Disc flight characteristics: Altitude vs. lower elevation

[Twmccoy]

This week I traveled to Leander, TX (suburb of Austin). I brought a few drivers along with me and threw them 3 different times in wide open fields. This was the first time I'd ever thrown discs outside of CO, and I wanted to see how throwing at lower elevation would affect overall flight.

Where I live in CO is about 5300'. Leander, TX is 980'.

Discs I brought:

175g star Destroyer
174g opto Ballista Pro
168g pinnacle Cannon
175g star Katana
171g champion Daedalus
175g star Corvette

The results were immediately noticeable. Every disc flew significantly less stable than I'm used to seeing in CO. All the drivers turned easier, held the turn longer, glided better, and faded less harshly.

All of that led to LOTS of flips. Half of these drivers flew really finicky, and would flip all the way over without much effort. The Ballista Pro and Cannon ended up being the flippiest, and I didn't have many good throws with them. The Corvette was a pain in the ass. It would either remain stubbornly flat and hyzer out early, or flip all the way over. There wasn't much in between.

The 2 best discs were the star Destroyer and star Katana. They were both stable enough to resist flipping. Lots of great 450'+ shots with them. To really flex out a big bomb closer to sea level I had to hyzerflip everything. Whenever I tried to uncork a big anny bomb I'd just plant discs into the ground right.

Elevation's a game changer. I had no clue how much difference it makes. Discs I had trouble getting any turn on in CO would flip over somewhat easily at 980'. At lower elevation I feel like my shots had way more side to side movement (S curve). I was super wild. I could throw discs almost 500' down there, but the extra turn and glide meant I had little idea where they were going.

I definitely threw further in TX than I do in CO. I don't have any exact numbers, but some of the shots I was throwing were going extraordinarily far. I won't say the distance is effortless, but it's easier to come by than in CO.

I felt like I was learning a bunch of new molds because the discs flew so differently than I'm used to. The star Destroyer did great. I swear I had some of the best Destroyer throws of my life these past few days. In CO I seldom see turn on Destroyer throws. In TX I had to try to not turn the disc over.

 

[Tomphoolery]

CO player here who has next to no experience at all playing lower than a mile high... I predicted the glide difference, but the increased tendency of discs to turn kind of surprises me. If anything I thought it would be the other way around, that they would flip easier at higher altitude. I guess I'll have to bring my OS discs with me when I go play in the south this summer.

 

[Twmccoy]

CO player here who has next to no experience at all playing lower than a mile high... I predicted the glide difference, but the increased tendency of discs to turn kind of surprises me. If anything I thought it would be the other way around, that they would flip easier at higher altitude. I guess I'll have to bring my OS discs with me when I go play in the south this summer.

Everything I threw DEFINITELY turned easier at lower altitude than in CO. If you play somewhere else, try to find a place to practice some shots before your round.

All the discs you're used to throwing here will fly completely different at lower altitude.

 

[Monocacy]

Everything I threw DEFINITELY turned easier at lower altitude than in CO.

Yes I have done the reverse. I live at about 300' altitude and when I played in the CO mountains I had a very hard time throwing my usual hyzer flips. Instead I had to crank over on my normally understable drivers just to keep them straight-ish.

Higher altitude = lower air density = higher stability.

 

[reezyF]

Moving from TX to CO I had to figure out the reverse situation where now many discs wouldnt turn at all. Most of my driver purchases nowadays are light weight and superunderstable. Luckily I found the elevation did help with forehand flex shots.

Unfortunately, now when I go play at sea level most my stuff is too US like you described, in which case I play with more mids or rely on overstable discs for any risky shots.

 

[ReinZ_96]

I went out to Vegas in the spring to play the Las Vegas Challenge and definitely noticed a difference in flight even though Vegas isn't even that high in elevation. It's about 1200 feet higher than where I live but everything flew much more stable; roller disc was an airshot turnover disc, turnover disc was straight flyer, etc. All my distance drivers dumped too much and I couldn't control them very well so I just didn't throw them the entire tournament. Threw my Saint Pro off every tee that required a long drive and was getting 20-30 feet more distance than back home. Managed to park hole 1 of the Factory course the my first throw of the tournament even though it's ~400ft...I did 3 putt from 10 feet and take a bogey, but that part's not important. LUL. I'm usually only hitting ~370ft on an absolute ripper back home with that disc.

 

[Nova P]

The density of the air affects aerodynamic surfaces. This is mostly experienced by disc golfers as a drastic change in local elevation affecting disc flight, but follow the link below and you'll learn that temperature is also a factor.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Density_altitude

 

[JuanA]

I went to Vermont last summer, and it was the first time throwing outside of Colorado for me.

My first throw was a Valk that turned into a throwler, zipped past the green and disappeared into the woods. That's when I realized I was in trouble with the bag I brought. I already knew altitude would have an effect since I play in the mountains a lot, but going to sea level was a bigger jump.

On the plus side, it made me totally reevaluate what I was throwing in Colorado. I changed some molds, changed some plastic and lowered the weight of my drivers. I'm much happier with my bag than I was before my trip.

 

[ray1970]

I tried to play a course on the gulf coast of Texas once. I think it was about 20' above sea level. I had to quit after about four holes because I thought I might die. Teed off around 8 in the morning and it was already 92 degrees and 98% humidity. Half way through the first hole my feet were soaking wet from the dew on the grass. It was horrible.

I didn't get enough throws in to really see what difference 5000+ feet of elevation made.

I'm down that way a couple of times a year so maybe I can try again someday when I'm not there in July or August.

