Types of disc golf discs: Putters, midranges, fairways and drivers

In short: There are four types of disc golf discs: Putters, midranges, fairway drivers and distance drivers. Each type is a speed range, and each does a different job, from putts close to the basket to the longest drives. How fast you throw decides which of them flies the way it is rated, so for many players the slower types do more of the work.

Putters (speed 1 to 3) fly slow and fairly straight, for putts and short throws. Midranges (4 to 6) are for controlled throws at medium range, and fairway drivers (6 to 9) for accurate drives. Distance drivers (10 and up) are for the longest drives, but only fly as rated for a fast arm.

That covers the shelf. What it can’t tell you is which type your bag needs more of, because that depends on what you already carry and how your throws fly. Digo is an iPhone app on the way that you chat with about your own discs, typed or spoken: Name the ones you have, say where your drives tend to end up, and it can suggest which type to add next.

This guide puts all four types on one page, with one flight path each, so you can see how they differ. Then it covers the part most lists skip: Why how fast you throw matters more than the label on the disc.

Directions are for a right-hand backhand. If you throw left-hand backhand or right-hand forehand, mirror them: Left becomes right.

The four types at a glance

Disc golf discs explained in one line: The type is the speed range, and the speed rating tells you how much arm speed a disc needs.

Every disc carries four flight numbers: Speed, glide, turn and fade (Innova explains each one). Speed runs from 1 to about 14, and it is what sorts a disc into one of the four types.

Type	Speed	What it’s for	Rim
Putter	1 to 3	Putts and short, straight throws	Thick and blunt
Midrange	4 to 6	Controlled throws at medium range	Medium
Fairway driver	6 to 9	Accurate drives	Wider than a midrange’s, narrower than a distance driver’s
Distance driver	10 and up	The longest drives, for a fast arm	Widest and sharpest

Here is one example of each, drawn from the makers’ numbers.

Illustrative pathsRight-hand backhand

1. 1WizardGateway2302
2. 2TruthDynamic Discs5502
3. 3StalkerDiscraft75−12
4. 4WraithInnova115−13

Flight numbers are the makers’ own, and brands rate a little differently. Read them as a hint, not a promise. The same goes for the type: Makers sometimes call a disc a putter or a midrange when its numbers sit on the edge between the two.

A word you’ll see a lot: A disc’s mold is its model, like the Wizard or the Wraith. The same mold comes in different plastics and weights.

Putters

Putters are the slowest discs, built to fly straight and stop close to where you aim.

Their thick, blunt rim sits deep in your hand, which helps the release feel the same from one throw to the next. That matters most on putts close to the basket, where small differences decide whether it goes in. A putter also works for short drives and the throws that set up a putt, because it rarely surprises you.

The Wizard in the diagram flies straight and finishes with a gentle drift left. A putter with a little less fade, like Discmania’s Link, holds a straighter line to the end.

How to pick one by feel and flight is in the putter guide.

Midranges

Midranges sit between a putter and a driver: More reach than a putter, more control than a driver.

They fly at a speed most arms can reach, so they tend to go where you throw them. That makes a midrange the disc for throws that need to land somewhere specific: A gap between trees, a green past a bend, a long throw toward the basket.

The Truth in the diagram is stable: It holds its line and fades gently left at the end. Axiom’s Hex has the same speed and glide with a touch more turn and less fade, so it drifts very slightly right before it finishes softly.

Fairway drivers

Fairway drivers are the drivers for accuracy: Faster than a midrange, easier to control than a distance driver.

Their rim is narrower than a distance driver’s, so they are easier to grip and release cleanly, and they reach the speed they were built for with less effort. The Stalker in the diagram flies close to straight and finishes with a gentle fade left.

The fairway driver guide shows when one beats a distance driver and how to choose between the understable, stable and overstable kinds.

Distance drivers

Distance drivers have the widest rims and the highest speed ratings, built for the longest drives.

They give the most distance only to the players who can throw them fast enough. The Wraith in the diagram drifts slightly right, then finishes with a firm hook left. That makes it stable with a firm finish.

The wide rim is also the hardest to grip. If your hand is on the smaller side, a distance driver can feel awkward to release, and an awkward release can cost more distance than the disc adds.

Does the type matter as much as how fast you throw?

Less than it seems. A disc only flies the way it is rated when your arm reaches its speed.

A higher speed rating doesn’t add distance by itself. It asks for more arm speed. A slower arm makes every disc act more stable: It skips the drift right and goes straight to the fade. So a distance driver thrown below its speed hooks left early and lands short, while a midrange or a fairway driver thrown by the same arm can get close to its rated flight.

That’s why, for slower arms, a midrange and a fairway driver can cover more of the course than a distance driver. The fairway driver can go about as far on the drive, and straighter. The midrange handles the shorter holes and the second throws. Neither asks for an arm you don’t have yet.

A few signs from your own rounds:

• Your distance driver hooks left early and lands short. Your arm is below its speed for now. A fairway driver will likely fly straighter, and for many players about as far.
• Your fairway driver and your distance driver land in the same place. The fairway is the one with more control.
• Your fairway drivers drift right and never come back, even thrown flat. Your arm may be faster than they need, though a release that tips the disc’s nose up or makes it wobble does the same. If it isn’t the release, a more stable fairway or a distance driver may suit you.

Look at a few rounds, not one throw. Why some discs drift right and others hook left is explained in understable vs overstable.

How many of each type do you need?

It depends on what you already carry and how you throw. There is no set number, but each disc in the bag should do a job no other disc does.

One way a bag can grow, one type at a time:

1. One putter you putt with, and maybe a second for short throws.
2. One or two midranges, often one straight and one with a firmer finish.
3. One to three fairway drivers, each with a different stability.
4. A distance driver, once your fairway drivers start drifting right on their own.

Two discs with nearly the same flight numbers usually do the same job, even when they are different types on paper. A fast midrange and a slow fairway driver can overlap, and so can two fairway drivers from different makers.

When Digo is out and knows your discs, it can show which jobs your bag already covers, so you’re not buying a fourth disc that flies like your third.

If you’re putting together your very first discs, the beginner discs guide picks a starting set of three.

The short version

There are four types: Putters, midranges, fairway drivers and distance drivers, sorted by speed. The faster the type, the more arm speed it needs to fly as rated. For many players a putter, a midrange and a fairway driver do most of the work, and a distance driver earns its place once the arm catches up.

Four types, one bag

Digo hasn’t launched yet. Once it has, say the discs you own in one go (“a Wizard, a Hex and a Wraith”) and My Bag sorts them by kind, from Putting to Distance, each showing its four numbers. From there, a question like “what kind should my next disc be?” has an answer built on your own bag.

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