How does weight affect the flight of a disc? 

I’m amazed this channel is only at 5k. Your voiceovers are silky smooth and the content is very scientific. Easy subscribe, hope to see you gain more followers!

Old guy here. I do find, as you did, that the lighter weights get me a little more distance. But overall I can achieve similar distances to my heavier discs with less effort. The result for me, anecdotal only, is that I recover more quickly than if I play a round with only heavier discs. Whether that's real data or just in my head I've been more competitive, been able to play more often and in general enjoyed the game more by changing to lighter weights in the last year or so. Great video!

Great video! As a senior disc golfer, lighter discs are much easier to throw. I do not have enough arm speed to throw max-weight discs unless they are putters. By the way, I am able to forehand throw lightweight discs without much problem with them turning and burning.

I find that 160g-165g is the sweet spot for MVP discs. But the sweet spot for other brands are their translucent plastic at 160g-170g. I’m also a noddle arm so 😂

Would love to see you expand on the topic of torque resistance on forehand throws specifically. For example: do a stable disc that has been beat in to be understable have more torque resistance than a disc that is similarly understable but new? Or, lightweight overstable discs vs. heavy stable/understable discs. Love the series!

Great video and channel, thank you. I’m 72 years old. When I retired at 62 I began to play very regularly and used only max weight discs and achieved great results. After conquering some age related health issues, I found I could no longer get the same results. I tried lighter discs in the same molds and recovered my lost results. Keep up the good work and Godspeed.

I will bag a lightweight version of slightly OS molds, such as my Gateway Diablo. I use that when i want IMMEDIATE flip to avoid an obstacle but not burn completely over, since the mold itself is stable. A heavier, flippy disc, tends to turn later in flight and might hit the obstacle I'm avoiding with the light disc. Basically, I feel that a lightweight OS mold gives a dramatic S curve flight because it will both turn and fade, but heavy US molds will just flip and turn without and opportunity for fade. Different shot shapes and utility.

A good overstable light weight disc can be a fun thing to throw

My 164g GStar Destroyer is an absolute workhorse, FH and BH. Great content!

Thank you so much for all of the hard work and analysis, I'm super impressed!!!

Outstanding work done to create such an informative, data driven video. Thanks!

This is a great series. I love how you back everything up with data.

I recently started buying lighter weight discs ~150g. I'm a newbie and wanted a little more distance. I'm currently at 170 to 200'. The lighter weight discs I bought were in higher speeds than I normally throw. I typically can only throw a speed 6.5 or 7 once it's beat in. My new lighter weight speed 7 flies like a dream. likewise, I also picked up a light weight speed 9 that works well for me. being able to throw the higher speed discs nets me more glide and greater distance with less energy. I think as I get better and am able to get faster arm speed (I'm currently pretty slow), I'll outgrow the lighter discs. But I'm enjoying them at the moment. Thanks for the great video.

I love the experiment idea! Thank you for testing something we are all wondering about. I also appreciate the way you tested this and your results are very helpful. Thank you!

😂😂 that intro was gold. So true

Thank you for investing in this study! Great content!👏

Wind is important in this discussion. I carry light and heavy versions of the same drivers, light for drives that I can get the wind under the flight plate; heavy for battling headwinds. Great production values here! I'm subscribing !

Interesting, thanks everyone! I have a light Latitude 64 Jade, which as a newer golfer, flies well for me if I get the release angle right. It's one of my better distance discs.

I started playing a year ago, and I bought two starter sets: Innova and Dynamic Discs. The Innovas were all between 141 and 148 grams; the DDs were all 170+. Playing with both for a month, the Innovas were noticeably easier to throw and went farther than the DDs. I’ve since played with several brands; in general, 165 and lower are easier to throw and go farther. However, my lightest disc is a 134-gram Innova Boss in Blizzard Champion plastic; it has not been easy to throw and does not go as far. As for the stability issue, I have found that overstable discs have more predictable flights, but they don’t go as far for me, even on forehand throws. I also haven’t seen any difference with the wind, except with a tailwind; understable discs get knocked down quicker than overstable discs. Keep up the great work! Love your data-driven analyses.

I'd love to see a machine for throwing discs that you could adjust and lock in release angle and speed. Then, presuming it delivers consistent results, you can really see what discs do and take the human factor out of it all.

