Reading flight numbers
How fast it has to leave your hand, spinning, to fly the way the numbers say.
Speed, 1 to 14
How fast it has to leave your hand, spinning, to fly the way the numbers say. The higher the number, the more arm speed it needs. Higher isn’t farther unless your arm keeps up.
Glide, 1 to 7
How long it stays in the air.
Turn, +1 to −5
How far it drifts right early in a right-handed backhand. More negative, more turn.
Fade, 0 to 5
How hard it hooks left as it slows down.
Brand by brand
Most brands print the same four numbers, but each brand rates its own discs, so a 2 fade from one brand can fly a little differently from another’s. A few brands, Discraft among them, also give a single stability rating, where higher means more overstable. Left-handed and forehand throws mirror the directions: turn goes left and fade goes right.
A tip
Driver dives left right out of your hand? (Right-handed backhand.) It isn’t getting up to speed. Try a lower speed driver or a fairway driver; you’ll likely throw it farther.
Keep going
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