Strange wind currents - Eddies etc

[Dave242]

I noticed this first at Hornets Nest hole 2 when there was a strong-ish steady north wind.....the configuration is exactly as shown here (my ideal flight path was right at the bottom of that "rotor" eddy current):

It makes sense when you look at this and see that the eddy current has the wind blowing your disc in the exact opposite way of the prevailing wind, but at first it was very perplexing to me why my disc did not fly as planned.

Any other thoughts or tips from experienced wind players? (Wind play is a weakness for me.....and probably lots of other woods players).

 

[SteezeOG]

I play in a lot of windy conditions. Pretty much 90% of the rounds I play I would imagine. It really helps to slow down and think about your shots and consider the physics of it all. Even then you're just never going to eliminate the weird air bounces completely or be able to fight the roll aways. Did your shot get pushed nose up and then drop altitude drastically? There are form corrections to help reduce that air bounce up or down but it doesn't eliminate it completely.

My number one rule is never expose the flight plate to the wind. Come play in a GBO and you'll leave feeling like a wind disc golf vet. Or you'll never come back to Kansas.

 

[Aim For The Chains]

We have a lot of courses where you run into these types of winds or tunnels of wind blowing through the woods etc. Steeze is on point and it really takes practice to be able to use the wind to your advantage. Last year I went out on one of the most crazy windy days we had to a course where the wind is constant and very gusty with hills/trees etc. I was the only person crazy enough to show up to this course that day and attempt throwing while I looked like I was in a sky-dive free fall just standing there but honestly was one of the most educational rounds I had and saw some of the coolest shots I've ever thrown. Learning to use the wind and not fight it is probably the best advice I can offer and consider the differences it has on the flight of your "standard" lines which basically get thrown out the window from drives to putts.

 

[Jax11]

I play in a lot of windy conditions. Pretty much 90% of the rounds I play I would imagine. It really helps to slow down and think about your shots and consider the physics of it all. Even then you're just never going to eliminate the weird air bounces completely or be able to fight the roll aways. Did your shot get pushed nose up and then drop altitude drastically? There are form corrections to help reduce that air bounce up or down but it doesn't eliminate it completely.

My number one rule is never expose the flight plate to the wind. Come play in a GBO and you'll leave feeling like a wind disc golf vet. Or you'll never come back to Kansas.

I agree with the flight plate rule with the one exception, if you have the room to work and a large margin for error, swing it way wide and let it ride the cross wind home. Just go WAY wide. Better to come up a little short getting back to the basket than to be carried into Oblivion.

I think beyond thinking about how the wind will hit the discs in the front, back, left, right directions, its also important to think in 3D and think about how the wind will be hitting the flight plate if you throw with a certain release angle.

A basic example, if you putt nose down a headwind will beat your disc down opposed to lifting it up because the wind will be hitting the top of the flight plate and will not be lifting it up from underneath.

I tend to throw faster and more overstable discs in the wind just for consistency.

 

[DavidSauls]

Earlewood used to have one of those wind rotors on hole 12, on a regular basis. Before they put a roof on the amphitheatre, wind would run down the hill, hit the tall wall that was its backdrop, and roll in strange ways.

Being a hilly course with some fairly open hilltop holes, it is prone to odd winds. Some days it seems you can face a headwind on 16 holes, in defiance of all logic. Hole 9 can have different winds on the tee, mid-fairway, and at the basket.

 

[jtreadwell]

We have a lot of courses where you run into these types of winds or tunnels of wind blowing through the woods etc. Steeze is on point and it really takes practice to be able to use the wind to your advantage. Last year I went out on one of the most crazy windy days we had to a course where the wind is constant and very gusty with hills/trees etc. I was the only person crazy enough to show up to this course that day and attempt throwing while I looked like I was in a sky-dive free fall just standing there but honestly was one of the most educational rounds I had and saw some of the coolest shots I've ever thrown. Learning to use the wind and not fight it is probably the best advice I can offer and consider the differences it has on the flight of your "standard" lines which basically get thrown out the window from drives to putts.

