The elephant in the room: Shaft length. Tom Wishon states that players ought to use the longest driver they can control. The player in this video immediately noted that the shorter shaft felt better. As a hobbyist club fitter, I've experimented with multiple shafts and lengths. Now I play ProLaunch Blue A flex in a 43" Wilson Triton head (The most adjustable head ever - can be built as light as 180 gm or as heavy as 202 gm with the standard base plates and weights) at 13 degrees. I consistently hit it on the face, even on bad swings (who wants that great contact in the woods...). Most amateurs cannot control the 45+" off the shelf drivers they buy, regardless of shaft. I specifically note in the video that clubhead speed is the same or higher with the shorter shaft. That's an effect of dynamic Moment of Inertia. When your personal best MOI (NOT swing weight!) is in play, you'll have the most accuracy and swing speed. The mini-driver form factor is interesting, but isn't the panacea that it's being presented to be.
My 2c worth, I am a 10, 11 handicapper and used to hit my 3 wood off the fairways pretty well but badly off the tee using tees and I've switched to a 14 degrees TM Mini Driver as a 3 wood replacement. It's a much larger head and I tend to rotate it less through impact which is what I used to do with my 3 wood tee-ed up - pull, hooks. I don't really need a 3 wood off the fairways much as my 2 hybrid goes 10 meters less than 3W and is adequate. So that's another reason someone would switch to these, have had it in my bag for a few years, great decision, love mine. Vinnie from New Zealand.
The mini driver is targeting golfers tired of feeling like they're swinging a toaster at the end of the shaft.. there is a reason why all golfers are re-selecting 5 or 4 woods (metal) or hybrids as they are easy hits. Larger heads aren't easy to feel where it is on the backswing, encouraging bad strikes. I'm interested
Hey Walter Bought 2 one as my driver the other as my 3 wood. One has a head of 13.5 degrees turned up to 15.5 3 wood. The other is the 11.5 degree head turned down a notch which is my driver. I'm 70 a scratch golfer with a swing Speed of 92 on hot days. I reviewed the drivers on my RUclips channel MMI Golf Tennessee, check it out. These are fairway eaters period, you will either love them or hat them no in between.
There are a lot of comments about the benefit of the shorter shaft...but I think there is a CG story here. I have found the smaller clubheads (e.g. m1 430) easier to square up and I would be interested to see this on Gears. Looking forward to the rest of the series!! There is obviously a benefit to to higher MOI on larger drivers, but for some players increased face rotation might be more of a benefit.
I’m late to party here, but I’d had enough of not being able to square the face of my driver. I’d been fitted in the past and bought off the shelf, no difference. I’ve never liked the look of the 460cc driver and the mini sounded like a good idea. However, my pro at the time wasn’t keen and thought I should persevere. Now, some years later and still frustrated by normal drivers and with no one to advise me otherwise, I acquired an old Taylor Made Aeroburner, mini driver, 12°, recently. I knew I was right! I can now square the face with this and really launch it out there as far, if not further than a well struck, ‘normal’ driver. Your videos convinced me that this was a good path to investigate, thanks.
I’ve struggled with driver since I took up golf 10 years ago. I’ve tried everything, including shorter shafts, but. Have had to hit 3 and 5 woods off the tee in order to have anything approaching consistency. I’ve just bought this TM mini in 13.5 loft and it’s immediately impressed me on the range. Longer and straighter drives from almost every shot. It’s early days, and I’ve had driver false dawns before !, but I’m excited that this could be the answer to my tee box woes ! Thanks for this video.
David Hyland .... Took it on the course yesterday. Was extremely windy and cold and it was a major comp at my links course . I didn’t play well but that was down to me . I couldn’t hit a ball straight with any club !!! So jury is still out. I went to range today and the mini went v well. It just gives me confidence as I address it. The driver feels like an alien being ... I think this may be the driving solution. Good luck with yours. Let me know how it goes ! Tim
I am super impressed with your expertise in club fitting. I do however always wonder why instruction has not helped him swing better. He has great lower body rotation but his back swing really needs help. Perhaps physically he can’t do better and of course I don’t know. If he could just complete the backswing more; with his rotation I think he could be close to 100 mph. Your fitting is great if h.e can’t improve. Truly very impressive. I hope he hits Em straight and true.
You gents are just really nice guys. Been working through your videos old and new and just really great guys. If only you were UK based I would pay the money to visit you 👍👍
I've had pretty good success with a mini driver. I really think the shorter shaft and extra loft is a big help when you're swing gets out of whack. Most golf courses are easier from the fairway.
I have an Aeroburner Mini Driver I used a couple of years ago as my off the T driver when I did not play very much, maybe once a month and I had no confidence in my full size driver. Last two seasons I have been in a league and playing weekly and am able to hit my full driver well enough to put the Mini away. Sometimes when I know a non-regular golfer is joining me on the course I throw it in the bag to let them hit and generally they always enjoy it more than whatever driver they are hitting.
Great guys! Ready to see Matt hit it. Curious how this could fit into many players bags. As in if they want to replace the driver, fit a certain gap because of a course, etc..
Another great video and it seems Ron has found an addition to the bag when you guys have done a proper fitting👍🏽🏌️👌🏽 Had a callaway 1.5 mini driver a few years ago but for me it didn’t stayed in the bag. Have no problem hitting driver or 3 wood and than for me the driver was longer and the 3 wood easier to hit from the deck. But I guess when you do struggle with driver but are comfortable with 5 or 3 wood than the mini driver could be your solution.....looking forward for the full fitting of Ron for the Mini Driver and hope it will help him to go to single figures👌🏽
U have a good point here. I would be interested to see Ron hit a draw bias driver with a little more loft at 44.5" or even 44" . The only reason I could see why 43.5 could be an issue is swing weight. Going from 45.5 to 43.5 is 12 swing weights, so u would need 24 grams of headweight to even it out.. that is a shitload.
