Best Disc Golf Distance Drivers of 2018
***Update***
This post was written for 2018. If you’re looking for the best drivers of 2020, check out these more recent articles.
Choosing a disc golf disc isn’t as easy as it used to be. Over the last 5 years alone the disc golf industry has exploded with new manufacturers and molds that has given the disc golfer more variety and options than ever before. But what is a blessing can also be a curse for folks who are new to the sport. They might feel intimidated by complex flight charts and numbers. While working at Infinite Discs, I have often been asked by newer players, “Could you just tell me which is the best disc?”
Well, that’s the question this new series of posts will hope to answer. Over the next few weeks, we will be naming nominees for the best disc golf disc in a variety of categories and awarding one of the nominees with the title of The Infinite Discs Best Disc Golf Disc in each category. Will our nominees and winners be subjective? Absolutely, but we will do our best to be fair and impartial judges.
How will we choose our nominees and winners then? The two key words we will use to guide us in the nomination process will be popularity and utility. We want to select a popular disc that can be utilized by disc golfers at a large variety of skill levels and arm speeds. We will also try to avoid nominating similar discs from the same brand. For example, we won’t be nominating both the Destroyer and the Wraith from Innova. While they are two different discs that can be used differently, that difference is slight enough to not merit nominating them each individually.
Today, let’s discuss the best disc golf distance drivers. We will first take a look at the top 10 selling distance drivers of 2018, and then I will name our nominees.
Top sellers of 2018:
- Innova Destroyer
- Innova Wraith
- Innova Shryke
- Infinite Discs Pharaoh
- Innova Boss
- Innova Tern
- Innova Beast
- Dynamic Discs Trespass
- Discmania PD Freak
- Innova Orc
If you have followed any of our sales reports, this shouldn’t be a very surprising list. The one that surprises me the most would be the Discmania PD. It wasn’t a new release this year, but its popularity has grown significantly over the last few years. This is a category that has been dominated by Innova for a while now, but as you will see in our nominees, there are other manufacturers that are producing high quality distance drivers that continue to grow in popularity.
So, without further ado, here are the nominees for the Infinite Discs Best Disc Golf Disc: Distance Driver:
Discraft Crank
The Discraft Crank was originally released in 2013. Ever since then, it has been a staple in the Discraft lineup that has provided throwers with a long, slightly understable flight that works great for intermediate players who are just getting the hang of the distance drivers, but it still has enough stability for more expert throwers who need a reliable understable flyer that can just sail forever.
Discmania DDx
The DDx set the disc golf world on fire during the summer of 2016 with a hot release that was highly anticipated. The DDx is rumored to have been created by combining a Destroyer top and a Tern bottom. I’m not sure how true this is, but this allows for a great explanation for the DDx‘s flight pattern that is enjoyed by players of all skill levels. It isn’t too understable like a Tern is for some, and it isn’t too overstable like a Destroyer is for others. The DDx is a straight, stable flying disc with glide for days.
Westside Destiny
The Westside Destiny might be the most understable distance driver nominated, but don’t assume you have too much arm speed if you haven’t tried it yet. The Destiny offers higher arm speeds a reliable hyzer-flip disc that (in the right conditions) can turn over and sail a long time before slowly stabling up to have a soft fade to finish. If you’ve tried throwing the other discs nominated here and can’t seem to get the distance your more experienced friends are getting, try out the Destiny.
Innova Destroyer
The consistent king of the sales charts, the Destroyer definitely ranks high in popularity. It has an impressive performance as well that nearly all disc golfers can incorporate into their game. It may not be considered the most beginner friendly, but this disc is available in a wide variety of weights and plastic types that make it accessible for nearly all skill levels, and it is a disc that players do not outgrow. There has been some speculation already that the Destroyer will suffer from the recent Paul McBeth news, but they have a short memory. The Destroyer has been a game changer since 2007, and I think it will be just fine without the McBeast.
Discraft Nuke
The old question in the distance driver world was do you prefer the Nuke or the Destroyer?
Since then the distance driver world has gotten much more crowded, but the Nuke still remains a favorite for lots of disc golfers who prefer the higher speed and larger rim that it offers.
Like the Destroyer, Discraft has made the Nuke available in a wide variety of plastics and weights.
Dynamic Discs Sheriff
The Sheriff came to town in 2017 with a very welcomed reception. The Sheriff offers a little more stability than the Westside Destiny, making it one of the most utilizable distance drivers in the trilogy lineup.
The Sheriff can be hyzer-flipped by the big arms, and it offers reliable distance for nearly all skill levels.
