Mini Driver Users Assemble!

[Mike_Honcho]

i'm here for the mini driver mingle

[meh]

I've got the latest variant in 13.5, lofted down slightly, stock shaft. Works amazingly for those like myself with a poor angle of attack.

[Seattlegolfnut]

OO 13.5* as a secondary tee club

 

Replaced 15* 3W from bag which I only ever hit on tee

 

Diamana ‘ilima 70g @ 42.75”

 

launch is similar to what I was used to with low/low whiteboard shafts in my 15* at same length. Basically got a bigger headed setup (more forgiveness) over old 3W for  those “less than driver” tee shots.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 29, 2021 by Seattlegolfnut

[Puttersaurus Rex]

I have an OO 11.5 and 300 13.5.  My winter experiment is going to be a TM titanium 9.5.  I am not expecting much, though it was a free driver head that I found on the course 🙃

 

[BogeyWorkman]

TXG did a video about playing two drivers.  One with a shorter shaft and messing with loft to make it more of a fairway finder.  

 

I would recommend a strong 3 wood.  You can crank some of these down to a similar loft.  Especially if you won't be hitting it off the deck. 

[scooterhd2]

Trying to be part of the club as I have a Mini Bertha 1.5. I usually have it turned up to 13 or 14. In theory should slot out great as I my next club is a 5 wood at 17.5. Problem is, I dont seem to be any more accurate with it than my driver. Tee height seems so award to me. Just not comfortable standing over the ball with it. So it usually stays at home in the garage. Might give it one more go before moving on from it. 

[NRJyzr]

On 10/26/2021 at 9:30 AM, J13 said:

 

And why I made my own mini driver with the sldr 430.  I tested it against my TM 300 mini and it had all the benefits of the 300 but it was a good 15yds longer and more forgiving.  Plus I could make it more upright through the hosel adapter.  Fortunately I have a build shop with hotmelt setup that I can do the work but I would highly recommend people look into it.

 

Mine is SLDR 430 10.5* w/ Ventus Black 7X 43.75"

 

On 10/26/2021 at 8:34 PM, J13 said:

The 430 head has the right characteristics for the makings of a short/mini driver. Try it 😎

 

 

This hit a note in what passes for a brain in my melon....

 

For the heck of it, I took my SLDR White on the course, with a ProtoPype 80 shaft at 44".  It's a 10.5* clubhead, I bumped it up a tick to 11*.  Hit it pretty well, actually, including what might have been my longest drive of the season.  I hit a couple uglies with it, but that's not really saying much, as hitting uglies off the tee is something I do with the most forgiving of sticks. 

 

Stupid baseball background.

 

Adding to this, when the SLDR 430 was relatively new, I was in a local shop while a friend was shopping a club or two.  I took a handful of swings with the 430, bumped the loft up way higher than I normally play and got a couple shots with some eye opening carry (still had some junk in the trunk back then).  

 

Combine that memory with my SLDR White usage in the last couple years, and your posts, I'm thinking seriously about picking one of these up to use next year, see what happens.  Thinking it could do moderately well with that ProtoPype.

 

Look what you've done to me, J    LOL

 

[54CW]

On 10/21/2021 at 8:35 PM, sg91 said:

I have the 300 Mini as my driver with an untipped PX Evenflow Riptide 70 6.0 playing at 44". I don't swing meaningfully faster with a 45"+ shaft and I find the centre of the face more often with it shorter. The shape of the head lets me tee it down and squeeze a cut out there like I prefer for the courses I play most often.

I’m thinking of pulling my driver from my for sale post and putting this same shaft in it. I definitely do not like the stock option. 

[SlickT73]

Original One 13.5, usually cranked down to 11.5. Using it as my main tee club, but won’t on longer holes and most par 5’s as I’m getting fit for something in the 6 degree range, probably with a 46 inch shaft. Also love nuking it out of the fairway if I have to.

 

Alternating between a Speeder Evolution 661 X tipped 2 inches and a Ventus Black 7X tipped 1.5 inches. Evo seems to be more consistent for what I need in the OO.