Another great video! I really like light weight discs. Currently living at 8,600 ft of elevation and seem to get my best distance with lighter weight discs. My current go to is a 150 g Wave.

I have been loving this series!! Would love to see an episode to sus out Glide. Specifically, analyze measured speed vs. time in the air and ultimately distance. I understand there are more variables to consider to get a meaningfull conclusion for the data. There would have to be very little no wind, height of the throw, you would have to have a flat and domey version of the same disc, same weight ect ect. As I write this I am understanding how tough this one would be. But would be cool if you could pull it off. all the best

Very helpful video! I’ve been using lighter discs since I bought my first starter set (Dynamic Discs 3-disc set); all were 170g+ and felt heavy to me. I also had trouble throwing them. I bought an Innova starter set, and all of the discs were in the 140-150g range. I felt better throwing them and they went farther than the DDs. I started buying lighter discs (when possible) for that reason. The video shows the diminishing returns in distance with lighter discs, so it’s a more complicated issue than my experience as a beginner. Thanks again!

Great video. I enjoyed the experiment.

My experience with lightweight discs is that I tend to late release them. I think less mass means it doesn't "rip" out of my hand at the same moment because the increase in speed doesn't have an equal effect to inertia as the loss in mass relative to my grip compared to my other max weight discs. Just a theory

Sweet vid! Interesting stuff!

My question is that is it easier to get the flight you want by getting different weights or just stay with a consistent weight and get disks with different speeds and flight paths.

lightweight + stable is the key. 145g tesla has the stability to add easy distance to shots compared to my 170-175g Teslas. Light weight discs also have higher high speed stability so "turn" quicker - which results in the disc fading later or more delayed low speed stability for extra distance (straight longer). Find the combination of speed + stability in a mold & plastic that compliments a player's release velocity and light speed discs can be a great option for someone. I found a 160g Tesla just didn't have enough of a difference to compliment the higher weight Tesla's I throw. There's like a 15g-25g difference sweet spot to figure out - idk.

Loved this Video! Awesome! Thank you for listen to my idea! Next it would be fun to see what weight need for you to throw disc that are normal no good for you.

Excellent video. Just got my subscription!

It depends on what shot shape I’m looking for. But typically I find 170-172g drivers to fit my arm the best. That weight feels light enough to be able to manipulate the flight for release angles but heavy enough to be reliable.

Great video, it would be interesting to check if the spin is the same on heavier and lighter discs.

Hahahahahaha. Ur head shaking no at the end asking about throwing forehand had me rolling!!!!!!!!!!!

Gotta love real science being done! Incidentally, if you want a light weight disc that's a blast to throw forehand, try the 150 glass Discraft Flick. It's such silly fun!

I've been getting lighter discs for my noodle arm but have a hard time throwing slightly understable discs forehand. Excited to try a heavier version to see if it helps!

Only playing since January and I was going to start experimenting. Good thing I like MVP/Axion 🇺🇸👍🏻

I have a few light weight discs, most of them just flips right out of the hand when I throw forehand.. But if you can get your hand on a beefy lightweight disc forehanding with it can be amazing. I use a 157g Ballista pro for longer forhand shots.

I love the "flight numbers don't matter" serie! i've bought too many discs just cuz i want to try them out and to be honest, flight numbers don't matter. would be nice if you could compare weight on more overstable molds like Destroyers and simular molds. The molds you compared in this video already had som understability to them. love the work you do!

For light discs Ive seem great success with people using a higher release angle on lighter discs. Tossing slightly up reduces turn, allowing you to rocket unstable discs and get a ton of float with an s curve.

160g Fireball --> Perfect Forehand Lightweight Disc. Compareable to a felon - just a little bit shorter. But nonetheless as stable.

Good channel. I have only started just over 6weeks-7weeks, so the weight is that 173-176 range. I have been out today playing a putter round so that way I can get better with the accuracy. I have already accrued 22 with 2 on the way, 10 putters. 4 midranges 5 fairway drivers 4 of which I'm ok with, & 5 distance drivers, still need a few more times out in the footy field to get the hang of them.

