New TM Mini coming?

[JoeFrigo]

16 hours ago, Ruleschamp said:

Why did everyone seemingly buy the 13.5 degree.   Wouldn't the 11.5 degree be better as a mini driver?

13.5 is for people (like me) who are probably dropping the 3w. I dont ever use it so id rather have the 13.5 to be about 20- 25 yards less than driver. My hybrid is at 18* which is more than enough to still be a tee club if needed but also if I find myself around 250 out on a par 5

Edited July 16, 2021 by JoeFrigo

[toddyc]

19 hours ago, danielwkelliher said:

Ordered 13.5 from TM website on 7/11 and shipped 7/14... Ventus Blue 7x with GP Cord grip... Will be delivered tomorrow (7/16)... excited to hit some mini bombs this weekend. 

Sweet setup

[danielwkelliher]

19 minutes ago, toddyc said:

Sweet setup

Yeah I'm excited... Always have played a 13.5 fairway wood and it was basically a tee only club. I think this might be perfect. 

[jacobEDGE]

Okay, pulled the trigger.

 

11.5º with Tensei AV RAW Blue -0.25". 

Will be replacing my driver and I'm still keeping a 3 and 5 wood in the bag.

[Starched]

Arrived today uploading pics. Also weighed it. 207g 300 Mini,  209g Original One. Essentially it looks like it has been slightly stretched and flattened with the face height about the same. More pear shape looks like the old 975JVS. Nice looking club. Also same sleeve and depth  so you can swap shafts with the Original if you like the shaft and want to stick with that. 

Edited July 16, 2021 by Starched
Adding content

[JoeFrigo]

20 minutes ago, Starched said:

Arrived today uploading pics. Also weighed it. 207g 300 Mini 209g Original One. Essentially it looks like it has been slightly stretched and flattened with the face height about the same. Nice looking club. Also same sleeve and depth  so you can swap shafts with the Original if you like the shaft and want to stick with that. 

This is awesome!!!!

Thank you for this

[RobotDoctor]

5 hours ago, jacobEDGE said:

They had one at PGA Tour Superstore last night. Hit an 11.5 with a Ventus Blue driver-length shaft in it (not sure why, but that's what he gave me). Spin is INSANELY low. And for some reason I was dead pulling everything super left? I'm not sure if the monitor was crooked or if I just have no idea how to line up properly into a screen...but they didn't feel like that. But yeah, I'm gonna order one now. About the same numbers as my past 3 drivers, with much more confidence because of the smaller head.

 

I think this driver, when struck well, will perform as good as larger headed drivers as long as the shaft is the same.  Keep in mind all the 300 Mini reviews are being done with the standard 43.75" shaft, not a 45" of longer shaft.  Great numbers expect for spin rate.  Insane numbers actually!!!  👍

[radiman]

My driving has been pretty suspect this year.  I am just flat out struggling to control the face at impact.  I started hitting my 3 wood out of frustration and was surprised to see that it was every bit as long as my driver (probably longer since I have been s**t with it all year).  Was so successful that I really only hit driver when I have room to miss (which isn't often).  The 3 wood swing feels better.  Like it's a lot easier to square the face.  I am starting to wonder if a smaller head could possibly be my meal ticket to regaining some of my distance off the tee while keeping the control my 3 wood is offering.  

 

Initial reviews here seem to be pretty positive.  Really landing on my radar now.  Won't blind purchase this one.  Will see if I can somehow get a demo on the course.  Going to be tough though.  Most of the racks around here are pretty sparse with equipment being hard to come by.  

[J13]

3 hours ago, Starched said:

Arrived today uploading pics. Also weighed it. 207g 300 Mini,  209g Original One. Essentially it looks like it has been slightly stretched and flattened with the face height about the same. More pear shape looks like the old 975JVS. Nice looking club. Also same sleeve and depth  so you can swap shafts with the Original if you like the shaft and want to stick with that. 

