OK, who’s played the TaylorMade 300 Mini Driver?

[RobotDoctor]

22 minutes ago, Rapidcat said:

I was joking with my post - Rick's prep was more likely 10 minutes planning and an hour hitting & filming.

 

I find his content almost always entertaining and sometimes informative. He has an engaging personality and apparently is a very sensitive lover.

I like his videos.  He is definitely entertaining.  👍🏼

[uglande]

11 hours ago, Seattlegolfnut said:

This and Rick’s video totally miss another logical use case.

 

My home course is par 71, 5900 yards from the tips, with fairways lined with dense 100’ tall cedar trees and some feel as wide as my driveway at home.

 

I use my 9* driver on one hole.

 

I tee off with a 3W on the other 12 holes that aren’t a par 3, and hit it off the deck absolutely zero times. 

 

so for me:

d) “I wish I had a 14-16* tee club that is more forgiving than a 3W.”

 

Then swap in the 3W if I’m playing longer courses where I hit driver on most holes, and may need an occasional fairway shot.

My home course is about 6400 and the only time I need a 3w off the fairway is if I duff a drive on a par 5. And on most tee shots I don't really need driver. So swapping a mini for 3w gives me a tee club with more pop and forgiveness than 3w and more control than driver. 

 

The main thing that @North Butte and Rick Shiels overlook is shaft length. If I need to hit a fairway, I'll take the club that's two inches shorter and still has a 300cc head. Sure, strike for strike, a big driver head is more "forgiving," but a mini is much easier to hit overall. It's also really easy to work the ball with the mini, so when you need (or want) a little shape off the tee, it's a winner. 

[RobotDoctor]

59 minutes ago, uglande said:

My home course is about 6400 and the only time I need a 3w off the fairway is if I duff a drive on a par 5. And on most tee shots I don't really need driver. So swapping a mini for 3w gives me a tee club with more pop and forgiveness than 3w and more control than driver. 

 

The main thing that @North Butte and Rick Shiels overlook is shaft length. If I need to hit a fairway, I'll take the club that's two inches shorter and still has a 300cc head. Sure, strike for strike, a big driver head is more "forgiving," but a mini is much easier to hit overall. It's also really easy to work the ball with the mini, so when you need (or want) a little shape off the tee, it's a winner. 

 

Rick Shiels very briefly address this but really doesn't expound on this.  Most of the criticism I have read are from people who comply ignore this fact.  This driver is called a 300 Mini Driver and people are saying this is 10-15 yards shorter than a 460cc driver.  Well, no kidding, thanks for that information Captain Obvious.  There are others that complain that the 300 Mini is less forgiving.  So what.  Really good golfers work on their swings to have solid fundamentals and good, repeating swings rendering much of the forgiveness moot.  I guess my perspective comes from playing persimmon woods and a balata ball back 30+ years ago.  I HAD to have solid fundamentals and a good, repeating swing.  I carry this work ethic regarding my golf swing today. 

 

Spot on regarding working the ball.  This concept seems lost on a fair amount of young golfers who are poo-pooing the 300 Mini driver.  If I could average 12-14 fairways hit in a round and be able to work the ball with a 440cc/460cc driver then I'd be all over that.  Problem is none of us can do this so for me the 300 Mini driver represents what I view as my essential in a driver.

[sg91]

14 hours ago, Seattlegolfnut said:

This and Rick’s video totally miss another logical use case.

 

My home course is par 71, 5900 yards from the tips, with fairways lined with dense 100’ tall cedar trees and some feel as wide as my driveway at home.

 

I use my 9* driver on one hole.

 

I tee off with a 3W on the other 12 holes that aren’t a par 3, and hit it off the deck absolutely zero times. 

 

so for me:

d) “I wish I had a 14-16* tee club that is more forgiving than a 3W.”

 

Then swap in the 3W if I’m playing longer courses where I hit driver on most holes, and may need an occasional fairway shot.