A well reasoned approach. For me (about to enter MA50) using a 15-18 gram spread with a mould gives me the shot shapes desired in the key discs (straight mid, FW, control driver, distance driver)

I'd love to see a video comparing light weight vs max weight discs in the wind. How much of a difference is there in the flights when you are throwing into say a headwind?

Great series of videos! Thanks for all your hard work. As mentioned, it would be great to grab an image comparing the PLH when you compare discs head to head. I bought the Valkyrie in 5 different plastics and PLH seems to match stability differences. Especially if PLH was the same but observed stability wasn't.

Being in Utah and just not quite having the arm speed for discs like wraiths, the lighter weight seems to help negate the extra stability from elevation and get me right in that sweet spot to be able to throw discs like wraiths.

I just love these myth busting themed videos you've been doing recently and despite the sky blues jersey this one was no exception. ;) I do think that light weight discs work well for people with lower arm speeds but not so much for more advance players and there is a logic to it. As your data showed, you can throw the lighter weight discs a bit faster and that helps a lot with the distance for lower arm speed throwers. However, the wind resistance vs speed ratio isn't linear, but rather exponential. So getting 3mph more speed helps you way more when you throw 40mph compared to 90mph, because the wind resistance negates the benefit at faster speeds. Also, with higher speeds you get more turn, but because lighter weight discs also slow down faster, you get stronger fade (unless you flip it over). Conversely, the heavier disc will have all in all a straighter flight. For years I threw light weight (16xg) disc with hopes of getting more distance, but my scores started getting better as I moved towards heavier weights. I've tried some light weight discs recently and they just seem so erratic now. Oh, and especially the bubble rimmed discs seem to beat in waay faster as the material is just more porous. Oh2, I've noticed that at least some Trilogy molds have different PDGA approvals for Air version, so I'm wondering if they've actually compensated for the lack of stability by tuning the mold.

I'd still put classic McBeth throwing 167g Star Destroyers and approaching with Novas up against anyone throwing any plastic yet. I could be wrong, but that was a Deadly Era for sure. Love watching lighter weight drivers fly!

I bag a lightweight (aka whitelight) tern specifically for the nasty long uphill par 5 at my local. All the upside explained in the video, and it fights out of the turn to get that distance.

MVP fission octane is my farthest flying disc. When I found one weighing in at 163 I had to try it, and then it instantly became my farthest flying disc. Forehand I have to put it on some hyzer to flip up. Just gets a full flight/s curve I couldn’t quite get with max weight. I throw it about 350-370 for reference and I’ve been playing for years

I've started looking for lighter discs after I noticed I do significantly better with them in both distance and accuracy. Wind also isn't usually a factor because my normal course is pretty heavily wooded.

Great video! If you ever generate data in bars like that again, could you try changing the colors for each disc? It was hard to understand what you were explaining because the text was so tiny

I throw light weight disc when throwing upp hill and tail wind and sometimes when there is no wind… Normally don´t throw them when it is windy or I throw to deep down hill.

You had me until the very end. Lightweight discs on a forehand flip up or a long panning turnover is a thing of beauty. 😎

Most of my skill improvement came from learning flight numbers😂 it actually made all the difference in the world understanding them

I definitely bag a few lightweight discs, but I find that if I deviate in weight too much, I loose some aiming precision

really cool vid. I hit the sweet spot for lighter discs and I think you just need to play around Got a 155g Opto Saint, and then rolls over on me most of the time. Went up to a 155g Flick and that thing is a beef cake even at that weight.. extremely OS! Went back down to a 155g Firebird and I'm getting some good flights. I usually use this on wooded holes where I need a bit more distance. i gotta test them out in wind too.

Blizzard boss was my first ever disk I ever topped 300 feet with consistency starting our years ago. Like you said if you find a more stable type of disk in itself the lighter version should give you the disk you’re looking for in or the flight paths you are trying to hit. Now I can hit 375-400 I never throw anything less than 165 because of torque issues forehand or backhand.

For me heavier discs play father because the light discs turn over incredibly quickly and die out. However, I have thrown some meat hooks that were mid 60s instead of 70s and they go further with backhand.