 

 

Thank you for the pics, especially with the ruler

[ASN21]

7 minutes ago, radiman said:

My driving has been pretty suspect this year.  I am just flat out struggling to control the face at impact.  I started hitting my 3 wood out of frustration and was surprised to see that it was every bit as long as my driver (probably longer since I have been s**t with it all year).  Was so successful that I really only hit driver when I have room to miss (which isn't often).  The 3 wood swing feels better.  Like it's a lot easier to square the face.  I am starting to wonder if a smaller head could possibly be my meal ticket to regaining some of my distance off the tee while keeping the control my 3 wood is offering.  

 

Initial reviews here seem to be pretty positive.  Really landing on my radar now.  Won't blind purchase this one.  Will see if I can somehow get a demo on the course.  Going to be tough though.  Most of the racks around here are pretty sparse with equipment being hard to come by.  

This club sounds right up your alley. For me I am not sure if it would replace my driver or my 3 wood. 

[radiman]

1 minute ago, ASN21 said:

This club sounds right up your alley. For me I am not sure if it would replace my driver or my 3 wood. 

I am definitely thinking you are right.  Time will tell.  Hopefully I can get my hands on it at some point.  I just picture a 11.5 being turned down to 10 or so being a bomber.  

[JustDoIt23]

19 minutes ago, radiman said:

I am definitely thinking you are right.  Time will tell.  Hopefully I can get my hands on it at some point.  I just picture a 11.5 being turned down to 10 or so being a bomber.  

I was (still am) having the exact same issue with my driver. I am hitting my 3 wood just as far as my driver and much straighter. The hope is that the mini driver will provide slightly more distance than the 3 wood while still finding fairways. Order was placed on Sunday for the 11.5 degree and this club can’t arrive soon enough. 

[radiman]

5 minutes ago, JustDoIt23 said:

I was (still am) having the exact same issue with my driver. I am hitting my 3 wood just as far as my driver and much straighter. The hope is that the mini driver will provide slightly more distance than the 3 wood while still finding fairways. Order was placed on Sunday for the 11.5 degree and this club can’t arrive soon enough. 

Post your results when you get it in! Would love to hear how it stacks up against your 3 wood. I’m thinking it would easy enough to throw my driver shaft in and then cutting it down if it is too long. 

[bladehunter]

Although I played like a dog with driver today , the first round with the mini was as expected. Easily the best 2nd tee club I’ve hit.  It needed a different guy to aim it today , but it’s a super feeling club THats very easy to hit.  

[ber2226]

On 7/15/2021 at 4:57 PM, RobotDoctor said:

I tried a 11.5° 300 Mini today with the stock shaft (stiff flex) and with the Fujikura Ventus Blue 5S driver demo shaft the club fitter at my course had.  The best results came with the Ventus Blue shaft with just over 100mph swing speed, smash factor of 150, total distance of 290 yards (260-265 carry) and a fairly tight shot dispersion (about 10-15 yards just shading towards the left of center).   The session showed me that my current driver shaft might not be the best suited for me as the performance with my M3 was not as good as the 300 Mini.  The Tour AD DI shaft from my driver was inserted into the 300 Mini and performed worse than the Ventus Blue and was just slightly worse than the stock shaft.  I have ordered the 11.5° 300 Mini with the Ventus Blue 5S shaft at 45".

No way you swing 100 and hitting it 290 haha 

[RobotDoctor]

1 hour ago, ber2226 said:

No way you swing 100 and hitting it 290 haha 

Why?  How far do you think I should be hitting it? 

 

Edited July 17, 2021 by RobotDoctor

[Mr. Grumpy]

Harbinger here. I for-see a lot of disappointment and deals on the BST.

Didn't a mini driver hit the market years ago and everyone went wild for it until they spent time with it? I also recall that the majority says that big head tech is over and it's all marketing now?

 

So, why will this be different?

[Mr. Grumpy]

24 minutes ago, RobotDoctor said:

Why?  How far do you think I should be hitting it? 

 

No doubt, I am under 100 and can get 270 if I have prayed enough to the golf God's.

[SMUGamer]

4 minutes ago, Mr. Grumpy said:

Harbinger here. I for-see a lot of disappointment and deals on the BST.

Didn't a mini driver hit the market years ago and everyone went wild for it until they spent time with it? I also recall that the majority says that big head tech is over and it's all marketing now?

 

So, why will this be different?

Why so Grumpy? 

[Mr. Grumpy]

1 minute ago, SMUGamer said:

Why so Grumpy? 