That. The wind can be your friend once you analyze it. For example, I was out at BAP in Gorham ME and there's a hole where you shoot out of the woods into a field and way to the right. The wind was howling from left to right outside of the wooded tee-grove, and by throwing an overstable disc with anhyzer my buddy and I were both able to get huge drives by intentionally exposing the bottom of our discs to the wind. Much further than anything we could have thrown in calm conditions.

 

[rd.bittle]

So you guys are saying there are times that you play without wind?? Weird...

 

[Aim For The Chains]

yep, no wind tropical humidity making air so thick you feel like you can't breathe and sun blazing down hotter than a oven broiler with nats and mosquitos attacking like drones-- its great :|

Ill take the wind anyday here-- specially for keeping the mosquitos off you!

 

[aardvarkious]

Another wind tip is to, if in doubt, use a midrange or even putter- with less glide, they are not effected by the wind as much as many drivers.

 

[SteezeOG]

I agree with the flight plate rule with the one exception, if you have the room to work and a large margin for error, swing it way wide and let it ride the cross wind home. Just go WAY wide. Better to come up a little short getting back to the basket than to be carried into Oblivion.

I think beyond thinking about how the wind will hit the discs in the front, back, left, right directions, its also important to think in 3D and think about how the wind will be hitting the flight plate if you throw with a certain release angle.

A basic example, if you putt nose down a headwind will beat your disc down opposed to lifting it up because the wind will be hitting the top of the flight plate and will not be lifting it up from underneath.

I tend to throw faster and more overstable discs in the wind just for consistency.

I was going to talk about using a crosswind to push it far left or right and for casual rounds sure I still do that sometimes with great results many times just laughable.

In tournaments though I'll never attempt it again. I learned a lot the final round this year in the gbo. I had played golf on that course in blizzards and crazy wind conditions but that's nothing compared to playing a disc golf round there in those winds. I'll be playing those rounds smart like Mr. Rob Martin did on my card. Lot of upside down putting from one knee. It's a humbling experience to play on a day like that. I don't know many wood covered tunnel courses around here, I have to take those holes where I can find them, or take my basket out and design them myself.

 

[Dave242]

Learning to use the wind and not fight it is probably the best advice I can offer and consider the differences it has on the flight of your "standard" lines which basically get thrown out the window from drives to putts.

I played Sunset in Las Vegas a few years ago. It has scattered trees, but overall the wind is very "clean" - not swirling etc. I played on a day where there was a strong steady wind of around 20mph. It took a little getting used to, but once I figured it out it was a TON of fun! I could throw 50% further it felt like by just getting release angles right.

I have done a lot of windsurfing and in doing that, reading the gusts and pockets in the wind by looking and the ripples on the water is an essential skill. I did pretty good with that, but I cannot say I have mastered the swirling gusty winds of semi-open courses very well at all.

I am not even sure if you can truly "master" it (wind is invisible and random to some degree), but maybe "mastery" looks more like minimizing the negative effects rather than maximizing a swirling wind's potential helpfulness.

 

[Dave242]

Before they put a roof on the amphitheatre, wind would run down the hill, hit the tall wall that was its backdrop, and roll in strange ways.

Being a hilly course with some fairly open hilltop holes, it is prone to odd winds.

I find the wind currents around large solid objects (like what you said here - hills & buildings etc) more fun in that things seem a little more predictable. If the obstacles to the wind are groups of trees, I have a harder time especially when throwing past them mid-fairway and my disc flips over or goes into a premature fade/stall.

I just hate it when I feel like I have just ripped the perfect drive and the winds screws it up 1-2 seconds into the flight after it has been flying perfectly for a bit. I feel like I have screwed up by not correctly anticipating the wind and planning properly.

 

[Jax11]

I was going to talk about using a crosswind to push it far left or right and for casual rounds sure I still do that sometimes with great results many times just laughable.

In tournaments though I'll never attempt it again. I learned a lot the final round this year in the gbo. I had played golf on that course in blizzards and crazy wind conditions but that's nothing compared to playing a disc golf round there in those winds. I'll be playing those rounds smart like Mr. Rob Martin did on my card. Lot of upside down putting from one knee. It's a humbling experience to play on a day like that. I don't know many wood covered tunnel courses around here, I have to take those holes where I can find them, or take my basket out and design them myself.