 

[BillFleming]

I live in Arizona and moved from the Prescott area (mile high-ish) to Scottsdale (1050ish) and noticed a big difference in how my discs performed. I haven't been playing long enough to understand 'flippy', 'hyzer flippy', etc.

But, playing in Prescott, the majority of my discs were understable. Those are now in my closet and I'm throwing stable/overstable discs here in the valley.

It took me a few rounds to realize it was my discs and not me; and then a few more rounds to get used to the discs I switched to using.

 

[Twmccoy]

I went to Vermont last summer, and it was the first time throwing outside of Colorado for me.

My first throw was a Valk that turned into a throwler, zipped past the green and disappeared into the woods. That's when I realized I was in trouble with the bag I brought. I already knew altitude would have an effect since I play in the mountains a lot, but going to sea level was a bigger jump.

On the plus side, it made me totally reevaluate what I was throwing in Colorado. I changed some molds, changed some plastic and lowered the weight of my drivers. I'm much happier with my bag than I was before my trip.

It was definitely strange. The Ballista Pro I brought to TX is usually fairly beefy here. Down there it was really flippy. Even on hyzer releases I was flipping it into the ground easily.

I have a Destroyer in the bag, and when I throw it here I usually torque it over a little to force some flex out of it. The disc won't even try to flip up if I throw it hyzer.

I feel like I'd have to throw in TX for a month or so with various discs to really get a feel for it. I've never turned over that many shots in my life.

Like I said earlier, the star Destroyer ended up being great for my power level in TX. I could rip it full power very slightly hyzer and it'd flip up and turn beautifully.

Things like the Corvette and Daedalus were super long, but really finicky.

 

[Central Scrutinizer]

I tried to play a course on the gulf coast of Texas once. I think it was about 20' above sea level. I had to quit after about four holes because I thought I might die. Teed off around 8 in the morning and it was already 92 degrees and 98% humidity. Half way through the first hole my feet were soaking wet from the dew on the grass. It was horrible.

I didn't get enough throws in to really see what difference 5000+ feet of elevation made.

I'm down that way a couple of times a year so maybe I can try again someday when I'm not there in July or August.

Near Houston? There are several great courses there. McDade. Texas Army Trail. Little Egypt. Evergreen Flyways. Spring Valley. There's even a course in Alvin that is lit up for night play. This is just off the top of my head. Oh, yeah, Northside Christian Church has a bunch of cool holes too...

 

[ray1970]

Not too far from Houston. Closer to Beaumont. I have also thought about playing the course on Pleasure Island where a couple of Worlds were held in the 1990's.

 

[jjmiller]

You could also go play in Aspen or Telluride sometime and see the opposite effect. That was my first experience with altitude making everything fly differently. Then I ended up moving back to Indiana, where I'm originally from, and experienced what you experienced.

On a side note, I swear that I could throw thumbers further when I lived in Colorado.

 

[txmxer]

I've wondered about this. I've read different opinions on the effects of altitude on discs. Kind of thinking the denser air is the equivalent of throwing faster. If you threw a disc in a vacuum, it would follow a ballistic arc and no turn. The denser the air the more turn or US a given disc will perform. At higher altitudes, less air resistance so the disc will hold speed longer, but won't be as easy to hyzer flip and won't glide as much. If I were guessing optimal disc selection, say you throw a 175 g Wraith near sea level, you might get close to the same performance at altitude throwing a 150 g Wraith, or maybe disc down to a Valkyrie (slightly more US) and go 150-160g for similar flight at altitude.

 

[TurkeyVulture]

I played in a tournament about 2 and a half hours south of me this summer.

The first time I threw my usually perfectly flippy and predictable Wraith, it just hyzerd out to narnia. I was beyond puzzled. So I threw my other wraiths, same thing. Meanwhile one of our provinces best pro's walks up behind us and goes "Not used to this elevation or what? Gotta go understable up here buddy"

I then checked the elevations between my home town and where we were, almost a 1900 foot difference. I ended up spending 400 dollars that weekend on new plastic because I had an addiction to manipulating stable-overstable discs.

Needless to say, the effect elevation has on discs angers me greatly.

 

[Cgkdisc]

I think what you'll find is elite players at higher elevations developing their forehand and backhand for opposite turns versus trying to turn discs over other than for helix routes. Then, their game at lower elevations requires less adjustment.

 

[txmxer]

I played in a tournament about 2 and a half hours south of me this summer.

The first time I threw my usually perfectly flippy and predictable Wraith, it just hyzerd out to narnia. I was beyond puzzled. So I threw my other wraiths, same thing. Meanwhile one of our provinces best pro's walks up behind us and goes "Not used to this elevation or what? Gotta go understable up here buddy"

I then checked the elevations between my home town and where we were, almost a 1900 foot difference. I ended up spending 400 dollars that weekend on new plastic because I had an addiction to manipulating stable-overstable discs.

Needless to say, the effect elevation has on discs angers me greatly.

It's amazing what a little elevation difference can do. Years ago, I was in the Army Reserve.
After I graduated college, I moved about 3 hours away and and 1500' lower elevation. I continued to do my running/training for the annual PT test as I always did. But, come time to do the 2 mile run, I was about 2 minutes slower than I was at home and totally sucking wind.

 

[ray1970]

I played a round in the Denver area with a guy visiting from Texas. His first tee shot was this hyzer that was fired straight towards the basket and then broke left and went way off the fairway. He told me that disc always flips up and goes dead straight. I just chuckled.