This is a similar reason for why I got one this week, though it's not in the bag until I get my hands on a new shaft for it. The two courses at my club are 6100 m and 5800 m on the scorecard respectively but in reality are rarely setup that long. The rough on most holes is maybe 10 m wide and then we're into trees with a fine, loose sand underneath that only really allows a pitch out. On the shorter course I hit 3w off the tee on both par 5s and on the longer one I can hit 3w and still reach/get close to the green with a hybrid. 3w would be airmailing the green so I don't remember the last time I hit it off the deck. Driver only ever comes out if there's a 25-30 km/h wind either straight behind me or into my face.

 

I did some testing with the 11.5* head yesterday with my PGA pro and it gives me something that carries further than my 3w run out but offers me similar levels of control, a bit more help on slight mishits, and fits what I like to feel and happen through impact – neutral to slightly negative AoA. I've also often found 460 cc drivers look upright to my eye and to me even if it's not actually upright, the visual just looks like it's going to go left. Not a fan of things that look like they've got a built in double cross when I'm aiming at the left edge of the fairway and sliding it back to the left-centre. 

 

It's perfect for my setup and definitely isn't pointless. In fact I bet it substantially increases my enjoyment of the game.

Edited July 25, 2021 by sg91
clearer information

[Fairway14]

2 hours ago, RobotDoctor said:

 

 There are others that complain that the 300 Mini is less forgiving. 

 

If a player strikes 8 of 14 tee shots solid-straight with a TM 300 but only 4 of 14 tee shots solid-straight with a 460 CC driver the TM 300 could be considered more forgiving.

Or, if a player hits 10 of 14 fairways with a TM 300 and only 5 of 14 fairways with a 460 CC driver the TM 300 could be considered more forgiving.

[RobotDoctor]

40 minutes ago, Fairway14 said:

 

If a player strikes 8 of 14 tee shots solid-straight with a TM 300 but only 4 of 14 tee shots solid-straight with a 460 CC driver the TM 300 could be considered more forgiving.

Or, if a player hits 10 of 14 fairways with a TM 300 and only 5 of 14 fairways with a 460 CC driver the TM 300 could be considered more forgiving.

I suppose that's hard to say.  The results in this scenario certainly is what we all want, a driver that results in more fairways hit.  Keeping with the concept that a person's swing is decent and reliable and one driver is a better fairway finder maybe the driver is a better fit to that particular golfer,  not necessarily more forgiving.  I get the notion of smaller face, smaller head equating to less forgiveness.  If that's the case why in the world is anyone carrying fairway woods or hybrids for that matter.  Bigger maybe is not always better.  But getting back to your scenario is suppose there can be an argument made in this case the 300 Mini would be more forgiving.  
 

I'll be testing this scenario in a week or so.  👍🏼

[North Butte]

I'm sure there's someone out there who can hit twice as many fairways with a 17-degree driving iron than with a 460cc driver. That doesn't mean the driving iron is more forgiving. It means he's trading off distance for hitting more fairways. 

 

There is a decent-sized target market for any "driver alternative" that will temporarily help someone who is wild with a normal driver. Only a small minority among that target market will see any lasting benefit. For most of them the extra fairways will last until they've had the "alternative" in the bag long enough to start swinging harder and getting wild with it.

 

But that's what keeps these companies rolling out products like this every couple of years. Hope springs eternal. 

 

[Fairway14]

2 minutes ago, RobotDoctor said:

I suppose that's hard to say.  The results in this scenario certainly is what we all want, a driver that results in more fairways hit.  Keeping with the concept that a person's swing is decent and reliable and one driver is a better fairway finder maybe the driver is a better fit to that particular golfer,  not necessarily more forgiving.  I get the notion of smaller face, smaller head equating to less forgiveness.  If that's the case why in the world is anyone carrying fairway woods or hybrids for that matter.  Bigger maybe is not always better.  But getting back to your scenario is suppose there can be an argument made in this case the 300 Mini would be more forgiving.  
 

I'll be testing this scenario in a week or so.  👍🏼

 

I just disagree with the common usage of the word "forgiving". For example the top employee of the putter division for a major OEM believes every player from beginner to Tour should be playing a mallet head putter. He hangs his hat on computer generated numbers proving that a mallet head has the MOI which will allow a mishit putt to roll better than a a smaller head putter (low MOI). But he ignores the fact that some players strike more consistently solid putts and roll the ball better with a small head putter than they do a mallet design. Again, what's the point of designing clubs for mishits when the goal of putting should be to strike the ball squarely, achieve consistently solid contact,  and make lots of putts ?

