Discing Up in Winter

[Widdershins]

In cold weather climates Winter means cold and snow and ice and holes which were formerly in your wheel house are now suddenly difficult or impossible to reach on a drive.

Just a month ago (before the cold settled in) I was hesitant to throw the Nuke on many holes because it glided too far. No more. Nukes are emerging as my primary drivers in the Arctic conditions. Holes which I used to drive with Midranges I am now using Drivers on. Putters are now used for... putting. And short range upshots, of course.

All you guys from warm weather locations: there is no need to tell us that the only ice you encounter is in your cocktail. Yeah, we know. Save it. Tell it to someone who cares. Go put on some sunscreen or something.

So here is my question to the scientific/analytical minds out there: How much distance do we lose in Winter (by percentage)? Let's assume 0 degrees or above and no more than a 6 inch base of snow covering the teeing area, including run up. Is there any difference between the percentage lost comparing backhand drives to forehand drives?

Is the loss of distance mostly because of temperature and its impact on how far a disc glides? How much loss is attributable to lack of a sure run up and poor planting? How much is caused by the many layers of clothes? Are there are other important factors?

 

[fanter]

I learned very quickly at my first frigid tourney that hand warmers are an absolute must. Trying to throw candy plastic with cold, stiff hands is kind of painful. I'm not sure I lost much distance (and I didn't have to worry about snow) but my game was negatively effected regardless because of my poor preparation and resultant discomfort. I won't say how terrible my score was.

 

[nthomas]

There is a hole I throw quite a bit and it is 365ft and was overthrowing quite a bit with Nuke, Force, etc. Could get close with a Teebird but not i'm losing easily 50 feet on it with the same discs. Allot of that is bad footing i'm sure though as definatly my brain takes over to keep me from really planting and ripping.

 

[ChampionMonarch]

I feel that the cold tensing up your tendons and the restricted mobility from excess clothing, as well as icy runups, would be much much larger factors that anything changing with the disc at all.

 

[Roy]

The cold doesn't even really matter. Trudging through the snow should warm you up by the first hole. I usually wear a down vest with big pockets to keep my hands warm. I've never felt the need for hand warmers, but maybe this year since I bought a big box them.

About my discs I disc up and drop some stability. I usually throw stuff that I'm not worried about losing in the snow. Ive lost discs that were great throws that just get buried in the snow.

 

[Frank Delicious]

I'd say discs lose about 10-15% of their distance in the cold. This is my fairly unscientific estimation based on playing in the cold front here in NC over the past couple of weeks.

 

[Roy]

*slaps knee*

cold front in north carolina. lol

 

[rusch_bag]

I sure as hell don't know the science behind it, but I disc up for almost every shot in the winter. My local courses don't even have concrete teepads so I play on ice or snowy pads all winter. Throw shorter for sure.

 

[SpikeHyzer]

Given your parameters, here's my best guess. I would say overall we lose around 18% to 20% of our distance. I would say that we lose roughly 10% to 12% do to the layers, lack of proper muscle elasticity, etc. And the other 8% to 10% do to the difference in climate changes(air pressure, snow base, footing, air density, etc). My normal drive distance is around 390-400 when nice out. During the winter my drives are around 320-330.

 

[rusch_bag]

It is so depressing losing so much distance because of something out of your control. It also sucks having a third of the year where you can't really even get a good read on if you are improving on anything.

 

[JHBlader86]

I think the best thing to do in the winter is to simply practice putting, and work on driving form in your house just to keep your muscle memory intact. Dont worry about going to the course.

 

[RAWB]

i just throw flippy, base line type shit. also, sailor jerry is a must.

 

[Gerbinzorlog]

Go Sailor Jerry!!!! off topic but if you like a stiff cocktails and drink my friend invented is the banana hammock. which is sailor jerry, 99 bananas liquer, and pineapple juice.

 

[mike]

i think 10-15% is legit...i do know that during the winter of 07 to 08...i actually was throwing farther...but it was because of improved form.

I know holes i usually throw a roc on...i'm now popping a roadrunner or teebird...

 

[JR]

My very scientific analysis is that in the winter you lose from not a lot to boatloads of distance depending on a myriad of factors. Have i got secret weapons for you to share... Bees wax. Apply to your fingers or disc or both. Magnesium could work but i haven't tested it out yet and i haven't tested bee's wax in colder temperatures yet but i've been told that it works well even in cold weather. Check out the cleats from Veriga, Kahtoola and i've been told that Kako is another manufacturer i haven't checked out their line up. With these higher end cleats (please don't use cramp ons for your safety)kicked a little snow from the tee you can run like you would in the summer. That is way cool and a great equalizer. Clothing is gonna require experimentation and those with glasses need better equipment if they can't use contact lenses like me :-( Glasses get foggy real soon if your clothes won't wick and breathe enough. Getting that and staying warm enough are a problem that i haven't tackled yet as well as i would like. Generally playing in thick snow has you cold at first and at some point pushing a lot of sweat. So you would do well to lose layers of clothing mid round. That equalizes tiring to some degree when you have less resistance from the clothes. You just need to adjust your shot planning for the lesser resistance.