Hi All, I have been using a TM Mini driver since they came out about 5 years ago at 14*. My course has 6 x Par 4s between 290m to 370m where a driver will get you into trouble if you are a little wayward, left or right on these hole with water and / or bunkers. The Aeroburner gets me to about 210m on a good shot, most around 200m so unless I hit a really big slice it is in most cases a #6 to SW for a second shot, and being 10% smaller than the new model is not much bigger than some of the #3 woods from a decade+ ago so can be occasionally be used off of the fairway if conditions are right....
Really looking forward to trying this out. Visually, todays modern large head drivers seem to put me off and don’t feel comfortable with the driver. I’m also keen to try it out with a driver length shaft and see if that adds a little more distance without sacrificing strike.
the boys at my golf spy talk about the ball test which leads into the change to avoid the softer compression ball. love this test and using Ron much more realistic for the rest of us
I bought the Mini driver at 11.5 degrees and I hit that 266 to 270 on average per round. The one thing that I noticed is that I don't tee the ball up as high as I did with my M3 driver. I am way more accurate with the mini driver I also switched to a chrome soft ball. I previously hit Pro V1 balls I gained more distance with the chrome soft. I wasn't happy with the M3 driver I just couldn't hit it as straight as I wanted.
My F9 driver is being delivered next week with a 44.5" shaft and 10.5 loft. That was my thinking; better control of a sorter shaft on the fastest driver I thought I can handle. My F9 3/4 wood delivers 90+mph club head speed, so I thought, why not try a three wood length shaft on the driver. Wish me luck!
Nice video guys. Although I wonder what would happen with Ron in a Cobra F9 12 degree driver turned to 13 degree draw setting with the shorter accra shaft.
Seems similar to the G400 3 wood stretch. Maybe not quite as much tech as the mini driver but smaller head a little more loft shorter shaft. Maybe and comparison for the fitting video. Have you ever fit anyone into that for similar situation? Also seems like draw biased driver to allow him to close the face seems like it might help.
Hi boys. Late to the party, but I just bought a 13.5 Original One and tee it much lower than Ron does here. If you get the new TM mini in, please consider having tester(s) hit at different tee heights. 👍
Yes do a comparison with the 3 wood. I bought the M6 3 wood along with the driver. Curious about distance and dispersion compared to the 3 wood. I am long and in the woods with driver. Wondering if mini wood be better of tee than a 3 wood when having problems with driver.
I use the Callaway mini driver and love it. I’ll be trying more drivers soon including the Taylormade version. Most people are surprised I’m not hitting a driver because of the distance I get with my mini. I do want to try a driver in the shorter shaft but I feel I can swing faster with this smaller CC head. Not sure if I am but it sure feels that way.
Cobra offering the f9 driver in a short length at 44.5 inches which is a great option for people who struggle with centred strike and squaring the face. Essentially the same idea as the mini driver
I just purchased the Mini Driver - but with the Mitsubishi Tensie Orange in the 13.5 head. I turned it down to 12 degrees and my experience with it was better ball speeds and carry than my driver with a shorter shaft. Actually it was longer and faster than my 44.5" driver shaft as well. I looked at the shot pattern on the face and they are all in the middle circle of the mini driver. Yes I probably could hit my driver with the 44.5" shaft further one out of 15 drives - but on average the mini driver is better. Background on me is driver distance in the low 90's and surprisingly with the mini driver they are very similar if not a little higher. I have always been a very good 3 wood player off the tee, and with the slowing of my swing as I age (currently 61) I have felt more confident in my 3 wood as the really bad shot is simply not in the cards with it. Also I can hit the mini driver longer than my 3 wood off the turf so it is in the bag instead of the 3 wood. I will keep the driver in the bag for down wind shots - but most tee shots will be with the Mini.
Thanks - love your programming, and having your friend the average mid handicap in was great. I've been playing to a 6 for the past 3 years and hoping to cut that in half this year with the mini driver - no more doubles!
Great video, this club could really help many golfers. At 5' 7" do you think the shorter shaft could be more appropriate/easy to control for myself. Thanks for your efforts
Another great video! Do you find that the project a ball frequently spins less or is that just this scenario? Love the videos with Ron! Keep him coming back
When you try the 13.5 head mini driver can you also test a 460cc head driver with the same loft, short shaft but swing weight the same as the mini driver as a comparison? Because I'd be interested to see if it's the head size or shaft length that is helping with the head closing rate.
Replaced my M6 with the mini driver Goes just as far, with much better accuracy I’m much more confident and can swing it faster . 11.5 lofted down to 10.5 61y/o. 10 hcap
Can you tell me how just gripping the 45" down the grip an inch or so would be different than cutting the shaft down. This exact question has been raised before. What would be the answer ? I think it fits right into this topic.
Could you achieve something similar by using a 3 wood shaft with a driver head with some of the adjustable loft woods? For example I have a Cobra driver and 3 wood. Could I install the driver head on the 3 wood shaft and get a different weight in the driver to create something similar?
I shortened an R15 to 44 and added some an extra weight and worked for me. Only problem was I hated looking at the massive head on a 3 wood shaft. I will definitely be trying out the TM mini driver.