My lightest disc is a 147g Star Tern from innova. It flips up super easy, but has enough fight in it to come back at the end. At least for my noodle arm that’s what it does. I can get it to fly about 300 feet, which is good for me. I had to switch to left handed throws because I destroyed my right shoulder last year and needed surgery. I’m still struggling to get back into right handed throwing, so light weight discs are crucial for me.

I bag two light weight discs, the Glitch 141 g and an ultra lightweight F7 at 133 g. They are both extremely understable and tolerate very little torque. But that also means in situations where I can’t get a run up or my swing is blocked by a thorn bush, I’m still able to get mostly full flight with much slower arm speed, making them great scramble discs. I can also get the F7 to do a flick roller with little effort on a flat release or with a little more effort flip from hyzer release to roller. Not my everyday work horses, but good trick shot discs that have gotten me out of sticky situations.

Hi, you have to think of the wind and how you can push your disc. For slow windy days, low weight disc are ok for me, if we have strong wind, for me, heavy disc are the one's :)

I have a few lightweight discs but as you mentioned they are harder to find. So I throw mostly max weight. Maybe that's just common for MVP and Axiom? I know that my go to retailer gets some disc drops with seemingly no light weight options at all.

The best company I've found for light weight discs is latitude 64 with their opto air plastic in several of their moulds. Im able to throw further (240 feet) but I've only been out throwing 7 to 10 times due to ill health. But regardless of the discs or how often I can get out I enjoy it every time. God bless

Where have you been bro? Subscribed. Nice content. Also I have wraiths as low as 160 and I can bomb my max weight wraith way farther

i always wondered if a "seasoned" disc would fly further coz they do get "flippier" but does that equal more distance or does damage affect air friction around the disc? idk, loving this mythbuster type series btw!

Nice analysis

I love your content.. May I ask why you don't feature much Trilogy? Just a preference?

I carry Katanas: 144 (floater) - flippy as heck even downwind, 155 - downwind distance, 175 - headwind distance, 181 - anchor for my boat I am 62, been playing five years and can throw about 275 on a good day - speed matters!

I had a Champion Shryke (13/6/-2/2) as my main disk. Supposed to be light weight but I was only any good with it using my forehand. Lost it recently while practicing my backhand (to high angle and the wind took it out of sight). I’m searching for a replacement now. The speed of the disk is probably too high as I’m fairly new and only throw about 250 ft (and that was with my Dart putter!).

I have 2 beginner sets that are pretty light and one heavy disc. When I'm praticing and I go from throwing the lighter discs to my 174g Fuse I often throw too low because of the extra weight. The difference in grip could be a factor too. Retro has a lot more grip than opto.

Cool video

For my max distance throws, I use a ~170g Innova Star Wraith or a ~155 MVP Fission Photon. The wraith gets used for forehands and light headwind while the Photon is used for calm or downwind throws. The Wraith will flip to flat, hold, then fade. Rarely will it turn all the way over for me. The Photon will flip over slightly, then fade giving me the classic S shaped drive. This has been my furthest flying disc. I have to watch out when throwing this into a slight headwind because it can turn over too far. One day when I don't have the wraith anymore, I'll probably get a heavier version of the Photon to be the more stable version for slight headwind throws. Ripping 20 mph headwinds get the Axiom Fireball and ripping tailwinds get a very flippy and lightweight Innova Sidewinder. I never get the fireball to flip over into the headwind and the Sidewinder will give a perfect S shot into a hard tailwind. Ever since I started playing disc golf, I've had a max weight Innova Roc in my bag. I have a champion plastic version right now which I am breaking in and it meathooks at the end very well. It'll give a solid straight flight, then hockey stick. My Innova Mako 3 is my straight shooter with minimal fade. Great for precise throwing. MVP Vertex for US mid range. Fairway drivers: MVP Relay for US MVP Servo for general duty Then Fireball or Roc3 for OS MVP Anode for putting.

If you find a disc that you like the feel of but it’s fading too much and you want it to either go straighter or have some turn you could try a lighter disk.

After 2 years I began to throw lighter on about half of my disc..the good thing of throwing lighter besides the things mentioned is that it is not as taxing....I can get my heavier disc to go as far but I REALLY have to crank on them....where as I can throw the lighter versions and still remain somewhat fresh....for someone who practices a lot its a game changer....