Well said, I LOL'ed at the laughable results comment. SO TRUE! I don't think I have ever played in winds like those at the GBO last year, so you probably have great wind knowledge than I. I will have to remember that upside down putting on one knee thing if I ever do see winds like that again.

 

[ohtobediscing]

Strangely enough, from kayaking and studying hydrodynamics I've learned to deal with turbulent eddies and applied this knowledge to wind currents and discs. I will say that wind current eddies are much more erratic than water eddies, though. Unless its floodstage---then its time to alternate between sucking your thumb and babbling incoherently.

 

[Dave242]

Strangely enough, from kayaking and studying hydrodynamics I've learned to deal with turbulent eddies and applied this knowledge to wind currents and discs. I will say that wind current eddies are much more erratic than water eddies, though. Unless its floodstage---then its time to alternate between sucking your thumb and babbling incoherently.

That is very interesting and makes a lot of sense. The good thing about water compared to wind is that you can see it better.....and therefore I assume it helps you learn better/quicker. (The bad thing is that it can kill you easier.)

 

[Toro71]

This thread makes me think of another openish Charlotte course, Eastway. The "road holes" (7-12) especially are always windy. The "prevailing" wind always seems to be from the park entrance toward the parking lot, and stiff, but on any given hole there are always swirly variables based on the tree lines, and the slight changes in elevation on these holes.

Ex, 11 and 12. 11 is right by the entrance of the park, and almost always has a standard tail wind. the basket is backed by a stand of woods. 12 plays in the exact same direction, but i find if I play it as dead tailwind, I don't get predictible results. The stand of trees behind 11 screens the line on 12 from much of that wind.

Since all these holes play along the (OB) park road, playing the wind is critical. It makes what seem like relatively easy Charlotte holes deceptively treacherous.

For that, all I can think of is, you have to play the course frequently in the wind and learn the quirks..?

 

[DavidSauls]

So you guys are saying there are times that you play without wind?? Weird...

Yeah. I used to have great trouble with wind because at Earlewood it's a sometimes-thing, and it's swirling unpredictably. Then I took a trip through the midwest and west, and got an education---at least about straight-line winds.

Which was good practice for Stoney Hill, where the hilltop holes are pretty windy about 75% of the time. Once a month there's a dead calm, and it's tough to handle.

 

[notroman]

Ex, 11 and 12. 11 is right by the entrance of the park, and almost always has a standard tail wind. the basket is backed by a stand of woods. 12 plays in the exact same direction, but i find if I play it as dead tailwind, I don't get predictible results. The stand of trees behind 11 screens the line on 12 from much of that wind.

While I'm sure the stand of trees behind 11 affects the wind in some way, the holes are actually lined up in different directions. 11 plays almost due northwest, with you throwing a straight or a left to right shot, and 12 plays almost due west with most people going either straight or right to left. The alignment of the holes differs about 25-30 degrees from one another. Combine that with the difference in the preferred route to get to the basket and you get the wind affecting your shot in a totally different way.

 

[Rob Martin]

I agree with the flight plate rule with the one exception, if you have the room to work and a large margin for error, swing it way wide and let it ride the cross wind home. Just go WAY wide. Better to come up a little short getting back to the basket than to be carried into Oblivion.

This is a pretty dangerous shot, but when executed well, it is amazing to watch. Basically it is a very wide spike hyzer that you are purposefully exposing to the wind like a sail to carry it back. Amazing.

Putting from the knee is not a bad idea.

I also putt with a beat in DX Gator if really (head) windy. My normal putter is a Yeti Aviar.

One of the worst things you can do in wind play is get rid of all your understable discs. When windy, I tend to go to more extremes, super overstable, and silly understable.

I've gotten to the point that from a competitive point, I would rather play in moderate wind then no wind.

This article by Ron Convers is an absolute must read for wind play:

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

Go Cyclones!

 

[aardvarkious]

I've gotten to the point that from a competitive point, I would rather play in moderate wind then no wind.

I live in a really windy place, and the people I play tournaments against don't. Meaning I get way more experience in the wind. If I am just playing against myself and not on my home course (where I am used to and depend on the wind), I will score better on a calm day. If the wind picks up, it will negatively effect me, but not nearly as much as it will effect most others in the tournament. So on a tournament day, the windier the better for me.