JR
* Ace Member *
I had a light bulb moment today in 48F rain driving with my firm Obex (less grippy than my glass slick skin in that temperature likes). I toweled the rim dry then bent over the disc to shield it from the rain and wiped the flight plate dry in a slightly larger area than my grip needs. Then i toweled my hand dry wiggled it around and blew on the finger tips to warm the skin for more friction and rubbed the finger tips together to check for optimal grip. Which means the hand and fingers were dry except for the water vapor from my breath. Which adds grip vs a totally dry skin. I checked the flight plate that no drops had fallen on it before i gripped the dry part of the flight plate. I threw on an uphill straight then a 20 degree left turn after about 200' fairway hugging the left side bushes in my mind in shot planning. Reality was different.
Has anybody noticed that a not completely dried flight plate can shift a lot of water during the throw to the flight plate under the thumb? Sliiiipp! I felt me thumb aquaplane on top of the disc a long time and missed over 10 degrees left to bushes. The thumb was all wet right after throwing and i don't think there was nearly enough rain to do that just by my hand hitting enough falling rain drops during the throw.
I was so pissed off that after looking for the disc for 10 minutes or a little more i went back to the tee to try to see if i could slip the slippage issues and solve them for good. I used the Jenkins grip for the thumb but using the base of the thumb on the flight plate pushing against the pinky that was under the bottom of the disc pushing up against the base of the thumb in the original throw. The thumb was in normal summer time place so i moved the thumb almost an inch toward the center of the disc. I had pushed fairly hard down before starting the throw in the first attempt and now pressed down at 80-90 % initially tensing up the forearm muscles knowing that it would slow down my arm speed. Lowered expectations due to weather and trying to learn a better way... I did try to pinch even harder late in the throw and the disc flew on the line i pulled on but slipped starting right away when the disc started to pivot. This Obex hasn't seen citrus wash yet and the local store didn't carry medium Obexes. I know what i need to do on that front.
I have tried gloves that are designed for giving grip to other activities in the winter. While somewhat useful at times the grip pads on those gloves loose too much traction in these temperatures and so far i haven't tried them in the rain only in the snow. Discs can get wet in the snow and based on that all of the gloves i've tried are unsatisfactory even in driving. Putting is more difficult because thinness of material and non existing seams are a must for even half decent results so any way you look at it gloves are a compromise at best.
I have a question to rules experts regarding the use of gloves. nobody can tell me what to use in rec rounds but having a crutch that i can't use in competition is limiting myself or my progression at least for the competitions that are held in lousy conditions if my crutch is competition illegal. I bought anti slipping tape that is plastic based with probably pretty hefty glue that is hopefully water proof and the surface is reminiscent of low grit sand paper. I'd think that without testing the tape it is premature to slap it on gloves to try if it is competition illegal. This is possibly a new issue to disc golfers IDK so the rules might not be clear on whether you can use anti slipping tape reinforced gloves while throwing in competition.
The reason i ask about competition eligibility is that i have tried throwing with actual water sanding paper for great anti slipping results. The tapes come in many parameters and the one i have is most likely way too coarse so i think i'll ruin at least one tester disc using it if i ever go that far. The motivation to do that is insanely high 8) I might do it to practice keeping discs on the line in the 2/3 shitty weather per year that started already. Good weather see ya in 8 months :roll: The courses are more like lake/water hazard combo now. The trouble with actual sand paper is the paper base that dissolves in wet conditions in under one round. So incorporating sand paper to sports tape (too slick for me) doesn't work and even that would be at least grey area rules wise. Sure rules allow sports tape and some anti slippage compounds that at least in some cases are named specific products. To my understanding all inclusive grip enhancer allowance in the rules does not exist. So i'd like to hear from rules experts before i start to prototype.
For me reducing slipping to the left is a safety issue to players and outsiders alike. With additional grip comes the chance for added grip locks so that argument could be seen to be overruled or watered down. However; even discs are dangerous in inexperienced irresponsible hands. So what is the real danger of adding grip for normal competitors that already have skills and knowledge of their limits. Or they'd slip and grip lock alternatively left and right and probably would get frustrated out of the sport or learn anyway. So from learning curve point of view why wouldn't anti slip devices be allowed in gloves for competition? I'd be perfectly happy to live with limited use in rain or below summer temperatures say 15 degrees Celsius too.
Not being a chemist (cough Chuck) i have read that polyurethane (most/all? premium plastics) is highly carcinogenic when powdered. And that is exactly what you get with coarse tape/glove whatever even in removing flash from the disc so in driving at least. Possibly in approaches and putts too in unlucky cases. Throwing to rocks and glass shards does that in smaller amounts naturally. Maybe rubber discs are more healthy.
What is your opinion about new types of grip enhancers and which kinds would be allowed by the rules? I don't want to put anti slipping tape to my skin because the glue ain't designed for human contact most likely and could be extremely hazardous to health.
Short version: Rough tape on the other side works wonders for grip in wet and most likely cold conditions. Like you'd never believe. Summer time extended. More sports per year=more health and fun=everyone wins=IMO this should be allowed for international health benefits for all of disc golfing kind. Peace and thanks for reading and your feedback in advance.
