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I know they exist somewhere but I haven't been able to find the ratings for discs that show the numbers to the tenth... what i mean is that the Vulcan, for instance, says 13 speed, -4 turn, 2 fade on it, but it's actually 13.5 speed, -4.1 turn, etc....
Anyone know of where these exacting numbers might be?
Yeah i like there ratings system too, althogh all it is is Innova's standards but used on all makes and models
Sorry, you are looking for information which does not exist from any source. More exacting flight rating numbers will give you no better insight into how a disc will fly.
It is easier to assume that every run of every disc is a little (or a lot) different from every other run. Even within runs, different weighs and colors will create more variance.
Drivers will vary more than Mids or Putters. Big rimmed drivers will vary more than smaller rimmed drivers. Drivers in different plastic blends are almost guaranteed to vary from one another.
If a flight rating broken down to a tenth of a point gives you some illusory satisfaction then feel free to add even more numbers. How about a speed rating of 13.536? The only thing a high speed rating really tells you is that the disc has a wide rim.
If you want to know how a disc flies, throw it. If you want a disc just like the one you love then get another of the same mold from the same run in the same color in the same weight, with the same degree of wear. Or just do what the rest of us do: take any flight rating as a general guideline then learn and adapt to your new disc when you get it.
Once you find a mold which works for you, future runs will probably work, too, maybe even better. Slight variations are useful to players with enough skill to recognize the differences and adjust to them.
That's pretty disappointing information, Mark. To think that even the top disc golf manufacturers have a wide enough range of errors to make different flights from the same weight and model is kind of unsettling, really. Hopefully as the sport progresses, they'll be able to improve on that.
Different colors on the same-weighted disc types affect the flight pattern??? Really??? How so? The tackiness of the plastic, maybe? I mean, if they're measured at the same weight, what does that matter?
Molding a disc is part science, part art and part voodoo.
Bulk plastics come in little beads which the disc manufacturers blend with different kinds of plastics in varying percentages, weighting agents, hardening agents and coloring agents to make a disc. All that stuff gets melted together then squirted into a mold where it pops out and cools.
Plastics available in the market are constantly changing and none of them are specifically designed for discs. Whatever plastic you loved a couple years ago in your favorite driver no longer is made, an "upgraded" version has replaced it, which may be better or worse but certainly is different.
The $10 to $20 you pay for a disc would be much greater if the manufacturers created controlled environments (like a medical laboratory) with constant temperatures and humidity, as those factors change how discs come out. In ball golf a new driver costs hundreds of dollars. This kind of "progress" may not be what you want in your sport.
It takes only a tiny change in a disc to affect how it flies. Two discs which look identical to the naked eye-even a trained naked eye-can fly differently. As a disc cools coming out of the mold it dries. While it dries the dome may raise or lower. The height of the dome can drastically affect stability, even in tiny changes you would need a micrometer to notice. If the blue coloring agents dry differently than the red coloring agents then the stability of the disc is different.
Think of a disc as coming from a mold (what the melted plastic gets squirted into). Change the ingredients and you get a different product. A cake also comes from the mold. How much salt does it take to change the taste? Change the settings on the oven or the conditions in the kitchen and you get a different product.
For a beginning player the changes in runs don't matter since they cannot throw consistently enough to notice them. As players develop skill and consistency they learn to memorize the discs in their bags and the flight patterns generated by their throwing styles and power levels. Discs, especially in candy plastics ( Z, Champ) or candy blends ( ESP, X, FLX, Star) are remarkably durable and retain their flight characteristics for a long time, allowing players to learn them precisely, even as conditions on the course change.
By the time you love a disc and use it for years it may be impossible to exactly replace it, as that disc has broken in. But since you have learned to adapt you apply that skill to the next disc and learn it.
+2 thumbs up.. Thanks Mr Ellis for opening another mind..