Question about "mini" drivers...

[LeftDaddy]

I finally got around to trying out a mini driver today in a hitting bay at Golfsmith. I've been trying to convince myself that I either need one or don't. I have a friend that uses one and he likes his pretty well as a driver replacement.

 

After a bunch of shots I deduced that I'd probably lose on average 30 yards of distance with a mini vs my regular driver, and that the mini would probably give me an extra 10-20 yards over my 3 wood (again, on average).

 

So here's my question / dilemma...is the mini really a driver replacement, or a 3 wood replacement? I eventually decided that those 30 yards would never be enough to kick my driver out of the bag (even despite the potentially increased accuracy), but I also couldn't quite convince myself that the mini would be as good off the fairway as my 3 wood. My 3 wood is a pretty good alternative to a driver right now, when I'm struggling with the driver. My 2 iron utility, though, might kick my 3 wood out of the bag (although not quite as long). So maybe the mini becomes the 3 wood replacement?

 

Anyway, just wanted to hear from others your experiences with a mini driver.

[ago33]

I was using one, great off the tee, couldnt hit it off the deck. Cut my driver down to 44.5 inches and then never pulled it out of the bag again

[nosedive32]

I play a 14 degree SLDR S Mini as a 3 wood replacement. I actually bought it as a driver replacement until I sorted out my driving.I have no issue hitting it off the deck. Great club. Recommend getting a TP or reshafting. The stock shafts are too light for my taste but I still haven't actually reshafted.

[xerxius]

Love my mini driver. Have a big Bertha mini 1.5 14 degree tuned down one degree on the hosel. I go Driver, mini, 3 iron at the top of my bag. I exclusively hit the mini from the tee and find it to be easier to keep in play than the driver. I hit Driver only on wide open holes or holes where the reward outweighs the risk like in driveable par 4's or par 5's that can potentially be reached in 2. Otherwise it's mini off the tee. Never hit it off the deck as I find trying to hit a green from 3 wood distance usually leaves me with a higher score than laying up to partial wedge distance.

[Mob]

Love my mini driver. Have a big Bertha mini 1.5 14 degree tuned down one degree on the hosel. I go Driver, mini, 3 iron at the top of my bag. I exclusively hit the mini from the tee and find it to be easier to keep in play than the driver. I hit Driver only on wide open holes or holes where the reward outweighs the risk like in driveable par 4's or par 5's that can potentially be reached in 2. Otherwise it's mini off the tee. Never hit it off the deck as I find trying to hit a green from 3 wood distance usually leaves me with a higher score than laying up to partial wedge distance.

 

Agree with this. Surprised that the mini was 30 yards shorter than your driver, that is a lot. I only see about a 10-15 yard difference between driver and mini.

[6thFairway]

I use my 14* Bertha Mini as a 3 wood. I've had it adjusted everywhere from 14* to 16* and I love it at every setting. I wish every club felt this good and solid. It's not a driver, but it's a solid, solid 3 wood. I can hit it off the deck if necessary, but it's outstanding off the tee.

[LeftDaddy]

Love my mini driver. Have a big Bertha mini 1.5 14 degree tuned down one degree on the hosel. I go Driver, mini, 3 iron at the top of my bag. I exclusively hit the mini from the tee and find it to be easier to keep in play than the driver. I hit Driver only on wide open holes or holes where the reward outweighs the risk like in driveable par 4's or par 5's that can potentially be reached in 2. Otherwise it's mini off the tee. Never hit it off the deck as I find trying to hit a green from 3 wood distance usually leaves me with a higher score than laying up to partial wedge distance.

 

Agree with this. Surprised that the mini was 30 yards shorter than your driver, that is a lot. I only see about a 10-15 yard difference between driver and mini.

 

Yeah, I was a little surprised by the 30 yards also. I may have been able to toy with it and find some extra yards, but if I did some rough averaging that was where it was. Interestingly, swing speeds and ball speeds were only about 5 mph lower than the driver, and I couldn't necessarily tell that I was more consistent with the mini. Golfsmith had a pre-owned TM Aeroburner mini for a great price, and I almost bought it anyway just for the price of it...but I eventually decided that it couldn't beat out either my driver or my phrankenwood (3 deep). I can bomb the 3 deep, and can also hit it off the deck. I just didn't see that much gain from the mini.

 

Oh, and just as a side note, I tried out the new XR 16 Pro driver and wow, I was crushing that thing. I'm not necessarily in the driver market right now, but boy that thing was nasty!

