Physics of Disc Golf

[brennan]

01110100 01101000 01100001 01101110 01101011
01110011 00100000 01100111 01110101 01111001
01110011 00100000 00111010 01110000

 

[keltik1]

okay with all the robot swearing aside, I think this kid should donate $25 to both here and DGCR (since they had a real thread about it).

 

[JHern]

I have to write a fairly extensive research paper on a sport for my Physics class and, of course, I chose disc golf. I have to write a paper that is at least 3 typed pages long explaining any 5 concepts of physics and how they are applied in disc golf. I also need to create charts, measurements, etc. for these concepts.
The five concepts I chose are air resistance, projectile motion, work, and Newton's First and Second Laws. These aren't necessarily set in stone though.

Anyway, DGC, I figured I'd leave a post here for anyone interested. If anyone knows of any information/resources that would be helpful I'd appreciate it! If not, maybe we can get an interesting discussion going.

Blake invited me to write up an article for DGR's front page on this topic, but I haven't worked on it for a while. I'll eventually get this finished. For now, I suggest you look up Sarah Hummel's thesis:

http://mae.ucdavis.edu/~biosport/frisbee/frisbee.html

This is some of the best material available online. Potts has put up some papers with beautiful streak-line experimental figures. Definitely check these out:

http://www.disc-wing.com/

Finally, be careful of material you see on the forums, much of it contains significant conceptual errors, and as the discussion evolves some of the information could easily be taken out of context.

Good luck!
JHern (Ph.D.)

 

[BrotherDave]

01110100 01101000 01100001 01101110 01101011
01110011 00100000 01100111 01110101 01111001
01110011 00100000 00111010 01110000

I simply can't fathom why yall don't get more noobs around here? :lol:

 

[JR]

Only if you read Norwegian... Öystein Carlsen wrote a thesis about DG. I translated only the most important points from throwing perspective in a thread here called: I read a nice thesis about long throws or something like that. It's old so you may wanna google it.

I claim no knowledge of physics just second hand trivia. JHern is your man.

 

[JHBlader86]

OP, contact David McCormack. I dont know anyone else who knows more about the physics behind discs than him, and I'm sure he'll gladly talk to you about the stuff. His email is [email protected]

 

[JR]

Dave Mac sure is the most open manufacturer but Potts and Crowther at Discwing are developers and Dave is more of an utilizer that buys his info from aerodynamists like Dave Dunipace does. Potts got his PhD from a thesis of aerodynamics of frisbees.

 

[JHern]

Dave Mac sure is the most open manufacturer but Potts and Crowther at Discwing are developers and Dave is more of an utilizer that buys his info from aerodynamists like Dave Dunipace does. Potts got his PhD from a thesis of aerodynamics of frisbees.

I'm more a theorist and mathematical modeler. Potts is an experimental fluid dynamicist. It seems to me that Potts is probably the leading authority on disc aerodynamics. I don't know if he stays current with research, but he probably does apply his experimental inferences to his disc designs, so I'm sure he's very likely on top of things, and probably ahead of the curve in many ways.