Possible avenues to proper clothing is removing plastic from the skin. The usual technical gear is platic and it feels way colder when wet against the skin than merino wool. Unfortunately merino tends to be expensive but look for sales. I have a not well breathing mountaineering merino wool shirt weighing 280 grams per square meter. At -5C with a not so well breathing jacket it gets wet and that's bad because the cold conducts up to 20 better through wet clothing than dry. I also have a light loosely knitted merino wool shirt that breathes well and has a low cut exposing the upper part of the chest which is among the most sweaty places. More breathing in a well warmed part of the body equals drier thrower and clothes meaning warmer with more power generating ability. Less tired because warming up won't take as much effort.

The second layer should warm too but be fairly thin so that removing it won't leave you cold. The jacket should be wind proof, breathing and light so as to not restrict the arm swing and the hip explosion. Keeping the extremities warm helps in reducing the need to warm up the torso by excess clothing. Sodium acetate based heating packs are reusable thus way cheaper and they only get hot when you activate them. I can't recommend them enough they are killer. Warm fingers and if necessary a warm disc remove slipping issues mostly. Perhaps fully if you wipe the disc dry. Warm discs melt the snow and then get ice frozen on them so it takes a little effort to remove the ice but you can melt the ice with the hot pack and then wipe off the water.

I don't know about breathing gloves but getting oversize mittens help. I bought Halti fisherman's gloves that i clipped the excess fabric off of from the fingers and they work fine for putts and approaches so i don't have to remove the glove for anything else than drives. These gloves have excellent gripping surface in them. Thin is the name of the game if you plan to throw with a glove on.

There are hats made for athletes that have more stuff in the forehead height than the crown so that they breath better. If you put headphones or ear muffs on you can do away with the hat for fairly cold weather depending on how warm you run and to what you're accustomed to.

I just bought but haven't yet used 800 grams per square meter merino wool socks. They are kitted in tubes to improve breathing and wicking and indoors they are super warm. Waterproof socks like Sealskinz help too. Especially if you use low top shoes for mobility of the ankle and a lot of regaining of D.

 

[bullet]

It's -10 to -25 degrees in here so the huge amount of clothing stiffs you up.
There's really no winter maintenance in the courses so run ups are often just one step or stand still. And that eats the distance away.

I also have to use less stable discs

 

[JR]

-10C 8 meters per second wind 57 cm of snow for Helsinki.

You don't need to kick away all the snow from the tees and it is better to leave some snow on the tee because snow has way more traction than ice. But you really need cleats to be able to run fast. My Veriga needed some bending back to shape with pliers after their first winter. I seem to have lost about 10'. It is easy to lose a huge amount of distance from too heavy jacket and shirts. I've trimmed down my gear each winter. It seems that my next attempt at improving my winter gear will be getting a Gore Tex jacket for added breathing. I've got Gore Tex pants that breath immensely well and they've helped a lot. I can only imagine how much better a jacket that breaths is. I can't justify to myself not splurging on a breathable jacket.

Many clothes with water proof membranes are frail and can easily be punctured by thorns etc. My trousers are very expensive Chevalier brand hunting pants. Hunters need durable clothes and running after prey or lying in wait for a day at a time or more taxes fabric. You need to check out the surface hardness and thickness of the jacket. You can get away with surprisingly thin shirts and jackets when you move. It's when you stop that problems begin. Therefore it is a good idea to take more layers of shirts with you.

Because your body works better after a warm up you need to do some cardio work in the beginning. That takes care of the initial coldness of thin clothing. People tend to walk fast in the weeklies in Helsinki for a reason. Ski jumping hill tends to tax you and generate heat anyway. Especially because this the second year in a row when Helsinki has more snow than the rest of the country sans the very northernmost parts.

Even with 97% of summer time airborne D left it is a good idea to use less fading discs in the winter because a disc that lands flat will stay on top of the snow more easily.

 

[jubuttib]

I had no qualms about using a Pro Destroyer on a hole where I usually throw either a mid or a putter the last time I was out. For me it's the combination of no real run-up/solid footing, sucky circulation in my extremities (meaning cold, stiff hands) and restricting clothing. I do like to throw through the winter though, because it's such a bliss when spring comes and everything is so easy after banging your head against the wall for such a long time.

It's when you stop that problems begin.

Tell me about it. The RJ2 march made this and a few other things about how exercise, clothing and cold weather interact abundantly clear...

 

[HeartlessCynic]

I disc up on short drives in the winter but I disc down on the max D drivers. On shorter holes that I normally would have used a mid, you'll see me using Cyclones or a PD. Since I can't generate as much power in the winter though I pretty much dump everything faster than a Pro Wraith (except the Force because it still fills it's role at low power). For my current form, nothing goes significantly farther in the winter than a Pro Wraith without a loss of dependability. I could throw a beat up Pro Destroyer but the smaller rim on the Wraith is much more forgiving for me with the nasty grip issues that the winter brings.

 

[RS39]

I disc up on short drives in the winter but I disc down on the max D drivers.

Same here.

Agree with the 10-15% loss comment earlier just due to cold's effect on air/wardrobe/me.
Add another 10-15% when footing is crap and you try to all-arm snap it while keeping accuracy.

With slush/ice I have nothing faster than my TWolf and River. With clean snow I'll my PDs back in the bag. I just can't get the disc speed to make faster discs fly right.

And my DCraft molds become ESP 4 months a year :wink:

Prob time to really learn a fore hand..............