Im throwing a 175 Star Destroyer right now, in which I am having to release at hyzer position to really get it moving. Im fine with the throw I am developing with the disc (almost always a flex shot) but was wondering if a 171 is really going to allow me to turn the disc over more with a more stable release? Wondering if anyone had any great insight on how much the weight is really going to factor in. Don't know if this would matter much at all but I am almost always throwing this disc forehand.
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171 vs 175 Destroyer
- Thread starter _Bob
- Start date
thirtydirtybirds
Double Eagle Member
To the question, weight isn't as big a factor within 5g or so. As was said, pls is a bigger factor, along with plastic, run, and wear
thirtydirtybirds
Double Eagle Member
Dang it. PLH, not pls (though the PLS is a sweet disc!)
kerplunk
Double Eagle Member
Destroyers tend to be all over the place in terms of stability/flight pattern, with PLH (parting line height, I believe) being the best predictor of stability. So in your search for the Destroyer with the flight you are looking for PLH will matter more than a few grams of weight.
Kodachrome
* Ace Member *
honestly man, the plastic molding for disc golf is not something the manufacturers have perfected. i wouldn't be surprised if it's just easier for the manufacturer to spitball weight ranges when they're loading up the machines. there are plenty of discs, for instance, listed as 175g that are actually 176/177/178, etc. your destroyer might not even weigh quite what it says on the back.
to answer your question, though - no. even up to 7-8 grams won't really make an appreciable difference, depending on the disc. for instance, i like to throw my drivers in the 167-170 range when possible. i can throw over 400'. it's not big distance by professional standards, but i have no problems driving big into headwinds so weight within 7-8 grams for a good, overstable disc like a destroyer is definitely not a concern. the real question is the stability inherent to the disc itself. once you start going into the lower 160s, then things start to get different.
it depends on the mold, too. a firebird from 175-160 will still be a firebird. the 160g will fly farther but still be HSS. you won't penetrate headwinds as much and it might get bounced around a little more, but on the whole the difference is not much. a polecat or a comet will act vastly different: since they start very neutral to begin with, losing that weight makes them more touchy.
you'll need to drop down to 150 class to start seeing major differences in flights with destroyers, but beware - some discs mold up differently at lower weights and act just as overstable, sometimes more overstable, than their heavyweight variants.
you'd be better served by changing plastics, IMO. use a pro destroyer to match your star and beat it up, or get a dx destroyer. that will make much more of a difference than just dropping weight. the reason being that these types of plastics have much lower PLH on average than a star destroyer.
has anyone told you, or do you know, what PLH stands for and what it means for discs?
to answer your question, though - no. even up to 7-8 grams won't really make an appreciable difference, depending on the disc. for instance, i like to throw my drivers in the 167-170 range when possible. i can throw over 400'. it's not big distance by professional standards, but i have no problems driving big into headwinds so weight within 7-8 grams for a good, overstable disc like a destroyer is definitely not a concern. the real question is the stability inherent to the disc itself. once you start going into the lower 160s, then things start to get different.
it depends on the mold, too. a firebird from 175-160 will still be a firebird. the 160g will fly farther but still be HSS. you won't penetrate headwinds as much and it might get bounced around a little more, but on the whole the difference is not much. a polecat or a comet will act vastly different: since they start very neutral to begin with, losing that weight makes them more touchy.
you'll need to drop down to 150 class to start seeing major differences in flights with destroyers, but beware - some discs mold up differently at lower weights and act just as overstable, sometimes more overstable, than their heavyweight variants.
you'd be better served by changing plastics, IMO. use a pro destroyer to match your star and beat it up, or get a dx destroyer. that will make much more of a difference than just dropping weight. the reason being that these types of plastics have much lower PLH on average than a star destroyer.
has anyone told you, or do you know, what PLH stands for and what it means for discs?
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Thanks to everyone with the positive and informative responses! As far as my understanding of PLH, I grasped that its the line from when the disc is molded, with the higher the line the more overstable the disc will be compared to the same dissc with a lower line.
thirtydirtybirds
Double Eagle Member
Yep. The pro destroyer option is a good one, some pro I have seen lately is pretty nice, almost soft star like.
Kodachrome
* Ace Member *
Exactly.
Gstar, pro, dx and echostar are all traditionally lower plh than star or champ for destroyers. Even if you find a freak high plh in these plastics, or if they aren't what you hoped for at first, they all beat in faster than star or champ so you can get to the sweet spot faster. Smack some trees with them and you'll be fine. Wouldn't recommend the dx for that, though.
My personal favorites for beating into bombers were pro and gstar when i bagged destroyers.
exactly above. even if you get a high plh in the softer plastics, they arnt high for long. the most stable and longest lasting destroyers are the metal flake champs and the blizzard champs. stars can start out more overstable than champs, but if you throw them, they season to less stable in a few months, champs stay hogs.