[BMC]

I find that I can fade or draw the mini driver much easier than a driver. I like to hit a draw off the tee. A well stuck mini with a draw goes as far as my driver.

 

So, workability, if you're so inclined, is a plus for a mini driver.

[drscho]

I used my SLDR Mini 14 as a 3 wood replacement for captain's choice events. For normal rounds I couldn't find a place for it in my bag because my driver is longer off the tee and my 3 wood is easier to hit off the deck.

[Vegaman]

I finally got around to trying out a mini driver today in a hitting bay at Golfsmith. I've been trying to convince myself that I either need one or don't. I have a friend that uses one and he likes his pretty well as a driver replacement.

 

After a bunch of shots I deduced that I'd probably lose on average 30 yards of distance with a mini vs my regular driver, and that the mini would probably give me an extra 10-20 yards over my 3 wood (again, on average).

 

So here's my question / dilemma...is the mini really a driver replacement, or a 3 wood replacement? I eventually decided that those 30 yards would never be enough to kick my driver out of the bag (even despite the potentially increased accuracy), but I also couldn't quite convince myself that the mini would be as good off the fairway as my 3 wood. My 3 wood is a pretty good alternative to a driver right now, when I'm struggling with the driver. My 2 iron utility, though, might kick my 3 wood out of the bag (although not quite as long). So maybe the mini becomes the 3 wood replacement?

 

Anyway, just wanted to hear from others your experiences with a mini driver.

 

Sounds a bit odd that you have a 40-50 (!) yards gap between your 3-wood and your driver. I think you are highly exaggerating the distance loss between a mini and your regular driver. 30 yards sounds like too much. Thats a pretty large gap even between a 3-wood and driver for most people.

[Golf64]

Tried a couple of minis, didn't like them. My 3 wood is more versatile of the deck vs. the minis. Only gained about 10 yards off the tee.

[wreiman]

just have not found a reason to replace my 13' 3 wood with it. They both hit the same ...... ad only about 20 yards less than my driver on a good day.

[xerxius]

The difference that I found between a standard 3 wood and a mini driver of similar loft is that misses lower on the face didn't spin as much on the mini. Overall distance averaged over many strikes would lean in the favor of the mini. A miss low on the face of the 3 wood may spin at 3800-4000, where a miss with the mini would be 3200-3500. Also find that ball speed retention on misses is better with the mini. I think it's a superior option off the tee compares to a typical 3 wood. At least in my hands.

[jammer59]

I use it for alternate driver rounds. I play forward tees (6000-6300 yards) with a couple of friends about half the time. I'm consistently 15-20 (230-250 net) yards shorter with my Callaway 1.5 @ 14 degrees. It's perfect to play courses at this length without being left with wedges into the green 80% of the time. With my driver on a solid day, I'm 70-125 yards in on par 4s under 390 - 400, so I it's not as interesting. I also bag it on new or very challenging courses to give me another alternative off the tee. I never hit it from the deck and don't otherwise bag a 3w.

[BSprink]

I've been using the TP SLDR 12* mini for a while and love it. I stopped carrying a 3 wood. Tee or fairway, I have no complaints.

[stangs2655]

I picked up a tour issue longneck mini sldr with 16.6 actual loft. Put a ad di 8s cut it down to 43". I love it off the ground and from the tee.

[MelloYello]

There should be a distance gap between your 3w and driver of about 20-35 yards depending on whether you're a short hitter or a long hitter.

 

For most players, a club that out-hits their 3w by 10-15 yards isn't worth carrying/hitting while a club that goes within 10-15 yards of their driver is no more accurate.

 

You described a 50-yd gap between your driver and 3w. I'd investigate that before I started searching for new clubs. Something is very wrong there.

[bobcat]

Sometimes I carry a 16* SLDR TP Mini, as a 3-wood. I rarely use it off the tee as I have just never been one to use 3W off the tee much.

 

I own the Mini TP in 14* loft and like that loft too, but the advantage of the 16* is good performance from even poor fairway lies and/or light rough as well. (The SLDR TP 16* lofted model is capable of providing more distance than conventional 15* 3-woods). Both the Mini's larger clubhead, (260cc), and a longer-than-standard stock TP shaft, (43.5" Fujikura Motore Speeder Tourspec 7.3), help contribute a bit of extra distance.

 

Extra distance aside, what impresses me more about the SLDR Mini is not distance, but good accuracy...Seems the ball always wants to fly dead straight off the clubface.