Has anybody noticed that a not completely dried flight plate can shift a lot of water during the throw to the flight plate under the thumb? Sliiiipp! I felt me thumb aquaplane on top of the disc a long time and missed over 10 degrees left to bushes. The thumb was all wet right after throwing and i don't think there was nearly enough rain to do that just by my hand hitting enough falling rain drops during the throw.
I was so pissed off that after looking for the disc for 10 minutes or a little more i went back to the tee to try to see if i could slip the slippage issues and solve them for good. I used the Jenkins grip for the thumb but using the base of the thumb on the flight plate pushing against the pinky that was under the bottom of the disc pushing up against the base of the thumb in the original throw. The thumb was in normal summer time place so i moved the thumb almost an inch toward the center of the disc. I had pushed fairly hard down before starting the throw in the first attempt and now pressed down at 80-90 % initially tensing up the forearm muscles knowing that it would slow down my arm speed. Lowered expectations due to weather and trying to learn a better way... I did try to pinch even harder late in the throw and the disc flew on the line i pulled on but slipped starting right away when the disc started to pivot. This Obex hasn't seen citrus wash yet and the local store didn't carry medium Obexes. I know what i need to do on that front.
I have tried gloves that are designed for giving grip to other activities in the winter. While somewhat useful at times the grip pads on those gloves loose too much traction in these temperatures and so far i haven't tried them in the rain only in the snow. Discs can get wet in the snow and based on that all of the gloves i've tried are unsatisfactory even in driving. Putting is more difficult because thinness of material and non existing seams are a must for even half decent results so any way you look at it gloves are a compromise at best.
I have a question to rules experts regarding the use of gloves. nobody can tell me what to use in rec rounds but having a crutch that i can't use in competition is limiting myself or my progression at least for the competitions that are held in lousy conditions if my crutch is competition illegal. I bought anti slipping tape that is plastic based with probably pretty hefty glue that is hopefully water proof and the surface is reminiscent of low grit sand paper. I'd think that without testing the tape it is premature to slap it on gloves to try if it is competition illegal. This is possibly a new issue to disc golfers IDK so the rules might not be clear on whether you can use anti slipping tape reinforced gloves while throwing in competition.
The reason i ask about competition eligibility is that i have tried throwing with actual water sanding paper for great anti slipping results. The tapes come in many parameters and the one i have is most likely way too coarse so i think i'll ruin at least one tester disc using it if i ever go that far. The motivation to do that is insanely high 8) I might do it to practice keeping discs on the line in the 2/3 shitty weather per year that started already. Good weather see ya in 8 months :roll: The courses are more like lake/water hazard combo now. The trouble with actual sand paper is the paper base that dissolves in wet conditions in under one round. So incorporating sand paper to sports tape (too slick for me) doesn't work and even that would be at least grey area rules wise. Sure rules allow sports tape and some anti slippage compounds that at least in some cases are named specific products. To my understanding all inclusive grip enhancer allowance in the rules does not exist. So i'd like to hear from rules experts before i start to prototype.
For me reducing slipping to the left is a safety issue to players and outsiders alike. With additional grip comes the chance for added grip locks so that argument could be seen to be overruled or watered down. However; even discs are dangerous in inexperienced irresponsible hands. So what is the real danger of adding grip for normal competitors that already have skills and knowledge of their limits. Or they'd slip and grip lock alternatively left and right and probably would get frustrated out of the sport or learn anyway. So from learning curve point of view why wouldn't anti slip devices be allowed in gloves for competition? I'd be perfectly happy to live with limited use in rain or below summer temperatures say 15 degrees Celsius too.
Not being a chemist (cough Chuck) i have read that polyurethane (most/all? premium plastics) is highly carcinogenic when powdered. And that is exactly what you get with coarse tape/glove whatever even in removing flash from the disc so in driving at least. Possibly in approaches and putts too in unlucky cases. Throwing to rocks and glass shards does that in smaller amounts naturally. Maybe rubber discs are more healthy.
What is your opinion about new types of grip enhancers and which kinds would be allowed by the rules? I don't want to put anti slipping tape to my skin because the glue ain't designed for human contact most likely and could be extremely hazardous to health.
Short version: Rough tape on the other side works wonders for grip in wet and most likely cold conditions. Like you'd never believe. Summer time extended. More sports per year=more health and fun=everyone wins=IMO this should be allowed for international health benefits for all of disc golfing kind. Peace and thanks for reading and your feedback in advance.
I'm volunteering a disc golf lesson to a nearby school PE class today with a chance of rain so it'd be great if these guys are open before that so that the kids can enjoy throwing as much as they can. I just thought of using the footwarmer on the underside of the flight plate to warm up the disc so that the heating element won't get messy and i hope that will be enough to warm the rim without touching the rim to keep the smudging down. I hope this will reduce my slip issues as much as possible because i get raped by the automated health conservation reflexes bad enough. I don't need any more hassle from skin issues.
