woowee, today we're supposed to have winds blowing 30-40 mph, with gusts up to 60 mph. I've played in 40mph gusts, but anybody have any extra input on extreme wind play?

putt from your knees upside down and slide it up to the basket... thats about the only thing that worked @ Am Crosstown earlier this month with similar wind conditions. saw a disc get blown out of a guys hands as he was addressing the basket to putt... among a lot of other crazy things (like backhand hard low hyzer throws with firebirds turning into backhand rollers)

Lower expectations. Played in a 35mph sustained once. Best score on a SSA 44 course (under normal conditions) was a 53.

Never at any time show the wind the bottom of the disc. This goes double for upshots. Saw a guy take a 6 after being 60' after the drive....and he was 200' out after his second (got cute with an upshot and the wind took it).

Lower expectations. Played in a 35mph sustained once. Best score on a SSA 44 course (under normal conditions) was a 53.

Never at any time show the wind the bottom of the disc. This goes double for upshots. Saw a guy take a 6 after being 60' after the drive....and he was 200' out after his second (got cute with an upshot and the wind took it).



Great advice. Remember that your disc is a parachute in the wind, and the bottom of the disc wants to catch the wind and fly. Keep all your shots as flat as possible, whatever it takes. Do not try and putt at all from outside 15' (this gets smaller as it gets windier), just slide up to the basket like Stack said. Hold your discs firm and make your form deliberate and smooth. Never try and throw hard in the wind, just be smooth.

move to oklahoma 20-30 is a normal day.now when its windy gusts to 75-80 now thats real fun :)
ive seen a list somewhere and oklahoma city was the windiest city in the US with and average wind speed of 17.5mph or something close to that

Do your best to ensure you're ALWAYS putting downwind.
I know it's not always possible, but it makes a HUGE difference.

- JPB

My advice...
Get out of North Dakota, it is a crummy state.

Hehe

I'm from Jamestown. I was in your division at the 2 Rivers Open in Jamestown. What do you think of the new Island course?

woowee, today we're supposed to have winds blowing 30-40 mph, with gusts up to 60 mph. I've played in 40mph gusts, but anybody have any extra input on extreme wind play?



Use to live in Minot...before Disc Golf but hit many a Drive into the Wind.

It blows here in Texas and I do what the above said...scoobie it up...saves me many a shot on those days.

I love the resevior...the toughest course that i've played to date. It requires every shot you have and more. I don't mind the wind either, i feel that if i practice in it that I will get an advantage over some competitors. That was my experience at SD states last summer at least. I played mediocre, but because i had more experience handleing high winds I took 3rd still.

The worst thing about the wind is that it is inconsistent.

There is some aquired skill in judging winds and what your discs are going to do.

Learn to play the wind. That is what I have always heard, and that is what I see Ron Convers Jr., the best wind player I have ever seen, do.

Just and opinion, take it for what it's worth.

One of the most helpful things to do is to pay careful attention to what other players are doing � what discs they are throwing, where they throw them, how they fly, and where they land. Most crazy windy courses have a lot of open area, where it is possible to see other groups teeing off. Watch carefully and learn from their mistakes.

Also, make sure you pack your bag carefully. On crazy windy days, I�ll use a Pegasus (for straight shots) and a Z-Xtreme (for hyzer shots) as midrange discs; I�ll drive almost exclusively with max-weight Teebirds and Firebirds; and I�ll put a CE Rhyno in my bag as my main putter.

And while many people will tell you �never let the underside of the disc see the wind� � that is Windy Play for Beginners. As you get better, realize that the underside of a disc is just like the sail on a boat � if you turn it the right direction, you will sail a long, long way. So if the wind is anything except a direct headwind, you can use it to help your disc go farther.

For instance, if I�m at 6 on the clockface, aiming towards the basket at 12, and the wind is coming in anywhere from 2 to 4, I�ll take a disc, aim at 2, and put out of big, high forehand anhyzer, showing the underside of the disc to the wind. The wind will turn that disc into a sail and push it back left, but will carry it a long way before it lands � I�ve gotten flicks to sail 100-150 feet further than my normal throws this way. Same goes for a backhand with the wind coming from 8 to 10. Ride the edge of the wind and expect it to carry � just don�t aim at the basket.

If you do want to aim at the basket (especially for upshots), keep the disc low and nose down. I usually throw hard, low flicks at the basket with the most overstable thing I�ve got (Speed Demon, Firebird or Z-Xtreme, or low, controlled flat backhand shots with a Pegasus or Rhyno. For controlled shots, you are better off using slow discs without a lot of glide � the same wing characteristics that help a disc to glide make it more likely to be carried far off-course with an errant wind.

Lastly, on your drives, when you know you can�t reach the basket, plan where you want to be for your second shot. If you are more comfortable approaching with a left to right crosswind, aim for the side of the fairway where you will have a desirable crosswind.

I played in the Dogwood Crosstown Am with Stack and some of the other posters here, and it was 60mph winds most of the afternoon. I shot the same score on Zebulon in 60mph winds as in 10mph wind the next day. The trick to playing in the wind there often boiled down to choosing wise approach angles and smart landing zones on first shots.

For example: I think it�s hole 12 there which is probably 300ft, slight uphill, blind dogleg left. Tight trees all on the left. Wide open, headwind on the right. The basket is right next to the treeline. Without wind, this is a pretty easy RHBH hyzer for a deuce. In the headwind, most RHBH hyzers shot up high and were likely to dive deep back into the trees. From the trees, you then had to throw tricky shots out, hoping for a four. The solution: forget the birdie. First shot � just aim as far straight and a little bit left, as possible. Get to the open space where you have a relatively easy, <100ft shot from open field to the basket, wind right to left. High chance of a par. When the wind makes your normal deuce route into a high-probability 4 or a 5, then forget the deuce and plan a new strategy for the easy three.

Which I guess comes back to the mental game of playing in super-high wind: FORGET THE COURSE YOU KNOW. You are playing the wind, and that changes everything. Play every hole with caution and take your smart threes. Because in wind, most players will make lots of mistakes, and every mistake you avoid saves you a stroke on most of the field. In super-high wind, you don�t need to play stellar golf: you need to play error-free golf.

A final suggestion: practice on windy days. Throw three or four shots on a hole and try to get there every way you can. And while you are doing it, think about where the wind is coming from on each shot, and which angles work best for the throws you are able to execute most consistently. So practice, practice, practice.

And remember: practice DOESN�T mean just throwing discs � practice means throwing discs, paying attention to what you are doing and learning from the outcomes. Good luck and enjoy those windy days.

The wind helps a lot as well.

On windy days, even on your home course, there are lines that open up and lines that close up metaphorically.

Gotta keep that radar on and keep an eye out for new lines and ways of using the wind to your advantage...

I think that 9 times out of 10 you would want a tailwind putt because they are easier to keep true on a line (straight), yet some players prefer the headwind to the tail, either because the tailwind drops their putt too much or they just have a confidence in the wind that most don't.

Whatever works for you...

Just don't skip playing on those windy days, they are great practice, and at windy tournaments the skilled wind players almost always shine brighter...