Loved the review. I'm exactly like Ron. Used to love my driver but not anymore. Frustrating to see mine so unpredictable all the time. Looking forward to more mini driver series.
One of the major reasons people don’t like hitting their drivers is because the club head just feels too far away from your hands. Even just cutting mine down to 44.75 from 45.5 has made a huge difference in confidence at address. So I’d say one of the first things people who don’t like their driver should do is to try a shaft around 44.
Came to say the same thing. If you guys end up coming back to this, with the new head, etc I'd love to see a comparison with a shorter shaft for his existing driver, especially with a closed face since that's arguably the main benefit gained from today's video, was simply helping him close the face for dispersion.
Yeah but you also have to consider centre of gravity - you can’t just chuck the weight anywhere. These heads are made and designed to be attached to certain length shafts. Yes if you had access to a tour standard work shop and hot melt, you could indeed tinker with multiple heads and get it right. No local club maker is going to gamble and risk ruining your driver
saw the same issue on another test. needs more loft and TM adjustment opens the face making making open face strikes issues even worse. If it was a titleist hozel it could work.
Interested in changing to a higher compression ball made that much of difference. What ball was he using at start of test. I play sixron soft feel maybe should be using different ball.
Aiming left only accentuates a slice if you leave the face even further open. If he actually aims left and makes the same swing, he'll get the same result relative to his body line. The ball does not know what the target line is.
@@adammarsh8866 Typically not how it goes for your average golfer. 90% of the time you will see them try to compensate even more. What he should practice is aligning himself into the slice, so he can learn to hit through the ball instead of across it.
I had a miss right and started slowly inching my aim further left and it got worse...my brain (subconscious) knew that my aim was way off and caused me to swing severely in to out which also caused strike issues. I've been working really hard on retraining my aim and everything is getting better.
What about trying him in a 460 cc driver head that comes in a 13.5 degree loft standard it would not be a closed face and the larger head would be more forgiving with a Mini driver shaft in it?
Im a high handicap and i hit my 3 wood 100 % better than my driver.... im wondering if i have the swing speed to ditch the driver forever for a mini driver
Guys, I have the same problem of leaving the face open with anything thats not an iron! Any tips for helping to square up? Thanks again for all you do!
Ron ... you are a true warrior and can definitely put the heat on the golf ball ... IMO you are "NOT A SLOW SWINGER" I am not contesting the analysis by Matty and Ian but the analysis could be different if you freed up your swing. Your left foot is planted hard on the ground and that restricts your back swing ... anybodies swing ... and so much where you can only compensate so much. Experiment with freeing your swing ... lift up that left heel a little and free yourself ... and IMO you may 20 - 40 extra yards and a more appropriate analysis from Ian and Matty ... Even younger players on TOUR are doing the same because they look CUTE with a planted left foot back and get this romanticized praise form commentators ... BUT their lower back is telling them else wise... You can manipulate shaft, ball, etc all day long .but you want get the data you deserve until you remove the restrictions.. Your swing IMO is off "not because of you" but because of technique ... Keep up the great work and enjoy your journey!!!
Golden Gate I agree with you. Ya know club fitting is one thing and a good thing. But man fix your swing first. Fitting a driver to an inefficient swing s never makes sense to me. I guess fitters really don’t care they just try to maximize what you have. I get it but spend your money fixing the swing then get fit. They might get him 30 to 40 yards if they can but why not go for 60 to 70 yards by learning how to hit the ball. Then get fit to squeeze out 10 to 20 more.
Isn't it odd how manufacturers have been making Drivers ever bigger with ever longer shafts and then "Hey Presto" TM return to the past with a smaller headed driver with a shorter shaft and all of a sudden we hit longer straighter drives! Can we please have a Ball Fit vid with Rockin Ronny, please?????? This Ball thing is getting really interesting! Like many old hackers, I have been using low compression balls for years because everyone was telling me that "slow swingers" need to use a Soft Ball. It now appears that this advice has been erroneous. Can we please use Ronny to find out what Ball "Us Owd Uns" should be using???
Can you compare this club to the new Titleist TS4 Driver coming out at 430cc? Could that be a first step in trying to move away from 460cc Driver? Maybe easier to handle than 460cc but not moving to a strong 3-wood yet. Just looking for thoughts on gradually getting a smaller head Driver until something works.
Well done video. I'm still curious as to where the Mini driver will slot in, replacement for driver, 3 wood, 3 wood on steroids? Would you hit it off the deck? If anything, confirms as why you need to be fit for a ball. Can readily relate to Ronny and will be interesting to see driver fit. Will it be the mini or driver with shorter shaft that works better for him?
Will you guys be fitting Ronny for a new driver as well? I’d be curious to see if Ian could straighten out ball flight while still providing the benefits of a full sized driver and then comparing that to a fitted mini driver. This is definitely an interesting club! Also, could you see people replacing 3 wood with this instead of driver?
Steven Stewart I’ll speak to that! I have never liked a 460cc head. For some reason, that visual has never been good for me. I’ve always preferred teeing off with a 3 wood to the driver. It just looks better to me. That’s just me though!
It's funny isn't it,how we used to make decent contact with a driver with a head smaller than 200 cc, when Gods dog was a puppy.. Shorter shafts with less torque on the shaft consequently????
See good guys do wear black. So is this trend of new category is it a mini driver or 3 wood X, so confused. If the camera effect is legit will TXG be adding them to fitting options? 🤔👍
I don't understand the mini driver. Why is the head smaller if the 460cc head is supposed to be more forgiving? Why don't they just make their regular drivers with more loft? Also why not just get a shorter shaft on a regular driver? This seems like a marketing gimmick for Taylormade.
