Disc Weight

[basmith42]

I just got my first two "light" drivers and have noticed a huge distance advantage. I'm talking about a 148g TeeRex and 168g Wrait (vs 175g area for almost everything else).

How do you figure out what weight to get in discs? Is it really just trial and error?

[Marv Vega]

Yeah, alot of trial and error, it all comes down to personal preference. The lighter the disc of a particular mold, the less stable it will be and the further it will fly in theory. A heavier disc, again to a specific mold, will aso generally be more predictable (stable), harder to turn-over, and better into the wind.

[iDisc]

i have a 166g wraith and it's the way to go. also a 169g destroyer. i like medium weights.

and Marv said a heavier disc will handle wind better is true if you throw a 160 g wraith the same as a 175g wraith the 175 will do better but you can easily adjust your shot to throw it lower or higher depending on the wind

[discinator]

I think it really boils down to how hard you throw. I'm not talking about your distance but the amount of force you put on the disc. A lot of guys gravitate to those really overstable heavy discs when it is really more disc than they can throw. I'm one of those guys that really only needs a moderately stable mid 160's disc. Yeah you need to adjust for wind, but I like to throw as light as I can get away with without them flipping over too much. Right now I throw a 168 Teerex and and a 165 Wraith for the majority of my teeshots.

[Rbuzz9]

this may be a dumb question - but how do the disc makers make the lighter discs? are all the discs of a certain mold the exact size and the density of plastics is altered? or are the lighter ones slightly smaller? or is the nature of the process of making a disc not very six sigma and weights naturally fluxuate?


i think it's a lot of trial and error. Right now i'm in the phase of trying all sorts of low 170 g drivers as opposed to trying one type of driver in different weights.

i think it would be a decent experiment to take a disc you can throw fairly well in the 170 range and see if you can get away the same disc in the 160 range. Tho it's probably best to stick with something you can throw well. - I'm the experimental type

[garublador]

this may be a dumb question - but how do the disc makers make the lighter discs? are all the discs of a certain mold the exact size and the density of plastics is altered? or are the lighter ones slightly smaller? or is the nature of the process of making a disc not very six sigma and weights naturally fluxuate? My understanding is that weighing agents are used. So the density of the plastic is varied to get different weights.

As for figuring out which weights to throw, it's mostly trial and error. I'm guessing it's more trial and error than most people are willing to do, though.

[Rbuzz9]

i have an unhealthy obsession with buying discs. tho the $10-$15 pricetag is not too hard to swallow. First i was a forehand guy - then began buying different fast understable discs to get some decent distance on my backhand - then i was screwing around and threw an orc & a flash forehand way further than anything BH - so i am now on a forehand kick- want to see how much D i can get with true forehand discs. bought a destroyer last week - and an Xcal this weekend.

On average how many people are willing to keep buying discs? Theoretically i'd say getting good with a few discs is probably better for someone in the long run. But it probably has a lot to do with how serious you take the game. i think im a sucker for the latest/greatest thing and the fact that chix dig lenth haha

[DannyM]

It is DEFINATELY a lot of trial and error...sadly a lot more error in my case over the first few years. Everyone I knew, most of the discs at the table at tournaments were 175g stable discs, which my throwing style was just not able to get to work right. I finally learned about weights, and found for me that 161-165g discs work best for me in backhand, and that 171-173 work best for me forehand <except my destroyers which are 168g>. Yes, wind will have effects on your disc, and you may want to keep heavier, overstable discs in your bag for just that. If you have friends who throw similar discs in lighter weights than what you have, ask to try it. In the past year I've probably gained 50-70 ft in my drives by going down in weight, and actually gained in accuracy as well.

[Donovan]

I am of the same trial and error. I started out in the 170's and am now leaning on 168 for many of my discs. Although, I still like my Wraith at 175 and the Sidewinder around 171. So it is certainly a matter of trial and error. I think even the stability of your disc may be effected by weight choices. Meaning, I tend to like heavier understable discs. I would think is not the norm, but it is what is working for me at this point.