So, my issue with the use of the word "forgiving" is that it implies using clubs designed for forgiveness will lower scoring averages, and I consider this to be misleading. For example, my guess is that most players who replace their 460 CC size driver head with a TM 300 will produce the same scores or improve their scoring average.

[Fairway14]

9 minutes ago, North Butte said:

I'm sure there's someone out there who can hit twice as many fairways with a 17-degree driving iron than with a 460cc driver. That doesn't mean the driving iron is more forgiving.

 

I think it does, just as most any player hits consistently better shots with a 7-iron than he does a 5-iron. The 7-iron is more forgiving than a 5-iron.

[RobotDoctor]

I would jump all over a Taylormade 300 Mini driver build as a 9.5° driver, or even a 10° driver.

[rkillian]

Played another quick 9 this evening. I wasn’t swinging well at all. Putting really salvaged the round with a few good chips. That said, I am still finding that the bad shots with the mini are still less punishing than with a 460 driver have been for me. 

[uglande]

7 hours ago, North Butte said:

I'm sure there's someone out there who can hit twice as many fairways with a 17-degree driving iron than with a 460cc driver. That doesn't mean the driving iron is more forgiving. It means he's trading off distance for hitting more fairways. 

 

There is a decent-sized target market for any "driver alternative" that will temporarily help someone who is wild with a normal driver. Only a small minority among that target market will see any lasting benefit. For most of them the extra fairways will last until they've had the "alternative" in the bag long enough to start swinging harder and getting wild with it.

 

But that's what keeps these companies rolling out products like this every couple of years. Hope springs eternal. 

 

Precisely. But the distance trade off with mini driver isn’t huge. 
 

And there are serious diminishing returns with driver distance by adding shaft length. There are about a million videos on YouTube of people testing regular-length drivers against short-shafted and results are usually a wash on distance but better dispersion with the shorter shafted club. 
 

But I don’t even use it as a driver replacement. For me it’s a hot 3W. 

[Puttersaurus Rex]

16 hours ago, Fairway14 said:

 

I just disagree with the common usage of the word "forgiving". For example the top employee of the putter division for a major OEM believes every player from beginner to Tour should be playing a mallet head putter. He hangs his hat on computer generated numbers proving that a mallet head has the MOI which will allow a mishit putt to roll better than a a smaller head putter (low MOI). But he ignores the fact that some players strike more consistently solid putts and roll the ball better with a small head putter than they do a mallet design. Again, what's the point of designing clubs for mishits when the goal of putting should be to strike the ball squarely, achieve consistently solid contact,  and make lots of putts ?

So, my issue with the use of the word "forgiving" is that it implies using clubs designed for forgiveness will lower scoring averages, and I consider this to be misleading. For example, my guess is that most players who replace their 460 CC size driver head with a TM 300 will produce the same scores or improve their scoring average.

You already have a thread for this.  

[RCGA]

That Rick Shiels review was a joke, right? 

• QC Quad on the course, but zero numbers
• Maybe 25 hits total
• Intended to hit ~5 off the deck and gives up after ~3 shots
• No comparison to his driver or 3 wood 
• Hard to believe he hit a 11* mini driver about the same distance as his 15* 3wood. 

[PhilWhitUK]

I played my third round with the new mini driver today.  For me it is more consistent than the driver, meaning that it is more likely to give a straight and long shot than the driver.  Yes the occasional drive with “normal” driver might be better,  but not the average.

 

I was with a regular playing companion who has seen my driver struggles over the years.  He told me he will not expect to see a driver in my bag ever again after today.

 

why is of better?  It is easier to hit than a 3 wood off the tee because it is larger and forgiving.  It is not so large and long that it needs a different swing.  
 

personally I think many mid cappers would benefit from this club.

[RobotDoctor]

10 hours ago, RCGA said:

That Rick Shiels review was a joke, right? 

• QC Quad on the course, but zero numbers
• Maybe 25 hits total
• Intended to hit ~5 off the deck and gives up after ~3 shots
• No comparison to his driver or 3 wood 
• Hard to believe he hit a 11* mini driver about the same distance as his 15* 3wood. 