He’s hitting to the right because of the parallax error inherent in simulators. The target on the screen is to the right of where it would be in reality.
I've always considered Mini-Drivers to be a suckers club. Usually for the price of a Mini-Driver you could just get a lesson or fitting with your current Driver and achieve better results. Every single person I know that has tried one switched back to their regular Driver within a Season.
It's not the club. I'm still using my 20-year old McGregor V-Foil driver, averaging 290 of the tee and straight as a soldier. And I'm 62 years old. It's never the club...
@@garyknight2994 I went to school on the Mike Austin method...it works, and you don't swing hard...and yeah, I talk throughout my swing...that's the key...don't let your mind get in the way
I love the idea of this club. Tested it and was very disappointed tbh. My g400max beats it in every way, distance, dispersion and ease of hitting. I wanted to like this mini driver but it just wasn’t for me I’m afraid. Also I didn’t like the sound of it- TM woods to me feel very hard in the face. But that is purely personal preference.
True. But I was interested to see if the shorter shaft and more “power 3 wood” feel would give me more confidence and more accuracy. That’s what I expected- I went in with positive attitude towards it. But once I actually used it for half an hour, I just didn’t find any benefit in it for me personally. If I had come across it before I had become a fairly acceptable driver of the ball, I might have loved it. I’m not sure. Either way, I still find all TM somehow unpleasant to hit because of the feel and sound- but that is purely personal taste. I also don’t like the F9 feel/sound and everyone else does... Each to their own. I love the idea of this club, and I hope other companies make them too, because the idea makes sense to me. Driver shafts are too long in general (for the majority) IMO.
Ben Russell it’s not to anyone who knows what kind of technology optimizes numbers and why. But what percentage of golfers is that? How many average joes are gonna walk into a golf galaxy, hit it well and feel confident because of the shaft length and walk out of there with it in their hands planning to replace the driver in their bag?
The elephant in the room: Shaft length. Tom Wishon states that players ought to use the longest driver they can control. The player in this video immediately noted that the shorter shaft felt better. As a hobbyist club fitter, I've experimented with multiple shafts and lengths. Now I play ProLaunch Blue A flex in a 43" Wilson Triton head (The most adjustable head ever - can be built as light as 180 gm or as heavy as 202 gm with the standard base plates and weights) at 13 degrees. I consistently hit it on the face, even on bad swings (who wants that great contact in the woods...). Most amateurs cannot control the 45+" off the shelf drivers they buy, regardless of shaft. I specifically note in the video that clubhead speed is the same or higher with the shorter shaft. That's an effect of dynamic Moment of Inertia. When your personal best MOI (NOT swing weight!) is in play, you'll have the most accuracy and swing speed. The mini-driver form factor is interesting, but isn't the panacea that it's being presented to be.
I have the same trouble with squaring up 460cc drivers, so i went to a Callaway Bertha mini 1.5 driver and i love it.
My 2c worth, I am a 10, 11 handicapper and used to hit my 3 wood off the fairways pretty well but badly off the tee using tees and I've switched to a 14 degrees TM Mini Driver as a 3 wood replacement. It's a much larger head and I tend to rotate it less through impact which is what I used to do with my 3 wood tee-ed up - pull, hooks.
I don't really need a 3 wood off the fairways much as my 2 hybrid goes 10 meters less than 3W and is adequate. So that's another reason someone would switch to these, have had it in my bag for a few years, great decision, love mine. Vinnie from New Zealand.
Love the testing you do with golfers with Ronnie’s swing speed. Helps the older golfers since so many are in that swing speed range. Very well done 👍
The mini driver is targeting golfers tired of feeling like they're swinging a toaster at the end of the shaft.. there is a reason why all golfers are re-selecting 5 or 4 woods (metal) or hybrids as they are easy hits. Larger heads aren't easy to feel where it is on the backswing, encouraging bad strikes. I'm interested
Agreed. I added lead tape to mine so I could feel it
Hey Walter Bought 2 one as my driver the other as my 3 wood. One has a head of 13.5 degrees turned up to 15.5 3 wood. The other is the 11.5 degree head turned down a notch which is my driver. I'm 70 a scratch golfer with a swing
Speed of 92 on hot days. I reviewed the drivers on my RUclips channel
MMI Golf Tennessee, check it out. These are fairway eaters period, you will either love them or hat them no in between.
There are a lot of comments about the benefit of the shorter shaft...but I think there is a CG story here. I have found the smaller clubheads (e.g. m1 430) easier to square up and I would be interested to see this on Gears. Looking forward to the rest of the series!! There is obviously a benefit to to higher MOI on larger drivers, but for some players increased face rotation might be more of a benefit.
Can't wait to see the 13.5 fitted for Ronny! Great stuff guys!!
I’m late to party here, but I’d had enough of not being able to square the face of my driver. I’d been fitted in the past and bought off the shelf, no difference. I’ve never liked the look of the 460cc driver and the mini sounded like a good idea. However, my pro at the time wasn’t keen and thought I should persevere. Now, some years later and still frustrated by normal drivers and with no one to advise me otherwise, I acquired an old Taylor Made Aeroburner, mini driver, 12°, recently. I knew I was right! I can now square the face with this and really launch it out there as far, if not further than a well struck, ‘normal’ driver. Your videos convinced me that this was a good path to investigate, thanks.
