Flight numbers

If you have tried throwing with different discs, you will have experienced that they often fly differently. Disc golf discs come in many different variants, and here the difference between many discs will be quite significant.

To identify how different discs fly, you can by looking at descent flight numbers, or flight numbers in Danish, learn about them flight characteristics the disc has. Flight numbers can be a bit off to begin with a jungle to find around, but it can also be a good tool to find the next disc for your bag. The best way to find out if a disc is the right one for you, however, is always by trying to throw it yourself.

Flight numbers are mostly an indication and they are not standardized completely across the various manufacturers. Therefore two discs can be included the same flight numbers, from two different manufacturers fly quite differently. Nevertheless, we think it is important to give you a proper introduction to the four numbers printed on the vast majority of disc golf discs.

A discs flight numbers contains 4 categories:

Flight numbers are read from left to right. In the example we see that an Essence from Discmania has Speed ​​8, Glide 6, Turn -2 and Fade 1. You can read more about them individual categories below. The manufacturer Discraft has an extra number that says after the 4 flight numbers, which they call "Stability rating". Discrafts stability rating we will shortly review at the bottom of this page.

Speed

+1 to +14

Serves as an indication of how hard you have to throw the disc to get the numbers for turn and fade pass. Speed ​​is also a direct expression of how wide the disc edge is (also called "the rim") is. A wider rim is therefore an expression of higher speed.

The higher the number, the more speed the disc needs to fly well. You often categorize discs so that speed 1-3 are putters, speed 4-5 are midranges, speed 6-9 are fairway drivers and speed 10-14 are distance drivers.

For new players, we recommend that you start with discs with speed at most 8 or 9 in the bag.

Glide

+1 to +7

An expression of how well the disc floats in the air. The higher the number, the more it floats. One disc with a low glide is often described as feeling slightly heavier, as it more quickly goes towards the ground when it flies. It is different what disc golf players prefer. Someone would prefer a low glide, as it gives a better control over the disc, while others prefer a high glide for a little extra length of their throws.

For new players, we recommend that your drivers have glide 5 or 6.

Turn

-5 to +1

An expression of how much the disc turns at high velocity. The highest speed is always the first part of the throw, since the disc due to wind resistance slowly loses speed during its flight through the air. If, as a right-hander, you throw a backhand, this will be an expression for how much the disc turns to the right in the first part of the throw.

The lower the number, the more it turns to the right for a right-handed throwers backhand. In a forehand throw, the descent turn will be to the left.

We generally recommend discs with some turn (lower numbers; i.e. a negative numbers) for new players.

Fade

0 to +6

An expression of how much the disc falls to the left (for a right handed backhand thrower when it slows down in the end of the flight. This will always be at the end of the disc flight through the air, since here it has lost most of its speed due to the air resistance.

The higher the number, the more it turns to the left for a right-handed thrower's backhand throw. In an forhand throw, the disc's fade will be to the right.

We generally recommend lower fade discs for new players.

Summary of flight numbers

We have gone through the flight numbers and hopefully you have learned a little more on what the numbers mean. It was mentioned at the start that flight numbers are not based on a standard across manufacturers, and therefore you cannot always expect a disc with certain numbers from one brand to fly like another disc with the same numbers from another brand.

Flight numbers are good as guidelines, but the only way to find out a disc is right for you, is to try throwing it. In an attempt to link it all together, we have below an example where a picture of a discs flight route (also called "flight curve") is depicted. Here it is marked in which part of the flight the disc turns and fades.

You can read more generally about stability of discs on our stability page .

Stability

The stability rating only applies to discs from the manufacturer Discraft. On Discraft discs, a fifth number is often seen after the 4 flight numbers. That fifth number is Discraft's own stability rating. It rates discs on a scale from 3 to -3, where a high value is an overstable disc and a low value is a understable disc.

Discraft writes, that overstable discs typically lie between 3 and 1, dthe neutral discs have a stability rating around 0 and the understable discs have a rating between -1 and -3. Discraft's stability rating may also appear as decimal numbers, so you can find discs with a stability rating of, for example 0.4 or 2.1.

You can read more about Discraft's stability rating at their website .

You can read more generally about stability of discs on our stability page .