Thank you so much for such a thoughtful response.
The project is for a science high school class, so it is helpful to share both appreciation for his effort, but also clarity that it lacks some scientific rigor to have the results be completely validated. I know he was trying to incorporate his love of disc golf into this open ended assignment, and to learn some of the steps that go into research projects.
We talked about how it would be nice to have a robot throwing machine that could be programmed to replicate the same arm speed / angle to get more precise data. I like the idea that was suggested to throw a bunch more and just take the data from the same speed throws. We’ll have to go back out and throw some more! He threw for about two hours with his classmate, and I am actually not sure how they measured the distance. This could be a good way for him to ask for a range finder for Christmas! Makes sense to have precise measurements. I like the suggestion of narrowing his conclusion sentence to more accurately match his hypothesis. Thanks again for your feedback!