Innova Shryke
The Shryke has had a somewhat sneaky climb into prominence. It rose above other understable high speed drivers that Innova released before by offering that perfect balance in stability that allows higher arm speeds to still enjoy and maximize the distance in the Shryke.
For many players, the Shryke has become the Destroyer light.
Dynamic Discs Trespass
The Trespass was one of the first discs that Dynamic Discs released when they began manufacturing discs in 2012. It has been a strong seller ever since, and it was one of the first discs that really disrupted the “Nuke or Destroyer” train of thought. It disrupted the market with a similar flight in the now popular Swedish plastic blends, and now the Trespass has become a household disc golf name.
Those are the nominees for The Infinite Discs Best Disc Golf Disc:
And the winner is….
Best Distance Driver of 2018
THE INFINITE DISCS BEST DISC GOLF DISC: DISTANCE DRIVER
No upsets here. The Innova Destroyer was a game changer when it was first released over 10 years ago, and it continues to be a force in the disc golf community. It is available in nearly all plastics and weights, so if you haven’t given this disc a shot, you should be able to find a Destroyer that will fit for your game. We have thousands of Innova Destroyer’s in stock in dozens of fun and limited edition stamp types.
MVP Photon is my distance driver of choice. I don’t have the strongest arm, so a fission Photon is getting me the most distance. It is available in MVP’s most durable plastics (Neutron, Proton, Fission, & Plasma) in a variety of weights. It’s stable-overstable flight is great for all skill levels as well; with strong arms getting slight turn before fading. For me it is nice and straight before before fading. I know exactly where it is going to go.
Ddx is my go to distance driver. I feel like the the smaller rim gives me a better grip and its the most consistent flight in a distance driver i have yet to see. If i want it to turn over, it will as for going straight it holds that line and the glide is impeccable with a small fade at the end. For me it feels like a fairway driver that i can rip as hard as i want and will not lose all control in doing so.
I throw forehand and the Star Archon is my best distance driver. I have recently been also using the Shryke which is very similar for me. I have been throwing the Archon for several years and made many aces with it but after several years playing I have been searching for different drivers for different shots. I have even started throwing backhand and using a pro Destroyer among a couple others. I am 63 and do notice my arm speed is less in the last couple years so always looking for something that will get me over the 300′ distance I throw with my Archon and Shryke.
The Star Wraith has slowly been edging out the Star Destroyer as my all-time favorite distance driver. I started with a max weight Star Destroyer as the go-to in my bag but then my buddy let me try his Wraith and I feel in love. It has the perfect amount of turn before always fighting its way back to the right (LHBH). The pop top feels so comfortable in the hand, it’s the best!
The Shryke has quickly become my go to. I’ve tried and own almost all of the discs listed above and the Shryke has out performed all of them. When I received my first Shryke I heard all the hype and thought alright it can’t be that good. It must be great marketing. So I took it to a field and threw all the drivers I had at the time and low and behold it out performed all of them, not just out performed , but blew them away. It was crazy. The only real issue I’ve had with the Shryke is it needs room to run. She’s is going to go out wide and come back at the end, which doesn’t make it great for tight lines. But, if you wanna tee one high and watch it fly and don’t have a 400 foot arm, the Shryke might be the disc for you.
The Infinite Discs Pharaoh would be my pick for sure. It can be a bomber in the hands of a skilled professional, but it can also get some amazingly easy distance for the lower arm speed and newer players. It is more of a beat in destroyer, so it can fit in up there with the big bombers. I love throwing this forehand and watching the beautifully long flight it gets as it soars through its throne at the basket. The S-blend plastic feels great in the hand with good grip and excellent durability. I hear a MF C-blend version is coming out, which should give me a more OS version to play with! NICE! Choose the Pharaoh!
I throw cranks, Thrashers, and nukes. My go to is definitely the crank, it works perfectly for my throw, its stability is right in between the other two, so it stands up just right and it’s the most consistent disc in my bag. It was also the first disc I ever bought, but I stopped using it when I started getting a better grasp on the game and my arm speed wasnt quite there yet. That’s what led me to the thrasher, which I still throw a lot, since I can get it out farther than the crank in the right conditions, but it’s very under stable so if I put too much on it without enough hyzer it tends to turn and just keep going. I still bag my nuke but I’m going for it less and less these days, it’s a good disc but I have a punisher that i really like for my more overstable shots, and a legacy cannon which is just a meat hook, but it’s so fast by the time it starts to fade it’s already gone 350, I dont use it a ton but it’s super consistent and fun to throw.
I know everybody likes to hates on Prodigy, but the 400s D1 has been my go to since it came out. It was the first distance driver that I could comfortably throw forehand. Totally changed my game. For longer distance the 400g D3 is my baby. Love those Prodigy distance drivers.
