All of this posted above, but I would like to expand on those who are talking about drastic elevation changes. Discs start behaving different when they suddenly experience drastic elevation drops below them. When a disc thrown flat suddenly gains a lot of above ground altitude because of a quick drop off, it experiences a sudden loss of air compression or pressure under it. After first when a disc is traveling its fastest, at its cruise speed, this change is negligible at best, but as the disc slows down in forward speed and spinning momentum, all the forces it was generating disappear. Discs low to the ground still generate some lift from what is called ground-effect lift, but that all disappears from a lot of height, especially for such a small object as a disc.
Putters and mids are less reliant on ground-effect lift than drivers, and combined with a few other factors generally have slower drop rates than drivers. With proper form and power, you can generally throw a mid or putter farther on a straighter line. Most drivers will suddenly lose power and dive into a fade, that is assuming they do not turn and burn all the way into the ground the opposite direction.
For example, this past Sunday I was throwing multiple shots off of Bryant Lake #17, which is the epitome of what we are talking in regards to drastic elevation drops. Immediately off the tee you are looking at a a huge drop off with another 700+ feet of flat ground before you even get to the green. My Roadrunners and Destroyers, each with their own flight pattern, were lucky to get about 80% of the way there. I had to pull a little something off of them so OAT did not sneak in and I would do something stupid. However, my Tangent rode a soft line that took forever to get down there but netted I would say easily 90% of the distance. My Ion was not far behind it. The only drivers I have done better with have been TeeBirds and Swords, and we can agree that they are not the norm when it comes to drivers as they are resistent to turning but have so little fade. It is that need for lateral movement most drivers have that kill it when it runs out of lift below.
Of course, all of this discussed above is in regards to drastic elevation change. On holes where we are only talking a few feet elevated, the driver is obviously still the way to go. You would have to give the putter or mid an upward trajectory to even take advantage of its slower drop rate, but at that point you are throwing nose up which is killing the whole philosophy the moment it leaves your hand.
