Struggle in the rain? Don’t have a functional understanding of the wind? Want to learn how to master these challenging aspects of the game? Then you’ve come to the right place. Sun King Discs has been developing professional and amateur disc golfers for over twenty years. Sun King has the disc golf products you need to play your best in any conditions. And beyond that, Sun King has the knowledge to help you become a better disc golfer. Keep reading for pro tips on how to play in the rain and how to master the wind.
3 Tips For Playing Disc Golf in the Rain
1. Stay Dry
Staying as dry as possible, for as long as possible, is your number one priority. As people, we naturally think of rain as a common and ordinary experience. Sometimes, we’ll skip the umbrella and the towels because, “Hey, it’s just a little water.” No big deal. But as you’ve surely experienced, trying to play disc golf with wet hands, clothes, and discs is essentially impossible. So as disc golfers, we must think of rain as a serious matter that will directly impact gameplay.
Bring an umbrella. Use it to keep yourself and your equipment dry. Pay attention to the wind, and make sure your umbrella doesn’t fly away during your shot or a competitor’s. Don’t be the person without an umbrella. Don’t hesitate to create a mini dome of protection from the rain with the umbrella and your bag/cart while managing your discs. We have a range of different umbrellas such as our Large Axiom Square Umbrella.
Bring more towels than you think you could need. Package at least one backup towel in plastic. Dry towels are heavy. Wet towels are very heavy. In addition to the towels, make sure you have two handbags (something powdery or chalky to help absorb moisture). Alternatively, you can use liquid chalk – it’s not as messy and it is very easy to use. Consider bringing your cart in rainy weather to help with bearing the weight of the extra supplies you might need. If you don’t have a cart, you can browse a variety of carts on our website. However, our bestselling cart is the Rovic RV1D Disc Golf Cart and it comes in a number of different colors.
2. Think About Your Disc and Plastic Selection
Rain is one of those conditions that make base plastic shine. Every disc golf manufacturer sells base-plastic discs. Base plastic is typically a bit easier to grip, and this can make a difference in the rain. But base plastic is also flippier. This can come in handy in situations where you need to reduce arm speed, maintain grip, and shape a shot.
In a perfect world, you’re able to stay completely dry and are able to throw your normal shots. But if you find yourself in a situation where moisture is actively affecting your grip during your throw, and you cannot remedy that situation, grab your disc that has the best grip, is a bit flippy, and slow your arm speed down.
3. Be Realistic
Rain is one of the most serious environmental conditions we’re allowed to compete in. It’s going to affect you and all of your competitors. Try to remind yourself of that. If you’re struggling, they are struggling too, even if it looks like they’re not.
As disc golfers, we develop a natural sense of what lines to throw. We approach a line and have a first instinct for what to do. Because we have much less experience in the rain compared to fair conditions, our instinct is biased towards fair conditions. Recognize that. Rain adds difficulty, and sometimes it adds a lot of difficulty. Pay attention to your stance and your footwork. Carefully select your shot and then trust that you’ve done the extra work and execute.
Understand the Basics of How Wind Will Impact the Flight of Your Disc
The impact of wind on golf disc flight is a huge topic. But let’s break it down into fundamental concepts. If you consider these two primary concepts, you will be able to puzzle out any wind scenario.
Recognize Wind Is an Additional Force
When we throw a golf disc, we are adding directional power (force) to the disc with our swing. When it’s flying through the air, gravity adds directional power (force) to the disc toward the ground. In no-wind conditions, the disc will eventually encounter enough air resistance to let gravity finish the job and bring the disc to the ground. Think of wind as an additional force that adds directional power to your disc. Consider the speed of the wind, consider the direction of the wind, and then hold your disc out in front of you at the angle you want it to fly on. Imagine the wind hitting the disc and what that additional directional force will do after you’ve thrown it.
Wind can cause the disc to fly significantly farther than the power you applied with your swing. This happens because the wind acting on the disc is an additional and separate force. At this point, you’ve added Mother Nature to your throw. This can create extreme shots. Respect the additional force being added to your throw, and be careful with big hyzers or anhyzers as you could easily miss by hundreds of feet. But learn how to master the wind, and you can intentionally harness that power and bomb it way past the competitors.
Understand Wind and Air Resistance
Air resistance is the thing that makes your disc slow down while it’s flying through the air, and it’s also a major factor in why discs turn during the high-speed portion of their flight. To put this into perspective, if you were to throw a golf disc in space (a vacuum), it would not turn, and it would not slow down (until it encountered external forces). It would follow a ballistic arc.
So because we’re not in space, by throwing the disc, you create directional air resistance in the opposite direction of your throw. The wind will cause an extra direction of air resistance to act on the disc, and this creates special scenarios like “headwind” and “tailwind.”
To help imagine this; next time you’re in a vehicle, put your hand out the window at 45 MPH (be safe, people) and feel the air resistance. All that sensation trying to move your hand around, that is air resistance. Now pretend your hand is a disc and move the angles around. The impact of that resistance is significant.
Now imagine a 15-25 MPH headwind. The headwind is causing additional air resistance in the same direction as the natural resistance of your throw. If you normally throw 50 MPH, your disc is going to experience air resistance of 65-75 MPH (that’s why your discs feel flippier and slow down faster). Now imagine a tailwind. Tailwinds are in the opposite direction of the natural air resistance and cancel each other out (in a way). In this scenario, we’d subtract 15-25 MPH of air resistance from the throw. This is why the discs travel farther and flip less in a tailwind.
Wrapping Up
Now you know a little bit more about how to play disc golf in the rain. Your mastery of the wind definitely just leveled up. Sun King Discs has everything you need to power up your disc golf game. If you are looking for other ways to level up your disc golfing, check out our post on Choosing The Right Disc Golf Gear: 3 Tips To Boost Your Game. Click here to browse accessories for the rain. And click here to look at awesome discs now that you’re a master of the wind. And thank you for choosing Sun King. Believe in a better way.