I’ve also walked away from a sale because weights weren’t there for me. To give that dude any benefit of the doubt, maybe 168 was his minimum threshold, 167 was the pushing it but acceptable, and 166 was just TOOO low for him, especially if a player is used to throwing max weight already. In Austin, there are multiple shop keeps who agree that once you go beyond five grams in either direction “it might as well be a different disc”. Fortunately my own threshold has expanded since I’ve gotten better at the game, but I can certainly understand that sentiment.

I would love to see this weight analysis with putters. For distance and chain reaction. Lower weight better for longer putts? Would lower weight increase/decrease spit outs?

First, CTID.... love seeing the Man City shirt! Second, light discs...I'm aging (60 this year) and I've seen my overall distance shrinking, so I backed off with both stability and with weight. I throw mostly Trilogy. My calm day bag will have the following for light weight (165 or less) discs: River, Explorer, Evader, Diamond, Hatchet or Jade, Saint, Escape, Felon, Sapphire, Sword, Trespass and Destiny. I found the same results as you with the FH and light discs... they tend to flip over into the dirt unless thrown really soft with more arm and less flick at the end versus a hammer type toss i use for distance (Evader, felon, Trespass, Destroyer). Finding lighter weight midrange discs is a challenge, so I've stepped down in stability. Loved the video! Maybe we can talk about the best football team in the world sometime!

Gannon Buhr said that his "go-to" max distance driver was 165/6 grams. I've found that lighter weight discs in UNDER-stable molds tend to be problematic. It's very easy to overpower the disc if you don't adjust the angle of release and it will end up a roller. Lighter weight discs in OVER-stable molds will allow a thrower to achieve the needed velocity to get the disc to fly as it was intended. The actual speed of the disc out of your hand is the most important factor. If you are a newer player (intermediate and below), find what weight you throw the fastest and then find a disc that fits your throw. Don't adjust your throw to fit the disc. If you are more skilled with angles, going with lighter weights can open up a bunch of new possibilities.

I generally throw lighter weight of the same mold when going uphill. I also bag a 150 putter for get out of jail shots.

Well done piece. Since 2016 I've been throwing drivers under 160 due to shoulder injury. It's all dependent on who's throwing and at what speed and angle. Then you have degree of wind - stiff headwind ? Ouch. Fluttery tailwind - new record ! Plastic type - Halo Star is stiff, DX is not, you know...variables. Next vid - how does premium compare to base in a lightweight disc ? How does a premium light disc compare to a base plastic heavier disc ? Loved the customer simulation to open the clip - 🏆

When it comes to forehands and maximum distance lines. there's still some scarcity with stable to overstable discs in light weights. Many manufacturers don't seem to produce light discs with faster throwers in mind. In my experience, the molds that work well for forehands do that in lower weights too, although they do penalise you for bad form a little more and obviously will turn more due to the added velocity. Photon and Octane are both very good forehand discs in all weights. Octane is a flip-up driver in 160 class, but Photon is actually slightly overstable even in high 150's. I just got a 150-class Octane in the mail and will hopefully get to throw it this week, the profile looks very similar to 160-gram Octanes so it could be a bomber. Wave, Crave and Proxy on the other hand are somewhat touchy discs even in max weight, so there's no reason to expect them to fly more stable in lower weights. They're definitely throwable, but not huckable. The Blizzard Destroyer was a fun one. Because biggest bubbles are in the rim, it flies like the opposite of a Gyro disc with a fast turn out of the hand and then starts immediately dumping as it slows down. It was stable enough so not very hard to throw, but funny as hell! Differences in profile between runs is something you really need to pay attention to when buying light discs for max power/forehand throws. MVP is still making tweaks and looking for the consistent process for their Fission discs and there are some odd runs that fly very differently. Most of the time a quick look at the wing gives you a hint if a particular disc is an outlier.

I believe it was overthrow discgolf channel who did a comparison of the River, in one plastic, and a wide range of weights, and it was quite revealing. there was no correlation at all between weight and distance.

you may be interested in some of my experiments... I took some max weight discs, threw them, then took a dremel with a toroid shaped grinder bit and ground out a channel into the inside of the rim level with the flight plate to lighten them up dramatically. What I found over and over, regardless of what type of disc was that the lighter weight exaggerated the flight numbers. So a -2,2 disc flipped hard and if it stayed in the air long enough for the fade to hit, it was more pronounced fade than before which made the disc very difficult to control especially with any puff of wind. I think the max weight is for a reason, it keeps the disc flying closer to it's intended flight numbers within a wider window of relative air speed which in turn makes them more predictable. I feel like the only discs a ultra light weight might work with is anything with a zero for turn.

