Figuring out a discs flight characteristics beyond the numbers.

I have been kind of a student of learning what each of my discs is capable of. Basically I go by whether a disc is over to under stable and decide what I will be using it for. I understand how weight and speed effect a disc and try and master it from there.

 

Something happened a few monthes back while playing a round. On hole 13 at El Dorado in Long Beach, Ca, I hit an Ace with my Lat64 Opto Fuse. The ace was nice, and I enjoyed it like I should, but it was the distance (250') and the angle I had to put on the disc that got me thinking.

 

The Fuse is a turnover mid for sure. If I throw it straight about 15ft of the ground with about half power, it starts turning about 40ft out and does not fade back. If I throw the same apex and really put the power to it, it won't flip, but it will turn way to the right and gone. To hit the shot at El Do, I threw at half power and aimed about 40 feet left of the basket and threw it about 30ft up and let it turn into the basket. At that heigth it did fade a bit at the end and hit all chain.

 

This got me thinking, what other lines could I throw the fuse on. At full power on a 40ft+ apex, I get get the disc to turn about 50ft and get out to about 280ft. With a littl hyzer on the same apex i can coax about 300ft out of it. A little more hyzer and a little less heighth, I can get a straighter line, and so on and so on. Distance wasn't the only angles I was trying to achive, and I did find a bunch of other uses for it.

 

I am currently working on the same grouping of shots with my Star San Marino Roc. It is way more stable than the fuse, but not an overstable mid. I didn't think I could get a Roc out to 300+, but I've blown that away already, and on a usable angle of attack on fairly tight shots. It fades better at the end. It has a thinner rim so i can get a better snap on it. It skips better so I can bring it around from the right of objects and finish tighter to the pin.

 

I'm wondering if there are any stable drivers out there that people like me are working with that are getting similar results on. The Lat Havoc is working out some big flex shots for me, but I wish it where a little more stable so I didn't have to hit such a high apex to get it to come out of the turn at the end. Any thoughts out there?

[Christian Lamb]

Ahhhhh.... Id say the eagle in champ plastic and heavier weights would b just what u r looking for. For me it was one of those discs that I loved the first time I threw it. It will be a mainstay in my bag.
Also if u haven't thrown a whippet u might want to try it. Crazy sharp hyzer lines that gets me out of trouble a lot. I have a kc pro.

[Rudy S.]

I'm working on throwing an Eagle on a high (near eyeline) release with a slight anny on the release angle for a high flex shot to get over trees 30 feet tall or so.  If I throw it on a low release, I use a hyzer release angle for a lower flex shot.

[Rescue]

Good read as always. I'll start off by suggesting you look at the Sword or Halo if you are looking for a slightly more stable disc. I love my Sword, it is just effortless to get good "D"

Some food for thought, there is an article in discgolfreview. Not sure if it's by Blake? but another piece to your puzzle is not just power, but spin as well. Since I always consider them to be two diff. things and still think some discs or companies are better suited for one or the other, but that's another story :)

In the article he states that it is accually the amount of spin that you create that fights  and keeps a disc from turning over. So more spin the more it fights turning over and the less spin, but with to much power and you get a roller lol! I found this interesting and  wasn't sure if it made sence to me, but this may explain why my Vision turns so lte in it's flight? All this time I thought it might have something to do with the diameter (lrg).

This might be off the mark and you most likely have added this to your flight charting process, but I just thought I'd mention it.

[david swamp thing black]

whats a flex shot?

 

[Dookville]

A flex shot looks like a big "S". When you release the disc, you either tip the disc and make it curve right and the it "Flexes" back to the left when it slows down. Or....you throw it so hard that it overcomes the disigned flight numbers and it curves right and then fades back left when it slows down. (If you put enough heighth on the disc)

 

Theres more to play with in flexing a shot, but, maybe in a different thread.

[Dookville]

I hear you, there are discs that I strong arm rather than snap, and the other way around on other discs. I have some discs now that will take both a snap release and a smooth strong arm, which is the kind of disc that falls in the catergory of what I'm looking for. It's a good point you make. I've also found that some discs will accept a lower release slot where others only like a high arm slot release. Quite a few of the European players throw from a lower arm slot, which might explain why most of my Lat64 discs only work with a strong arm low release.

[Christian Lamb]

I'm wondering what everyone does about playing w a certain disc that you love and flies nicely? Of course that disc is going to break in and eventually fly quite differently and in my experience it flies even better than when I first started throwing it. So do u buy 2 or 4 of the same disc and alternate them to get similar wear....something I failed to do.... Or do you try to find different discs that will fly similarly to your old beat in work horse that is on its last leg.... As I am currently attempting?? I'm still stumbling blindly a bit through different discs that I think will fill the holes in my bag that were left from general wear and tear on my old favorites, but I'm having a blast learning a much wider variety of discs, speeds, weights and stability ratings.
I love this game! :)

[Jeff Nichols]

When I find a disc I LOVE, I always have 2-3 of that same disc in my bag. If I have become accustomed to the flight of a particular disc, this means I have probably fairly well beat it in and know its flight character pretty well. So, on my Must Have discs, I carry 2-3 in my bag so I have one that is beat in, and one a bit newer, and even one brand new on the discs I carry 3 of. This way I know what each disc is going to do, but I can adjust my stability needs accordingly with a disc I know well and trust. Just what I do. :)

[Dookville]

I figured out early on which plastics wear in slower than others and try and stick to that material. For instance, the Lat64 Opto plastic is very tough and stays with its originally purchased flight characteristics for a very long time. When I find an Opto disc that really works for me, then I'll buy two or three of them. Two if I just want the disc doubled up, and three if I want to vary it up a bit by going much lighter or heavier with the mold to get a small change in flight. I like the River and have it in 172g and 178g. The 178g is harder to turnover and takes a straighter line. At 172g it turns over and glides a long way and will take a very low line at lower power for tunnel shots. Conversely, if I want the same flight as the 172g but for more distance, I can really get on the 178g without worrying about flippage.

[Christian Lamb]

Thanks for the feedback guys!  I have  a couple discs that I have had from almost the day I started playing seriously....only about a year.... and those discs are very worn, but fly beautifully now.  They happen to be super overstable.... star max and champ xcal.... and they will probably stay in my bag for awhile yet to come.  I went ahead and purchased a new one of each this week and will begin working them in to my bag.  I definitely see the benefit though of finding more discs that their flight works for me right out of the box.  If I were to lose one of my go to discs I would probably be ok, but if I lost both my xcal and max I would definitely be screwed.  I would have nothing else that I was so familiar with and that I knew flew how I needed.  Just really thinking about it now since I'm playing a course this weekend w/ tons of big water shots.  :)

[Jim Coonradt]

I believe that all of these flight charts have very little to do with how a disc actually flies. There is simply no standard for testing or rating discs. If you would believe the flight charts a Katana would be more understable than a King yet my personal experience has shown that the opposite is true.

 

How many people have tried out the Legacy Rampage? Yet another disc with numbers that seem to imply that it might hyzer flip at high speed and then fade to overstable at low speed. There are a ton of discs out there right now that are 13 or 14 speed, have glide ratings of 5 or 6, turn ratings of -1 and a fade of 3 to 4. But I doubt that they all fly the same. They may be similar but probably not exactly the same. Different flavors for sure.

[Donny Olow]

It depends on who is throwing each Disc. What is Stable for some , maybe Understable for others.