Warped Discs

[ehfeinberg]

Just a PSA to everyone,

Every Ultimate players worst nightmare is warping their discs! When a disc is warped, the disc is no longer circular and the rim is no longer flat. This will cause the disk to wobble in flight. A warped disc will also not fly strait.

Discs become warped when they hit a hard surface (a wall, a goal, a robot driving over it). In Ultimate this usually never happens because we play on grass. Unless you knife the disc or fall on it (which Ultimate players would never do), it is hard to warp a disc. However, in Ultimate Assault where every missed shot goes strait into a hard back board, I would not be surprised if most if not all discs become warped over the course of a few matches.

Sadly, this is unavoidable and everyone is just going to have to deal with it. I wish the GDC made rules to prevent teams from intentionally warping discs, but it would still not prevent all the warping of discs.

If you do find that your disc becomes warped, a simple way to unwarp a disc is by placing it on a flat surface and taping the edge of the disc lightly in a circle. If when you tap the disc you find it makes a noise and wobbles, you have found where the disc is warped. You can then bend the disc in the same place you found the warp to attempt to unwarp the disc. Although you can never completely unwarp a disc, by doing this you can greatly improve how long your discs will last before you have to retire them.

Because the discs for Ultimate Assault are 180 grams, not 175, like a normal regulation disc, you can't just go to the store and buy any old disc. (Although the 5 gram difference doesn't seem like much, there is a considerable difference in how the two discs fly).

With 100 something discs on the field at a time, I wouldn't be surprised if they burn through well over 400 discs per competition. It's a shame that they are all junk Whammo discs so they are not even worth taking home.

[Joon Park]

I was worried about this as well, but this would only matter to the teams that actually plan to be spinning the disc over a distance.

Although I don't think it'll really be as much of a factor as ball degradation was last year.

[Ernst]

The G14 Bluetext says

DISCS are expected to undergo a reasonable amount of wear and tear as they are
handled by ROBOTS, such as scratches and occasional marks. ROBOTS that gouge,
tear off pieces, or routinely mark DISCS will be considered in violation of G14.

It doesn't mention anything about warped disks. I hope that the GDC clarifies this rule to prevent the intentional warping of disks.

[Patrick Chiang]

Originally Posted by ZehP

It doesn't mention anything about warped disks. I hope that the GDC clarifies this rule to prevent the intentional warping of disks.

Not very GP to intentionally and significantly shorten the usable lifespan of game pieces on the field.

[DonRotolo]

Originally Posted by ehfeinberg

Because the discs for Ultimate Assault are 180 grams, not 175, like a normal regulation disc, you can't just go to the store and buy any old disc. (Although the 5 gram difference doesn't seem like much, there is a considerable difference in how the two discs fly).

Can you elaborate on your experience in the flight differences between a 175 disk and a 180 disk? Are they different sizes as well?

Also:

2.2.10 The DISCS
The DISCS are Wham-O part number 53214 (custom colored Red, White, or Blue) and have a diameter of 10 5/8 in., a height of 1 1/4 in., and a weight of 180 ± 5 grams

(emphasis mine) So these could weigh as little as 175 g

[slijin]

Originally Posted by DonRotolo

Can you elaborate on your experience in the flight differences between a 175 disk and a 180 disk? Are they different sizes as well?

Alsoemphasis mine) So these could weigh as little as 175 g

I tossed one in school today, but didn't notice much of a difference - take that with a big grain of salt though.

There are a number of differences between the FIRST disc and a regulation Ultimate disc. Regulation discs are 10.75" wide, 1" thick, and as pointed out, 175g - which, obviously, is also a nominal figure. The more noticeable difference, however, is that the FIRST discs are made of a much more brittle and "hard" plastic, so to speak, and seem to have been produced with a different mass distribution (denser around the rim than the center, as opposed to the regulation disc).

[knuckleduster]

I took out the good ol' scale today and weighed my KoP disks and got anywhere from 176-178 grams depending on the disk (comes with 4 btw). When I weighed a disk I had on hand i got 176g and it is almost the exact dimensions of the other disk. The only bad news is that it was from a set of misprints and will probably never have any other duplicates handy.

[slijin]

Also, on second thought - I don't see these Whammos warping, I see them snapping in half and a million splinters. The plastic feels rather brittle.

[ehfeinberg]

Originally Posted by slijin

Also, on second thought - I don't see these Whammos warping, I see them snapping in half and a million splinters. The plastic feels rather brittle.

I will gladly test that by chucking the Frisbee's at a wall. Should be fun

[lorem3k]

Originally Posted by DonRotolo

Also: (emphasis mine) So these could weigh as little as 175 g

Weight specifications for any particular regulation disc could conceivably allow for variations (for example, a disc rated 175g ± 5g) that would place it outside of the FRC spec.

[CalTran]

2.2.11 The DISCS
The DISCS are Wham-O part number 53214 (custom colored Red, White, or Blue) and have a diameter of 10 5/8 in., a height of 1 1/4in., and a weight of 180 +-5 grams.

Rules say that it'll be anywhere between 175 and 185g. 176-178 seems right on par with what FIRST has specified.