Wind... How do you adapt to it?

[Snailpowered]

So I am curious how some of you are dealing with "Wind Factor"? Id like to know what is your favorite circumstance, least favorite and how you deal with them in regards to the disc you may use or the style of throw that you will used that may differ from your regular go to style of throwing. If you have two different mentalities for your drives and your approach shots please share those too.

For me, my least favorite type of wind to deal with is a left to right wind off of the tee pad. I always feel that the disc is either going to get pushed down if I throw a hyzer flip from too much of the discs surface being exposed. Or if it doesnt get pushed down, then the wind flips it over and ends up pushing it way right on me... loose loose situation. I would tend to throw my Freakishly overstable GL Flow or my Tournament Sword.
For an up shot it has to be a tail wind, I really rely on my touch to get it close to the basket and use stable mid with a good amount of glide to get the job done, usually my GL Core. With a tail wind, glide just seems to not exist (obviously the disc isnt accually moving though the air as fast), and tends to make me throw a big hyzer which I am not as comfortable with nor as accurate.

For my favorites, I love a slight tail wind that crosses a biit right to left. I can take Opto Saint and really get behind it knowing that it is going to be less likely to turn and never come back on me when thrown flat, as that is my preferred release at this time in my disc golf life. ( I know typical flat release noob)
For approach shots, I honestly like as little wind as possible so that I dont have to manipulate the disc at all and let it fly true to its abilities. This is where I love my seasoned GL max weight Pain. It is very strait with a slight fade at the end and usually hits and sits.

 

[lowracks]

Playing in the wind is difficult. It will do unpredictable things to the flight of your disc. You can prepare well for a shot (predicting what the wind will do to it, based on experience), and have something unexpected and tragic happen (air bounces, etc).

General notes about the wind:

Drives:
Headwinds make your disc fly more understable.
Tailwinds make your disc fly more overstable.
Cross winds will catch or push down on the flight plate.

Putts:
Headwinds will lift your disc.
Tailwinds will push down on your disc.
Crosswinds will catch or push down on the flight plate.

It really all depends on the line you are trying to shape. Ultimately there is no fool proof way to play the wind. The mentality that I've taken for playing in strong winds is, "try my best, don't be surprised if something unexpected happens, and prepare for my next shot". I try not to let it get in my head to where I'm blaming the wind for poor shots.

 

[knettles]

Whenever playing somewhere flat, I think the most important thing is to try and keep the disc flat in it's flight. The wind's mostly going to blow parallel with the ground, so a flat flight will minimalize the amount of pressure on the under/upper side of the flight plate. Other than that, just make a smart disc selection.

For hilly courses in the open is when things get really tricky. If it's a head/tailwind on a downhill shot, sometimes I'll use an extreme hyzer or an overhand shot. If it's a crosswind on a downhill shot, I'll keep the throw low to the ground and just hope it goes in the general direction.

 

[Grungedude42]

I deal with the wind with a Predator. What wind?

 

[Disc Fiend]

General notes about the wind:

Drives:
Headwinds make your disc fly more understable.
Tailwinds make your disc fly more overstable.
Cross winds will catch or push down on the flight plate.

Putts:
Headwinds will lift your disc.
Tailwinds will push down on your disc.
Crosswinds will catch or push down on the flight plate.

^^This. Good info right here. throwing into a headwind, I will throw something more overstable or disc up. In a tailwind, more understable. With crosswinds(and tailwinds too), just play the wind and use it to your advantage.

 

[tarel]

So I am curious how some of you are dealing with "Wind Factor"? .

Throw discs in the wind.

 

[tromak]

i had a pretty nice tail wind today about 15 mph and it was a 480 foot shot, which is way out of my range. I decided i would hyzer flip my vulcan. It was a good call i was able to put everything i had on it with a decent hyzer angle and it barely made it up to flat and she sailed pretty far i hit a tree i wasn't even expecting to make it too. I tried it again on another shot and i put a little less hyzer and a ittle less power into it and it really stalled out on me short. My conclusion thus far in my disc golf career is that wind is unpredictable i would rather have no wind.

 

[Tiny]

I point my shotgun to the sky and tell it to eff off.

Seriously though, I just throw predators into wind, escape or river with the wind and side wind I still don't know how it works.

 

[notapro]

Nose angle has a huge influence on how the wind affects a disc's flight. For the headwind and tailwind putting example in lowracks post, that is assuming a nose up putt. It's reverse for a nose down putt.

