Best Distance Driver For 2022
This article was written for 2022. Check out this article and data if you’re looking for the most up to date best distance drivers list.
Best Distance Driver of 2022
We looked at the best selling molds, the best rated molds, and counted your votes for your favorite mold, and we can declare the winner of the Best Distance Driver. And boy was it close! The Innova Destroyer and Wraith traded position on top of the sales and fan vote categories. And the ratings were separated by a hundredth of a point!
The top five were all Innova/Infinite, which is not surprising after seeing the results of the individual categories. Four of the top five molds have fairly similar flights, the exception being the 5th place Maya, the only understable mold. Here are the top molds and their ranking in the different categories.
| Mold | Sales | Rating | Fan | Total |
| Innova Destroyer | 1 | 4.63 | 2 | 7.63 |
| Innova Wraith | 2 | 4.64 | 1 | 7.64 |
| Infinite Discs Emperor | 3 | 4.75 | 3 | 10.75 |
| Infinite Discs Pharaoh | 4 | 4.71 | 4 | 12.71 |
| Infinite Discs Maya | 5 | 4.58 | 5 | 14.58 |
Here are some comments mentioned by fans:
Matt M – “Destroyer has to be my all time mold. Why? There are so many different throws you can make with it. A controlled spike hyzer, a sidearm flick, an all out distance bomber.”
David M – “My go-to is a seasoned Star Destroyer. It has a good feel for backhand and forehand. One at a lighter weight like 167-170 if I’m wanting a little more turn. The Destroyer is the gold standard for good reason.”
Tom – “My favorite driver has always been the Wraith. As they break in the develop a little instability so I can bag several Wraith of various plastic / beat in yet have the same grip. The Wraith is also very good in wind as I find it very reliable and wind resistant. Plus what is not to like about the Halo Wraith, wicked cool stamp.”
In this series exploring the best discs of 2022, we started with putters and have been moving up the speed ratings until this week. You can check out the survey results for Putters, Mid Ranges, and Fairway Drivers by clicking these links. Today, we will finally check out the highest-speed discs, the distance drivers, or high-speed drivers. Once again we will look at the sales data to see what people are buying. Then we will rank the molds by their Infinite rating. Finally, we will ask you to vote for the distance driver that you feel is the best. Then we will compile the information and declare a winner! We will also award one lucky commenter a gift card for their input.
Best Distance Drivers
There is something about the feel of a distance driver that sets it apart from other types of discs. The wide rim makes you feel like there is something significant in your hand, both in terms of mass and of potential distance. The sharper edge has a distinct feeling that is unlike other discs. Their higher speed rating requires a little more effort in your throw, making the movement a little more physical. All of these things add up to a different experience when you throw a distance driver.
The high-speed, or distance driver category has been the bane of many new disc golfers. Someone new to disc golf may not understand that the name of the category refers to how fast the disc must be 
thrown in order to fly like it’s designed to do. Instead, newer players regularly buy discs that they don’t have the skill to be able to throw properly. Therefore, many bad habits might be formed before the disc golfer understands the need to start by throwing lower-speed discs. Lighter plastics can help someone without the arm speed to throw higher speed discs. However, there are benefits to throwing lower speed discs when starting out.
High speed drivers account for slightly over a quarter of all disc sales at Infinite. That’s pretty close to where we could expect it to be. It does trail putters as a category by a couple of percentage points.
