MPH and disc selection

[peabody]

Seems to me that speed is more important than a lot of factors when it comes to headwinds/tailwinds ect.
If one knew their disc speeds (have a cop radar your throws) and you had one of these;

then you could judge more precisely which disc to use in any given situation.
Then we need an accurate disc selection chart that shows exactly what a given disc will do at any given speed(MPH).

Lets say I throw at 35 MPH and am throwing into a 6 MPH headwind. Therefore I need a 41 MPH stability disc(stays flat for the most part and doesn't turn and burn) then with a tailwind of 15 MPH I would need a disc that stays flat at 20MPH.

Am I just pi$$ing into the wind here?

 

[Vorpaljesus]

Yeah. Doesn't take into account amount if spin or nose and wing angles. People will still need to know their discs by just throwing then in windy conditions to know for sure what they do. Everyone's throw is different

 

[Colt]

Your logic is flawed. I throw a understabe and overstable disc at the same speed, it's the design/aerodynamics that fights a headwind or glides with a tailwind

 

[Halcón]

Just throw your plastic, man.

 

[ohtobediscing]

I have TWO of those[Kestrels, for wildfire work] and have never considered bringing them to the course. My buddies' adverse weather decisions go like this:

Is that a strong headwind?
Better throw a [insert favorite meathook here].

 

[New013]

your mind is more powerful than a speedometer

 

[peabody]

Your logic is flawed. I throw a understabe and overstable disc at the same speed, it's the design/aerodynamics that fights a headwind or glides with a tailwind

Yea I throw the same speed too but you might be throwing 20 MPH faster than me and your overstable disc is still way too overstable for my speed.
My meathook disc is probably just right for you in a no wind situation.
It would be so much easier if I had my discs marked with MPH instead of stupid stability ratings.
Well as Gilda Radner says: "Never Mind"

 

[Kodachrome]

vibram at least provides what a disc will do at a given speed. i like it a lot and i think it gives a more accurate estimate of how a disc will fly for someone.

however, pulling it apart like this is micromanaging IMO. i can't see what advantage you would gain over simply knowing which disc to throw. i don't think this helps you figure out which disc to throw any more than stability ratings - unless you know what it will do at a faster speed, such as vibram's ratings.

i think what you are searching for is what vibram does. if you know what a disc will do at a given speed and you know how fast you throw and how fast the wind is moving, blah blah blah 7th grade math word problems.

 

[ohtobediscing]

Problem 1
You get on a train in LA at 10:15 AM to go to Worlds in Portland, which start at 7:30 AM 3 days from now. The train has an average speed of 53 mph, but unfortunately you only have your midranges and putters, as you expected to purchase drivers at Next Adventure. Suddenly you realize you've run out of Cheezy Poofs, and the cafe only has Bud left, so you wah, wah wah wahhhhh.....

 

[rocthecourse]

then you could judge more precisely which disc to use in any given situation.
Then we need an accurate disc selection chart that shows exactly what a given disc will do at any given speed(MPH).

You could make your own chart, just take your anemometer with you when you do field work. Since it sound like you want stable flights just record which disc was the most stable(straight) and how fast the wind was. Repeat at a bunch of different wind speeds and you will have a list of which discs work best at different wind speeds (for you.)

 

[ru4por]

Seriously, you bust this out on Sunday morning? My head already hurts. Can't we just talk about dogs on the course and stuff?

 

[walker139]

You can't substitute experience. As Nike would say... Just Do It. *swoosh sign*copyright logo*

 

[peabody]

You could make your own chart, just take your anemometer with you when you do field work. Since it sound like you want stable flights just record which disc was the most stable(straight) and how fast the wind was. Repeat at a bunch of different wind speeds and you will have a list of which discs work best at different wind speeds (for you.)

Yea that's kinda what I was aiming for on responses. Just do it.
I know what my discs will do but if I wanted to buy a similar disc that might be between the ones I already own I guess I have to go with Vibram!
I have always heard " don't use that Destroyer cause you can't get it up to speed" I still would love to know exactly what the speed(mph) is.:wall:

 

[peabody]

Like this:
165 Destroyer -----------------45 mph
175 Destroyer------------------48 MPH
175 Max------------------------53 mph
168 T-bird----------------------29 mph

 

[DiscinFiend]

Just throw your plastic, man.

:thmbup: And I thought I take disc golf to seriously

 

[rocthecourse]

Yea that's kinda what I was aiming for on responses. Just do it.
I know what my discs will do but if I wanted to buy a similar disc that might be between the ones I already own I guess I have to go with Vibram!
I have always heard " don't use that Destroyer cause you can't get it up to speed" I still would love to know exactly what the speed(mph) is.:wall:

Putting MPH on a disc is a hard thing since most of us don't have access to a radar gun. That's why how far you throw often gets brought up when discussing not getting discs "up to speed."

I would guess that a Destroyer need ~45 mph+. But for me it's just easier to say if you can throw a Teebird 350'+ you should be able to get a Destroyer up to speed(though on the low side.) Also, if you can't throw a Teebird over 280' you aren't getting it* up to speed(assuming discs are fairly new and you not at high altitude.)

*the Teebird.

Hopefully that makes sense.

 

[peabody]

Putting MPH on a disc is a hard thing since most of us don't have access to a radar gun. That's why how far you throw often gets brought up when discussing not getting discs "up to speed."

I would guess that a Destroyer need ~45 mph+. But for me it's just easier to say if you can throw a Teebird 350'+ you should be able to get a Destroyer up to speed(though on the low side.) Also, if you can't throw a Teebird over 280' you aren't getting it* up to speed(assuming discs are fairly new and you not at high altitude.)

*the Teebird.

Hopefully that makes sense.

Yep I guess it's just a case of "Just know your discs". Practice in all conditions and have varying levels of stability in your discs.
Just thought there might be a lazy way out.

 

[Martin Dewgarita]

I don't throw all discs the same speed, the only time I threw at a radar gun, blizzard was an easy 10mph faster.

If that affects this discussion, I don't know.

 

[clard]

Most things can be practiced and you can improve on them when you get good feedback on how well you are estimating things. For example, I started actively trying to guess how far away from the basket I am when I'm practicing in the field, and then looking at the 300ft tape measure I have laid out on the ground after I made my guess. After doing this for a while I have gotten much better at guessing what the approximate distance of a basket is just by looking at it. While for the most part I could always just look and throw and be pretty close, this exercise has made my approaches more accurate.

I say all of this because I think the same kind of technique could be applied to wind speed, and could make someone a better wind player. The process being: go out to the practice field and guess what the wind speed is (I couldn't tell you how fast the wind is other than "breeze", "windy", and "hurricane") and then use a device to check how fast the wind is actually blowing. Repeat this for a number of weeks or months until you are fairly good at approximating wind speed. After having done this and, obviously, throwing your discs in these various wind speeds you should have collected enough experience and empirical information to actually improve your wind play.

I don't know how much I care for the idea of putting actual "mph" measurements on particular discs, but being able to measure and play the wind more accurately couldn't hurt.

Just a thought!