I’ve struggled with driver since I took up golf 10 years ago. I’ve tried everything, including shorter shafts, but. Have had to hit 3 and 5 woods off the tee in order to have anything approaching consistency.
I’ve just bought this TM mini in 13.5 loft and it’s immediately impressed me on the range. Longer and straighter drives from almost every shot. It’s early days, and I’ve had driver false dawns before !, but I’m excited that this could be the answer to my tee box woes !
Thanks for this video.
Hi Tim,
Just ordered one myself, have you taken yours out on the course? How does it compare to your driver in terms of total distance?
David Hyland ....
Took it on the course yesterday. Was extremely windy and cold and it was a major comp at my links course . I didn’t play well but that was down to me . I couldn’t hit a ball straight with any club !!!
So jury is still out. I went to range today and the mini went v well. It just gives me confidence as I address it. The driver feels like an alien being ...
I think this may be the driving solution.
Good luck with yours. Let me know how it goes !
Tim
I am super impressed with your expertise in club fitting. I do however always wonder why instruction has not helped him swing better. He has great lower body rotation but his back swing really needs help. Perhaps physically he can’t do better and of course I don’t know. If he could just complete the backswing more; with his rotation I think he could be close to 100 mph. Your fitting is great if h.e can’t improve. Truly very impressive. I hope he hits Em straight and true.
You gents are just really nice guys. Been working through your videos old and new and just really great guys. If only you were UK based I would pay the money to visit you 👍👍
I've had pretty good success with a mini driver. I really think the shorter shaft and extra loft is a big help when you're swing gets out of whack. Most golf courses are easier from the fairway.
I have an Aeroburner Mini Driver I used a couple of years ago as my off the T driver when I did not play very much, maybe once a month and I had no confidence in my full size driver. Last two seasons I have been in a league and playing weekly and am able to hit my full driver well enough to put the Mini away. Sometimes when I know a non-regular golfer is joining me on the course I throw it in the bag to let them hit and generally they always enjoy it more than whatever driver they are hitting.
Great guys! Ready to see Matt hit it. Curious how this could fit into many players bags. As in if they want to replace the driver, fit a certain gap because of a course, etc..
I don't have this club but had a play around with one today and I think I may get one as a 3.
Found it very easy to hit off the deck
I loved this video! Would love to see more videos with Ron! Go through his bag and get him hitting that 7 wood! Can't wait for the 13.5 head test!!
Another great video and it seems Ron has found an addition to the bag when you guys have done a proper fitting👍🏽🏌️👌🏽 Had a callaway 1.5 mini driver a few years ago but for me it didn’t stayed in the bag. Have no problem hitting driver or 3 wood and than for me the driver was longer and the 3 wood easier to hit from the deck. But I guess when you do struggle with driver but are comfortable with 5 or 3 wood than the mini driver could be your solution.....looking forward for the full fitting of Ron for the Mini Driver and hope it will help him to go to single figures👌🏽
would you ever put Ron in the same driver with a 44" or 43.5" shaft? If not why not?
U have a good point here. I would be interested to see Ron hit a draw bias driver with a little more loft at 44.5" or even 44" .
The only reason I could see why 43.5 could be an issue is swing weight. Going from 45.5 to 43.5 is 12 swing weights, so u would need 24 grams of headweight to even it out.. that is a shitload.
Ron is the man!!!! Keep him on the channel!
Hi All, I have been using a TM Mini driver since they came out about 5 years ago at 14*. My course has 6 x Par 4s between 290m to 370m where a driver will get you into trouble if you are a little wayward, left or right on these hole with water and / or bunkers.
The Aeroburner gets me to about 210m on a good shot, most around 200m so unless I hit a really big slice it is in most cases a #6 to SW for a second shot, and being 10% smaller than the new model is not much bigger than some of the #3 woods from a decade+ ago so can be occasionally be used off of the fairway if conditions are right....
Really looking forward to trying this out. Visually, todays modern large head drivers seem to put me off and don’t feel comfortable with the driver. I’m also keen to try it out with a driver length shaft and see if that adds a little more distance without sacrificing strike.
I know like Tiger in the past has elected to use a little smaller headed driver than the maximum 460cc, although now we're told he uses an M3.
the boys at my golf spy talk about the ball test which leads into the change to avoid the softer compression ball. love this test and using Ron much more realistic for the rest of us
I bought the Mini driver at 11.5 degrees and I hit that 266 to 270 on average per round. The one thing that I noticed is that I don't tee the ball up as high as I did with my M3 driver. I am way more accurate with the mini driver I also switched to a chrome soft ball. I previously hit Pro V1 balls I gained more distance with the chrome soft. I wasn't happy with the M3 driver I just couldn't hit it as straight as I wanted.
My F9 driver is being delivered next week with a 44.5" shaft and 10.5 loft.
That was my thinking; better control of a sorter shaft on the fastest driver I thought I can handle. My F9 3/4 wood delivers 90+mph club head speed, so I thought, why not try a three wood length shaft on the driver.
Wish me luck!
Nice video guys. Although I wonder what would happen with Ron in a Cobra F9 12 degree driver turned to 13 degree draw setting with the shorter accra shaft.
I love how a lot of people commenting here are better club fitters than Ian!😜
Exactly Kiley!! I don't mean to sound harsh but I wonder if people think at all before they post?
Seems similar to the G400 3 wood stretch. Maybe not quite as much tech as the mini driver but smaller head a little more loft shorter shaft. Maybe and comparison for the fitting video. Have you ever fit anyone into that for similar situation? Also seems like draw biased driver to allow him to close the face seems like it might help.
