Disc Golf Weight Explained – Choosing the Best Disc Weight
Why Weight Matters in Disc Golf
When it comes to choosing the best disc golf disc, getting the right weight is an important factor. The weight of a disc affects its speed, stability and the way it will fly. Understanding this relationship can provide a significant advantage in the discs you choose to purchase and throw on the course. We’ll start by explaining an important factor in disc flights: velocity.
Release Velocity and it’s Relationship to Distance
The faster you’re able to throw the disc, the greater your potential to get more distance. This provides a relationship between the release velocity of a throw and the distance the disc travels.
Lighter Discs for Big Distance
Lighter discs have proven their value beyond just theory. In fact, some distance competition world records were achieved using discs under 160 grams. Those are players who normally throw max weight discs. This shows that, with the right throw, lighter discs are capable of remarkable distances.
Disc Stability Also Matters
While light weight discs have potential for more distance, the flight dynamics of the disc can also change. Lighter discs, by their nature, tend to exhibit more turn, which can affect the intended flight path. To counter this tendency, it might be advantageous to choose a more stable driver or increase the weight. Increased stability allows for more consistent flight paths.
While the weight of the disc may not actually affect the discs stability, the fact that you are able to throw light weight discs faster will affect its stability.
Factoring in Wind Conditions
Disc weight makes a big difference when it comes to throwing in the wind. Lights discs are affected much more than heavier discs, simply because of physics. All other factors being equal, lighter discs will get blown around more than a heavier disc, since there is less mass to get moving. That goes for a head/tail wind, as well as a cross wind.
For headwind shots, the lighter discs will turn even more than if thrown without any wind. The opposite is true with a tailwind. In that case, it would be beneficial to throw a lighter disc.
Which Weight to Choose?
With a lot of disc golfers trying out popular discs from different brands, we thought that we would address the questions of disc weight. For some players, the weight of the disc is not particularly important as long as it flies the way that they want it to. But for other players, the disc weight is very important since they prefer the performance of heavier discs, or desire the easier distance that may come with lighter discs, etc.
Your weight choice should primarily depend on the disc you are purchasing and what you intend to use that disc for.
Choosing Weight for Putters and Midrange Discs
Because putter and midrange discs are used for control and not distance, in most instances you should choose heavier, near max weight discs.
Disc Golf Putter Weights
Most disc golf putters have a max weight of 173-175grams. That’s the range of my putting putters. However, I have tried a lighter putter for longer putts, and it does make a difference, at my skill level.
Midrange Disc Weights
Some midrange discs have wider diameters, and thus the PDGA allows for heavier max weights. Large diameter mids like the Buzzz and Roc3 have max weights of up to 180 grams.
If you’re looking for something very overstable, you probably want a heavier disc, or at least something in the 165g plus weight range. If you want something that will glide a little bit more and not fall to the ground as fast, consider something lighter than mid weight for that mold.
Best Weight for Disc Golf Drivers
Disc golf drivers and their sharp rims usually have a maximum weight of 175 grams or less.
When it comes to choosing drivers, this is when the weight ranges really matters. The reality is that you will probably want a variety of different weights depending on your intended use for the driver. If you’re looking for big distance, use a lighter disc.
While I can’t usually tell the difference between a 170 gram, and a 173 gram disc, there is a noticeable difference between max weigh drivers and those in the 160’s. When a disc golf driver gets in the 150’s or lower weight range, there is a noticeable difference in the speed you are able to throw the disc and the way that it will fly.
If you have a tendency to “turn over” your disc, you probably want to stay away from light weight drivers as the heavier varieties will provide more consistency.
Some disc golfers choose to throw light weight but very overstable discs to get the best of both velocity and stability.
The real way to choose the right disc weight for you is simply to try your favorite driver in a number of different weight ranges to see which ones perform best for you in varying situations.
Lighter Weights for Beginners
Because new disc golfers do not have the arm speed to get a full flight out of disc, the best discs for beginners are usually light weight discs, at least in terms of drivers. Mid weight midrange discs are also recommended for newer players.
Sometimes factory second blemishes make x-out discs lighter than the non x-out version, so a factory second version is a way to get a lighter disc in the mold you are looking at.