To find out which molds were the most popular, I pulled up a list of the top 20 discs that were sold in the past year. Below is a chart with the top discs, along with the percentage of all distance drivers sold:
| Rank | Brand and Mold | % of all distance drivers |
| 1 | Innova Destroyer | 10.5% |
| 2 | Innova Wraith | 9.0% |
| 3 | Infinite Discs Emperor | 6.5% |
| 4 | Infinite Discs Pharaoh | 5.2% |
| 5 | Infinite Discs Maya | 3.2% |
| 6 | Innova Beast | 2.3% |
| 7 | Innova Shryke | 2.1% |
| 8 | Innova Mamba | 2.1% |
| 9 | Discraft Avenger SS | 1.9% |
| 10 | Discraft Nuke | 1.9% |
| 11 | Innova Tern | 1.7% |
| 12 | Discraft Force | 1.5% |
| 13 | MVP Photon | 1.5% |
| 14 | Discraft Surge SS | 1.4% |
| 15 | Discraft Hades | 1.4% |
| 16 | Innova Boss | 1.4% |
| 17 | Discraft Zeus | 1.3% |
| 18 | Discraft Thrasher | 1.3% |
| 19 | Discraft Scorch | 1.2% |
| 20 | Innova Katana | 1.2% |
Brands in the Top 20
Although most people know about the popularity of the Destroyer and Wraith, they may not know that one out of every five distance drivers sold at Infinite is one of those two molds! Those are some successful molds. In addition to holding the top two spots in the category. Innova is also responsible for 8 of the top 20 distance drivers we sell. That ties Discraft, who also holds 8 of the top 20 spots. In a distant third place is Infinite Discs, with 3 of the top 20. There were only four manufacturers in the top 20, and here is a chart with the breakdown:
Although Infinite Discs only had three molds in the top 20, those molds accounted for a significant portion of the distance drivers sold. In fact, sales of Infinite’s three top-20 molds surpassed Discraft’s eight molds in the top 20. Here is a list of the four manufacturers in the top 20, with the percentage of overall distance driver sales for the past year:
Best Rated Discs
Now let’s take a look at the Infinite Discs rating for the top molds. These are the ratings that customers have given each mold when they give a review. The ratings give us a picture of how people feel about 
the disc once they’ve had a chance to throw it. That’s a more accurate indication of the long-term view of people’s opinions of the disc, assuming it’s been around long enough for a significant number of people to rate the mold. Infinite Discs’ Emperor and Pharaoh top the list, with ratings a bit above the rest of the group. Here are the top 20 discs, sorted by Infinite rating:
| Infinite Discs Emperor | 4.75 |
| Infinite Discs Pharaoh | 4.71 |
| Innova Wraith | 4.64 |
| Discraft Zeus | 4.64 |
| Innova Destroyer | 4.63 |
| Innova Tern | 4.61 |
| Innova Shryke | 4.6 |
| Discraft Surge SS | 4.59 |
| Infinite Discs Maya | 4.58 |
| Discraft Hades | 4.58 |
| Discraft Thrasher | 4.58 |
Fan Vote Results
We asked you to let us know which mold you considered to be the best distance driver. You responded by the hundreds, and we’ve compiled a list of the top molds. Just like the top mold sales, the fan vote was all Innova/Infinite. Topping the list wasn’t the popular Destroyer. It was the Wraith, which is like a slightly slower Destroyer. In addition to the brands you would expect to make the list, there were votes for many other brands, including Divergent Discs, Viking, Millennium, Legacy, Axiom, Kastaplast, Thought Space Athletics, and DGA.
Here is a list of the top voted discs, along with the percentage of people who voted for that mold.
| Mold | Percentage of Votes |
| Wraith | 13.9% |
| Destroyer | 9.4% |
| Emperor | 4.5% |
| Pharaoh | 4.1% |
| Maya | 3.7% |
| Boss | 3.4% |
| Grace | 3.0% |
| Mamba | 3.0% |
| DD3 | 2.2% |
| Shryke | 2.2% |
Thanks to everyone who voted!
Let Us Know Your Favorite!
Now it’s your turn to let us know about your favorite distance driver. Even if your disc didn’t make the list, let us know what it is, and why it is the best disc for you or the best driver for beginners. This is a great chance to show people looking for a distance driver why your favorite disc works for you!
Ted Hegemann
Ted is the Chief Writer at Infinite Discs. He is responsible for the State of Disc Golf Survey articles and most of the "best discs" posts. Ted runs all kinds of local disc golf leagues and tournaments and tournaments in Northern Utah.
F5 prodigy disc 400g. Great disc as a beginner because of its stability. Has helped me improve my distance a lot and it also has a comfortable grip! The color schemes are also aesthetic which we all know affects flight path of course
Latitude 64 Opto Sapphire. Stable 10 speeds are just right for my arm and feel good in the hand.
I personally find the DD Tresspass in Lucid plastic to be one of my farthest flying and trustworthy discs. I can flip it reliably into or with the wind. It does have a strong fade at the end of the flight however it won’t just dump right out of the hand like some other overstable distance drivers in the market today.
“Why”, it’s because the Trespass is the best distance driver! The best distance driver is the Dynamic Discs Trespass. I am surprised it didn’t make the list. I bag 3 : Lucid, Lucid Air, and Fuzion. I find the Trespass to be the easiest to throw higher speed disc. It has a very predictable flight path and is very forgiving for those learning how to throw higher speed drivers. IMO, the trespass is easier to learn to throw than the Wraith and the Valkyrie. I learned both of those discs first, long before I found the Trespass, but early on still had issues with both of those fading out on me. I found both the Wraith and Valkyrie a little touchy with angles, but the Trespass again is way more forgiving and a Lucid Trespass broken in handles all hyzers, anhyzers and flat perfectly. Just throw it where you want it to go and it hits… I throw predominantly RHBH (350’+) but working on longer forehands and the Trespass will be the disc that gets me over 300′ for forehand shots.
my go to driver is the mystere. I have 5 of them 4 in gstar and 1 in star plastic. this disc is very understable but in Colorado it’s perfect. I get straight throws with a late gentle fade when thrown on hyzer thrown flat I will get a nice late turn and if I put a little anhyzer I get a really nice turnover that holds its kind the whole flight.