[discinator]

I find the same to be true Donovan. I think there is a tendency to overpower the lighter discs causing them to flip easier.

[DiscChainBasket18]

I bought a new 171gm champion Wraith a while back while on vacation. It worked great for me! It was an awesome disc! I subsequently lost it so I went in search of a new one. I could not find a disc in the same 171gm weight so I bought a 172gm. Close enough, right? A friend also gave me a new 170gm to try. I threw both of those but they were not as good as my original 171gm disc (way too overstable). I guessed "171gm" was my perfect weight Wraith. I finally found one (& it was even the same ice blue color which I figured would help too). But when I threw it it did not fly the same either. WTF? So I started looking at the disc 'weight' a little more closely. I bought a gram scale on eBay. When I weighed all my discs I found only a few that were right on the weight printed. Most were way under or over. I am amazed at the variances in what is printed on the disc to the actual weight of the disc. After weighing all the Wraiths I have collected I found out they were all heavier than what they said (about 173-176gm). This led me to believe that my original Wraith was probably a lighter weight disc. And these lighter weights work better for me at my current experience level. This is after reading all this time that beginning players should not use max weight discs.

[ERicJ]

I too have a home postage scale (3lb range) that I use to check all my discs. I've found the weights (mostly Innova) to be consistent. My scale consistently reads 0-2 grams below what's written on the discs, with the most common difference being 1g below. I buy a lot of used discs off ebay too. I mark all my discs with the weight from my own scale. Even if it's not exact (the scale has some +/- accuracy) it should give me a consistent reference across all my discs.

ERic

[sidewinding]

I just weighed 23 discs on a Pitney Bowes certified digital mail scale. Here are the results:

8 were same as marked
4 were 1 gram more than marked
1 was 1 gram less than marked
2 were 2 grams more than marked
5 were 3 grams more than marked
2 were 3 grams less than marked
1 was 5 grams less than marked

[Texconsinite]

Ive had a similar experience with weighing discs, usually the weigh is off by at least a gram.

Somehow I have a DX Wraith that is extremely beat in (should be lighter), yet still is 177g according to the scale at the pro shop. How is this even possible, when the max is 175?

[sidewinding]

I just weighed another 13 discs for a total of 36 on a Pitney Bowes certified digital mail scale. Here are the results:

12 were same as marked
7 were 1 gram more than marked
1 was 1 gram less than marked
5 were 2 grams more than marked
1 was 2 grams less than marked
6 were 3 grams more than marked
2 were 3 grams less than marked
1 was 4 grams more than marked
1 was 5 grams less than marked

In other words 33% were accurately marked.
56% were accurately marked within +/- 1 gram.
72% were accurately marked within +/- 2 grams.
28% were off by 3 grams or more.
<1% were off by 4 grams or more.

Anal retentive's beware!

[Rbuzz9]

are there disc weigh ins at tourneys? If there was an overweight disc like mentioned above - and there was no evidence of tampering - do the manufacturers ever get in trouble for making a disc heavier than it's legal weight?

[PhattD]

Take this for what it's worth.... At a recent tournament we were talking rules and legal disc weights. And according to the TD, as well as a few other PDGA members, If you have a disc that's over the max weight allowed for the mold as long as the manufacturer has marked it as below the max weight it is legal. But if you weigh it yourself and find out that it is over weight it is now an illegal disc. I'm not sure how this would affect anyone, cuz how would they know you weighed it unless you marked your disc with the new weight or something. But since you guys were talking about accurate disc weights I thought I'd let you know just so you don't get your melon peeled at a tourney by some overly anal rules lawyer.

[basmith42]

What's the legal max on disc, btw?

[Three Putt]

The MAX max is 200 g, but the max for each particular disc depends on the diameter. A 21.2 cm diameter disc like an Aviar is legal to 175 g's, while the 21.7 cm discs like the Roc are legal to 180g's. A Condor is legal to 200 g's, but I forget exactly how big the diameter is on that sucker.