 

Play it right around 43.

 

Have managed to get the SS consistently up over 130MPH which is making me very happy. Love the club. If there was an 8* available in either the Mini or the OO I’d play that too. Wish they’d make it.

[Sub_Roc]

Moved on from TM 300 Mini 13.5 w/ stock 65 MiDr shaft...

A well struck shot resulted in towering straight flight with an extremely long hang time and a satisfying sound at impact. 

But the slightly heavy feeling head with the rather whippy shaft led to swinging it with a different tempo and ball position (yet another swing thought to deal with).

It could be that all the shafts in my woods/driver are mid-70 gram range and the stock shaft in the mini is at least 10 grams lighter/less stable.

This adjustment made it harder to transition through other woods and driver (affected the most).

Basically it was getting in between me and the driver, which used to be once the best club in the bag.

 

So now I'm back to my old setup with some loft changes.

G LST Driver set at 11* w/Tour 80s

SIM Ti 3 wood set at 13.5* w/Diamana 75s

SIM Ti 5 wood set at 17.5* w/Diamana 75s

 

Focusing back to hitting the driver well with my old familiar swing thought and everything is working again. This naturally helped to improve shots with the other woods.

 

If anything, the TM300 reiterated how well fit I was to this setup already, but helped to confirm more loft in the driver / stronger 3-wood loft provides solid tee options.

I'm sure with the correct shaft and using the TM300 as THE driver, it would work for many people.

[MaineMariner]

TM Mini 300. 11.5 degree head turned up to 13 degrees. 75 gram Aldila Rogue Silver shaft at the stock length.

 

I play this as my primary driver as it tested out just as long as my regular driver. Except straighter.

[JungleJimbo]

17 hours ago, simonizer said:

I'm sure with the correct shaft and using the TM300 as THE driver, it would work for many people

@simonizer: Maybe don't give up on the mini-driver ... yet?
I was able to buy someone's SLDR TP mini-driver length shaft for ~$10 recently
 (a Motore Speeder TP 7.3 Tour Spec ... 77 grams?).
Tried it today with my 13.5* 'Original One" & my buddies were intrigued with it... said it was going longer than my usual G400 driver (and longer than their drivers).

I see these SLDR TM-paint 'TP' Motore Speeders are going for cheap on eBay...
typically ~$20?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/192822646310

https://www.ebay.com/itm/401688966049
 

[Fairway14]

On 10/26/2021 at 2:50 PM, Clubhoe said:

Yes true. But I don't think that's because of bad swing mechanics as you mentioned. Bad mechanics and the mini wouldn't work much better.  For me and I think most people its confidence. We prefer the look and feel of a 2 wood head. Instead of the brick on a stick 460cc look. 

 

Actually, 45" or longer shafts tend to promote faulty swing mechanics. A player targeting a fundamentally sound swing throughout the bag is likely best served by swinging a 43" to 44' driver.

[boggyman]

300 Mini with a Pro Force 65gm stiff playing 41.75 in length. It’s 99.9% a tee club. Once in a blue moon it’ll get hit off the deck when I know it’ll run like a rabbit after it hits the ground. 

[Sub_Roc]

@JungleJimbo

I returned the TM300 Mini already while I could.  Freed up my bag and my mind (too many tee options) for now.  I’m sure I’ll revisit it later if I decide to change the driver. 
 

As a driver only option, I can probably get it to work.  Will try a low 70-ish gram mid kickpoint shaft if I can get a chance. I really did like the look and feel of it. 

Edited November 21, 2021 by simonizer

[christof87]

On 10/22/2021 at 1:39 AM, Nelson.br.1515 said:

I recently made the switch to the Taylormade 300 Mini Driver as a driver replacement ( I already know all the reasons I shouldn’t so feel free to keep them to yourself haha). Wanted to know a few things from people who are using a mini driver:

 

• Primary Use - Driver replacement or 2 wood/3 wood
• Shaft - What are you using, weight, tipping
• Length - What playing length works best for how you use it

Primary Use: 13.5 Degree used as a back-up tee club. Replaced a 13.5 3 wood used for the same purpose

 

Shaft: Stock stiff shaft, but moving on to a Tour AD DI once I’ve changed the adapter.