General rule employed by a ton of golfers - never show the underside of your disc to the wind. It becomes too unpredictable just how much that wind will turn your disc into a sail.

 

[mashnut]

General rule employed by a ton of golfers - never show the underside of your disc to the wind. It becomes too unpredictable just how much that wind will turn your disc into a sail.

That's definitely the way to get consistent results, it makes it tough to get distance but it's not going to go anywhere crazy. I will purposely show the underside when it's going to help. I'll throw a super overstable disc on an anhyzer with a left to right tailwind to get a nice long straight shot, or I'll exaggerate the nose down angle in a tailwind to get a little more push forward.

 

[DG addict24]

When it's windy, I take my go to drivers (Beast, Valkyrie) out of my bag, and fill it up with overstable discs (Destroyers and Teedevil in my case) and every blizzard disc I own, which I know sounds weird, but when you're playing on long open courses, throwing a blizzard disc down wind is a good option. Wind will carry it forever and because of the tailwind's increase in stability it turns a blizzard disc into a consistent flyer.

 

[plastic cannon]

I deal with the wind with a Trident. What wind?

Fixed that for me :clap:

 

[weeman]

If you're confused as to exactly which way the wind blows throw some grass/leaves up to see. This helps if you can't quite tell if the wind is at your back or coming in from the side. I personally carry a towel all the time and use that as my wind gauge.

Also helps to practice in a field during windy days. Work on controlling the nose angle and how much of the flight plate you want exposed to the wind for all the types of shots you want to throw. I usually do this between four soccer goals (go end-to-end, turn 90 degrees to go towards the next goal, etc, etc). This way I get the full exposure of headwind, right-left, tailwind, left-right and more practice with what works and doesn't work.

 

[Psicko]

I used to hate long putts into the headwind until monday. I met up with some random guy at the course, it turned out he is much better than me(placed in the top 20 at last years memorial. I forgot his name). He told me to keep the nose up, and putt with a varation of anhyzer depending on the wind and the distance. I ended up draining about a 75 foot putt in headwind.

 

[little oz]

Related question: If i have the basket directly in front of me in an open field with a 15-25mph headwind. I choose to throw my firebird or FL. Do i am directly at the basket because of the wind, or do i throw more of a hyzer angle? In other words, does a headwind take the fade out of the disc? If so, how much? I guess the same question for a tailwind. Does that take the turn out of the disc? thanks.

 

[Martin Dewgarita]

I by no means am a great wind player, I've been getting my butt kicked by the wind recently. But the main piece of advice that has been helping me improve is Practice! It's a cold blustery day and your couch/TV is oh so inviting, get out on the course and get a round in, practice putts, practice your upshots, learn what the wind will do to various discs thrown various different ways. This will build confidence in throwing your wind shots, and confidence is everything. "I'm going to throw this because it's going to do this" is going to improve your game so much over "I'm going to throw this and hope that it's going to do this".

 

[KenTyburski]

I deal with the wind with a Trident. What wind?

Fixed that for me :clap:

Good call. My Opto xXx also does the trick.

 

[eegor]

I played in west Texas twice a week for three years. I know a lot about my game in the wind, but I wouldn't want to give advice to someone I've never seen throw. My advice is to play in the wind a lot. Don't let a windy day stop you from playing, even 30+ mph winds. You'll learn quickly and most likely there will be a lot less people on the course.

I will say, in strong tailwinds you'll be shocked at how far you can throw your putter. On uphill tailwinds, I've had a lot of luck forehanding Rivers, Diamonds or Leopards.

After you get used to it, playing in the wind is fun. Especially when you play your friends that normally don't play in the wind.

 

[Snailpowered]

Thanks for the repleys, I may have not expressed my question completely correct. I was wondering what are your "goto" discs and how you throw them in different wind conditions and what are your least and most favorite conditions when it comes to do with wind? I accually have had my best rounds in moderately windy conditions. So im looking to see if what your thought process is when it comes to wind is the same mind set that I have.

 

[DavidSauls]

I'll depart from discs and technique to mention strategy.

On windy days, I find it more crucial than ever to throw great upshots. I try to put the disc right under the basket, so putting in the wind is not an issue. And I'm always aware of which way the wind is blowing at the basket so that if I do have to putt, I've placed my shot where I'm putting downwind.