Are the Weights Listed on Disc Golf Discs Accurate?
Here at Infinite Discs, we try to represent each disc as accurately as possible on our website by including a photo and the details for each disc. We decided years ago that we would trust the manufacturers when it comes to indicating the weight of their discs.
Most major disc manufacturers take the time to weigh the discs as they come out of the mold and painstakingly mark those weights in ink, with stickers, or embossed on the bottom of each disc. We trust that they have a well-established procedure for accurately weighing those discs as part of their manufacturing process.
Another reason is that different scales may give different weights. Our scale might not be the same as your scale, or the manufacturers scale.
DIFFERENT BRANDS AND THEIR WEIGHT DESIGNATIONS
We’ve seen a lot of players throw discs from a variety of manufactures. We’d like to address another important consideration when it comes to the procedures of those different brands. Innova, for example, used to mark their weights to the precise gram by writing the weight on the bottom of the disc in ink. Players who threw Innova or discs by other brands that use a similar procedure are able to pick the exact weight that they feel is perfect for them.
Innova has changed their method of indicating the weight, and they now
Like Innova currently does, Discraft puts a sticker on their discs that indicates a weight range. For example, they’ll put a sticker on a disc that says 170 – 172. That way, they are acknowledging that there will be some variation in weight for the discs produced in that batch. Other discs may be lighter and marked with weight stickers like 167 – 169, or heavier with 177+ (typical for mid-range discs like the Buzzz). Again, we assume that their range is accurate, but can’t promise that when weighed on somebody’s personal scale that it won’t fall a gram above or below the range that Discraft indicated.
Our Policy
When we list discs by companies that use a weight range on the disc or a sticker, we have chosen to be consistent in our data entry practices by simply listing the low number on that sticker. That is because our data entry system does not allow for a range, but wants a single number. Thus, a disc marked as 170 – 172 will be listed as 170. A disc with a sticker saying 173 – 175 will be listed as 173. The “max weight” for a Discraft driver would typically be listed as 173, but could actually weigh on the higher end of that range.
Other brands that use weight ranges include DGA, Viking Discs, Yikun Discs, and the new Active Baseline series of discs from Discmania (not individually weighed, but sold in a weight range).
WHAT IF THE WEIGHT IS JUST PLAIN WRONG?
While we’d like to believe that we live in a world where mistakes don’t happen, that is simply not a reality. While taking photos and adding thousands of discs per week onto our website, it is possible that some busy, tired employee here at Infinite Discs may type a weight in incorrectly. Usually we catch that error before the disc ships and we contact the buyer to make sure that they get a weight that they want. If the disc slips past another employee at the shipping station and the buyer receives a disc that has a factory weight that is different than what we entered, then we take care of the problem.
If we have entered the disc weight according the factory-marked weight, as indicated above, but the buyer believes it is still inaccurate or marked incorrectly, then we’re still happy to help the best we can, knowing that some busy, tired employee at the factory may have made a mistake. After all, nobody is perfect, and mistakes are always possible. We just want to clarify that we are doing the best we can to represent discs on our website exactly as the factory specified.
174g vs 175g
In the end, when disc weight becomes a hot topic of discussion or a complaint, we often find ourselves wondering if that gram or two was really going to make a difference in the player’s game. Would a 174g disc perform that much worse for an average player who claims that they absolutely must have a 175g disc? That’s an argument to be settled elsewhere. As disc connoisseurs, we can attest that here at Infinite Discs we have discs in our bags that straddle a lot of weight ranges, and they fly as well as we can throw them.
We hope that this information has been helpful in understand a little bit more about disc weights and how they effect flight. We hope you better understand how brands mark the weight of their discs, and how we at Infinite Discs work with those brands and trust in those manufacturers to indicate the weight of their discs so that our buyers can make an informed purchasing decision.
Todd Durrant
Todd is the Vice President of Infinite Discs and mastermind behind the Infinite Discs VIP Club. He writes Infinite Discs newsletters and works with pros and artists to create a masterful selection of unique discs for you to enjoy.
Great post. I personally haven’t run into any problems with weight inaccuracies, but it’s good to know that the people at Infinite are doing their best to make sure we get the discs they order. The policies mentioned in this post make sense to me. I appreciate the transparency.
