Wind... How do you adapt to it?

[whentherainscome]

I see people talking about their ridic. o/s discs, but that's such a tiny part of the wind puzzle.

I agree that the best thing is to not stay inside because it's "too windy to disc." Learn your discs in the wind so you can anticipate the change in flight. You may not have to adjust all that much. I will swap a couple discs out if it's windy, making sure I have a Firebird and maybe swap one of my Buzzzes for a Pain, but I keep all my understable stuff too.

For those strong left to right winds, I throw a Teebird flat, or one of my more stable Rivers. Unless its really crazy out there I should end up straight out or a touch left of my line when it lands.

For headwind putts I carry a glideless putter. Used to be a floppy old Pro Rhyno, but I switched to a Zero Sinus recently, has good stability, low glide and great grip for sticking to the chains or the ground where it lands. Lots of spin, but let up on the gas a little.

For tailwind putts I use my Pures, but I aim high and put 'em nose up.

I think my favorite wind is a tailwind where I can rip on my 161g Star Sidewinder and know it's going to fly nice and stable and FAR.

[McFer]

Great article on wind:

http://www.discraft.com/res_wind06_p1.html

[Emoney]

WindBreaker /thread

[KenTyburski]

For me, it's often about "feel" because I generally know my discs well. In general, I feel confident throwing discs like a Firebird, Hornet, xXx, Trident, and Zone whether there is wind or not, and regardless of wind strength or direction. I've learned to adjust the trajectory to compensate for the prevailing wind. But in other cases, it's not so simple!

For example, this past weekend, I was playing in a tournament where 4-6 holes were strongly affected by wind coming off of lakes or ponds; I hadn't played the course before. I was warming up for the second round with someone I knew. Hole #10 is an open hole with a water carry of about 225' to the front edge; the hole plays 285' total. He said, "Just wait until that headwind comes off the lake here this afternoon." I said, "I'm going to throw Buzzz, probably." He thought I was crazy, because in his experience, he was sure I would flip my Z Glo Buzzz into the lake, and he suggested that I might even go more overstable, to a Hornet or maybe even a Firebird. But I know the flight of that Buzzz so well, I released with a little hyzer, popped it out there, and that disc went dead straight and resulted in a CTP about 2 feet away from the pin. I *knew* I was going to nail that shot with that Buzzz, even if would be a terrible disc choice for someone else.

On the next hole, with a slight right to left headwind but at a longer distance, I decided on a Firebird for a 300' spike hyzer. I just released it out wider than usual, knowing that the crosswind would catch under the flight plate and push the disc left harder on the fade. Ended up about 20-25 feet short, but with a putt. I probably could have thrown the Buzzz again. Or a Hornet, or even a Teebird. But I just FELT that the Firebird was the right disc.

Much of it is knowing your discs. Like another poster said - go outside and throw in the wind. Or the rain. Or the cold. Practice with a variety of discs on flat, hyzer, and anhyzer releases (even thumber or tomahawks if that interests you) in all types of conditions - calm, windy, wet, dry, snow, hot, humid, cold - until you've essentially thrown almost every shot possible in almost every possible condition. Then you'll know what you CAN and probably SHOULD do when you encounter a similar situation in a round.

[little oz]

Originally Posted by McFer

Great article on wind:

http://www.discraft.com/res_wind06_p1.html

good stuff, all. Thank you

[HeavyCritters]

Originally Posted by Disc Fiend

^^This. Good info right here. throwing into a headwind, I will throw something more overstable or disc up. In a tailwind, more understable. With crosswinds(and tailwinds too), just play the wind and use it to your advantage.

^^^ Yessir.

Noodle arm here. I usually throw a 172g Viking or Valk for my drives. If I have a headwind, I'll bust out my 170g Wraith and watch that baby flip up and fly straight like a champ.

[eegor]

Originally Posted by Snailpowered

Thanks for the repleys, I may have not expressed my question completely correct. I was wondering what are your "goto" discs and how you throw them in different wind conditions and what are your least and most favorite conditions when it comes to do with wind? I accually have had my best rounds in moderately windy conditions. So im looking to see if what your thought process is when it comes to wind is the same mind set that I have.

I use all of my discs on windy days. I will drive with Halos, Drones and approach and putt with VPs more when it's windy. I'm more extreme on choices - overstable against, understable with -- than normal. Fast discs against, slow discs with --etc.

There are so many variables that the choices are almost endless to get the effect you're looking for.

[scarpfish]

Originally Posted by GoodDriveBadPutt

General rule employed by a ton of golfers - never show the underside of your disc to the wind.

^ Testify. Even if you want the disc to go that direction, you might get more than what you bargained for, often leaving you with a headwind cross/headwind situation on the next shot.

[plastic cannon]

Originally Posted by eegor

Fast discs against, slow discs with --etc.

This is what I do. I'll almost always throw a fairway speed disc that is less than overstable in a tailwind. I noticed I get a undesirably hard fade out of anything high speed in a tail wind when it slows down.

[Smigles]

Originally Posted by Grungedude42

I deal with the wind with a Predator. What wind?

Pretty much my approach too