Go to has been the Star destroyer as my most consistent distance disc. However I’ve thrown both 400G Prodigy D1 and D2 and am loving those!
I am an intermediate player and can’t seem to get distance with the Destroyer, however, the Tern does the job for me, just understable enough! Thanks Innova!
Relatively new to disc golf, I really dove in this year and did a lot of research, learned the numbers and read about tons of discs and bought a number of different speeds and stability drivers, in different plastic. It may seem like a ‘no duh’ statement, but plastic and weight can make for a totally different disc. I think you can’t go wrong getting a Destroyer, and my experience is that it is exactly as reported — a difficult disc to get used to, not beginner friendly, that needs to break in. My forehand is my more powerful side and where I usually drive from, so I need a disc that can handle more torque. After 3 months of practice with the Destroyer I am realizing it is the also as reported — the gold standard of accurate distance. I think is it also important to consider what kind of course you are playing. I most often play, and prefer to play tight wooded courses. So throwing huge hyzer, or wide S power is not really useful, except on maybe a hole or two. Other discs I have worked with that I think can be really useful to beginners — the Krait, very accurate, long, not as hard to learn to work as a Destroyer, I like it from my backhand side where I don’t have as much power. But perhaps the best beginner driver is a Valkyrie, you can learn to work it left, right or throw it low and dead straight, and it still bombs. It used to hold the world record. And if a Valkyrie is even a little overwhelming, I think dialing down to a speed 8, Teebird3 is an amazing choice, I think it is an amazing combination of straight and long with just a gentle fade — mine is Metal Flake Champion at 172, and it was perfect right out of the box. If you don’t like the stable–overstable end of the spectrum, but still like higher speed, a Mamba, and also the Daedalus are interesting discs to work with. The Daedalus in Champion will actually do fairly tight S’es, and go 300+ without crazy power. My sense is there are very good reasons people love Wraiths and Shrykes, Photons and Teslas, and many DD options, but every time I think of ordering more discs I realize I should just keep working with my Destroyer.
Star Destroyer is my go to distance driver. The consistencey of it was really what makes it work for me. It is the disc I have thrown the most. I know what it is going to do forehand or backand. I even know what its liek to putt with. When I was a cheap college kid I used it for everything. Hitting a 60 foot sidearm “putt” with my old star destroyer is something ill never forget. I also love the look and feel of the star destroyer. It is a stellar disc.
Gotta go with a Wraith for Distance. Very clean.
Flows and Shrykes are great, but I just recently started throwing 400G D4s, and those things bomb, for me at least. I see people saying they throw them as rollers, but I’m not quite there.
I was a firm innova destroyer thrower for years until I picked up the fusion sheriff from dynamic discs. This is definitely my go to driver because of the distance and control. There is no other driver that complements my game.
As I just started playing half way through this summer, I haven’t thrown many drivers yet. I am focusing on form and sticking with slower discs to start. I have thrown a Glow Destroyer and a Dax Valkyrie a few times but I throw almost as far with my Leapord and with far more accuracy.
Of the nominees, I am going with the Destroyer. I have a beaten in one, and I can see why McBeth carries 42 ( jk) of them in his bag. Really can hit all ranges of flippy-ness in a great disc.
I have been playing for almost 3 years now… My game git better when I started playing with better plastic, lighter weights (as I am a female ) and specific drivers such as The term, destroyer, Valkyrie, mamba, shryke….. As I gained knowledge of how these handled in head winds and tail winds, rollers, hyper bombs and another throws… I began to excel.. The “light bulb” went on and I was hooked… I want acquire a roc3 soon… Everyday is a new day to make great aces…
I happen to think the Giant is one of the most well rounded distance drivers out there, it’s got great glide good stability and can handle a lot of torque.
Of those listed above I think the Destroyer is probably the best, but Tresspass is very close. They are both excellent versatile discs that can get you where you need to go if you have the arm, and be great wind fighters if you don’t.
My favorite distance driver is the star wraith. I recently switched to the wraith after testing them along side of my favorite destroyers. The wraith just suites my arm better. I don’t have to throw it at 100% power to get good distance and accurate distance. I found myself over doing it with the destroyers, not hitting my line all of the time and I just didn’t get the consistency that I wanted with my drives. The wraith has gotten me more consistency, more distance and more accuracy. I currently have 3 wraiths in my bag ranging from a slightly understable one that I hyzerflip, a straight one and a stable to overstable one. I didn’t totally omit the destroyer through, I still bag a super flat, stiff bottom stamp destroyer for overstable drives and windy days and s flat softer pro destroyer for those touchy shots, standstill shots and forehands since my forehand isn’t very powerful.