I tested them more and brought them back out to the course, I realized that the ESP Xpress was still a great control driver.

The ESP Xpress is a great neutral to stable control driver. I think the 8 speed is right on. I would say the glide is 4, it does not carry quite like the Elite X do. As stated, it turns much less and I would rate that at -1. The fade I am going to keep as a 1. It finishes but it does not dump out or fade out, it penetrates gently to the left for a right hand backhand throw. 

Cheating Lefty's review of the Discraft Xpress!