Question about "mini" drivers...

[jewofgolf]

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).

 

Regarding why play a driver - for me the 2 wood never gets a big bomb nor can I swing all out on a par 5 for example. It's just a solid 270-275 and in play all day. The driver ranges from 280-290 on solid strikes, but the 300 plus bomb can happen, too. It doesn't with the mini.

 

As I said before if I'm playing a narrow course under say 6800 yards, then the 2 wood is getting the call.

[JustTheTips]

 

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).

 

Cause the big headed drive is easier to hit and not to mention hitting 7 iron instead of 6 iron into the green matters.:)

 

 

Realistically the loss is going to depend on a lot of things. Carry tends to be ~10-15 yards shorter than a driver. On the courses where you only get 10 yards roll, that is going to be the difference. On a course where you can get 30 yards (if your spin is down) the normal driver can get out another 10-15 yards, And what you are using as a minidriver also matters at ton. The big bertha mini with a 44" shaft and 11 degrees of loft is not the same as a 43.5, 14 degree option

[Jagpilotohio]

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.

 

If you are concerned about lack of accuracy and consistency with your driver why not consider buying an inexpensive shaft on eBay, or here, with a callaway tip and cut it down significantly in length as an experiment?? You can get the swingweight back up by purchasing heavier weights for the weight ports on eBay. You lose 6 swingweights per inch and each swingweight = 2grams of head weight. So each inch you remove, add 12 grams of weight. Can fine tune this with lead tape if you end up a hair light of your preferred swingweight.

 

I personally have done this for many years. I currently play a DBD Bertha 815 9*, set to 10*, at 43.5 inches and D4 swingweight. I chopped it down the day after I bought it, as I have done for about 20 years now. Many years ago as a PGA teaching Pro I realized that I was never comfortable with the new longer drivers. 45.0 inches was becoming "standard" and I hated them. Yes, when I hit them EXACTLY perfectly, I would end up with a few extra yards, maybe 10-15. But I found after exhaustive testing that the extra yardage on the perfect hit with the longer club was not nearly as valuable to me as the additional accuracy, consistency, and confidence I had with the shorter "old standard" length driver. I have been preaching to anyone who will listen for 2 decades that today's extra long drivers, for MOST golfers, is a very bad idea. I used to hear over and over and over again when I was teaching that "I hit my 3 wood so much better". Well. Great. Then use it, or perhaps better yet, use a higher lofted driver that is close to 3 wood length.

 

Anyway. I guess I'm back on my soapbox again about modern drivers being to long. There is one caveat to this. If a golfer happens to be quite tall, say over 6'2", then the longer drivers aren't nearly as awkward. I'd say that anyone 6 foot or under should seriously consider trying a a driver no longer than 44 inches.

[MelloYello]

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).

 

First off, distance is a function of swing speed and contact quality so it's pointless to talk about results in a generalized way.

 

 

The release of mini drivers caused a lot of commotion on GolfWRX but their overwhelming lack of popularity today tells the real story. While it's true that any club will have it's proponents (and mini drivers do!), we the golfing public were never quite able to find out exactly what mini drivers were meant to do. My best guess is that they're marketed towards players who cannot find any success with standard drivers. What's ironic to me now is that almost every mini driver user here still carries a driver, lol. So in essence it seems like the majority of folks simply bought a 3w that went a little farther. One can only suspect that hurt their gaping but that's their call.

 

If you're properly striking your driver and 3w you'll find the optimal difference in loft to be roughly 5-6^o (do a survey of pros to confirm). A player with a 9-10^o driver usually prefers a 3w around 15^o while a player with a 7-8^o driver usually prefers a stronger 3w around 12-13^o. In short, there's the power-hitter setup and there's the average-hitter setup. On that note, the difference in carry distance between one's driver and 3w should be about 20-25 yards given you hit your driver between 260 and 290 carry (which is almost everyone here and on tour does).

 

Speaking strictly of the head design, mini drivers are interesting because they do tend to be *slightly* longer than traditional fairway designs (of course this comes at the cost of playability from the turf). So in selecting a mini driver you're trading versatility for increased carry distance.

 

For most golfers, the mini driver is simply an answer to a question that was never asked. Again, if you're properly striking your driver and 3w you really don't have any issue with yardage gaping or with versatility. In fact, it's no surprise that most of the players here who sport mini drivers have elected to go with traditional lofts around 14^o acknowledging they are easier to hit from the turf.

 

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:-)

 

I think this is the general consensus.

[NYDave]

I bought a Callaway X2Hot 15 deg, and a SLDR 14 deg mini last summer when Budget golf was selling each for $100... I found for me the X2hot was 10 yards longer then the SLDR, I could easily hit the X2hot off the deck the SLDR not so much... I played the mini for about a month now it's in the spare clubs bag..

[Tex1986]

I might move to the mini driver camp eventually. I hit my regular driver anywhere from 250-280 depending on conditions.

 

I could see picking up a 16* that would be a tee only 3 wood for the occasional tee shot that must be 230-240 yards.