Cool test! Looking forward to more videos with the Mini.
Hi boys. Late to the party, but I just bought a 13.5 Original One and tee it much lower than Ron does here.
If you get the new TM mini in, please consider having tester(s) hit at different tee heights. 👍
It’s as much optics and confidence as anything, but it has helped my strike location.
Great video. Again.
Would be interested to see Ron with 13,5 mini driver and campare it with hitting a 3 wood.
Yes do a comparison with the 3 wood. I bought the M6 3 wood along with the driver. Curious about distance and dispersion compared to the 3 wood. I am long and in the woods with driver. Wondering if mini wood be better of tee than a 3 wood when having problems with driver.
I use the Callaway mini driver and love it. I’ll be trying more drivers soon including the Taylormade version. Most people are surprised I’m not hitting a driver because of the distance I get with my mini. I do want to try a driver in the shorter shaft but I feel I can swing faster with this smaller CC head. Not sure if I am but it sure feels that way.
Great video -- I like the RB Tour but the cover doesn't last a round. TP5/X, Pro v1/X, and Bridgestone Tour B X are the ones you should stick with!
Looking forward to your mini driver series, I am a golfer like Ronny
Cobra offering the f9 driver in a short length at 44.5 inches which is a great option for people who struggle with centred strike and squaring the face. Essentially the same idea as the mini driver
Love to see this with Matt
I just purchased the Mini Driver - but with the Mitsubishi Tensie Orange in the 13.5 head. I turned it down to 12 degrees and my experience with it was better ball speeds and carry than my driver with a shorter shaft. Actually it was longer and faster than my 44.5" driver shaft as well. I looked at the shot pattern on the face and they are all in the middle circle of the mini driver. Yes I probably could hit my driver with the 44.5" shaft further one out of 15 drives - but on average the mini driver is better. Background on me is driver distance in the low 90's and surprisingly with the mini driver they are very similar if not a little higher. I have always been a very good 3 wood player off the tee, and with the slowing of my swing as I age (currently 61) I have felt more confident in my 3 wood as the really bad shot is simply not in the cards with it. Also I can hit the mini driver longer than my 3 wood off the turf so it is in the bag instead of the 3 wood. I will keep the driver in the bag for down wind shots - but most tee shots will be with the Mini.
Glad it's working well!
Thanks - love your programming, and having your friend the average mid handicap in was great. I've been playing to a 6 for the past 3 years and hoping to cut that in half this year with the mini driver - no more doubles!
Great video, this club could really help many golfers. At 5' 7" do you think the shorter shaft could be more appropriate/easy to control for myself. Thanks for your efforts
Jeremy Stafford I cut an inch off my driver with increase in sweet spot (smash factor up to 1.46 av, increased distance) I would say do it.
@@gimbalair thank you for the reply and information, will definitely look into the possibility of this. Much appreciated.
Another great video! Do you find that the project a ball frequently spins less or is that just this scenario? Love the videos with Ron! Keep him coming back
Wouldn't call it a low spin ball, but there are others on the market that spin quite a bit more
In due time im sure I will be trying this club out
I’d love to try that driver cranked down to 9.5 with a regular length driver shaft and compare it to mine. Not sure why it is “for”high handicappers.
Awesome video. Now let’s see Matt hit it :)
When you try the 13.5 head mini driver can you also test a 460cc head driver with the same loft, short shaft but swing weight the same as the mini driver as a comparison? Because I'd be interested to see if it's the head size or shaft length that is helping with the head closing rate.
Swing looks pretty good. Probably gripping super tight looks little locked up.
Replaced my M6 with the mini driver
Goes just as far, with much better accuracy
I’m much more confident and can swing it faster .
11.5 lofted down to 10.5
61y/o. 10 hcap
Can you tell me how just gripping the 45" down the grip an inch or so would be different than cutting the shaft down. This exact question has been raised before. What would be the answer ? I think it fits right into this topic.
if you grip down you then hold a thinner part of the grip.
Not necessarily so. I have 3 extra wraps on a mid-sized grip on my low hand and it feels normal when gripping down.
sharp haircuts txg! yall look like you go to the same barber haha
They just need to persuade Larry Cheung to use the same barber 🤣🤣🤣
😆😆😆😆😆😆
Could you achieve something similar by using a 3 wood shaft with a driver head with some of the adjustable loft woods?
For example I have a Cobra driver and 3 wood. Could I install the driver head on the 3 wood shaft and get a different weight in the driver to create something similar?
I shortened an R15 to 44 and added some an extra weight and worked for me. Only problem was I hated looking at the massive head on a 3 wood shaft. I will definitely be trying out the TM mini driver.
Loved the review. I'm exactly like Ron. Used to love my driver but not anymore. Frustrating to see mine so unpredictable all the time. Looking forward to more mini driver series.
Excellent video! I wonder if you would consider testing the mini against a forgiving driver with 44" shaft?
One of the major reasons people don’t like hitting their drivers is because the club head just feels too far away from your hands. Even just cutting mine down to 44.75 from 45.5 has made a huge difference in confidence at address. So I’d say one of the first things people who don’t like their driver should do is to try a shaft around 44.
Have you tried a shorter shaft in his driver?
Came to say the same thing. If you guys end up coming back to this, with the new head, etc I'd love to see a comparison with a shorter shaft for his existing driver, especially with a closed face since that's arguably the main benefit gained from today's video, was simply helping him close the face for dispersion.
The only problem with that, is they would have to add mass to the head to keep the current swing weight. I don’t know how easy that is to get right.