[Three Putt]

OK, I had to check. A Condor has a diameter of 24.1 cm. Yikes!

The PDGA specs also now say the Aviar is legal to 176 g's, which is odd. I've never seen one marked heavier than 175 g's.

[CBass]

Thanks for the heads up. :)

[bikedoctor]

I just weighed another 13 discs for a total of 36 on a Pitney Bowes certified digital mail scale. Here are the results:

12 were same as marked
7 were 1 gram more than marked
1 was 1 gram less than marked
5 were 2 grams more than marked
1 was 2 grams less than marked
6 were 3 grams more than marked
2 were 3 grams less than marked
1 was 4 grams more than marked
1 was 5 grams less than marked

In other words 33% were accurately marked.
56% were accurately marked within +/- 1 gram.
72% were accurately marked within +/- 2 grams.
28% were off by 3 grams or more.
<1% were off by 4 grams or more.

Anal retentive's beware!

How many throws did each disc have on them? I would think that as beatness increases weight would decrease. But certainly not more than 1 or 2 grams huh?

[DiscChainBasket18]

Yah, my buddy said the discs lose weight because material gets ground off of the bottom rim when the disc hits & slides on the ground. Also he said nicks & cuts, chips etc will make it weigh less.

[Three Putt]

Dave at Gateway told me that plastic absorbs water, so if you make a disc in the middle of winter and weigh it and then somebody has it out throwing it during the humid summer it will be 2 or 3 grams heavier than when it was weighed just from absorbing the moisture in the air. A buddy of mine weighed a bunch a discs he fished out of the drink, and they were all way overweight. Evidently it can work in reverse, so a disc made in a humid shop in the summer will lose weight if it is sent somewhere dry.

Once you factor that in, it really seems impossible to nail down one number as the weight of the disc. All you can know is that a disc marked 167 will be between 164-170 grams depending on the weather...unless you send it swimming or you are one of those AR guys that soaks his discs to get them clean. In that case your disc will probably be at least 5 grams overweight.

[DiscChainBasket18]

Dave at Gateway told me that plastic absorbs water, so if you make a disc in the middle of winter and weigh it and then somebody has it out throwing it during the humid summer it will be 2 or 3 grams heavier than when it was weighed just from absorbing the moisture in the air. A buddy of mine weighed a bunch a discs he fished out of the drink, and they were all way overweight. Evidently it can work in reverse, so a disc made in a humid shop in the summer will lose weight if it is sent somewhere dry.

Once you factor that in, it really seems impossible to nail down one number as the weight of the disc. All you can know is that a disc marked 167 will be between 164-170 grams depending on the weather...unless you send it swimming or you are one of those AR guys that soaks his discs to get them clean. In that case your disc will probably be at least 5 grams overweight.
Tell Dave that I love my Wizard SS putters!

[Donovan]

With the moisture and weather effecting the weights of discs, this brings up a good point. Some of the weights will be mental. If you think you really like a disk at a certain weight it means you probably like the entire 2 to 3 grams weight shift in either direction, but you still mentally are happy at a certain weight. I just think that is interesting. I am not to the point where I can pick up a disc and guess it's weight better than 5 grams, but this thread sure has been interesting read...(big :rolleyes: sigh) ....again... thank you Three-Putt for your encyclopedic mind! :D I really do dig it bro! :cool:

[Lewis]

I bought a Wraith last year that weighed in the mid 160's. It was easily the longest disc in my bag, and I loved it. However, I lost it in the middle of this summer, and after going several months without a Wraith, I when out and bought a new tie-dyed beauty. The new one is 175g, and it's my shortest driver because I can't get it to turn over. It's worth keeping for the windy days and for the right kind of doglegged fairway, and I'm pleased with how consistent it is. However, it's not what I expected, so I'm planning to go shopping again soon for another 165ish Wraith to complement it.