Disc colors
 

Somewhere else on this board, a topic started to drift into the realitive stability of one color of a disc to the next (at least as far as Innova goes). There was also comments made regarding the level of clarity in Champion plastic, and its effects on the flight of that specific disc. Personally, this sounds a bit silly to me, but, stranger things have happened (see the GOP VP nod).

So, my question is, does anyone have any documented evidence (maybe an internet interview with someone from Innova) regarding these theories? Because if it is true, you would figure that Innova would post something about that on their site. Especially as one of the main complaints about their discs are their inconsistancies in flight properties from one run of a disc to another.

Also, are there any theories similar to the one above, but about Discraft or Gateway, or any other manufacturer?

Help would be greatly appreciated...

Well when it comes to Discraft I prefer blue or white; as long as I stick to those colors I have a good idea of where the disc will perform right out of the box. Does that mean consistency? I don't really know, but the consistency of having these colors over the last few years is something I have come to count on.

:rolleyes2:I'm not going to bite on this one...I have no evidence beyond my own experiences to support or even feign any hypothesis...

But, blue IS better...:wink2:

I saw on the pdga discussion board (ask dave D about innova) that there are 3 densities of the star plastic. There are about 7342 pages of this discussion so if you want hard evidence, good luck. I have come to experience that the harder plastics are more stable. I try to throw dark red and dark blue star discs as long as they are firm and domey. As for champ, when I was throwing orcs I could not get the same flight out of a cloudy disc that I could out of a dense clear one. The hard, domey, clear champ plastic was more stable. I also saw an interview with Avery (what's in your bag, usdgc 2007) that he throws red star discs because they are more stable. Most of the pros I play with have color preference due to flight pattern. I don't know if innova would want to confuse golfers with all of this extra info. If you are a beginner it doesn't matter you need to learn your discs and find what you like. The perfect flight of a comfortable mold is for more experienced players. The more experienced players will make these connections and find out what works for them. I am convinced that color, or density, has a large affect on flight. If the color of a disc changes the density of the plastic then yes color changes flight.
Field study anyone?

Just noting that in my few years of playing, I too could see a pattern of stability tendencies varying with color. I was/am completely ready to chalk it up to coincidence, however, accepting that my samplying isn't extensive enough to think it scientific.

I would think someone in plastics/chemistry would have an idea.

I'm gonna have to go ahead and say that the color thing psychosomatic. Trying to think off the top of my head of what discs I have in similar colors and whatnot, I know I had 2 star teebirds that were yellow. One was the "standard" feeling star plastic, and one was so soft it nearly felt like FLX. IIRC (it's been a long time since I've thrown them, and at least one of them is lost), the soft one was less stable than the firmer. I think FLX Buzzes tend to be more stable than regular ESP ones though, and I know my one FLX surge I had was flippier than the rest of my surges, soooooo....I don't know what to say.

The theory of the three "variations" of a type of plastic is somewhat easier to believe. This would explain why discgolfvalues.com gives you a color choice of light, dark, or something else (of which I don't recall right now). This also might explain why my blue 175 gram Star TeeRex is more overstable than the yellow 175 gram Star TeeRex I had purchased to replace the blue one when it went missing. This may also speak to those claiming of inconsistent runs of Innova plastic - not knowing that there are differences in color that can affect the disc's flight.

Now, what about Discraft or some of the other manufacturers? Anyone know anything? I was slightly confused by J-Man's answer, but I hope he clarifies.

It's certainly possible that varied pigments mixed into batches of raw plastic could affect cures. The pigments are chemicals too. A red disc has a different recipe than a blue one. I doubt that even weight differences are all that planned. How hot is the mold? ...at the start of the run? ...at the end? How long are the discs left in the mold? There must be a bizzillion variables.

It does happen to be my opinion that Innova isn't extremely anal about these details. Just pop 'em out and have some flunky weigh them and write the model run's innitials and grams. If the interior volume of the mold is the same for varied weights, the density of the discs must be different. This in itself must affect the crossections and rates and amounts of shrinkage on cool-down.

Many paint pigments are metals based. I assume the same is true for plastics. The idea that the different pigments would not affect would be the tougher idea to embrace. It would come down to the question of how great are the variances.

To clarify, go blue or white, orange if you must.