Mini Driver Players - Check in!!

[Sleeky_D]

On 4/18/2024 at 7:58 PM, third-times-a-charm said:

So right now CPO has a mavrik 440cc model for $180 or so shipped so I decided to do a mini driver aka smaller shorter driver experiment. Easy to take the plunge at that low price.

 

I just got it shafted up and will test this weekend vs my 45” Paradym setup. This 440 will be 43.75”.

 

the club overall remind me of a mini epic speed in face and shape. Pretty cool.

 

im not looking for a 3w replacement or tweener but a smaller driver replacement for no reason other than I hit my 3w off the tee so much better than driver.
 

Here’s some pics and comparisons vs the Paradym driver and 3w:

 

 

Interested to hear how this works out for you. Please share or PM your early results when you get a chance 

[Andygolderson]

using 76g shaft around 3wood length.

 

A good shot for me with the mini BRNR comes more often than it did with driver. It can also compete and keep up with my driver distances because i'm not curving or spinning the ball so much. As long as i'm not swinging out of my shoes, the mini goes fairly straight.

 

I have both heads, 11.5 and 13.5 and had success with different shaft types. Just re-shafted and aligned everything last night with Attas 6, 7X. Need to check how it will play now, as i took the swing weight down to around C9 / D0. (+40g in the but)

[third-times-a-charm]

8 hours ago, Sleeky_D said:

Interested to hear how this works out for you. Please share or PM your early results when you get a chance 

Failure. Did nothing my 3 wood didnt. It probably did less since it was tee-only. Lasted one range session.

[me05501]

Loving my 11.5* mini so far. Seems ready to challenge my driver as a primary tee club. Unlikely to use it off the deck as I already have the 13.5* in the bag for that. 

 

Since my 11.5* is primarily going to be hit from a tee I've given some thought to swapping the weights to minimize the spin. I'm sure I'll try it just for yuks but not sure it will be suitably controllable. 

 

The stock weights are 15g back and 1.5g front which is a huge differential. I'm curious whether two 8g weights would split the difference, or maybe a 10/6 combo. I'm not sure I want to move a full 14g of discretionary weight. 

[ovodeano]

On 4/13/2024 at 7:19 PM, PARETO said:

New BRNR at 13.5. Took it over to TXG (Club Champ but TXG will always rule) in Calgary for a fit. Took the head down to 12, stuck in a Graphite Design AD at 3 wood length and 60g. Presto- numbers that rivaled my G430Max but with waaaaay tighter dispersion. Win. 

What’s the length? Added head weight?

[JamesFisher1990]

2 hours ago, me05501 said:

Loving my 11.5* mini so far. Seems ready to challenge my driver as a primary tee club. Unlikely to use it off the deck as I already have the 13.5* in the bag for that. 

 

Since my 11.5* is primarily going to be hit from a tee I've given some thought to swapping the weights to minimize the spin. I'm sure I'll try it just for yuks but not sure it will be suitably controllable. 

 

The stock weights are 15g back and 1.5g front which is a huge differential. I'm curious whether two 8g weights would split the difference, or maybe a 10/6 combo. I'm not sure I want to move a full 14g of discretionary weight. 

If you put any weight in the Golf Liberty review by Matt Blois, it oddly makes a pretty big difference, despite the 13g change being less than 10% of the total club weight (probably closer to 5%).

 

Im getting a Ventus TR blue 6x for mine (same as driver, albiet ever so slightly lighter on total mass and SW) that I will test out on course and in the bay soon. If I don't love it for some reason, I have a few other shafts in mind.

[me05501]

1 hour ago, JamesFisher1990 said:

If you put any weight in the Golf Liberty review by Matt Blois, it oddly makes a pretty big difference, despite the 13g change being less than 10% of the total club weight (probably closer to 5%).

 

Im getting a Ventus TR blue 6x for mine (same as driver, albiet ever so slightly lighter on total mass and SW) that I will test out on course and in the bay soon. If I don't love it for some reason, I have a few other shafts in mind.

 

I did watch Matt's video and that's what got me thinking. The drop in spin was dramatic and in his hand the accuracy was similar. Not sure if I want to lose any forgiveness. 

[JamesFisher1990]

33 minutes ago, me05501 said:

 

I did watch Matt's video and that's what got me thinking. The drop in spin was dramatic and in his hand the accuracy was similar. Not sure if I want to lose any forgiveness. 

Im almost worried that once I dial this in... I won't even want to hit my big dawg lol. There would maybe be like... 1-2 holes that I could think of where gaining the extra 8-10 yards on average might help, even at the sake of accuracy.