It seemed to me that Shiels wanted to not like the club so he stacked his review against it.  I definitely don't think his review was fair.  Makes me take his videos with a huge grain of thought going forward.  

[dwboston]

Ordered one two weeks ago, should be here tomorrow.  Looking at it as a potential driver replacement.  I've never really gotten along with 460cc heads with 45-46.5" shafts.  I had success years ago with a steel-shafted Callaway warbird 2-wood, then the Titleist 975J and 983K.  Looking at this as a more modern version of those types of clubs with more forgiveness on off-center hits.  Either way it won't be an expensive experiment as I traded in some clubs I wasn't using, which will cover ~80% of the cost of the 300 Mini.

[ian-500]

Just so I have an idea of the length of aftermarket shaft if needed, can someone let me know the length of the stock shaft from butt to tip when OUT of the head please?

[JoeFrigo]

On 7/25/2021 at 9:17 PM, uglande said:

Precisely. But the distance trade off with mini driver isn’t huge. 
 

And there are serious diminishing returns with driver distance by adding shaft length. There are about a million videos on YouTube of people testing regular-length drivers against short-shafted and results are usually a wash on distance but better dispersion with the shorter shafted club. 
 

But I don’t even use it as a driver replacement. For me it’s a hot 3W. 

I dropped the 3w and went with the 13.5* and love it for what it is. My home course is only 6400 yards so there is never a time I NEED to hit 3w so I dropped it completely. The 13.5* is perfect. About 15-20 yards shorter than my driver and much easier to control. I can hit it off the deck but again I would never need to do that. For me its strictly another option as a tee club where I need to hit fairway. There are also a couple dogleg's where driver is too much so I have to lay back

 

If I was playing 7000+ yard courses then maybe id reconsider the Mini driver and go back to 3w, but im not doing anything competitive to need to make that decision

[JoeFrigo]

3 hours ago, ian-500 said:

Just so I have an idea of the length of aftermarket shaft if needed, can someone let me know the length of the stock shaft from butt to tip when OUT of the head please?

I have the stock shaft at home. I can measure later

 

I wanna say it should be 42.5" butt to tip in order to play 43.75". Slightly longer than a 3w..... I used my 3w shaft and play it 43.25"

[GBBM]

On 7/24/2021 at 8:13 PM, North Butte said:

I reckon it's a perfect club for anyone who has ever said one or more of the following:

 

a) "I wish my driver were smaller and less forgiving"

b) "I wish my 3-wood were bigger and harder to hit off the deck"

c) "I wish I had more clubs in my bag that cost $400"

 

I do understand that some people need to use equipment that makes golf as challenging as possible because they find it too easy otherwise.

 

And once you've spent $550 on a driver and another $500 or so on a Scotty there's it gets tricky to keep your cost-per-club up there if you just buy plain old $300 fairway woods. 

I normally like your posts but this is just ridiculous. It’s been well laid out why this type of club works great for some. 

[ian-500]

4 hours ago, JoeFrigo said:

I have the stock shaft at home. I can measure later

 

I wanna say it should be 42.5" butt to tip in order to play 43.75". Slightly longer than a 3w..... I used my 3w shaft and play it 43.25"

Yes please confirm when you can. Thanks.

[MaineMariner]

My 300 Mini arrived today. I was fit for the Mini in a Rogue Silver 70 shaft a couple weeks. I posted my fitting data elsewhere, but the gist of it was that I was getting ball speeds on par with or better than my driver, with excellent dispersion, and so my plan was to put this in play as a driver replacement.

 

I just got back from a quick range session and I am still over the moon about this club. It took a little bit of fiddling to get the ball position and tee height perfect, but I think I figured it out. To make a long story short, I had a blast hitting this thing. Take the PRGR numbers with a grain of salt, as in my experience it's usually a few MPH off on one of the metrics (I think my SS is a couple ticks higher) but this pretty much confirms what I got in my fitting. The one with the ball speeds in the 140s was the most impressive because it wasn't out the middle.

 

Plus I was hitting the ball straight. This is easily a driver replacement for me.