My discraft heat is more stable than my star destroyer and both are the same weight. I feel like they just throw these numbers on sometimes. I had a roadrunner that was the most stable disc in my bag for a while.

There are some mint discs runs, mainly Goats and my 167g diamondback are more stable than their #'s. The lighter weights are more beefy than the max weights in my experience.

Its basically always windy when I play, so I'm sticking to the 168-175 range. Heavier for my mids because theyre so sensitive to release angle and heavier discs will be more forgiving.

I bag a Blizzard BOSS for water holes. It's beat up nicely and has a predictable flight. I've pulled it out of water hazzard many many times. Get a bliz-boss if you need a floater!

I throw a lightweight fission hex and a heavier hex. Lightweight for when i throw fan grip for precision shots. Heavy for power grip

I throw mid-weight discs. the 165 and up to 173. I have found this to be my personal sweet spot for my arm at the moment. I like to keep one lighter weight and one heavier weight around for certain scenarios, which brings me to the most important lesson I think everybody should learn: do what works for you as long as you have a consistent form. I also found that I do not have the burnout issue in forehand that was talked about at the end of the video. Again, it is what works for you.

I only really throw max weight for two reasons. The first is that I learned to play disc golf with max weight discs and any time I pick up anything light it messes up my release really bad. The other reason I don't throw light weight is because i live in Texas and and we can sometimes get winds up to 30 mph

I throw lighter weight 167-169 for flex turnover shots. I seem to get more distance out of them when I can predict the turnover angle, and work the disc from left to right to left. And I have to use less effort to get to the point I’m needing. Not all of my discs are this weight, I use more Overstable max weight for more technical wooded courses.

I am an intermediate arm speed. Anecdotally, I prefer slower discs to be all max weight. I also prefer understable molds to be max weight or 170+, as they will perform better in wind. Over 10 speed I throw some lighter weights, like my 167g destroyer. I do bag a 154g diamond for some special utility shots! Blizzard Boss can have some great stability even at 155g. So mold v weight is a consideration for me.

Being a senior player lighter is much better and by coincidence the crave fission is my favorite then the signal. The crave is 151 grams the signal is 156 grams. In a heavy wind both will become very understandable but the crave will fade back.

I was wounding why there was so many higher weight of disc ; just crazy to see that not more lower weight for speed& distance

My 155g puddle-top Flick is one of the most overstable discs I've ever thrown. I do generally prefer 165-170g for fairways and distance, max weight for putters and mids.

Another factor to consider is elevation. If you play at higher elevations discs tend to have less glide and more stability. I'm primarily a forehand thrower usually playing at around 4,500 feet and have found that throwing lighter discs can be helpful when trying to counteract some of the effects of elevation

I can only speak for myself, but I am one of those dudes who is bent on the numbers. Can’t help to feel as if those who say they don’t matter are also the ones who would compare something like a BUZZZ with a Roc and say they’re practically the same disc - NO they’re NOT. I have evolved my game to focus on consistency in my flat release when I throw, so I can rely on the design of the disc to fly the way it was designed to, and not have to worry too much about how much heiser flip or flex I need to add, because it gets exhausting after too long. I have invested in the specific discs that give me all the lines I know I need, and have at least one lighter and one heavier of the same disc. Only discs I don’t have doubles or triples of when I play are putters; right now it’s one Judge, one Maiden, and one Harp. All premium plastics nowadays because I simply cannot rely on consistency in baseline plastics anymore, especially DX; Once they’re broken in, they’re personally useless to me, so I’ve quit purchasing BT, DX or Origio because they get beat up too quickly.

with that forehand form everything but a firebird/equivalent would turn over lol. try releasing on hyzer

I like to use drivers (fairway and distance) that are in the mid 160s

I feel so attacked in the first 30 seconds of this video. 167g is my magic # lmao