I’ve tried a shorter shaft in my driver and it didn’t help me but I got a sldr mini driver and it’s a lot easier to hit than a normal driver to me
Sam James for them as fitters it should be easy to add weight to get the swingweight back
Yeah but you also have to consider centre of gravity - you can’t just chuck the weight anywhere. These heads are made and designed to be attached to certain length shafts. Yes if you had access to a tour standard work shop and hot melt, you could indeed tinker with multiple heads and get it right. No local club maker is going to gamble and risk ruining your driver
saw the same issue on another test. needs more loft and TM adjustment opens the face making making open face strikes issues even worse. If it was a titleist hozel it could work.
Adding loft closes the face
Such an interesting concept! I really want to try it. Will you guys be doing a full review of the little dog driver?
Yup more videos to come with this for sure
Interested in changing to a higher compression ball made that much of difference. What ball was he using at start of test. I play sixron soft feel maybe should be using different ball.
He had great dispersion with the driver - just needs to aim left and he'll never miss a fairway.
or it would exaggerate his slice even more
jovanbiljon correct!!
Aiming left only accentuates a slice if you leave the face even further open. If he actually aims left and makes the same swing, he'll get the same result relative to his body line. The ball does not know what the target line is.
@@adammarsh8866 Typically not how it goes for your average golfer. 90% of the time you will see them try to compensate even more. What he should practice is aligning himself into the slice, so he can learn to hit through the ball instead of across it.
I had a miss right and started slowly inching my aim further left and it got worse...my brain (subconscious) knew that my aim was way off and caused me to swing severely in to out which also caused strike issues. I've been working really hard on retraining my aim and everything is getting better.
What about trying him in a 460 cc driver head that comes in a 13.5 degree loft standard it would not be a closed face and the larger head would be more forgiving with a Mini driver shaft in it?
Any plans to test the new Snell MTB-X? Your guys test of the black vs red turned me into a huge Snell fan
Yes absolutely, Snell is sending us some soon
Im a high handicap and i hit my 3 wood 100 % better than my driver.... im wondering if i have the swing speed to ditch the driver forever for a mini driver
I think the biggest problem with modern drivers is the longer shafts. The reason mini drivers work is the shorter shaft and greater loft
You should test this head to head vs the Aeroburner Mini.
Guys, I have the same problem of leaving the face open with anything thats not an iron! Any tips for helping to square up? Thanks again for all you do!
Awesome, thanks, love the video
Great vid guys and good marketing from TM but to me the Mini should really be called a 2 wood
Ron ... you are a true warrior and can definitely put the heat on the golf ball ... IMO you are "NOT A SLOW SWINGER" I am not contesting the analysis by Matty and Ian but the analysis could be different if you freed up your swing. Your left foot is planted hard on the ground and that restricts your back swing ... anybodies swing ... and so much where you can only compensate so much. Experiment with freeing your swing ... lift up that left heel a little and free yourself ... and IMO you may 20 - 40 extra yards and a more appropriate analysis from Ian and Matty ... Even younger players on TOUR are doing the same because they look CUTE with a planted left foot back and get this romanticized praise form commentators ... BUT their lower back is telling them else wise... You can manipulate shaft, ball, etc all day long .but you want get the data you deserve until you remove the restrictions.. Your swing IMO is off "not because of you" but because of technique ... Keep up the great work and enjoy your journey!!!
Golden Gate I agree with you. Ya know club fitting is one thing and a good thing. But man fix your swing first. Fitting a driver to an inefficient swing s never makes sense to me. I guess fitters really don’t care they just try to maximize what you have. I get it but spend your money fixing the swing then get fit. They might get him 30 to 40 yards if they can but why not go for 60 to 70 yards by learning how to hit the ball. Then get fit to squeeze out 10 to 20 more.
Also need to get him more toward the middle of the club.
He should tee higher and hit up and relax those wrists. He’s got a good swing. Maybe try tour tempo. Swing along with it on RUclips and speed up.
Isn't it odd how manufacturers have been making Drivers ever bigger with ever longer shafts and then "Hey Presto" TM return to the past with a smaller headed driver with a shorter shaft and all of a sudden we hit longer straighter drives!
Can we please have a Ball Fit vid with Rockin Ronny, please?????? This Ball thing is getting really interesting! Like many old hackers, I have been using low compression balls for years because everyone was telling me that "slow swingers" need to use a Soft Ball. It now appears that this advice has been erroneous. Can we please use Ronny to find out what Ball "Us Owd Uns" should be using???
Ronnie the Rocket ball fitting is inevitable!! May not be a dedicated video, but at least within one of his other fittings
@@clubchampionmedia 👍👍👏👏
Can you compare this club to the new Titleist TS4 Driver coming out at 430cc? Could that be a first step in trying to move away from 460cc Driver? Maybe easier to handle than 460cc but not moving to a strong 3-wood yet. Just looking for thoughts on gradually getting a smaller head Driver until something works.
Would the mini be played up in your stance like a regular driver or more like a wood?
Well done video. I'm still curious as to where the Mini driver will slot in, replacement for driver, 3 wood, 3 wood on steroids? Would you hit it off the deck? If anything, confirms as why you need to be fit for a ball. Can readily relate to Ronny and will be interesting to see driver fit. Will it be the mini or driver with shorter shaft that works better for him?
We're excited to find out! The full fitting with Ronnie should be an interesting one
Will you guys be fitting Ronny for a new driver as well? I’d be curious to see if Ian could straighten out ball flight while still providing the benefits of a full sized driver and then comparing that to a fitted mini driver. This is definitely an interesting club! Also, could you see people replacing 3 wood with this instead of driver?