[JoeFrigo]

10 hours ago, MaineMariner said:

My 300 Mini arrived today. I was fit for the Mini in a Rogue Silver 70 shaft a couple weeks. I posted my fitting data elsewhere, but the gist of it was that I was getting ball speeds on par with or better than my driver, with excellent dispersion, and so my plan was to put this in play as a driver replacement.

 

I just got back from a quick range session and I am still over the moon about this club. It took a little bit of fiddling to get the ball position and tee height perfect, but I think I figured it out. To make a long story short, I had a blast hitting this thing. Take the PRGR numbers with a grain of salt, as in my experience it's usually a few MPH off on one of the metrics (I think my SS is a couple ticks higher) but this pretty much confirms what I got in my fitting. The one with the ball speeds in the 140s was the most impressive because it wasn't out the middle.

 

Plus I was hitting the ball straight. This is easily a driver replacement for me.

Its such a great club!! I dont have driver issues but overall my 13.5 is so much easier to hit square and centered

For tee height I have it where the top half of the ball sits above the club face. I still have a + angle of attack with this so I catch it right in the middle of the face

[RobotDoctor]

My Taylormade 300 Mini 11.5° with Fujikura Ventus Blue 5S non-velocore shaft has arrived.  I just put a BestGrip Augusta Microperf grip on it and will be gaming the driver tomorrow morning.  The shaft was ordered to be about 44.5" long and installed at one setting lower so I will be gaming a 10.83° driver.  I may play with the setting after a few holes to see what two settings lower might do.  I also have a Ventus Blue Velocore 6S shaft waiting for an adapter to be installed.  That will happen tomorrow after the round ..... maybe later this evening.  😁

[RobotDoctor]

Fujikura Ventus Blue Velocore 6S at 45.25” (45” shaft length + 1/4” grip cap).  Will test tomorrow morning at the range. 

[Myherobobhope]

On 7/25/2021 at 2:38 PM, North Butte said:

I'm sure there's someone out there who can hit twice as many fairways with a 17-degree driving iron than with a 460cc driver. That doesn't mean the driving iron is more forgiving. It means he's trading off distance for hitting more fairways. 

 

There is a decent-sized target market for any "driver alternative" that will temporarily help someone who is wild with a normal driver. Only a small minority among that target market will see any lasting benefit. For most of them the extra fairways will last until they've had the "alternative" in the bag long enough to start swinging harder and getting wild with it.

 

But that's what keeps these companies rolling out products like this every couple of years. Hope springs eternal. 

 

I mostly agree with this… I think the shorter shaft will help some people control it better long term, but overall it will only work as a fairway finder when it’s a novelty in the bag…

 

I want one because there are 3 holes on my Home course where driver isn’t the right play and I hate my current 3 wood.

 

a tee only club is fine for me, especially if it generates enough launch and spin to stop when it hits the fairway.

there are some other solutions out there, but im definitely considering the tm300

 

anyone who wants to use it as a shorter, straighter driver replacement should work on hitting their driver better.

[Fairway14]

3 hours ago, Myherobobhope said:

 

 

anyone who wants to use it as a shorter, straighter driver replacement should work on hitting their driver better.

 

I believe that nearly all amateur players average less than 11 of 14 fairways per round so a "shorter-straighter" tee box club is a good idea. That could be TM 300, 3-wood, hybrid, or whichever club the player has that produces fairway finding shots.

[RobotDoctor]

15 hours ago, RobotDoctor said:

Fujikura Ventus Blue Velocore 6S at 45.25” (45” shaft length + 1/4” grip cap).  Will test tomorrow morning at the range. 

Now I need to relearn where the optimal tee height is.  The Velocore shaft is a bit different.  

[Myherobobhope]

3 hours ago, Fairway14 said:

 

I believe that nearly all amateur players average less than 11 of 14 fairways per round so a "shorter-straighter" tee box club is a good idea. That could be TM 300, 3-wood, hybrid, or whichever club the player has that produces fairway finding shots.

Unless those 3 drives are running through the fairway, their money would be better spent on lessons... Strokes Gained (and the PGA money list) shows that hitting the ball farther is advantageous over time... 

 

I'm convinced that if you are using a non-driver to tee off on the majority of holes, you are giving up an advantage in the long term... Hit what you need to hit to get in play, but figure out how to make the driver work for you if you want to shoot lower scores...