[me05501]

8 minutes ago, JamesFisher1990 said:

Im almost worried that once I dial this in... I won't even want to hit my big dawg lol. There would maybe be like... 1-2 holes that I could think of where gaining the extra 8-10 yards on average might help, even at the sake of accuracy.

 

I feel the same way. If anything I might change my iron practice routine and start swinging more 7/8 irons and fewer 9/PW's. Getting comfortable with a slightly longer approach into the greens is worth playing from the fairway most of the time. 

[JamesFisher1990]

4 minutes ago, me05501 said:

 

I feel the same way. If anything I might change my iron practice routine and start swinging more 7/8 irons and fewer 9/PW's. Getting comfortable with a slightly longer approach into the greens is worth playing from the fairway most of the time. 

Not sure about you but all this rain we've gotten where I am over the last 2 seasons means that rough is THICC. I'd  much rather a 7 or 8 from the fairway right now than a 9i in rough.

 

Different story when I was in Myrtle last month - seemed much more dry there and the dormant rough wasnt an issue at all, so in that case I'd maybe elect to send it down as far as I could.

[PARETO]

10 hours ago, ovodeano said:

What’s the length? Added head weight?

Playing at 43.5 with no additional head weight required for me. Stock weights. 

[ovodeano]

6 minutes ago, PARETO said:

Playing at 43.5 with no additional head weight required for me. Stock weights. 

Sw?

[Sleeky_D]

Does anyone have any thoughts on when/if the other companies (Pxg, callaway, titleist) will drop their mini drivers? I’ve been following the tour equipment threads but haven’t found out much. My guess (and hope) was sometime this summer since the pics I’ve seen seem to match the current woods for each. 

Edited April 24 by Sleeky_D

[JungleJimbo]

3 hours ago, Sleeky_D said:

Does anyone have any thoughts on when/if the other companies (Pxg, callaway, titleist) will drop their mini drivers? I’ve been following the tour equipment threads but haven’t found out much. My guess (and hope) was sometime this summer since the pics I’ve seen seem to match the current woods for each. 

Callaway has a mini driver on Tour testing (No idea whether coming to retail... did ask Johnny Wunder... no reply yet..) 

 

@knudson81 @pga43 might have an inside-scoop/ access to the Tour Reps & hopefully can share insights on new mini Drivers?

 

...https://www.golfwrx.com/737512/spotted-callaway-paradym-ai-smoke-ti-340-mini-driver-duw-fairway/

 

 

 

Edited April 24 by JungleJimbo

[Andygolderson]

15 hours ago, me05501 said:

Loving my 11.5* mini so far. Seems ready to challenge my driver as a primary tee club. Unlikely to use it off the deck as I already have the 13.5* in the bag for that. 

 

Since my 11.5* is primarily going to be hit from a tee I've given some thought to swapping the weights to minimize the spin. I'm sure I'll try it just for yuks but not sure it will be suitably controllable. 

 

The stock weights are 15g back and 1.5g front which is a huge differential. I'm curious whether two 8g weights would split the difference, or maybe a 10/6 combo. I'm not sure I want to move a full 14g of discretionary weight. 

me too ! 

 

I'm using both for those purposes as well. I rarely use the 13.5 though, not so many long, straight courses require more than 240 for a second shot recently.

I tried the heavy weight in the back, but i didn't find it to be very helpful. Maybe my weight balance doesn't support that much weight at the back.

 

I plan to go to the range again, i'll try it out again. I don't have a good accurate measurement of spin, so i wouldn't really tell the difference. 

For some reason, I cannot play heavy weight in the back, but might be good to experiment with some other weight choices

Did you find some aternate weights ?

[JamesFisher1990]

8 hours ago, Sleeky_D said:

Does anyone have any thoughts on when/if the other companies (Pxg, callaway, titleist) will drop their mini drivers? I’ve been following the tour equipment threads but haven’t found out much. My guess (and hope) was sometime this summer since the pics I’ve seen seem to match the current woods for each. 

Im guessing Callaway is waiting until somebody on Tour uses it with any amount of success, and then uses that to market it. As for others, I haven't seen anything yet from PXG or Titleist but I haven't been paying super close attention to Tour talk.

 

Maybe the guys closer to the OEMs and Tour can shed light. I honestly don't think this is a fad - they have real utilitarian use for plenty of Ams.... Maybe a much smaller segment of pro's but I still think it has its place in the hands of elite players.

[Tree Levino]

21 hours ago, me05501 said:

Loving my 11.5* mini so far. Seems ready to challenge my driver as a primary tee club. Unlikely to use it off the deck as I already have the 13.5* in the bag for that. 

