I say this as someone who has tried out the following midranges.
Caiman, Gator, Avatar, Atlas, Skeeter, Panther, RocX, Roc3, Roc, Lion, Jay, Mako3, Wombat3, Manta, Pig, Wolf, Rat, Shark, Cobra, Toro, Stingray, Buzzz, BuzzzSS, BuzzzOS, Malta, Comet, Sol, Zone, Wasp, Pathfinder, Mana, MD1, MD2, MD3, MD4, MD5, M1, M2, M3, M4, Compass, Anchor, Truth, EMac Truth, Justice, Svea, and probably a few others that I’m forgetting. But that's at least 46 mids that I've thrown.
I really love mid-range discs. I think they’re underrated. Since I’m mostly a woods player I find that there are courses where I tend to drive with midranges off the tee. Or throw them for a majority of shots.
And since we’re bringing back Discraft Discs at Sabattus it seemed like a good week to write a blog about my favorite Mid-range, the Discraft Meteor.
When I first got into disc golf in the summer of 2010 I was excited to try out basically any disc I could get my hands on.
My dad called me from a sporting goods store. “Andrew, they have discs here. Do you want me to pick one out for you?”
“Yes.” obviously Padre.
“What would you like?” He asked.
“Something orange, easy to find.” I said.
This was my first time throwing a disc that could really break to the right. I didn’t have a forehand, so I was use to just throwing my Aviar or Shark with massive height and anhyzer and being able to throw flat turnovers gave me significantly more distance.
I suddenly had a shot in my arsenal that I’d never had before. I was birdieing new holes, hitting different trees on the other side of the fairway, and expanding my game in a way that I hadn’t been able to.
While being understable is the best part of the ESP Meteor, to me it’s really an all in one disc.
I love it for hyzer flips.
I love it for short approaches.
I love it for holding a slow high anhzyer forehand.
I love it for basically anything under 300 feet.
I’ve lost it in a tree, in a stream, and it’s been returned both times. Once I lost it practicing the day before a tournament. Then it was returned about 30 minutes before the tournament.
When I give disc golf lessons, it’s one of the discs that I let folks try because I know exactly what it’s going to do. If they’re not flipping it over, or throwing nose up, I can figure it out fairly quickly. Because I have thousands of throws with this disc and know what it’s going to do.
The glide on this disc and slow speed turn are what keep me using it regularly. I can muscle up a putter to fly straight for 200 feet. Or I can throw the Meteor softly and give it a little extra spin and it will fly straight for me.
Here's an example of it being thrown slow and straight on a long par 4 at BSR. (Thank you to Sean Sanderson for the video)
Here’s me on Hole 17 of the Hawk course. It’s a disc for a stable shot right? Or is it a touch shot hole.
It’s shallower in the hand than my Rainmaker. It doesn’t have a stable finish to it unless I throw it softly like in that video or on a hyzer.
The Meteor would be my choice for any of those 1 disc round challenges. It’s very controllable in a way that I haven’t found any other disc to be on shorter distances.
Here’s the Meteor in all of its glory though, turnover shots.
Of course I included me hitting first available with my favorite disc. That hole always punishes the greedy people who want to ace it.
The drawbacks to this disc are pretty small.
It’s a bad choice with a crosswind or headwind. I mean it, don’t use it unless you want to see it picked up by the wind and rolling somewhere you had no intention of going.
If you don’t throw it hard enough to flip over, it’s got a lot of glide to hyzer out nose up.
It’s possible to overthrow it if you don’t give this disc height. So as you saw on my throws on hole 18, give it time to get over.
Those are drawbacks to every understable disc though. So I don’t think there’s anything in particular that makes the meteor less desirable.
I have been throwing the orange one for a long time. It's still functional a decade later. It's been really good to me in that regard, it's why I have no problem paying $20 for a premium plastic disc.
I’m glad we have the Meteor back at Sabattus Disc Golf. It’s that midrange that you’ll see me throwing on all sorts of courses. I hope that you consider picking one up for your bag. It's a staple in my bag when I want something that bends around trees, floats in the air, or want to hit a short gap.
Here's a link to all of the Meteor's at Sabattus Disc Golf.
May your discs miss all the trees,
Andrew Streeter #70397