Give Mids A Little Love

First let’s define what a mid is. They’re also called/spelled Midrange or mid-range disc. There’s never been a clear way to spell them, maybe that’s one reason they aren’t respected more.

For me, a mid is any disc that’s speed 4 to 5.5, so not a putter and not a driver. I think mids are usually a smushed putter, with a softer edge than a driver. These hardworking discs rarely get the praise they deserve (in my eyes). People are always banging on about how much work the putter puts in, or how a distance driver was crushing those drives.
The Buzzz is the exception to the rule. This is perhaps the most popular disc in the last 30 years. But think about it, how often do you hear how excited someone is about a mid?

Why should beginner players throw mids?
A mid belongs in the hand of every beginner player before they rip a driver. Not only will they be able to throw this further than a driver, they’ll develop better form and progress much more quickly.
But how? And why are mids better for form?

Mids don’t take as much power to get up to speed. Discs like the Mako3, Buzzz, Wombat3, Shark, and Atlas have lots of glide. This helps them carry forward for more distance.

How to develop form is a little more complex. When you’re learning to throw you may be releasing your discs on a hyzer. That means that the outside wing of the disc (away from your hand) is tilting down instead of being thrown flat. Putters have deep rims and are sometimes tougher to hold especially with smaller hands. If you’re throwing your midrange on a hyzer it’s very apparent with the flight path. For a player throwing a right handed backhand shot, their disc will go out straight and up higher in the air, then go hard left.

When I write in a disc description on our website that “anyone can throw it.” I mean it. As long as a person is able to throw over 50 feet, they can consider a midrange.

Why are midranges undervalued?

• Mids suffered visibility a little bit, due to the “ball golf” courses of the DGPT in 2021.
• They don’t fly the furthest.
• They’re not as accurate at short range as putters.
• They’re not thrown off the tee (as often) and they don’t go into the basket (as often).
• You’ve heard the phrase “Drive for show, putt for dough.” But I’m struggling to find a catchy rhyme that works with “upshot” or “bullseye.”

What are the advantages of midrange discs?
Firstly they fly further than putters. I love my P2 but it’s not going to get me as much distance as my MD3 ever will. Putters were designed for accuracy, drivers for distance, and mids to be great in between those distances.

I think I’m a slightly above average thrower for distance. My mids top out at 335 feet when I lay into them. But I’m much more consistent at about 250-275 feet with them. Crushing my putter 275 feet is possible but I’m throwing wicked hard and my driver at 275 is getting babied, so I have to throw it on a hard hyzer. Plus drivers have this weird tendency when thrown gently to get up and roll away from the basket.

What is a mid's job?
Get as close to the basket as possible, or hit a specific landing zone so you can get to the basket on your next shot. They get you to an approximate area very well. Mids are perfect on holes where you might be able to reach it with your putter, but you might also leave it short.

Mids sound kind of like approach discs.
I think that mids should be considered approach discs as well. One of my biggest gripes is how Putt & Approach got to be a category. In ball golf imagine putting a wedge and a putter in the same category! You wouldn’t hit a ball in the fairway with your putter, and you wouldn’t take your sand wedge out on the green.

What mids are out there?
There’s a lot of great midranges out there! I always recommend people try out a DX Roc and a Buzzz. These are the two classics that have withstood the test of time. There are overstable, stable, and understable mids. There are ones that drop out of the sky for approaches and ones that glide for days. We’ve got a sweet selection of mids here.

What do I bag?
I bag 3 different mid molds. One is my overstable approach disc, one is my straight flyer, and the other is my turnover disc. I have at least a dozen different mid molds in my garage. The Shark, Mako3, Buzzz, Buzzz SS, Buzzz OS, MD2, M1, M2, M3, M4, Roc, Roc3, Rat, Comet, Sharpshooter, Wombat3, and probably others that I’m forgetting. But these are the three that have made it for me.

Discmania MD3
Discraft Meteor
Innova Caiman

The MD3 is probably the most well known of them. It’s very straight and I know that it’s not going to flip if I try to push it to 300 feet. I’ve got the Eagle Claw one and several of the new ones, I like them all pretty equally.
The Meteor is there for my touch forehands where I want to throw slow but high glide. And it’s my turnover disc that holds the line. It’s my escape disc.
The Caiman is my forehand or backhand approach disc 7/10 times. It just wants to get overstable and down. I love it.

But what about some mids that you may be missing out on?
As always, see if your buddies have this disc to try out. If not, come into our pro shop and see if you’d like to use one of our demos.

XT Atlas
This one is a favorite of my dads. One of Innova’s overmold discs, it has a stable finish and he uses it for shot shaping. It’s also a standard favorite of his for slow anhyzer shots because he doesn’t have a reliable forehand. The Atlas can be thrown on anny and it will hold the turn before panning out at the end. When thrown flat it’s incredibly straight with a little hyzer tail that’s barely noticeable. It also goes pretty far for a mid. It kind of jumps out of the hand and has a shallow rim compared to most mids.
Z Buzzz SS
This cousin of the Buzzz has a couple of major changes to it. The inside rim is much more straight up and down. And instead of having a straight smooth finish, the Buzzz SS has a lot of turn. It’s one of my favorite slow turnover discs. You know when you need something to anhyzer the whole flight but it can’t turn into a roller? It’s also a really great forehand disc to throw a hyzerflip and let it flip up to flat and glide out. Understable discs are necessary especially if you only have a forehand and not a backhand or visa versa.
DX Shark
This disc gets dismissed because it comes from a starter pack. The Shark doesn’t handle forehands, but it does provide a really amazing straight throw at low and medium distance. It hovers for so long it’s incredible. I like it for those 80-150 foot straight shots. If you throw it with lots of spin you can get it to stall in the air like it hit a brick wall, then watch it hyzer dump the last 10 feet. It’s also great for holding a hyzer or anhyzer in a smooth C shape.

In conclusion, mids rock.
Beginners can use them for better distance and form control.
Advanced players can manipulate them accurately.
Pro players can hit approach shots with them and get awesome distance.

Don’t avoid them, embrace them and their accuracy. As a woods player I recognize there are plenty of times where landing in the fairway is more important than getting big distance. But you still want to throw further than a putter allows.

May your discs miss all the trees,
Andrew Streeter #70397an