 

Since my 11.5* is primarily going to be hit from a tee I've given some thought to swapping the weights to minimize the spin. I'm sure I'll try it just for yuks but not sure it will be suitably controllable. 

 

The stock weights are 15g back and 1.5g front which is a huge differential. I'm curious whether two 8g weights would split the difference, or maybe a 10/6 combo. I'm not sure I want to move a full 14g of discretionary weight. 

Can’t say I understand having two mini drivers in the bag 

[me05501]

1 hour ago, Tree Levino said:

Can’t say I understand having two mini drivers in the bag 

 

I get that. And I'm not sure both will stay long-term but I'm trying it on for size.

 

The 13.5* made my 3W redundant and I use it in 3W situations, i.e. relatively shorter tee shots and advancing the ball as far as possible from a fairway lie. 

 

I haven't gathered any data yet but it seems possible that the 11.5* could make my driver redundant and come into play only in driver situations, i.e. trying to advance the ball as far down the fairway as possible from a tee. 

 

I have a round tomorrow and several next week so I should know whether or not this experiment works by the end of the month. 

Edited April 24 by me05501

[knudson81]

8 hours ago, JungleJimbo said:

Callaway has a mini driver on Tour testing (No idea whether coming to retail... did ask Johnny Wunder... no reply yet..) 

 

@knudson81 @pga43 might have an inside-scoop/ access to the Tour Reps & hopefully can share insights on new mini Drivers?

 

...https://www.golfwrx.com/737512/spotted-callaway-paradym-ai-smoke-ti-340-mini-driver-duw-fairway/

 

 

 

 

I saw that Johnny posted something about the Ti 340 Mini Driver and the DUW will not be coming to retail

[BogeyLJA]

On 4/18/2024 at 5:58 PM, third-times-a-charm said:

So right now CPO has a mavrik 440cc model for $180 or so shipped so I decided to do a mini driver aka smaller shorter driver experiment. Easy to take the plunge at that low price.

 

I just got it shafted up and will test this weekend vs my 45” Paradym setup. This 440 will be 43.75”.

 

the club overall remind me of a mini epic speed in face and shape. Pretty cool.

 

im not looking for a 3w replacement or tweener but a smaller driver replacement for no reason other than I hit my 3w off the tee so much better than driver.
 

Here’s some pics and comparisons vs the Paradym driver and 3w:

 

 

 

Did you add heavier weights to get propers SW?

[third-times-a-charm]

Just now, BogeyLJA said:

 

Did you add heavier weights to get propers SW?

Of course.

[Sleeky_D]

4 hours ago, JamesFisher1990 said:

Im guessing Callaway is waiting until somebody on Tour uses it with any amount of success, and then uses that to market it. As for others, I haven't seen anything yet from PXG or Titleist but I haven't been paying super close attention to Tour talk.

 

Maybe the guys closer to the OEMs and Tour can shed light. I honestly don't think this is a fad - they have real utilitarian use for plenty of Ams.... Maybe a much smaller segment of pro's but I still think it has its place in the hands of elite players.

I’d agree that it’s not a fad- especially for amateurs like myself. My second longest club prior to the mini was rarely used off the tee so it’s nice having a club in that slot that provides a little more distance and not sacrificing much accuracy compared to the 4-5 wood I used to use. 
@knudson81 bummer to hear about the callaway as that’s the one I was eying the most. I think that could be a real driver replacement for me on a slightly longer shaft than the burner. 

[knudson81]

16 hours ago, Sleeky_D said:

I’d agree that it’s not a fad- especially for amateurs like myself. My second longest club prior to the mini was rarely used off the tee so it’s nice having a club in that slot that provides a little more distance and not sacrificing much accuracy compared to the 4-5 wood I used to use. 
@knudson81 bummer to hear about the callaway as that’s the one I was eying the most. I think that could be a real driver replacement for me on a slightly longer shaft than the burner. 

 

I know. Now he could have posted that just to throw people off or just not answer 1,000 questions of people asking when it is coming out too. So now we wait and patience for new clubs is not something any of us have!

[me05501]

19 minutes ago, knudson81 said:

 

I know. Now he could have posted that just to throw people off or just not answer 1,000 questions of people asking when it is coming out too. So now we wait and patience for new clubs is not something any of us have!

 

Gotta max out the "engagement" metrics. 