Full fitting with Ronnie for his longest club is coming for sure - whether that's a driver, mini-driver or 3 3 wood - we will see!
The Taylormade rep that came to our club this club was made for faster swing speeds, what type of player is this made for?
Do you have a range of shafts to test fit at that length? Will you be using 3 wood shafts or what?
Is he tee'ing the ball up on the Empire State bldg?
Either that or he is hitting down on the ball?
Not a fan of small drivers for soooooo many reasons. Would be more interesting to see him hit Ping SFT driver, G400 or G410, either one should do.
Look how high that Tee is for the driver!!!
Did you get the 13.5 head?
Probably because it's 10yrs old but my driver is 43.5" and I honestly don't think I could hit anything longer!
Hi Ian, I was wondering how the mini driver would work with a normal length driver shaft?
Probably not too well!
What I don't understand is why you wouldn't want a 460cc head on a shorter shaft? Would this not give better results than the smaller head?
Steven Stewart I’ll speak to that! I have never liked a 460cc head. For some reason, that visual has never been good for me. I’ve always preferred teeing off with a 3 wood to the driver. It just looks better to me. That’s just me though!
It's funny isn't it,how we used to make decent contact with a driver with a head smaller than 200 cc, when Gods dog was a puppy..
Shorter shafts with less torque on the shaft consequently????
See good guys do wear black. So is this trend of new category is it a mini driver or 3 wood X, so confused. If the camera effect is legit will TXG be adding them to fitting options? 🤔👍
Time will tell Whisker!
What is his hight?
Matt look a bit sad that he wasn't featured crushing the mini driver 305 today. ;)
😆 I hit a few off camera don't worry
@@clubchampionmedia , and how was my 305 finish, not carry prediction? I'm accounting for the 11.5 head and low spin.
jballoregon probably pretty close!! Lol
Hi, do you have an Original One for sale?
I don't understand the mini driver. Why is the head smaller if the 460cc head is supposed to be more forgiving? Why don't they just make their regular drivers with more loft? Also why not just get a shorter shaft on a regular driver? This seems like a marketing gimmick for Taylormade.
Want to come down to get a club fitting what kind of price am I looking at for Full bag
txg.ca/services/#pricing
He’s hitting to the right because of the parallax error inherent in simulators. The target on the screen is to the right of where it would be in reality.
Is it just me or does he open up the face in the first 6" of his backswing?
I know this is about the mini driver, but are you saying he can't be fit for ANY "normal"driver out there?
Nope, it's just a good thing for him to test out. Normal driver may end up being better for him, we'll see in the fitting
I've always considered Mini-Drivers to be a suckers club. Usually for the price of a Mini-Driver you could just get a lesson or fitting with your current Driver and achieve better results. Every single person I know that has tried one switched back to their regular Driver within a Season.
I wonder if using a ProV1X would give him a few more yards as well.
Test used golf balls!! 😁
I look forward to that one too. They spoke to it during a Q&A and Ian said a proper test would be outdoors with Trackman to analyze the ball flight.
First get rid of the speeder shaft. His swing speed is nothing for that shaft. Shorten length and add loft.
Brandon Gavin it’s the Speeder 474, 48gram very light!!
Why not try his driver, or a 430cc driver in a shorter shaft? Wouldn't that address his confidence he spoke of?
For the next 10 years the mini will be in. After that the 460cc head will be back.
It's not the club. I'm still using my 20-year old McGregor V-Foil driver, averaging 290 of the tee and straight as a soldier. And I'm 62 years old. It's never the club...
Average 290?? Really! Man you can Hammer a Golf Ball, and not just for a 62 year.
@@garyknight2994 I went to school on the Mike Austin method...it works, and you don't swing hard...and yeah, I talk throughout my swing...that's the key...don't let your mind get in the way
I love the idea of this club. Tested it and was very disappointed tbh.
My g400max beats it in every way, distance, dispersion and ease of hitting.
I wanted to like this mini driver but it just wasn’t for me I’m afraid.
Also I didn’t like the sound of it- TM woods to me feel very hard in the face. But that is purely personal preference.
Fergus Reeve in fairness, I don’t think anyone would call a comparison between this and the g400 max a fair fight
True. But I was interested to see if the shorter shaft and more “power 3 wood” feel would give me more confidence and more accuracy. That’s what I expected- I went in with positive attitude towards it.
But once I actually used it for half an hour, I just didn’t find any benefit in it for me personally.
If I had come across it before I had become a fairly acceptable driver of the ball, I might have loved it. I’m not sure.
Either way, I still find all TM somehow unpleasant to hit because of the feel and sound- but that is purely personal taste. I also don’t like the F9 feel/sound and everyone else does...
Each to their own. I love the idea of this club, and I hope other companies make them too, because the idea makes sense to me. Driver shafts are too long in general (for the majority) IMO.
Ben Russell so why would it even be in the conversation then???
@@keef5 I wasn't aware that it was in the conversation. Seems more like a marketing gimmick/homage to TM legacy to me...
Ben Russell it’s not to anyone who knows what kind of technology optimizes numbers and why. But what percentage of golfers is that? How many average joes are gonna walk into a golf galaxy, hit it well and feel confident because of the shaft length and walk out of there with it in their hands planning to replace the driver in their bag?
Finish that backswing
How about fitting Ron to a full size driver .....
I don't like the name "Mini Driver", it sounds demeaning. call it what it is, a 2 wood.