You repeat a paragraph under the headings Disc Stability Also Matters and Factoring in Wind Conditions.
Thanks! Got it fixed.
It’s great to see that you’re quietly backing away from your “we don’t weigh discs” policy, esp. given how important it is to customers according to your own surveys. Thank you!
Thank you also for stocking the lightweight stuff! I think it’d be great if you could carry more of the lighter F2s and x-outs that are out there but typically require some sleuthing to find – usually only buried somewhere in a manufacturer’s website. Your site is top-notch when it comes to finding light discs and I’d buy more of them if they were available!
This is the first article relating to weight I’ve read. I’m 66 and have been a player for 8 years. I can tell you with certainty that weight matters! Disc speed is critical and with lighter weight discs, my disc speed improves dramatically. I hope that Innova and other manufacturers will focus more on what is still considered a specialty disc. Thank you.
A 71-year-old, slight build, small hands, slow-arm thrower, I first touched a golf disc in April 2018. Like many, began with a 170g-range starter set. Quickly realized I’ll never have a power arm, so based on advice from experienced older players, started experimenting with lighter weight discs. Now carry mostly ultralight 135-144g drivers and lightweight 154-158g mids & throwing putters (still 170g putting putters).
Most of my drivers are Innova—the only disc maker who consistently releases their full driver line in ultralight premium plastics—but have experience with most of the ultralight plastic available. Loved Prodigy’s 400g (not ‘Air’) 141-145g D1/D2/D3/D4. They’re my all-time favorites but I couldn’t replace lost 141g D1 and 142g D2 (have them at 147g and higher but it’s not the same). I like MVP’s 146g Elaine King Photon (seasoned); 143g Wave; and seasoned145g /newer more overstable 140g Tesla. Those weights are super-rare—I’m really disappointed that MVP and Prodigy don’t regularly release them. Their relative irreplaceability is one reason none are in my daily cart. I do have all-MVP and all-(OOP)-Vibram 8-disc bags I play 3-4 times a month, only on my very open, hard-to-lose-discs home course.
(btw, my Wave is new—longer and allows a much more consistent release than the 147g I’d been using; same with a new Reactor at 155g versus the old 160g —thanks MVP! Can we get some Photons closer to 140g? Perhaps some others?)
Flipping open the cart I’ll be playing later today, I’m carrying fourteen Innova drivers ranging from 134g to 147g. Heaviest is a Star Destroyer (headwinds); longest (depending on wind) are 136g Champ Tern & 144g Halo Mamba (only ultralight Halo driver I’ve ever seen—wish there were more); lightest a Barsby Star Roadrunner (long tunnel hyzerflip). Also Star/Champ/GStar Destroyers, Tern, Wraith, Firebird, Valk, Teebird3, TL3, Hawkeye. Other discs: 152g-157g Innova, MVP, Kastaplast, and ABC mids; and Gateway Lunar Soft 170g Wizard/154g Chief putters.
After all that, two more things to keep in mind.
• The Diminishing Returns Curve. Distance results not just from release speed, but how quickly air resistance slows the disc down. A lighter disc both starts and slows down faster. When I started down-weighting, the diminishing returns point was in the lower 160 grams. I probably waited too long to go through the 150s to 140s. Never dropped down until I was consistently throwing the same disc in a lower weight, farther (like the Wave I mentioned above). Current driver sweet spot is lower 140s/upper 130s.
• Training Aid. Ultralight discs react much more obviously to bad technique, like OAT or a nose-up release. Heavier discs tend to damp those tendencies. If you want to hone your release, try reps throwing ultralights of varying stability at 70% power.
Great post Purple! I totally agree with you – Innova is best when it comes to lightweight drivers. I’ve also found that I get surprising distance from their mids in lightweight premium plastics – champion Lions, Roc3s, Wombat3s and star RocX3s in particular.
MVP’s Trail is a bomber for me. You might want to look into Lone Star – most of their lineup is available in lightweight Lima plastic. Gateway has a number of drivers in lighter weights. Finally, Trilogy discs in “air” or “zero-gravity” plastics have worked well for me.
I’m looking forward to the new Prodigy 100 plastic that’s coming later this week!!