 

Length: 43.75 playing length in both

[khalespace]

I have a SLDR Mini 12* for when I need around 220 off the tee to avoid troubles or running out of fairways on short holes. My 3 wood gives me 215 but the small face and low tee do not give me confident.

[bladehunter]

On 10/26/2021 at 6:35 AM, sg91 said:

Or maybe some of us play shorter courses that don't need a full length driver and like the look of a small driver head?

Exactly. Try fitting 118-120mph on a 6500  yard course that’s tree lined.    After the 3rd double bogey you’ll figure it  out.   And I played to a +1.2 this summer.  I envy these people With big wide open home courses. I can safely hit driver on 3/4 holes. And two of them aren’t par 5s. 

sure on perfect days it works.  But here’s the deal. With the 13.5 300 mini.  It works on every hole 99.9% of the time.  Straightest damn thing I’ve ever hit .  And I can go at it as hard as I want.  

Edited December 11, 2021 by bladehunter

[JahSteve]

currently experimenting with a SLDR mini 12* for the winter. 

this is for a driver replacement. 

previous shaft was an old aldilla boron graphite shaft i had laying around. Current shaft is out of my old R580XD. I think it is a re-ax 65 by taylormade, cut to 42.5 palying length. Epoxy is still drying. On deck is a graffaloy blue/V2 proforce,  both old driver shafts. 

[JMB3]

I really struggled with driver early in the year, so I picked up the 11.5* 300 Mini for a hot second.  I loved the look, feel, and penetrating flight off the tee.  But I could not get along with the stock shaft--too many pulls.  While I was contemplating a shaft replacement, I found my driver swing, so the experiment was short lived.

 

But after spending some time in the TM driver thread, I've been reminded how much I enjoyed the look and feel, so I decided I would experiment with a 13.5 this offseason.  If I can get enough off the deck from my UW, the 13.5 would have a real chance at the 3W spot.

[J13]

On 11/14/2021 at 11:25 AM, NRJyzr said:

 

 

 

This hit a note in what passes for a brain in my melon....

 

For the heck of it, I took my SLDR White on the course, with a ProtoPype 80 shaft at 44".  It's a 10.5* clubhead, I bumped it up a tick to 11*.  Hit it pretty well, actually, including what might have been my longest drive of the season.  I hit a couple uglies with it, but that's not really saying much, as hitting uglies off the tee is something I do with the most forgiving of sticks. 

 

Stupid baseball background.

 

Adding to this, when the SLDR 430 was relatively new, I was in a local shop while a friend was shopping a club or two.  I took a handful of swings with the 430, bumped the loft up way higher than I normally play and got a couple shots with some eye opening carry (still had some junk in the trunk back then).  

 

Combine that memory with my SLDR White usage in the last couple years, and your posts, I'm thinking seriously about picking one of these up to use next year, see what happens.  Thinking it could do moderately well with that ProtoPype.

 

Look what you've done to me, J    LOL

 

 

Sorry not sorry 😆  BTW I was ROASTING my 430 today.  LOVE IT

[uglande]

On 12/11/2021 at 4:44 PM, JMB3 said:

I really struggled with driver early in the year, so I picked up the 11.5* 300 Mini for a hot second.  I loved the look, feel, and penetrating flight off the tee.  But I could not get along with the stock shaft--too many pulls.  While I was contemplating a shaft replacement, I found my driver swing, so the experiment was short lived.

 

But after spending some time in the TM driver thread, I've been reminded how much I enjoyed the look and feel, so I decided I would experiment with a 13.5 this offseason.  If I can get enough off the deck from my UW, the 13.5 would have a real chance at the 3W spot.

I have the 13.5 and played it last year with Ventus 7x. My favorite club last year. Sound, feel, just so much fun to hit. I even tried a double-mini setup by adding the 11.5 and cranking it down. But now I'm settled into a driver and using 3w and 5w. 