Far and away, my favorite disc is the Axiom Hex. Feels perfect in the hand and can hold a line better than any other disc I’ve thrown.
My go to is a Sword from Westside Discs. I went through the beginner phase of trying to rip way to fast and overstable drivers for my first year and a half of playing, and then did a full flip to only stable to understable fairways. As my consistency and accuracy have improved, I wanted a bridge distance driver that was a step up from a fairway but not as chunky as what I had thrown before. The sword is the perfect blend of distance with a little bit of turn for me that fits well into what I was wanting my work horse driver to be. Especially the new Orbit plastic, from their King mystery box.
My go to distance driver is the Axiom Mayhem. I’ve struggled to find a driver that’s not a meat hook for my lower arm speed, and the Mayhem is perfect. It’s flippy enough for me to handle, but still gets good distance. It the first disc I’ve thrown over 400′.
For me I’d have to go with the Wraith. For my arm speed it’s never so flippy that it won’t come back and it’s consistently the longest disc in my bag.
Definitely the s blend X out emperors and the I blend X out emperors are my go to distance drivers. Have like 10 total.
Always been a Discraft guy. Some newer ones I have bought this year have been the Hades and the Scorch. I’m going to give the edge to the Scorch just for the fact that the rim isn’t as wide and it feels better in my hand. Plus the speed is an 11
My favorite distance driver is the royal grace by latitude 64. Perfect for flip to flat shots for me. It’s my go to on any driver.
DDx! Why? The gliiiiiide, like a perfectly seasoned Destroyer. Why not? Availability. Hahaha. Do yourself a favor & go fall in love with the DDx again… or don’t, and leave them all for me!
I really like the Axiom Virus. For my arm speed I can get the correct flight and I really like how flippy it is. It’s great to hyzer flip with as well.
Dynamic Discs’ Trespass. For someone that doesn’t have pro power yet… the Trespass is the next best thing. For some reason, even though it has the same flight numbers as a destroyer, the Trespass has been much easier to throw for myself and my card mates. Plenty of speed and glide to push 400 ft easy. And the flight path is super consistent. Flys straight for a majority of the flight and finishes with reliable fade. The lucid Trespass, once beat in, has more turn and is great for S curve shots. The profile of the disc is also a big plus for me. It’s slimmer with not too much dome. The rim is thick and some what shallow which allows my hand to have a firm, yet comfortable grip. Overall great distance driver that I recommend players to try. My personnel rating would be 4.75/5
I like destroyers in pro plastic, or wraiths in star plastic. Pro destroyers have more glide than their star or champion counterparts, and are usually my farthest flying drivers (400 feet). I like star wraiths because they are more overstable than g star and pro plastic wraiths.
I love the wraith because its workable and my noodle arm can handle it.
My go to is a innova tern. Has the perfect amount of turn for me and compliments my natural hyzer release angle
For forehand, my go to is the 162g Corvette (Innova). I play at 5000+ in Colorado where we have to be careful of moving too much in the stable direction (discs become more stable at higher altitudes- or maybe it is more accurate to say the disc dynamics move toward more stable patterns?). I like the Glide and the thicker rim seems to help the balance between spin and speed.
For backhand, I have become a big fan of the LAT 64 Saint. This disc is forgiving and truly an easy to throw disc. The Glide is also amazing. My best Saint is a lighter 155g. Going to lighter discs, especially at high altitude, has been game changer for me.
For forehand, my go to is the 162g Corvette (Innova). I play at 5000+ in Colorado where we have to be careful of moving too much in the stable direction (discs become more stable at higher altitudes- or maybe it is more accurate to say the disc dynamics move toward more stable patterns?). I like the Glide and the thicker rim seems to help the balance between spin and speed.
For backhand, I have become a big fan of the LAT 64 Saint. This disc is forgiving and truly an easy to throw disc. The Glide is also amazing. My best Saint is a lighter 155g. Going to lighter discs, especially at high altitude, has been game changer for me.
My favorite right now is probably my Fission Photon. It’s a fantastic feeling plastic. The disc is a perfect stability where I can use it for my forehand workhorse that will turn slightly and go straight on full power, and for slightly more stable shots with my noodle arm backhand. I don’t have great backhand power, but I can still get it to turn and glide for me on a perfect throw.
Punisher Z Flx 165g, for whatever reason I can really rip this one.