 

I struggle with the 3 wood off the tee for whatever reason but hit my driver like a boss down the pipe. I never really hit 3 wood off the deck because 240 out on a protected par 5 green, is a 210 yard layup and a short pitch for this 11-12 handicap.

[xerpro]

I started playing the SLDR mini right around the time it was launched. First round, stock shaft, I hit 12 of 14 fairways, in the 255 range. Yanked the shaft, went with a Di7Xat 42.75 and the club came alive. If I pull that club, its a high draw in the center of the fairway. Easy to shape, and as close as automatic as I have in the bag. I play the 12* version and have since switched to a rogue black 70x. It will probably never leave my bag. I did have a 2 month run with the Bertha 1.5, and it is nice, but the SLDR has too much familarity.

I play my Fly Z+ at 9.5, then the mini at 12* and jump to an aeroburner tp 5 wood. Good gapping as the 5 wood is a 235-240 club for me.

[PowderedToastMan]

I use my mini as a fairway finder, or a shot 260 plus on a VERY good lie. It's just as accurate as a 3 wood, but easier to hit, which is a big confidence boost. I go 9 degree G LS Tec, 12 degree SLDR mini driver, 17 degree XTD Ti hybrid, 3-PW, 52 and 58. Every gap is filled and I have two really good options off the tee. Not to mention the XTD Ti hybrid goes miles so I'm not missing a 3 wood from the deck at all!

 

FYI, I'm a decent player, on the plus side, and see an extra 20-30 yards from my driver. It's much lower spinning, lighter, lower loft, and 2 inches longer.

[icandy]

Fitted with a Oban Devotion shaft in my Mini 14 TP and hit an awesome draw. Only 10-15 yards shorter than driver, so I probably use it 70% of the time and use my driver 30% on the holes I can hit a fade or very wide open fairways.

[SteveID]

I've got an Aeroburner Mini TP 12* and a blank UST Elements Chrome shaft, but I haven't built it up yet. The way I hit my driver today, the Mini will probably be on the BST soon.

[steeler08]

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.

+1

[Tac]

I've used a 12 and 14 SLDR Mini TP the past two seasons.

 

I recently bought an Aeroburner 12 Mini TP after comparing it head to head on a sim with my Sldr iMini 12 TP and the Aeroburner was spinning significantly less.

[mwink822]

I've just gone to a lower lofted 3 wood. I presently have a 915Fd in 13.5 loft turned down to 12.75. Prior to this club, I was playing a 910Fd in the same loft. I find the 13.5 3 wood to be a good measure longer than the typical 15* three wood, a good option off the deck, and a great club from the tee if I absolutely need to find fairway.

[LeftDaddy]

Lots of great thoughts in this thread...I appreciate all of the responses.

 

As an update, I broke down and bought a mini driver from CPO and it came in today...Bertha mini 12 deg. If the damn weather here in Virginia ever dries and warms up again I might get to hit it and report back on what I found. The main reasons I ended up buying are (a) I'm a ho and can't help myself and knew all along I would eventually end up buying one, but (b) I went to Golfsmith the other day and hit probably 250 driver shots with about 6 different drivers and I could never knock my current driver out. Part of the issue is that I have just never really been that consistent with a driver for any extended period of time, and I was a bit rusty the other day and frankly wasn't consistent enough to be able to draw any conclusions. My gamer is the Titleist 913D2, but I have a Cally 815 BBA DBD that I really want to "win" my driver war (that thing looks so badarse). The 913D2 was the most consistent of all, although I suspect if I started using another driver I would eventually get more used to it (and therefore more consistent).

 

The 815BBA DBD is just a really short hitter for me on the course. At the golfsmith hitting bay, it was the longest of the ones I tried, but on the course it is much shorter than any other driver I've tried. I think it is because it punishes my mishits more, and perhaps I don't need such low spin (although the hitting bays suggest otherwise...maybe the rollout is much longer on the sim, and since our ground is soaked in Virginia I'm not getting any rollout advantage). Anyway, I want it to win out but I've pretty much decided that I'll be putting it on Lefty's Swap Shop soon. But the only conclusion I think I ended up making at golfsmith the other day was that I don't hit the center of a driver clubface enough to take advantage of it, thus a mini may allow me close to driver length with more consistency.

 

Of course, as soon as I say all of this my 913D2 will start looking good again and the mini will be benched...

[Aslloyd1918]

I found the mini driver easier to hit knock down shots, partial shots and just smooth it off the tee. I don't know why maybe less spin but I can easily hit a low controlled shot that runs a mile

[LeftDaddy]

OK, I've played the mini for 2 rounds now. I have a list of pros / cons, and I'm not sure yet whether I will "bag" it or not.