 

But I have noticed that my 3w (Mizuno STZ) is not much longer than my 5w (also STZ) so I'm thinking about putting the mini back in the bag as my strong 3w and going Driver-Mini-5w-4i.

 

But as others have said, this club (at least for me) wants to go left, even with the face cranked open a bit. That works perfect for me, because I like to fade my driver, so having a more right-to-left strong 3w works well. 

[slantsflood]

Great thread.  Looking to create the right combination at this moment.  I know I need a xstiff, as in all my clubs.  Thinking in the 70 gr range playing it at around 43 inches.  I have a very fast/short/strong swing.  Any ideas on a shaft that would match those characteristics?  

[NRJyzr]

13 minutes ago, slantsflood said:

Great thread.  Looking to create the right combination at this moment.  I know I need a xstiff, as in all my clubs.  Thinking in the 70 gr range playing it at around 43 inches.  I have a very fast/short/strong swing.  Any ideas on a shaft that would match those characteristics?  

 

My first thought is don't be afraid to look at 80g and up shafts.  Especially if you're playing it at 43".

 

With a bit of digging, you can find Aldila Tour Green or Tour Blue in 85g models.  I've also seen RIP Alpha and RIP Beta in 80 and even 90 (have a couple RIP Beta 90s myself).  Have also seen 80g+ versions of various HZRDUS shafts.

 

If you'd prefer to avoid 80g+, HZRDUS Black 75 might be a nice look.  <shrug>   

(I admit to a bias, I like that shaft)

 

[slantsflood]

Appreciate the advice.  What is strange is I thought the same thing a few years back.  Put a even flow 85g xstiff in a m2 3 wood and the dang thing felt so heavy.  Completely threw my rhythm off.  Guess I was so used to light shafts that I can whip around.  That taught me a lesson and I stay around 70-75.  Getting older and weaker I guess lol  

[Seattlegolfnut]

1 hour ago, slantsflood said:

Great thread.  Looking to create the right combination at this moment.  I know I need a xstiff, as in all my clubs.  Thinking in the 70 gr range playing it at around 43 inches.  I have a very fast/short/strong swing.  Any ideas on a shaft that would match those characteristics?  

The 300 mini weighs in 206-209g from what I’ve seen being sold and personal experience. So pretty much right around typical 3W. I would say use the shaft weight you use in a 3W to start, that way you are matching head weight and shaft weight close to what you are used to. Since a mini head is taller than typical 3W, and thus a higher BBGM, your mini set up will likely have less raw shaft than 3W at same finished length. I’ve done a ton of experimenting and found a 1/2” extra tipping to keep from chopping off more of the handle (typically stiffest part of the shaft) seems to feel best to me.

Edited June 26, 2022 by Seattlegolfnut

[uglande]

15 hours ago, slantsflood said:

Great thread.  Looking to create the right combination at this moment.  I know I need a xstiff, as in all my clubs.  Thinking in the 70 gr range playing it at around 43 inches.  I have a very fast/short/strong swing.  Any ideas on a shaft that would match those characteristics?  

I like my Hzrdus Black RDX 6.5. 

[slantsflood]

Ok I pulled the trigger on a mini 300 and a ventus 7x black.  I want to play the club at 42.5 total.  I had about 4 strong 3 woods in my garage to test what length I was most comfortable at with balance and being able to swing fast and in control.  

My concern...Am I going to have swing weight issues or the club feeling too heavy by going down to 42.5?  Any issues any of you mini users in the past have had?  See any red flags here?  Thanks guys!  Excited to swing free again!  

[Nelson.br.1515]

OP here. Went from the Mini 300 back to the Callaway Mini 1.5. I have it cut down to 3 wood length and cranked up to 16 degree and love it as my fairway finder tee option. Definitely had to add some lead tape to get the head weight back up. 

[sg91]

1 hour ago, slantsflood said:

Am I going to have swing weight issues or the club feeling too heavy by going down to 42.5

Shortening the shaft decreases swing weight doesn't it? So the club will feel lighter?