What does it mean when people say the disc flips?

I see the term "flip" frequently on this forum and other disc golf sites. What does it mean when a disc "flips"?

[Lotto]

or they just say "GET STABLE DAMMIT GET STABLE!"

[Donny Olow]

Turns away from the body. For right handed players it turns right , for left handed players the disc turns left.

[Bruce Brakel]

I agree with Montell and Lotto about the proper definition of "flip" except their physics is backwards. Flip is what a disc does if it is too understable for how fast you threw it. Anhyzer is what you do with the angle of release. Either causes the disc to turn in the understable direction.

However, too much spin does not flip a disc. Insufficient spin flips a disc. Think gyroscope: the faster it spins the harder it is to move it off its axis. Same with a bycycle wheel -- that's why it is easier to balance when you are moving. My brother Jon throws really slow with lots of spin. He can throw an XL into a headwind. I throw faster and with less spin. I can flip a Predator in a headwind. I have trouble throwing anything into a headwind.

Players who throw "hard" often think they are getting a lot of spin, but if they are flipping the disc, they are getting velocity, or maybe they are just getting extra exercise.

[Jason Brown]

So to say "I like a flippy disc," is to say you like a disc that will fade to the right whether naturally or by your throw?

[Marty Cook]

former circus acts, they flip because thats how they get food!!!

[Bruce Brakel]

Jason Brown said:

So to say "I like a flippy disc," is to say you like a disc that will fade to the right whether naturally or by your throw?

When I throw flippy discs, usually I'm throwing them on a hyzer angle so they'll flip up to flat and get longer glide in the middle and end part of the flight. I throw my Rogues this way. But I also throw the Rogues flat on fairways that gently turn right to get that gentle right turn.

[Arthur Haverkamp]

It means that the disc actual flips. It just had enough of it all and flips out of his head.
It has nothing to do with what those guys say about flying patterns,nothing!
It flips out of his head which also looks like turning over and over(hence the flipping term).

So the next time you hit another tree during one round,Be aware.....your disc might FLIP.

[mothergoose]

thanks..... just got done cleaning beer spit out of my keyboard


eric beich said:

Mike has it all wrong. it's in reference to when we go eat pancakes and the cook tosses one to the table and it lands in the wrong plate.

the dude at the "wrong plate " eats it real quick, and we refer to that as a "flip".

its rare ,but angry-awesome when it happens.

[ROBEY the one.]

this is correct in my opinion. but i have heard many of folks call what mark described as a flip, flipping simple means it changes fade or glide direction mid flight or late in flight, if it is intentional from the start to end it is a anhyzer.


right?

MonTTeL #794 said:

I disagree with Mark a bit, I don't consider a flip & anhyzer the same thing. An anhyzer is when you turn a disc over on purpose by releasing it with angle.Flip occurs when the disc is too understable to handle snap given and it turns or "flips" over. Watch some casuals with their old DX plastic. They can start on a hyzer line then flip and turn over to finish, definately not an anhyzer. Anhyzers should have a distinct arc in thier flight with no S-curve.

[THE J.P.]

When a disc finishes the oppisite of how a stable disc flys it is flippy(usually beat up discs are flippy).....ie you throw right handed backhand and a stable disc will fall to the left when it slows down and finishes its flight.---- Flippy discs dont.....they just keep going to the right even at the end of flight.

[4U2NV]

Actually you are mistaken about gyroscopic motion. A gryoscope only is hard for a person to turn as it has an axis. Discs on the otherhand have no set axis to rotate on. Both arm speed and disc spin contribute to the flight of a disc. A person with less snap cannot get a good rotation on a disc, however a head wind accelerates the air force velocity over the disc surface thus making it "spin faster" A tail wind does the opposite "Spin slower" thus it is able to hold a flippy disc a greater distance without flipping. Your brother with all his arm speed and snap probably does not snap as had an XL on a windy day and lets the wind do the work for him rather then putting all he has into it. I have a fast arm speed and a large snap I can get a beast to fly straight in a head wind and a whippet-X to flip in a head wind. It has everything to due with body mechanics, arm spped, snap, angle of release, body torque (legs, hips, abs), follow through.

Disc flips means turns wrong way end of story.

Bruce Brakel said:

I agree with Montell and Lotto about the proper definition of "flip" except their physics is backwards. Flip is what a disc does if it is too understable for how fast you threw it. Anhyzer is what you do with the angle of release. Either causes the disc to turn in the understable direction.

However, too much spin does not flip a disc. Insufficient spin flips a disc. Think gyroscope: the faster it spins the harder it is to move it off its axis. Same with a bycycle wheel -- that's why it is easier to balance when you are moving. My brother Jon throws really slow with lots of spin. He can throw an XL into a headwind. I throw faster and with less spin. I can flip a Predator in a headwind. I have trouble throwing anything into a headwind.

Players who throw "hard" often think they are getting a lot of spin, but if they are flipping the disc, they are getting velocity, or maybe they are just getting extra exercise.

[Yeddie VanHalen]

Flip, flippy, flippier. It's like 'eric's' pancake story. The disc has a top & bottom side. After throwing, the disc will turn over abruptly & show you the bottom side. Older and/or beat up discs will generally be 'flippier' than new discs. A flippy disc will sometimes turn into a 'roller'.