 

Pros: much straighter than my typical driver shot, reasonably long

Cons: not great off the deck, thus making it less useful; not much longer than my 3deep (if at all)

 

If I decided to make it a full replacement for my driver, I could see using it 5-8 times on my home course and ~ 10-12 times on my alternate course. If I use it as a 3 wood replacement, I could see using it only a handful of times on either course. So I guess its primary value is to replace a spotty driver, especially on courses like my home course which are really tight but not overly long. But if I played a more open course (like my alternate course), I'd just use the driver instead, and take the 3deep or the 2 iron on the tighter holes. So I guess my early conclusion is that it is course dependent.

[mich750]

First time out for me with the Big Bertha Mini in 14 (playing in Michigan today, 43 degrees and rain). I only used it off the tee today on five tighter holes and was very happy with the five fairways hit. So far so good in getting a fairway finder that gets some good distance.

[ProStryker]

I look at the mini drivers as a straight replacement for the driver. If you can't hit driver straight or in the fairway, the mini driver may help you do that. You may lose a few yards, but it will be more consistant. The reason I don't see them as a 3-wood replacement, is that they are harder to hit off the fairway or rough than a smaller more shallow wood. And since you can find 3-woods nowadays that almost rival driver distance, the only use I see for mini drivers is to go to a smaller headed, shorter shafted club to find fairways off the tee.

[cmatthews77]

I'm a Mini Driver user who also carries a driver. I bought it for a few reasons notably I was rarely hitting 3W off the deck and my home course takes driver out of my hand on several holes with dog legs or strategic trouble. Plus I like experimenting. I also put a 4W in my bag as a long club off the deck that I have so much more confidence in because of the loft and it's an easier model to hit then what I had.

 

The only thing I don't like about my Mini is watching my local club pro hit it. It just looks different. He can absolutely maul that club.

[oldschoolrocker]

I bought a mini a few months ago and was having terrible results with it, so I put it in time out. Took it out about a month ago and noticed a hairline fracture in the shaft. Callaway sent me a new one at no charge and the rest, as they say, is history.

For me it is the perfect option for a tee club, due to its shallower profile and shorter shaft. As someone who has always struggled, after the persimmon and steel era, I find it the modern equivalent of an old deuce. Reasonable distance with a remarkable increase in accuracy.

i am one very satisfied consumer with the mini.

[ElJefe26]

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).

 

Cause the big headed drive is easier to hit and not to mention hitting 7 iron instead of 6 iron into the green matters. :)

 

If you want to hit a 7 iron into a green instead of a 6 iron, just play the M2 irons. I saw it on TV, Jason Day said so.

 

In all seriousness, what does a mini driver do that a spoon or strong 3 does not? Pardon my ignorance on this topic, but from reading the discussion here, it sounds like (generally) mini drivers are around the same loft and shaft length as a strong 3. Is the mini driver just yesteryear's driver with a more sensible loft and shaft length for most people?

[bulls9999]

Same here...I'm 62 with a 85-90 swing speed and I've struggled with 460cc drivers that felt like I was swinging a mailbox on the end of a stick but have always felt I swung a 3-wood with much more athleticism and the ball would rocket off the tee with that swoosh....and I end up hitting just as far as my driver (based on home course on-course knowledge of where my driver shots on every hole normally end up). I have played Ebay-bingo going through 15-20 drivers in the last 3-4 years, nothing really that much better than the others (some shafts I prefer though). But always coming back to enjoying the feel and sensation I get of hitting a 3-wood off the tee, making me feel like I just swung like a PGA tour pro whereas swinging a driver makes me feel like the 15HC that I am :-(. I started using smaller driver heads (have a couple of Nike/TM 320's)....but I wondered if the old technology, old shafts are holding it back, so I picked up 2 recent mini-drivers (TM Aeroburner Matrix/stiff 12-deg & TM SDLR S Reg/14-deg)....first off, the SLDR reg shaft was too whippy, although it felt easier to load, I would hook the ball....did not want to try to play a shot shape like Bubba. The Aeroburner (standard Matrix shaft) seems a little too stiff, but I hit that really straight and can draw when I need to. I hit it as far as my driver, and in the 1 month that I've had it, I've been further up the fairway that I've not been ever in years with my driver, so go figure. Maybe those guys that have 110+ swingspeeds and hit the ball 290+ don't need a 'mini-driver', but I in all my back-and-forth testing from various 3-woods which all feel sensationally smooth off the tee vs. most drivers that don't, I really believe it's an aerodynamic drag of the larger head that is a problem, if perhaps only for slower swing speed players.

 

I'm a Mini Driver user who also carries a driver. I bought it for a few reasons notably I was rarely hitting 3W off the deck and my home course takes driver out of my hand on several holes with dog legs or strategic trouble. Plus I like experimenting. I also put a 4W in my bag as a long club off the deck that I have so much more confidence in because of the loft and it's an easier model to hit then what I had.

 

The only thing I don't like about my Mini is watching my local club pro hit it. It just looks different. He can absolutely maul that club.

[c5bubblechaser]

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.

trackman reads 270 for me 12° mini driver. I don't lose much distance but gain MAJOR accuracy. Never played sldr but I heard it much more difficult than my aeroburner