[JungleJimbo]

22 hours ago, knudson81 said:

 

I saw that Johnny posted something about the Ti 340 Mini Driver and the DUW will not be coming to retail

 

https://worldofwunder.callawaygolf.com/tour-report-rbc-heritage-at-harbor-town/

 

[JamesFisher1990]

11 minutes ago, JungleJimbo said:

 

https://worldofwunder.callawaygolf.com/tour-report-rbc-heritage-at-harbor-town/

 

I don't know how Callaway runs its business but you have to imagine the execs see how popular the BRNR has gotten and then look at the money sunk into building the tooling and so on for just a few one off mini's.... they'd be a little silly to not bring something to market, even as a limited production run or even as part of next years line up.

 

It's smart to say they won't release one tbh because it takes schedule pressure off them. People like us won't hound JW and they can build up "fomo" like emotions in people by seeing Xander, etc using it. Then... Whenever they feel ready BOOM it suddenly hits retail as a 5000 unit run or something for a crazy premium. Look how fast the Ricky Jailbird made it to market - if these go in Tour bags and have success, they are almost obligated to sell it.

 

Every year JW says oh we'll only have 3/4 drivers, then randomly we see 4 other variants coming out of tour trucks. He's either not in the know or it's purposeful.

[Poor Mans Ty Webb]

8 minutes ago, JamesFisher1990 said:

I don't know how Callaway runs its business but you have to imagine the execs see how popular the BRNR has gotten and then look at the money sunk into building the tooling and so on for just a few one off mini's.... they'd be a little silly to not bring something to market, even as a limited production run or even as part of next years line up.

Speculating here, but it’s possible that they (and others) have kept an eye on what TM has done in this space for years, but haven’t felt the need to move on anything in the past because TM’s old offerings have been highly niche. 
 

BUT, given that TM has cracked into something bigger with BRNR, they’re just now (or, at least just in the last 12 months) getting the ball rolling on bringing something to market. So they may fully have the intention of getting stuff out to retail in the future, but are behind in the R&D because they only really started pushing it in the last year or so (whereas TM has been shaking this tree for 10 years) and they don’t feel that they’re ready to bring a fairly competitive product to market.

 

 

[me05501]

4 minutes ago, JamesFisher1990 said:

I don't know how Callaway runs its business but you have to imagine the execs see how popular the BRNR has gotten and then look at the money sunk into building the tooling and so on for just a few one off mini's.... they'd be a little silly to not bring something to market, even as a limited production run or even as part of next years line up.

 

It's smart to say they won't release one tbh because it takes schedule pressure off them. People like us won't hound JW and they can build up "fomo" like emotions in people by seeing Xander, etc using it. Then... Whenever they feel ready BOOM it suddenly hits retail as a 5000 unit run or something for a crazy premium. Look how fast the Ricky Jailbird made it to market - if these go in Tour bags and have success, they are almost obligated to sell it.

 

Every year JW says oh we'll only have 3/4 drivers, then randomly we see 4 other variants coming out of tour trucks. He's either not in the know or it's purposeful.

 

I'm not so sure. There are definitely other angles to consider. 

 

The turnover in driver/wood models has accelerated and those products are the cornerstone for a company like Callaway. Niche products might generate some buzz and sell out in a hurry, but they can be a distraction from the real business of convincing the avid golfer to spend another $1,000 year after year. There are only so many employees in R&D, sales, etc. and there's only so much available shelf space at retail. 

 

It's pretty obvious that some niche products will sell quickly but maybe those sales only cannibalize the other lines. In my case I bought a mini instead of a new driver. My other mini will probably prevent me from shopping fairway woods this year. 

 

Putters may be in a unique category as a lot of guys will experiment with multiple putters forever. They get a little more wallet share. The Jailbird was a good example of this, but Callaway had some real issues around managing the flood of orders, working through the backlog and suffering issues with QC. With the Rahm putter they advertised one insert and shipped putters with another less popular version, causing a ton of returns and unnecessary expenses...and then Rahm went to the other tour and is now playing in front of far fewer eyeballs. 

 

If I was Callaway management I'd be focusing on the main product lines and making sure the company was executing at a high level. 

[dcmidnight]

Callaway said exactly what I thought they'd say. NO...BUT MAYBE.

 

If there is money to be made, OEMs will put it out there eventually. Period.

[chamgel2]

On 4/15/2024 at 7:58 AM, driveandputtmachine said:

Still playing a MIni 300.  The head was only 208, so I ordered a heavier weight and play it at 3 wood length.  I am playing a Ventus Red 70.   I play 70 grams in my fairways.  I use it mainly to hit draws off the tee.  When I combine me, a driver, and trying to hit a draw it does not work out well most of the time.  So the MIni is for that.

 

As an aside, I have not hit the newest BRNR, but the previous model wasn't great off the deck.  The 300 Mini is very good off the deck.

You mind me asking where you got the weight from and how heavy you went with?  

Edited April 25 by chamgel2