I seem to remember that they were harder to hit than a 3 wood, did not get the distance that was expected for  a "driver off the deck" and there were better choices off the tee. 

I think the driving iron may have become a thing during this time. 

 

 

[NHenson815]

57 minutes ago, JustDoIt23 said:

I was (still am) having the exact same issue with my driver. I am hitting my 3 wood just as far as my driver and much straighter. The hope is that the mini driver will provide slightly more distance than the 3 wood while still finding fairways. Order was placed on Sunday for the 11.5 degree and this club can’t arrive soon enough. 

I was in a similar boat.  The strong 3 wood has always been my best club and I could never get a driver to go much farther than that (could go a little further, but enough to justify carrying one given my confidence in hitting the strong 3 more consistently).  I bought the 11.5 yesterday and spent some time on the range with it today (have it dropped down to 9.5 degrees).  The club is literally a game changer for me. The biggest perk came as a surprise to me.  I can actually use a shaft in the 60 gram class with this club, when I've never been able to do that with any other driver.  I've always needed something in the 70 or 80 class to make the club feel substantial enough to force its way through the poor aerodynamics caused by a standard size driver head.  The 300 Mini seems to eliminate that obstacle and the reduced shaft weight/drag is allowing me to swing this about 5-6 mph faster than I've been able to swing any driver (on rough average).  My mouth dropped when I saw a 122mph on the launch monitor, which the stock 6S could clearly not handle lol (Ventus Blue 6X has been ordered).  That was certainly an outlier on the swing speed, but also clear indictor of the club's potential as I spend more time with it.  Even the smash factor seemed to be consistently between 1.46 and 1.5, which I've never been able to obtain on a driver before
(not sure if that was the club's forgiveness or a good strike pattern attributable to my proficiency with the similar Strong 3).  There were left misses, but that is my normal miss and some of that might be a product of the weakness of the stock shaft (It honestly has some decent stability for a stock 6S shaft, but obviously could do better in the aftermarket).  Because it is basically a turbocharged Strong 3, I won't need to worry about blasting it into the wrong fairway.  Tee height is also a smaller variable, so there is less opportunity to go wrong there.  

 

The most insane thing about the club is the ability to hit off the deck.  It is truly unbelievable.  I set up on the ground in the same 9.5 loft setting and laugh at the view of so much club over the ball at address, knowing what is going to happen if I attempt this at 9.5 degrees.  I take a swing and I watch a range ball missile into the air at 15+ degrees, carrying around 250.  I chalked it up to beginner's luck, but never really had any difficulty with the shot on subsequent attempts.  Even on strikes that weren't as good, it seems like I could get it up at least 12 degrees.  I got one shot up over 18.  It seems physically impossible, and yet, the miraculous engineering of this club can do it.  There is definitely more left and right curvature on those shots compared to the tee, but that is to be expected.  A more stable shaft would reduce it a bit.  The actual difficulty level of the shot may be much higher than my own personal experience, but it seems like improper swing mechanics allow me to be comfortable swinging at the particular angle of attack and swing path needed for it to work, despite my lack of skill in this game.

 

All in all, it's probably the best club I've ever purchased.  I can finally stop wasting my time and money on numerous drivers with the faint hope of getting them to work.  This is more than good enough and I couldn't be more happy with the purchase.  I hope that all other members of the 3 wood clan discover the magic of this club.

[SMUGamer]

5 minutes ago, NHenson815 said:

I was in a similar boat.  The strong 3 wood has always been my best club and I could never get a driver to go much farther than that (could go a little further, but enough to justify carrying one given my confidence in hitting the strong 3 more consistently).  I bought the 11.5 yesterday and spent some time on the range with it today (have it dropped down to 9.5 degrees).  The club is literally a game changer for me. The biggest perk came as a surprise to me.  I can actually use a shaft in the 60 gram class with this club, when I've never been able to do that with any other driver.  I've always needed something in the 70 or 80 class to make the club feel substantial enough to force its way through the poor aerodynamics caused by a standard size driver head.  The 300 Mini seems to eliminate that obstacle and the reduced shaft weight/drag is allowing me to swing this about 5-6 mph faster than I've been able to swing any driver (on rough average).  My mouth dropped when I saw a 122mph on the launch monitor, which the stock 6S could clearly not handle lol (Ventus Blue 6X has been ordered).  That was certainly an outlier on the swing speed, but also clear indictor of the club's potential as I spend more time with it.  Even the smash factor seemed to be consistently between 1.46 and 1.5, which I've never been able to obtain on a driver before
(not sure if that was the club's forgiveness or a good strike pattern attributable to my proficiency with the similar Strong 3).  There were left misses, but that is my normal miss and some of that might be a product of the weakness of the stock shaft (It honestly has some decent stability for a stock 6S shaft, but obviously could do better in the aftermarket).  Because it is basically a turbocharged Strong 3, I won't need to worry about blasting it into the wrong fairway.  Tee height is also a smaller variable, so there is less opportunity to go wrong there.  

 

The most insane thing about the club is the ability to hit off the deck.  It is truly unbelievable.  I set up on the ground in the same 9.5 loft setting and laugh at the view of so much club over the ball at address, knowing what is going to happen if I attempt this at 9.5 degrees.  I take a swing and I watch a range ball missile into the air at 15+ degrees, carrying around 250.  I chalked it up to beginner's luck, but never really had any difficulty with the shot on subsequent attempts.  Even on strikes that weren't as good, it seems like I could get it up at least 12 degrees.  I got one shot up over 18.  It seems physically impossible, and yet, the miraculous engineering of this club can do it.  There is definitely more left and right curvature on those shots compared to the tee, but that is to be expected.  A more stable shaft would reduce it a bit.  The actual difficulty level of the shot may be much higher than my own personal experience, but it seems like improper swing mechanics allow me to be comfortable swinging at the particular angle of attack and swing path needed for it to work, despite my lack of skill in this game.

 

All in all, it's probably the best club I've ever purchased.  I can finally stop wasting my time and money on numerous drivers with the faint hope of getting them to work.  This is more than good enough and I couldn't be more happy with the purchase.  I hope that all other members of the 3 wood clan discover the magic of this club.

It's the honeymoon buddy, the honeymoon. Let's see if it last.....

[NHenson815]

3 minutes ago, SMUGamer said:

It's the honeymoon buddy, the honeymoon. Let's see if it last.....

Certainly a fair point, lol.  However, this has at least worked once compared to the drivers which have probably never worked, so I am already out ahead.  

[radiman]

13 minutes ago, NHenson815 said:

I was in a similar boat.  The strong 3 wood has always been my best club and I could never get a driver to go much farther than that (could go a little further, but enough to justify carrying one given my confidence in hitting the strong 3 more consistently).  I bought the 11.5 yesterday and spent some time on the range with it today (have it dropped down to 9.5 degrees).  The club is literally a game changer for me. The biggest perk came as a surprise to me.  I can actually use a shaft in the 60 gram class with this club, when I've never been able to do that with any other driver.  I've always needed something in the 70 or 80 class to make the club feel substantial enough to force its way through the poor aerodynamics caused by a standard size driver head.  The 300 Mini seems to eliminate that obstacle and the reduced shaft weight/drag is allowing me to swing this about 5-6 mph faster than I've been able to swing any driver (on rough average).  My mouth dropped when I saw a 122mph on the launch monitor, which the stock 6S could clearly not handle lol (Ventus Blue 6X has been ordered).  That was certainly an outlier on the swing speed, but also clear indictor of the club's potential as I spend more time with it.  Even the smash factor seemed to be consistently between 1.46 and 1.5, which I've never been able to obtain on a driver before
(not sure if that was the club's forgiveness or a good strike pattern attributable to my proficiency with the similar Strong 3).  There were left misses, but that is my normal miss and some of that might be a product of the weakness of the stock shaft (It honestly has some decent stability for a stock 6S shaft, but obviously could do better in the aftermarket).  Because it is basically a turbocharged Strong 3, I won't need to worry about blasting it into the wrong fairway.  Tee height is also a smaller variable, so there is less opportunity to go wrong there.  