 

It's not my everyday gamer 3W by any means, more like an occasional change of pace on courses with a hole or two where it may make some sense to consider using a 3-wood, (or Mini Driver 16* ), off the tee!

 

 

:golfer:

[jewofgolf]

Interesting experience you had. I suspect your spin was too high with the mini.

 

I hit my 12* x2 hot within 5-10 yards of my drivern depending on how firm it is. Same thing with the rbz stage 2 I had turned down to 11.5*.

 

I use mine on tight courses as a driver replacement.

[mootrail]

Sounds like you need a new 3 wood, not a Mini. I've bagged the 2 Deep and the SLDR Mini's in 12 & 14; unless you have near pro swing speed, they suck from the turf. Don't know what 2 you have, but I love my Ping Rapture DI. On the right course, it's mind blowing when the DI runs out to the same 250 as I can get from my driver:)

[Kidz2feed]

I finally got around to trying out a mini driver today in a hitting bay at Golfsmith. I've been trying to convince myself that I either need one or don't. I have a friend that uses one and he likes his pretty well as a driver replacement.

 

After a bunch of shots I deduced that I'd probably lose on average 30 yards of distance with a mini vs my regular driver, and that the mini would probably give me an extra 10-20 yards over my 3 wood (again, on average).

 

So here's my question / dilemma...is the mini really a driver replacement, or a 3 wood replacement? I eventually decided that those 30 yards would never be enough to kick my driver out of the bag (even despite the potentially increased accuracy), but I also couldn't quite convince myself that the mini would be as good off the fairway as my 3 wood. My 3 wood is a pretty good alternative to a driver right now, when I'm struggling with the driver. My 2 iron utility, though, might kick my 3 wood out of the bag (although not quite as long). So maybe the mini becomes the 3 wood replacement?

 

Anyway, just wanted to hear from others your experiences with a mini driver.

Keep the driver and put in a Stretch.

[c5bubblechaser]

I rearranged my bag when I hit the mini driver (aeroburner 12°) 260-270 at golfsmith. I have never looked back. I am 260+ on the course with it but hit 66% fairways today. That's good for me. I'm honest about second cut also. Anyway I am playing mini driver, 16.5 4wood, 17° hybrid, 20° hybrid seems to fill pretty nice!

[benden]

Aeroburner 12dg.......Off the tee.

 

15dg 3 wood....Off the deck.

 

19dg, 23dg hybrids...

 

I find a smaller head helps concentrate my mind on strike.

[Noke]

I use a maxi-mini driver: SLDR S 16* (460cc) with a BiMatrx 75g X at 42.5". Stupid easy.

[tlwest86]

I wanted to like the mini but the shaft was too light. It was surprisingly easy to hit off the deck though.

[LeftDaddy]

Maybe I'm comparing best drives versus average 3 wood. My 3 deep is a bomber for me...the longest 3w I've ever played. I guess when I really nail my driver I get an extra 40 yards or so, but maybe I get a lot more out of the 3w when I nail it than I'm "counting". And the same may have been true for the mini at the hitting bay (I.e. average vs best). I tried to compare apples to apples, but could have just been off a bit.

 

Anyway, though, if a mini were only 10 yds shorter than a driver and in theory "hittable" off the deck, then I guess I would ask why would anyone play a driver? And of course, that probably isn't true...so I suspect the typical mini is a good 15-20 yards shorter than a driver (and thus my 30 yard estimate isn't so absurd).

[gvogel]

Think of the mini driver as a 2-wood. It is not for everyone; but it can be part of the arsenal, and surprisingly accurate (compared to a driver) in some situations.

[Altiman94]

Is your 3 wood really 40y shorter the your driver?

[CAT GOLFER]

Been there done that and back again. I tried a mini to replace my driver, did the job wonderfully. I think the mini is a niche club, it fits a certain subgroup very well. And for others it does just like you mentioned, it's not as long as driver and maybe only a little longer than 3w.

 

In the end, sorting out driver and a new shaft for 3w brought back confidence and consistency, am I leaving a few yards vs 3w, sure, but I can put another experiment in the bag now:-)

[oldhamer25]

I play a mini sldr s and got it as 3 wood replacement, not driver replacement. I have no problem with it off the deck and actually feel it is easier and more consistent than other 3 woods I have had in past. I will play off the tee at times and do give up yards, but the accuracy is more important to me when I do that. Don't see it coming out of my bag, but like a lot around here am always on the lookout.