Why is a "pop top" desirable?

[CloudySkyJedi]

We've all heard someone step up to the tee pad and start popping their disc like it's some little heart beat. Why does everyone want this pop sound out of a "good" disc?

I've got discs that make no pop, ones that do pop naturally but softer, and some that definitely qualify as poppy. Sometimes they're even the SAME so called disc (thanks Innova).

Does this pop translate to something else in flight characteristics?

Why does everyone want it?

[Stringbean]

I've never heard of this term. I have an echo-star destroyer that pops. It is super domey. I think something went wrong in the cooling process.

[JR]

Normally pop tops have a higher dome than a similar disc. That can change the flight characteristics and it can be very different from disc to disc and class to class. In drivers taller domes usually slow the disc down quicker and add glide and fade making the faster discs good in a headwind but there are exceptions. Like flat top Katana and DD2 are way more overstable than domey versions. In mids flat tops might make a Roc a bit more OS and i have those but some say that they are more US than regulars so i dunno because i've never seen that kind of disc and with PLH variation and general inconsistency of manufacture who knows. In Buzzzes flat tops are more OS.

[jubuttib]

Basically, pop-top means a top big enough that it pops when pressed down, and big dome = big glide. How the PLH matches up is another thing entirely, but the glide is probably why many like them.

[JR]

Having more glide is desirable to those that have enough power to punch the disc far enough and enough spin to retard the added fade in discs like poppy top Flash that fades more than regular ones. Desirable for which purposes and to whom is usually tilted to the favor of power throwers who get more out of pop top discs.

[iacas]

So discs with bigger domes:
1) Fade more
2) Glide more

Is that accurate?

[JR]

There is no rule of thumb like that any more like there was some years ago. A flat top Star Katana and flat DD2 fades much more than higher domed versions. As a generalization it may be close enough still as long as people realize that there are exceptions.

[keltik]

I think it's better to say:

Big domes glide more

High Parting Lines fade more.

Dome size affects parting line height but it's not always direct. it generally depends on the mold. some discs a high dome raises the PLH. other discs raise the PLH when they are flattened.

[inthedrift]

This ^

[niuvalleycane]

push the pop down, flatter profile flies out of the hand fast, top pops up later in the flight, glide kicks in...

[Ryen91]

wow asking about POP......Havent your Heard???

[pask2155]

push the pop down, flatter profile flies out of the hand fast, top pops up later in the flight, glide kicks in...

Does this really work? And does it make the disc fly Farther?

[JR]

I've never heard of that but i've also never even seen a disc that would hold the top down long enough to stay that way before i got the disc off of my hand even though i have discs that make the pop sound with the tall dome. It is intriguing to think of the flatter profile possibly reducing drag in the early part of the flight increasing drag and glide later in the throw. Maybe i should pick a poppy top Flash from storage and violently push the dome down to see how long it stays down. I'm not sure how legal that is according to the rules modifying the disc is a no no.

[JHern]

push the pop down, flatter profile flies out of the hand fast, top pops up later in the flight, glide kicks in...

Does this really work? And does it make the disc fly Farther?

Ah crap! You're giving away our secrets niuvalleycane!

[BrotherDave]

This thread almost makes me want to get a Quest Wildfire, aka the flying nipple.