 

The most insane thing about the club is the ability to hit off the deck.  It is truly unbelievable.  I set up on the ground in the same 9.5 loft setting and laugh at the view of so much club over the ball at address, knowing what is going to happen if I attempt this at 9.5 degrees.  I take a swing and I watch a range ball missile into the air at 15+ degrees, carrying around 250.  I chalked it up to beginner's luck, but never really had any difficulty with the shot on subsequent attempts.  Even on strikes that weren't as good, it seems like I could get it up at least 12 degrees.  I got one shot up over 18.  It seems physically impossible, and yet, the miraculous engineering of this club can do it.  There is definitely more left and right curvature on those shots compared to the tee, but that is to be expected.  A more stable shaft would reduce it a bit.  The actual difficulty level of the shot may be much higher than my own personal experience, but it seems like improper swing mechanics allow me to be comfortable swinging at the particular angle of attack and swing path needed for it to work, despite my lack of skill in this game.

 

All in all, it's probably the best club I've ever purchased.  I can finally stop wasting my time and money on numerous drivers with the faint hope of getting them to work.  This is more than good enough and I couldn't be more happy with the purchase.  I hope that all other members of the 3 wood clan discover the magic of this club.

Damn man. This is the kind of feedback I was hoping to see. Smaller head, more confidence, i don’t doubt that there is some serious swing speed potential. I think 440-460cc is not necessary. And is possibly a detriment to some players (like myself haha). 

[RobotDoctor]

...

Edited July 17, 2021 by RobotDoctor
Post resubmitted

[RobotDoctor]

2 hours ago, ber2226 said:

No way you swing 100 and hitting it 290 haha 

 

1 hour ago, Mr. Grumpy said:

No doubt, I am under 100 and can get 270 if I have prayed enough to the golf God's.

Either one of you ever take into consideration that I live in Colorado at 5,000 feet elevation where there is about 12% additional carry and that the Trackman was adjusted to altitude.  Also the course set up 30 yards roll.  I was carrying the ball 260-265 yards at altitude.  
 

If either one to you are in Northern Colorado let's tee it up.  I'd love to show you the effects of a paltry 100ish mph swing can do at elevation.  

[Mr. Grumpy]

10 minutes ago, RobotDoctor said:

 

Either one of you ever take into consideration that I live in Colorado at 5,000 feet elevation where there is about 12% additional carry and that the Trackman was adjusted to altitude.  Also the course set up 30 yards roll.  I was carrying the ball 260-265 yards at altitude.  
 

If either one to you are in Northern Colorado let's tee it up.  I'd love to show you the effects of a paltry 100ish mph swing can do at elevation.  

I believe you dude. Maybe you confused me with the other commenter..

[rkillian]

I picked on up today and am looking forward to hopefully getting it on the course next week. I struggle with driver and it’s probably been worse this year than last. After testing a few drivers with different shafts and shaft lengths I’ve the last 2 weeks and getting to test the 11.5 degree mini head today, it seemed to win out. 
 

the best shots with a standard driver were a bit further. But there were less good shots and the bad shots were worse. The 300 mini  was just easier to hit. I seem to hit the stock shaft fine but may at least try something else later on. 
 

I don’t play a lot of courses that are much longer than 6000 yards all that often. And with a struggling driver hit a lot of 4 wood off the tee, rarely ever off the ground. So this mini will be a driver replacement for now. If the experiment goes well, I’ll be selling the 4 wood and look to replace with either a 5 wood or lower lofted hybrid. 

[RobotDoctor]

21 minutes ago, Mr. Grumpy said:

I believe you dude. Maybe you confused me with the other commenter..

We are good!  Cheers!!!

[artica]

I have tried every mini driver sold in the last 5-7 years. Tried the 300 today and it’s significantly better than previous versions. I’m in the 3 wood camp where it’s as long as my driver, mostly because I just cannot hit a clean strike with it. I had the original one and loved it, far better than previous sldr and aero mini’s. I also had the ping rapture and stretch. Stretch was good, weird sound but good. The problem with them all is they spun high and all launched or ballooned on me. That’s where I think this will differ, today I was between 2,700-2,900 versus my ping LST 3 wood at 3,300. The LST was total 244yds with the 300 259yds. Had a couple in the 270’s. I did use a ventus blue from my original one and had a ad vr in the ping LST 3w. Anyways, I’m buying it.